Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him.

²And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe.

³Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.

⁴Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”

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

⁶Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”

⁷The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”

⁸Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid,

⁹and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.

¹⁰Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?”

¹¹Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

¹²From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

¹³When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

¹⁴Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

¹⁵But they 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!”

¹⁶Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away.

¹⁷And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha,

¹⁸where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.

¹⁹Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

²⁰Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

²¹Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ”

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

²³Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece.

²⁴They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: “They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.

²⁵Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

²⁶When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!”

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

²⁸After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!”

²⁹Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.

³⁰So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

³¹Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should 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.

³²Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was 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 immediately blood and water came out.

³⁵And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.

³⁶For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.”

³⁷And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

³⁸After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being 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 the body of Jesus.

³⁹And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.

⁴⁰Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.

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 there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.

¹“You are the children of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead.

²For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

³“You shall not eat any detestable thing.

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

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

⁶And you may eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts, and that chews the cud, among the animals.

⁷Nevertheless, of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves, you shall not eat, such as these: the camel, the hare, and the rock hyrax; for they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for you.

⁸Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses.

⁹“These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat all that have fins and scales.

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

¹¹“All clean birds you may eat.

¹²But these you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard,

¹³the red kite, the falcon, and the kite after their kinds;

¹⁴every raven after its kind;

¹⁵the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after their kinds;

¹⁶the little owl, the screech owl, the white owl,

¹⁷the jackdaw, the carrion vulture, the fisher owl,

¹⁸the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat.

¹⁹“Also every creeping thing that flies is unclean for you; they shall not be eaten.

²⁰“You may eat all clean birds.

²¹“You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who is within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. “ You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

²²“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year.

²³And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

²⁴But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the LORD your God has blessed you,

²⁵then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses.

²⁶And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

²⁷You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.

²⁸“At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates.

²⁹And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

¹Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ— who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you.

²But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.

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

⁴For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,

⁵casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

⁶and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

⁷Do you look at things according to the outward appearance? If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ’s, let him again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ’s, even so we are Christ’s.

⁸For even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us for edification and not for your destruction, I shall not be ashamed—

⁹lest I seem to terrify you by letters.

¹⁰“For his letters,” they say, “are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.”

¹¹Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are present.

¹²For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

¹³We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us—a sphere which especially includes you.

¹⁴For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ;

¹⁵not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere,

¹⁶to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s sphere of accomplishment.

¹⁷But “he who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

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

¹Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,

²as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

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

⁴Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,

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

⁶Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

⁷Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,”

⁸and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

⁹But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

¹⁰who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

¹¹Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,

¹²having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

¹³Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme,

¹⁴or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.

¹⁵For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—

¹⁶as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.

¹⁷Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

¹⁸Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.

¹⁹For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.

²⁰For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.

²¹For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

²²“Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;

²³who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;

²⁴who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed.

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

¹I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity.

²I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”

³I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.

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

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

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

⁷I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.

⁸I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds.

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

¹⁰Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor.

¹¹Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.

¹²Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly; For what can the man do who succeeds the king?— Only what he has already done.

¹³Then I saw that wisdom excels folly As light excels darkness.

¹⁴The wise man’s eyes are in his head, But the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived That the same event happens to them all.

¹⁵So I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, It also happens to me, And why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This also is vanity.”

¹⁶For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool!

¹⁷Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹⁸Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because 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 rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

²⁰Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.

²¹For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

²²For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?

²³For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.

²⁴Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.

²⁵For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?

²⁶For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. A Contemplation of David when the Ziphites went and said to Saul, “Is David not hiding with us?” [1] Save me, O God, by Your name, And vindicate me by Your strength.

²Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth.

³For strangers have risen up against me, And oppressors have sought after my life; They have not set God before them. Selah

⁴Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is with those who uphold my life.

⁵He will repay my enemies for their evil. Cut them off in Your truth.

⁶I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good.

⁷For He has delivered me out of all trouble; And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.

¹A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

²A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth, But the soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence.

³He who guards his mouth preserves his life, But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.

⁴The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.

⁵A righteous man hates lying, But a wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame.

⁶Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, But wickedness overthrows the sinner.

⁷There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.

⁸The ransom of a man’s life is his riches, But the poor does not hear rebuke.

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

¹⁰By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom.

¹¹Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, But he who gathers by labor will increase.

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.

¹³He who despises the word will be destroyed, But he who fears the commandment will be rewarded.

¹⁴The law of the wise is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death.

¹⁵Good understanding gains favor, But the way of the unfaithful is hard.

¹⁶Every prudent man acts with knowledge, But a fool lays open his folly.

¹⁷A wicked messenger falls into trouble, But a faithful ambassador brings health.

¹⁸Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, But he who regards a rebuke will be honored.

¹⁹A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul, But it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil.

²⁰He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.

²¹Evil pursues sinners, But to the righteous, good shall be repaid.

²²A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.

²³Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor, And for lack of justice there is waste.

²⁴He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

²⁵The righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul, But the stomach of the wicked shall be in want.

¹Now King David was old, advanced in years; and they put covers on him, but he could not get warm.

²Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman, a virgin, be sought for our lord the king, and let her stand before the king, and let her care for him; and let her lie in your bosom, that our lord the king may be warm.”

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

⁴The young woman was very lovely; and she cared for the king, and served him; but the king did not know her.

⁵Then 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.

⁶(And his father had not rebuked him at any time by saying, “Why have you done so?” He was also very good-looking. His mother had borne him after Absalom.)

⁷Then he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they followed and helped Adonijah.

⁸But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David were not with Adonijah.

⁹And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En Rogel; he also invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants.

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

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

¹²Come, please, let me now give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.

¹³Go immediately to King David and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, “Assuredly your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne“? Why then has Adonijah become king?’

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

¹⁵So Bathsheba went into the chamber to the king. (Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king.)

¹⁶And Bathsheba bowed and did homage to the king. Then the king said, “What is your wish?”

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

¹⁸So now, look! Adonijah has become king; and now, my lord the king, you do not know about it.

¹⁹He has sacrificed oxen and 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 as for you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

²¹Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king rests with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted as offenders.”

²²And just then, while she was still talking with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in.

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

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

²⁵For he has gone down today, and has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, and the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and look! They are eating and drinking before him; and they say, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’

²⁶But he has not invited me—me your servant—nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon.

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

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

²⁹And the king took an oath and said, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress,

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

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

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

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

³⁴There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and blow the horn, and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’

³⁵Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”

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

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, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and took him to Gihon.

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

⁴⁰And all the people went up after him; and the people played the flutes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth seemed to split with their sound.

⁴¹Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the horn, he said, “Why is the city in such a noisy uproar?”

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

⁴³Then Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, “No! Our lord King David has made Solomon king.

⁴⁴The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have made him ride on the king’s mule.

⁴⁵So 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.

⁴⁶Also Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom.

⁴⁷And moreover the king’s servants have gone to bless our lord King David, saying, ‘May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and may He make his throne greater than your throne.’ Then the king bowed himself on the bed.

⁴⁸Also the king said thus, ‘Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who has given one to sit on my throne this day, while my eyes see it!’ ”

⁴⁹So all the guests who were with Adonijah were afraid, and arose, and each one went his way.

⁵⁰Now Adonijah was afraid of Solomon; so he arose, and went and took hold of the horns of the altar.

⁵¹And it was told Solomon, saying, “Indeed Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; for look, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’ ”

⁵²Then Solomon said, “If he proves himself a worthy man, not one hair of him shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.”

⁵³So King Solomon sent them to bring him down from the altar. And he came and fell down before 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 had spoken to all the people, saying,

²“Thus says the LORD: ‘He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans shall live; his life shall be as a prize to him, and he shall live.’

³Thus says the LORD: ‘This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.’ ”

⁴Therefore the princes said to the king, “Please, let this man be put to death, for thus he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their harm.”

⁵Then Zedekiah the king said, “Look, he is in your hand. For the king can do nothing against you.”

⁶So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the court of the prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire.

⁷Now Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon. When the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,

⁸Ebed-Melech went out of the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying:

⁹“My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon, and he is likely to die from hunger in the place where he is. For there is no more bread in the city.”

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

¹¹So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah.

¹²Then Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Please put these old clothes and rags under your armpits, under the ropes.” And Jeremiah did so.

¹³So they pulled Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the dungeon. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

¹⁴Then Zedekiah the king sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance of the house of the LORD. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”

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

¹⁶So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, who made our very souls, I will not put you to death, nor will I give 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 surely surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live.

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

¹⁹And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they abuse me.”

²⁰But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of the LORD which I speak to you. So it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live.

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

²²‘Now behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be surrendered to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say: “Your close friends have set upon you And prevailed against you; Your feet have sunk in the mire, And they have turned away again.”

²³‘So they shall surrender all your wives and children to the Chaldeans. You shall not escape from their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. And you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.’ ”

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

²⁵But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Declare to us now what you have said to the king, and also what the king said to you; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death,’

²⁶then you shall say to them, ‘I presented my request before the king, that he would not make me return to Jonathan’s house to die there.’ ”

²⁷Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been heard.

²⁸Now Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken. And he was there when Jerusalem was taken.

¹After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth.

²And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them.

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

⁴And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.

⁵When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

⁶But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁷And he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

⁸Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.

⁹Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent;

¹⁰for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.”

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

¹²When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat,

¹³saying, “This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.”

¹⁴And when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, O Jews, there would be reason why I should bear with you.

¹⁵But if it is a question of words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such matters.”

¹⁶And he drove them from the judgment seat.

¹⁷Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. But Gallio took no notice of these things.

¹⁸So Paul still remained a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had his hair cut off at Cenchrea, for he had taken a vow.

¹⁹And he came to Ephesus, and left them there; but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

²⁰When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent,

²¹but took leave of them, saying, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing.” And he sailed from Ephesus.

²²And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up and greeted the church, he went down to Antioch.

²³After he had spent some time there, he departed and went over the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus.

²⁵This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John.

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

²⁷And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace;

²⁸for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.