Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After Jesus had said these things, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.

²Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples.

³So Judas took a company of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

⁴Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Who is it that you’re seeking?”

⁵“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “I am he,” Jesus told them. Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them.

⁶When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground.

⁷Then he asked them again, “Who is it that you’re seeking?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

⁸“I told you I am he,” Jesus replied. “So if you’re looking for me, let these men go.”

⁹This was to fulfill the words he had said: “I have not lost one of those you have given me.”

¹⁰Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

¹¹At that, Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”

¹²Then the company of soldiers, the commander, and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus and tied him up.

¹³First they led him to Annas, since he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.

¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be better for one man to die for the people.

¹⁵Simon Peter was following Jesus, as was another disciple. That disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest; so he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard.

¹⁶But Peter remained standing outside by the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the girl who was the doorkeeper and brought Peter in.

¹⁷Then the servant girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” “I am not.” he said.

¹⁸Now the servants and the officials had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold. They were standing there warming themselves, and Peter was standing with them, warming himself.

¹⁹The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.

²⁰“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus answered him. “I have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews congregate, and I haven’t spoken anything in secret.

²¹Why do you question me? Question those who heard what I told them. Look, they know what I said.”

²²When he had said these things, one of the officials standing by slapped Jesus, saying, “Is this the way you answer the high priest?”

²³“If I have spoken wrongly,” Jesus answered him, “give evidence about the wrong; but if rightly, why do you hit me?”

²⁴Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

²⁵Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”

²⁶One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?”

²⁷Peter denied it again. Immediately a rooster crowed.

²⁸Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They did not enter the headquarters themselves; otherwise they would be defiled and unable to eat the Passover.

²⁹So Pilate came out to them and said, “What charge do you bring against this man?”

³⁰They answered him, “If this man weren’t a criminal, we wouldn’t have handed him over to you.”

³¹Pilate told them, “You take him and judge him according to your law.” “It’s not legal for us to put anyone to death,” the Jews declared.

³²They said this so that Jesus’s words might be fulfilled indicating what kind of death he was going to die.

³³Then Pilate went back into the headquarters, summoned Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

³⁴Jesus answered, “Are you asking this on your own, or have others told you about me?”

³⁵“I’m not a Jew, am I?” Pilate replied. “Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”

³⁶“My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”

³⁷“You are a king then?” Pilate asked. “You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

³⁸“What is truth?” said Pilate. After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds for charging him.

³⁹You have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So, do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

⁴⁰They shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.

¹“If a prophet or someone who has dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,

²and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, ‘Let us follow other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us worship them,’

³do not listen to that prophet’s words or to that dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul.

⁴You must follow the LORD your God and fear him. You must keep his commands and listen to him; you must worship him and remain faithful to him.

⁵That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has urged rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the place of slavery, to turn you from the way the LORD your God has commanded you to walk. You must purge the evil from you.

⁶“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and worship other gods’ — which neither you nor your fathers have known,

⁷any of the gods of the peoples around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other —

⁸do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.

⁹Instead, you must kill him. Your hand is to be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.

¹⁰Stone him to death for trying to turn you away from the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

¹¹All Israel will hear and be afraid, and they will no longer do anything evil like this among you.

¹²“If you hear it said about one of your cities the LORD your God is giving you to live in,

¹³that wicked men have sprung up among you, led the inhabitants of their city astray, and said, ‘Let us go and worship other gods,’ which you have not known,

¹⁴you are to inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable act has been done among you,

¹⁵you must strike down the inhabitants of that city with the sword. Completely destroy everyone in it as well as its livestock with the sword.

¹⁶You are to gather all its spoil in the middle of the city square and completely burn the city and all its spoil for the LORD your God. The city is to remain a mound of ruins forever; it is not to be rebuilt.

¹⁷Nothing set apart for destruction is to remain in your hand, so that the LORD will turn from his burning anger and grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as he swore to your fathers.

¹⁸This will occur if you obey the LORD your God, keeping all his commands I am giving you today, doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God.

¹Now concerning the ministry to the saints, it is unnecessary for me to write to you.

²For I know your eagerness, and I boast about you to the Macedonians: “Achaia has been ready since last year,” and your zeal has stirred up most of them.

³But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you in this matter would not prove empty, and so that you would be ready just as I said.

⁴Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to mention you, would be put to shame in that situation.

⁵Therefore I considered it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance the generous gift you promised, so that it will be ready as a gift and not as an extortion.

⁶The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.

⁷Each person should do as he has decided in his heart — not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.

⁸And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.

⁹As it is written: He distributed freely; he gave to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.

¹⁰Now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

¹¹You will be enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us.

¹²For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.

¹³Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone.

¹⁴And as they pray on your behalf, they will have deep affection for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.

¹⁵Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ: To those chosen, living as exiles dispersed abroad in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen

²according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient and to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

⁴and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

⁵You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

⁶You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials

⁷so that the proven character of your faith  — more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire  — may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy,

⁹because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that would come to you, searched and carefully investigated.

¹¹They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified in advance to the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

¹²It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven  — angels long to catch a glimpse of these things.

¹³Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹⁴As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance.

¹⁵But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct;

¹⁶for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.

¹⁷If you appeal to the Father who judges impartially according to each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in reverence during your time living as strangers.

¹⁸For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold,

¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb.

²⁰He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was revealed in these last times for you.

²¹Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

²²Since you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the truth, so that you show sincere brotherly love for each other, from a pure heart love one another constantly,

²³because you have been born again  — not of perishable seed but of imperishable — through the living and enduring word of God.

²⁴For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,

²⁵but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this word is the gospel that was proclaimed to you.

¹The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem.

²“Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Absolute futility. Everything is futile.”

³What does a person gain for all his efforts that he labors at under the sun?

⁴A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

⁵The sun rises and the sun sets; panting, it returns to the place where it rises.

⁶Gusting to the south, turning to the north, turning, turning, goes the wind, and the wind returns in its cycles.

⁷All the streams flow to the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.

⁸All things are wearisome, more than anyone can say. The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing.

⁹What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Can one say about anything, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.

¹¹There is no remembrance of those who came before; and of those who will come after there will also be no remembrance by those who follow them.

¹²I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³I applied my mind to examine and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven. God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied.

¹⁴I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said to myself, “See, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped wisdom and knowledge.”

¹⁷I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly; I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁸For with much wisdom is much sorrow; as knowledge increases, grief increases.

¹For the choir director: on . A of David. [1] The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.” They are corrupt, and they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good.

²God looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God.

³All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.

⁴Will evildoers never understand? They consume my people as they consume bread; they do not call on God.

⁵Then they will be filled with dread — dread like no other  — because God will scatter the bones of those who besiege you. You will put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

⁶Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

¹Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but one who hates correction is stupid.

²One who is good obtains favor from the LORD, but he condemns a person who schemes.

³No one can be made secure by wickedness, but the root of the righteous is immovable.

⁴A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a wife who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just, but guidance from the wicked is deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked are a deadly ambush, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown and perish, but the house of the righteous will stand.

⁸A man is praised for his insight, but a twisted mind is despised.

⁹Better to be disregarded, yet have a servant, than to act important but have no food.

¹⁰The righteous cares about his animal’s health, but even the merciful acts of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks sense.

¹²The wicked desire what evil people have caught, but the root of the righteous is productive.

¹³By rebellious speech an evil person is trapped, but a righteous person escapes from trouble.

¹⁴A person will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth, and the work of a person’s hands will reward him.

¹⁵A fool’s way is right in his own eyes, but whoever listens to counsel is wise.

¹⁶A fool’s displeasure is known at once, but whoever ignores an insult is sensible.

¹⁷Whoever speaks the truth declares what is right, but a false witness speaks deceit.

¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly, like a piercing sword; but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue, only a moment.

²⁰Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy.

²¹No disaster overcomes the righteous, but the wicked are full of misery.

²²Lying lips are detestable to the LORD, but faithful people are his delight.

²³A shrewd person conceals knowledge, but a foolish heart publicizes stupidity.

²⁴The diligent hand will rule, but laziness will lead to forced labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a person’s heart weighs it down, but a good word cheers it up.

²⁶A righteous person is careful in dealing with his neighbor, but the ways of the wicked lead them astray.

²⁷A lazy hunter doesn’t roast his game, but to a diligent person, his wealth is precious.

²⁸There is life in the path of righteousness, and in its path there is no death.

¹The LORD’s anger burned against Israel again, and he stirred up David against them to say: “Go, count the people of Israel and Judah.”

²So the king said to Joab, the commander of his army, “Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba and register the troops so I can know their number.”

³Joab replied to the king, “May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times more than they are  — while my lord the king looks on! But why does my lord the king want to do this?”

⁴Yet the king’s order prevailed over Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army left the king’s presence to register the troops of Israel.

⁵They crossed the Jordan and camped in Aroer, south of the town in the middle of the valley, and then proceeded toward Gad and Jazer.

⁶They went to Gilead and to the land of the Hittites and continued on to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon.

⁷They went to the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Afterward, they went to the Negev of Judah at Beer-sheba.

⁸When they had gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

⁹Joab gave the king the total of the registration of the troops. There were eight hundred thousand valiant armed men from Israel and five hundred thousand men from Judah.

¹⁰David’s conscience troubled him after he had taken a census of the troops. He said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I’ve done. Now, LORD, because I’ve been very foolish, please take away your servant’s guilt.”

¹¹When David got up in the morning, the word of the LORD had come to the prophet Gad, David’s seer:

¹²“Go and say to David, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am offering you three choices. Choose one of them, and I will do it to you.’”

¹³So Gad went to David, told him the choices, and asked him, “Do you want three years of famine to come on your land, to flee from your foes three months while they pursue you, or to have a plague in your land three days? Now, consider carefully what answer I should take back to the one who sent me.”

¹⁴David answered Gad, “I have great anxiety. Please, let us fall into the LORD’s hands because his mercies are great, but don’t let me fall into human hands.”

¹⁵So the LORD sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and from Dan to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men died.

¹⁶Then the angel extended his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, but the LORD relented concerning the destruction and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough, withdraw your hand now!” The angel of the LORD was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷When David saw the angel striking the people, he said to the LORD, “Look, I am the one who has sinned; I am the one who has done wrong. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let your hand be against me and my father’s family.”

¹⁸Gad came to David that day and said to him, “Go up and set up an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

¹⁹David went up in obedience to Gad’s command, just as the LORD had commanded.

²⁰Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, so he went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground.

²¹Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David replied, “To buy the threshing floor from you in order to build an altar to the LORD, so the plague on the people may be halted.”

²²Araunah said to David, “My lord the king may take whatever he wants and offer it. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood.

²³Your Majesty, Araunah gives everything here to the king.” Then he said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.”

²⁴The king answered Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for twenty ounces of silver.

²⁵He built an altar to the LORD there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the LORD was receptive to prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel ended.

¹Zedekiah son of Josiah reigned as king in the land of Judah in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim, for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made him king.

²He and his officers and the people of the land did not obey the words of the LORD that he spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.

³Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, requesting, “Please pray to the LORD our God for us!”

⁴Jeremiah was going about his daily tasks among the people, for he had not yet been put into the prison.

⁵Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶The word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah:

⁷“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: This is what you will say to Judah’s king, who is sending you to inquire of me: ‘Watch: Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, is going to return to its own land of Egypt.

⁸The Chaldeans will then return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it.

⁹This is what the LORD says: Don’t deceive yourselves by saying, “The Chaldeans will leave us for good,” for they will not leave.

¹⁰Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire Chaldean army that is fighting with you, and there remained among them only the badly wounded men, each in his tent, they would get up and burn this city.’”

¹¹When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army,

¹²Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people.

¹³But when he was at the Benjamin Gate, an officer of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, and he apprehended the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “You are defecting to the Chaldeans.”

¹⁴“That’s a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not defecting to the Chaldeans!” Irijah would not listen to him but apprehended Jeremiah and took him to the officials.

¹⁵The officials were angry at Jeremiah and beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison.

¹⁶So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and stayed there many days.

¹⁷King Zedekiah later sent for him and received him, and in his house privately asked him, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah responded. He continued, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”

¹⁸Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people that you have put me in prison?

¹⁹Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and this land’?

²⁰So now please listen, my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Don’t send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”

²¹So King Zedekiah gave orders, and Jeremiah was placed in the guard’s courtyard. He was given a loaf of bread each day from the bakers’ street until all the bread was gone from the city. So Jeremiah remained in the guard’s courtyard.

¹After they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

²As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

³explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.”

⁴Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a large number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women.

⁵But the Jews became jealous, and they brought together some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason’s house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly.

⁶When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too,

⁷and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king — Jesus.”

⁸The crowd and city officials who heard these things were upset.

⁹After taking a security bond from Jason and the others, they released them.

¹⁰As soon as it was night, the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. Upon arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.

¹¹The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

¹²Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men.

¹³But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and upsetting the crowds.

¹⁴Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to go to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed on there.

¹⁵Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.

¹⁶While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed when he saw that the city was full of idols.

¹⁷So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

¹⁸Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?” Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities” — because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹They took him and brought him to the Areopagus, and said, “May we learn about this new teaching you are presenting?

²⁰Because what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these things mean.”

²¹Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there spent their time on nothing else but telling or hearing something new.

²²Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect.

²³For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

²⁴The God who made the world and everything in it  — he is Lord of heaven and earth  — does not live in shrines made by hands.

²⁵Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.

²⁶From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.

²⁷He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

²⁸For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’

²⁹Since we are God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.

³⁰“Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent,

³¹because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

³²When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to ridicule him, but others said, “We’d like to hear from you again about this.”

³³So Paul left their presence.

³⁴However, some people joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.