Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.

²And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe.

³They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.

⁴Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”

⁵So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”

⁶When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.”

⁷The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”

⁸When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.

⁹He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.

¹⁰So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?”

¹¹Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

¹²From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

¹³So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha.

¹⁴Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

¹⁵They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

¹⁶So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. The Crucifixion So they took Jesus,

¹⁷and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

¹⁸There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.

¹⁹Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

²⁰Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.

²¹So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’”

²²Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

²³When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom,

²⁴so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things,

²⁵but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

²⁶When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”

²⁷Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

²⁸After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”

²⁹A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.

³⁰When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

³¹Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.

³²So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him.

³³But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

³⁴But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.

³⁵He who saw it has borne witness — his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth — that you also may believe.

³⁶For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”

³⁷And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

³⁸After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.

³⁹Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.

⁴⁰So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

⁴¹Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.

⁴²So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

¹“You are the sons of the LORD your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead.

²For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

³“You shall not eat any abomination.

⁴These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,

⁵the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.

⁶Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.

⁷Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you.

⁸And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch.

⁹“Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat.

¹⁰And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

¹¹“You may eat all clean birds.

¹²But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

¹³the kite, the falcon of any kind;

¹⁴every raven of any kind;

¹⁵the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind;

¹⁶the little owl and the short-eared owl, the barn owl

¹⁷and the tawny owl, the carrion vulture and the cormorant,

¹⁸the stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat.

¹⁹And all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten.

²⁰All clean winged things you may eat.

²¹“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

²²“You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year.

²³And before the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

²⁴And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the LORD your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the LORD your God chooses, to set his name there,

²⁵then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the LORD your God chooses

²⁶and spend the money for whatever you desire — oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.

²⁷And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.

²⁸“At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns.

²⁹And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

¹I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ — I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away! —

²I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh.

³For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

⁴For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

⁵We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

⁶being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

⁷Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we.

⁸For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed.

⁹I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters.

¹⁰For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”

¹¹Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present.

¹²Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

¹³But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you.

¹⁴For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ.

¹⁵We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged,

¹⁶so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence.

¹⁷“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

¹⁸For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

¹So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

²Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation —

³if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

⁴As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,

⁵you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁶For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

⁷So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

⁸and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

⁹But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

¹²Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

¹³Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,

¹⁴or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.

¹⁵For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

¹⁶Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

¹⁷Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

¹⁸Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.

¹⁹For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

²⁰For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

²¹For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

²²He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

²³When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

²⁴He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

²⁵For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

¹I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.

²I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”

³I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine — my heart still guiding me with wisdom — and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.

⁴I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.

⁵I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.

⁶I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.

⁷I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.

⁸I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.

⁹So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.

¹⁰And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.

¹¹Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

¹²So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.

¹³Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.

¹⁴The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.

¹⁵Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

¹⁶For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!

¹⁷So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

¹⁸I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me,

¹⁹and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.

²⁰So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,

²¹because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

²²What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?

²³For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.

²⁴There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,

²⁵for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?

²⁶For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

¹O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might.

²O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

³For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life; they do not set God before themselves. Selah

⁴Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.

⁵He will return the evil to my enemies; in your faithfulness put an end to them.

⁶With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.

⁷For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

¹A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

²From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence.

³Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

⁴The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

⁵The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace.

⁶Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but sin overthrows the wicked.

⁷One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

⁸The ransom of a man's life is his wealth, but a poor man hears no threat.

⁹The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

¹⁰By insolence comes nothing but strife, but with those who take advice is wisdom.

¹¹Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

¹³Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded.

¹⁴The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.

¹⁵Good sense wins favor, but the way of the treacherous is their ruin.

¹⁶Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool flaunts his folly.

¹⁷A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a faithful envoy brings healing.

¹⁸Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is honored.

¹⁹A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools.

²⁰Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

²¹Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good.

²²A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.

²³The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food, but it is swept away through injustice.

²⁴Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

²⁵The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked suffers want.

¹Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.

²Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your arms, that my lord the king may be warm.”

³So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.

⁴The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, but the king knew her not.

⁵Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

⁶His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom.

⁷He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest. And they followed Adonijah and helped him.

⁸But Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei and David's mighty men were not with Adonijah.

⁹Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the Serpent's Stone, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah,

¹⁰but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or Solomon his brother.

¹¹Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it?

¹²Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.

¹³Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, “Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then is Adonijah king?’

¹⁴Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words.”

¹⁵So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber (now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to the king).

¹⁶Bathsheba bowed and paid homage to the king, and the king said, “What do you desire?”

¹⁷She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the LORD your God, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’

¹⁸And now, behold, Adonijah is king, although you, my lord the king, do not know it.

¹⁹He has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but Solomon your servant he has not invited.

²⁰And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

²¹Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted offenders.”

²²While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in.

²³And they told the king, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he bowed before the king, with his face to the ground.

²⁴And Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’?

²⁵For he has gone down this day and has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’

²⁶But me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he has not invited.

²⁷Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king and you have not told your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

²⁸Then King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king's presence and stood before the king.

²⁹And the king swore, saying, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity,

³⁰as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ even so will I do this day.”

³¹Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

³²King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king.

³³And the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.

³⁴And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet there anoint him king over Israel. Then blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’

³⁵You shall then come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, for he shall be king in my place. And I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.”

³⁶And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the LORD, the God of my lord the king, say so.

³⁷As the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”

³⁸So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon.

³⁹There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”

⁴⁰And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.

⁴¹Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “What does this uproar in the city mean?”

⁴²While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and bring good news.”

⁴³Jonathan answered Adonijah, “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king,

⁴⁴and the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And they had him ride on the king's mule.

⁴⁵And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard.

⁴⁶Solomon sits on the royal throne.

⁴⁷Moreover, the king's servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king bowed himself on the bed.

⁴⁸And the king also said, ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has granted someone to sit on my throne this day, my own eyes seeing it.’”

⁴⁹Then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and rose, and each went his own way.

⁵⁰And Adonijah feared Solomon. So he arose and went and took hold of the horns of the altar.

⁵¹Then it was told Solomon, “Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon, for behold, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’”

⁵²And Solomon said, “If he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.”

⁵³So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and paid homage to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

¹Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people:

²“Thus says the LORD: He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war, and live.

³Thus says the LORD: This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and be taken.”

⁴Then the officials said to the king, “Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.”

⁵King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.”

⁶So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

⁷When Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern — the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate —

⁸Ebed-melech went from the king's house and said to the king,

⁹“My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.”

¹⁰Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

¹¹So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe in the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern by ropes.

¹²Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so.

¹³Then they drew Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

¹⁴King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me.”

¹⁵Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.”

¹⁶Then King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

¹⁷Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live.

¹⁸But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.”

¹⁹King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me.”

²⁰Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared.

²¹But if you refuse to surrender, this is the vision which the LORD has shown to me:

²²Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and were saying, “‘Your trusted friends have deceived you and prevailed against you; now that your feet are sunk in the mud, they turn away from you.’

²³All your wives and your sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire.”

²⁴Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die.

²⁵If the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death,’

²⁶then you shall say to them, ‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”

²⁷Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been overheard.

²⁸And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

¹After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

²And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,

³and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.

⁴And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

⁵When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.

⁶And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁷And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue.

⁸Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

⁹And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,

¹⁰ for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

¹¹And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹²But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal,

¹³saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.”

¹⁴But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint.

¹⁵But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.”

¹⁶And he drove them from the tribunal.

¹⁷And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

¹⁸After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.

¹⁹And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

²⁰When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined.

²¹But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

²²When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.

²³After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures.

²⁵He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.

²⁶He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

²⁷And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed,

²⁸for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.