Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.

²So she went running to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!”

³At that, Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb.

⁴The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first.

⁵Stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.

⁶Then, following him, Simon Peter also came. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there.

⁷The wrapping that had been on his head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself.

⁸The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then also went in, saw, and believed.

⁹For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he must rise from the dead.

¹⁰Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying.

¹¹But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb.

¹²She saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’s body had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.

¹³They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put him.”

¹⁴Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus.

¹⁵“Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it that you’re seeking?” Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him, and I will take him away.”

¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Turning around, she said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”  — which means “Teacher.”

¹⁷“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus told her, “since I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what he had said to her.

¹⁹When it was evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

²⁰Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

²²After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

²⁴But Thomas (called “Twin” ), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.

²⁵So the other disciples were telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

²⁶A week later his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.”

²⁸Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

³⁰Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.

³¹But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

¹“At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.

²This is how to cancel debt: Every creditor is to cancel what he has lent his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s release of debts has been proclaimed.

³You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.

⁴“There will be no poor among you, however, because the LORD is certain to bless you in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance  —

⁵if only you obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow every one of these commands I am giving you today.

⁶When the LORD your God blesses you as he has promised you, you will lend to many nations but not borrow; you will rule many nations, but they will not rule you.

⁷“If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers within any of your city gates in the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.

⁸Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has.

⁹Be careful that there isn’t this wicked thought in your heart, ‘The seventh year, the year of canceling debts, is near,’ and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty.

¹⁰Give to him, and don’t have a stingy heart when you give, and because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do.

¹¹For there will never cease to be poor people in the land; that is why I am commanding you, ‘Open your hand willingly to your poor and needy brother in your land.’

¹²“If your fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, you must set him free in the seventh year.

¹³When you set him free, do not send him away empty-handed.

¹⁴Give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You are to give him whatever the LORD your God has blessed you with.

¹⁵Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.

¹⁶But if your slave says to you, ‘I don’t want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and is well off with you,

¹⁷take an awl and pierce through his ear into the door, and he will become your slave for life. Also treat your female slave the same way.

¹⁸Do not regard it as a hardship when you set him free, because he worked for you six years — worth twice the wages of a hired worker. Then the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.

¹⁹“Consecrate to the LORD your God every firstborn male produced by your herd and flock. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work or shear the firstborn of your flock.

²⁰Each year you and your family are to eat it before the LORD your God in the place the LORD chooses.

²¹But if there is a defect in the animal, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you may not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.

²²Eat it within your city gates; both the unclean person and the clean may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or deer.

²³But you must not eat its blood; pour it on the ground like water.

¹I wish you would put up with a little foolishness from me. Yes, do put up with me!

²For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, because I have promised you in marriage to one husband — to present a pure virgin to Christ.

³But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

⁴For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not accepted, you put up with it splendidly!

⁵Now I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.”

⁶Even if I am untrained in public speaking, I am certainly not untrained in knowledge. Indeed, we have in every way made that clear to you in everything.

⁷Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?

⁸I robbed other churches by taking pay from them to minister to you.

⁹When I was present with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, since the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have kept myself, and will keep myself, from burdening you in any way.

¹⁰As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia.

¹¹Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows I do!

¹²But I will continue to do what I am doing, in order to deny an opportunity to those who want to be regarded as our equals in what they boast about.

¹³For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

¹⁴And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

¹⁵So it is no great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works.

¹⁶I repeat: Let no one consider me a fool. But if you do, at least accept me as a fool so that I can also boast a little.

¹⁷What I am saying in this matter of boasting, I don’t speak as the Lord would, but as it were, foolishly.

¹⁸Since many boast according to the flesh, I will also boast.

¹⁹For you, being so wise, gladly put up with fools!

²⁰In fact, you put up with it if someone enslaves you, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone is arrogant toward you, if someone slaps you in the face.

²¹I say this to our shame: We have been too weak for that! But in whatever anyone dares to boast — I am talking foolishly — I also dare:

²²Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the descendants of Abraham? So am I.

²³Are they servants of Christ? I’m talking like a madman — I’m a better one: with far more labors, many more imprisonments, far worse beatings, many times near death.

²⁴Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews.

²⁵Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea.

²⁶On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers;

²⁷toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing.

²⁸Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches.

²⁹Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?

³⁰If boasting is necessary, I will boast about my weaknesses.

³¹The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying.

³²In Damascus, a ruler under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to arrest me.

³³So I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands.

¹In the same way, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, even if some disobey the word, they may be won over without a word by the way their wives live

²when they observe your pure, reverent lives.

³Don’t let your beauty consist of outward things like elaborate hairstyles and wearing gold jewelry,

⁴but rather what is inside the heart  — the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

⁵For in the past, the holy women who put their hope in God also adorned themselves in this way, submitting to their own husbands,

⁶just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You have become her children when you do what is good and do not fear any intimidation.

⁷Husbands, in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker partner, showing them honor as coheirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

⁸Finally, all of you be like-minded and sympathetic, love one another, and be compassionate and humble,

⁹not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you may inherit a blessing.

¹⁰For the one who wants to love life and to see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit,

¹¹and let him turn away from evil and do what is good. Let him seek peace and pursue it,

¹²because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do what is evil.

¹³Who then will harm you if you are devoted to what is good?

¹⁴But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear or be intimidated,

¹⁵but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

¹⁶Yet do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that when you are accused, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame.

¹⁷For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

¹⁸For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,

¹⁹in which he also went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison

²⁰who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared. In it a few — that is, eight people  — were saved through water.

²¹Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not as the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

²²who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.

¹There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven:

²a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot;

³a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build;

⁴a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance;

⁵a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing;

⁶a time to search and a time to count as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away;

⁷a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to be silent and a time to speak;

⁸a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹What does the worker gain from his struggles?

¹⁰I have seen the task that God has given the children of Adam to keep them occupied.

¹¹He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and enjoy the good life.

¹³It is also the gift of God whenever anyone eats, drinks, and enjoys all his efforts.

¹⁴I know that everything God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it. God works so that people will be in awe of him.

¹⁵Whatever is, has already been, and whatever will be, already is. However, God seeks justice for the persecuted.

¹⁶I also observed under the sun: there is wickedness at the place of judgment and there is wickedness at the place of righteousness.

¹⁷I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every work.”

¹⁸I said to myself, “This happens so that God may test the children of Adam and they may see for themselves that they are like animals.”

¹⁹For the fate of the children of Adam and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals since everything is futile.

²⁰All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.

²¹Who knows if the spirits of the children of Adam go upward and the spirits of animals go downward to the earth?

²²I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?

¹For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A of David. [1] God, listen to my prayer and do not hide from my plea for help.

²Pay attention to me and answer me. I am restless and in turmoil with my complaint,

³because of the enemy’s words, because of the pressure of the wicked. For they bring down disaster on me and harass me in anger.

⁴My heart shudders within me; terrors of death sweep over me.

⁵Fear and trembling grip me; horror has overwhelmed me.

⁶I said, “If only I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest.

⁷How far away I would flee; I would stay in the wilderness. Selah

⁸I would hurry to my shelter from the raging wind and the storm.”

⁹Lord, confuse and confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city;

¹⁰day and night they make the rounds on its walls. Crime and trouble are within it;

¹¹destruction is inside it; oppression and deceit never leave its marketplace.

¹²Now it is not an enemy who insults me — otherwise I could bear it; it is not a foe who rises up against me — otherwise I could hide from him.

¹³But it is you, a man who is my peer, my companion and good friend!

¹⁴We used to have close fellowship; we walked with the crowd into the house of God.

¹⁵Let death take them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, because evil is in their homes and within them.

¹⁶But I call to God, and the LORD will save me.

¹⁷I complain and groan morning, noon, and night, and he hears my voice.

¹⁸Though many are against me, he will redeem me from my battle unharmed.

¹⁹God, the one enthroned from long ago, will hear and will humiliate them Selah because they do not change and do not fear God.

²⁰My friend acts violently against those at peace with him; he violates his covenant.

²¹His buttery words are smooth, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords.

²²Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

²³God, you will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and treachery will not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.

¹Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.

²Whoever lives with integrity fears the LORD, but the one who is devious in his ways despises him.

³The proud speech of a fool brings a rod of discipline, but the lips of the wise protect them.

⁴Where there are no oxen, the feeding trough is empty, but an abundant harvest comes through the strength of an ox.

⁵An honest witness does not deceive, but a dishonest witness utters lies.

⁶A mocker seeks wisdom and doesn’t find it, but knowledge comes easily to the perceptive.

⁷Stay away from a foolish person; you will gain no knowledge from his speech.

⁸The sensible person’s wisdom is to consider his way, but the stupidity of fools deceives them.

⁹Fools mock at making reparation, but there is goodwill among the upright.

¹⁰The heart knows its own bitterness, and no outsider shares in its joy.

¹¹The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.

¹²There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.

¹³Even in laughter a heart may be sad, and joy may end in grief.

¹⁴The disloyal one will get what his conduct deserves, and a good one, what his deeds deserve.

¹⁵The inexperienced one believes anything, but the sensible one watches his steps.

¹⁶A wise person is cautious and turns from evil, but a fool is easily angered and is careless.

¹⁷A quick-tempered person acts foolishly, and one who schemes is hated.

¹⁸The inexperienced inherit foolishness, but the sensible are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹The evil bow before those who are good, and the wicked, at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰A poor person is hated even by his neighbor, but there are many who love the rich.

²¹The one who despises his neighbor sins, but whoever shows kindness to the poor will be happy.

²²Don’t those who plan evil go astray? But those who plan good find loyalty and faithfulness.

²³There is profit in all hard work, but endless talk leads only to poverty.

²⁴The crown of the wise is their wealth, but the foolishness of fools produces foolishness.

²⁵A truthful witness rescues lives, but one who utters lies is deceitful.

²⁶In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence and his children have a refuge.

²⁷The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning people away from the snares of death.

²⁸A large population is a king’s splendor, but a shortage of people is a ruler’s devastation.

²⁹A patient person shows great understanding, but a quick-tempered one promotes foolishness.

³⁰A tranquil heart is life to the body, but jealousy is rottenness to the bones.

³¹The one who oppresses the poor person insults his Maker, but one who is kind to the needy honors him.

³²The wicked one is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous one has a refuge in his death.

³³Wisdom resides in the heart of the discerning; she is known even among fools.

³⁴Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

³⁵A king favors a prudent servant, but his anger falls on a disgraceful one.

¹As the time approached for David to die, he ordered his son Solomon,

²“As for me, I am going the way of all of the earth. Be strong and be a man,

³and keep your obligation to the LORD your God to walk in his ways and to keep his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees. This is written in the law of Moses, so that you will have success in everything you do and wherever you turn,

⁴and so that the LORD will fulfill his promise that he made to me: ‘If your sons guard their way to walk faithfully before me with all their heart and all their soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

⁵“You also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me and what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s army, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He murdered them in a time of peace to avenge blood shed in war. He spilled that blood on his own waistband and on the sandals of his feet.

⁶Act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head descend to Sheol in peace.

⁷“Show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite and let them be among those who eat at your table because they supported me when I fled from your brother Absalom.

⁸“Keep an eye on Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim who is with you. He uttered malicious curses against me the day I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan River, and I swore to him by the LORD: ‘I will never kill you with the sword.’

⁹So don’t let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man. You know how to deal with him to bring his gray head down to Sheol with blood.”

¹⁰Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.

¹¹The length of time David reigned over Israel was forty years: he reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

¹²Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingship was firmly established.

¹³Now Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. She asked, “Do you come peacefully?” “Peacefully,” he replied,

¹⁴and then asked, “May I talk with you?” “Go ahead,” she answered.

¹⁵“You know the kingship was mine,” he said. “All Israel expected me to be king, but then the kingship was turned over to my brother, for the LORD gave it to him.

¹⁶So now I have just one request of you; don’t turn me down.” She said to him, “Go on.”

¹⁷He replied, “Please speak to King Solomon since he won’t turn you down. Let him give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.”

¹⁸“Very well,” Bathsheba replied. “I will speak to the king for you.”

¹⁹So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, sat down on his throne, and had a throne placed for the king’s mother. So she sat down at his right hand.

²⁰Then she said, “I have just one small request of you. Don’t turn me down.” “Go ahead and ask, mother,” the king replied, “for I won’t turn you down.”

²¹So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife.”

²²King Solomon answered his mother, “Why are you requesting Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my elder brother, you might as well ask the kingship for him, for the priest Abiathar, and for Joab son of Zeruiah.”

²³Then King Solomon took an oath by the LORD: “May God punish me and do so severely if Adonijah has not made this request at the cost of his life.

²⁴And now, as the LORD lives — the one who established me, seated me on the throne of my father David, and made me a dynasty as he promised  — I swear Adonijah will be put to death today!”

²⁵Then King Solomon dispatched Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who struck down Adonijah, and he died.

²⁶The king said to the priest Abiathar, “Go to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death today, since you carried the ark of the Lord GOD in the presence of my father David and you suffered through all that my father suffered.”

²⁷So Solomon banished Abiathar from being the LORD’s priest, and it fulfilled the LORD’s prophecy he had spoken at Shiloh against Eli’s family.

²⁸The news reached Joab. Since he had supported Adonijah but not Absalom, Joab fled to the LORD’s tabernacle and took hold of the horns of the altar.

²⁹It was reported to King Solomon: “Joab has fled to the LORD’s tabernacle and is now beside the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada and told him, “Go and strike him down!”

³⁰So Benaiah went to the tabernacle and said to Joab, “This is what the king says: ‘Come out!’” But Joab said, “No, for I will die here.” So Benaiah took a message back to the king, “This is what Joab said, and this is how he answered me.”

³¹The king said to him, “Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him in order to remove from me and from my father’s family the blood that Joab shed without just cause.

³²The LORD will bring back his own blood on his head because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, without my father David’s knowledge. With his sword, Joab murdered Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army.

³³The responsibility for their deaths will come back to Joab and to his descendants forever, but for David, his descendants, his dynasty, and his throne, there will be peace from the LORD forever.”

³⁴Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and put him to death. He was buried at his house in the wilderness.

³⁵Then the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab’s place over the army, and he appointed the priest Zadok in Abiathar’s place.

³⁶Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there, but don’t leave there and go anywhere else.

³⁷On the day you do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die. Your blood will be on your own head.”

³⁸Shimei said to the king, “The sentence is fair; your servant will do as my lord the king has spoken.” And Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.

³⁹But then, at the end of three years, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. Shimei was informed, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.”

⁴⁰So Shimei saddled his donkey and set out to Achish at Gath to search for his slaves. He went and brought them back from Gath.

⁴¹It was reported to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned.

⁴²So the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Didn’t I make you swear by the LORD and warn you, saying, ‘On the day you leave and go anywhere else, know for sure that you will certainly die’? And you said to me, ‘The sentence is fair; I will obey.’

⁴³So why have you not kept the LORD’s oath and the command that I gave you?”

⁴⁴The king also said, “You yourself know all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore, the LORD has brought back your evil on your head,

⁴⁵but King Solomon will be blessed, and David’s throne will remain established before the LORD forever.”

⁴⁶Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down, and he died. So the kingdom was established in Solomon’s hand.

¹In the ninth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to it.

²In the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, on the ninth day of the month, the city was broken into.

³All the officials of the king of Babylon entered and sat at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar, Nebusarsechim the chief of staff, Nergal-sharezer the chief soothsayer, and all the rest of the officials of Babylon’s king.

⁴When King Zedekiah of Judah and all the fighting men saw them, they fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the city gate between the two walls. They left along the route to the Arabah.

⁵However, the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They arrested him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon’s king, at Riblah in the land of Hamath. The king passed sentence on him there.

⁶At Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all Judah’s nobles.

⁷Then he blinded Zedekiah and put him in bronze chains to take him to Babylon.

⁸The Chaldeans next burned down the king’s palace and the people’s houses and tore down the walls of Jerusalem.

⁹Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, deported the rest of the people to Babylon — those who had remained in the city and those deserters who had defected to him along with the rest of the people who remained.

¹⁰However, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and he gave them vineyards and fields at that time.

¹¹Speaking through Nebuzaradan, captain of the guards, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gave orders concerning Jeremiah:

¹²“Take him and look after him. Don’t do him any harm, but do for him whatever he says.”

¹³Nebuzaradan, captain of the guards, Nebushazban the chief of staff, Nergal-sharezer the chief soothsayer, and all the captains of Babylon’s king

¹⁴had Jeremiah brought from the guard’s courtyard and turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he settled among his own people.

¹⁵Now the word of the LORD had come to Jeremiah when he was confined in the guard’s courtyard:

¹⁶“Go tell Ebed-melech the Cushite, ‘This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words for disaster and not for good against this city. They will take place before your eyes on that day.

¹⁷But I will rescue you on that day — this is the LORD’s declaration — and you will not be handed over to the men you dread.

¹⁸Indeed, I will certainly deliver you so that you do not fall by the sword. Because you have trusted in me, you will retain your life like the spoils of war. This is the LORD’s declaration.’”

¹While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples

²and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” “No,” they told him, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³“Into what then were you baptized?” he asked them. “Into John’s baptism,” they replied.

⁴Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”

⁵When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

⁶And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in other tongues and to prophesy.

⁷Now there were about twelve men in all.

⁸Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

⁹But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples, and conducted discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

¹⁰This went on for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

¹¹God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands,

¹²so that even facecloths or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

¹³Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!”

¹⁴Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.

¹⁵The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul — but who are you?”

¹⁶Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.

¹⁷When this became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, they became afraid, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem.

¹⁸And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices,

¹⁹while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.

²⁰In this way the word of the Lord flourished and prevailed.

²¹After these events, Paul resolved by the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I’ve been there,” he said, “It is necessary for me to see Rome as well.”

²²After sending to Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

²³About that time there was a major disturbance about the Way.

²⁴For a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, provided a great deal of business for the craftsmen.

²⁵When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said: “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business.

²⁶You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods.

²⁷Not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin — the very one all of Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

²⁹So the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.

³⁰Although Paul wanted to go in before the people, the disciples did not let him.

³¹Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to venture into the amphitheater.

³²Some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.

³³Some Jews in the crowd gave instructions to Alexander after they pushed him to the front. Motioning with his hand, Alexander wanted to make his defense to the people.

³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵When the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “People of Ephesus! What person is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven?

³⁶Therefore, since these things are undeniable, you must keep calm and not do anything rash.

³⁷For you have brought these men here who are not temple robbers or blasphemers of our goddess.

³⁸So if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a case against anyone, the courts are in session, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.

³⁹But if you seek anything further, it must be decided in a legal assembly.

⁴⁰In fact, we run a risk of being charged with rioting for what happened today, since there is no justification that we can give as a reason for this disturbance.”

⁴¹After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.