Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.

²And He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

³“ Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

⁵“Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth.

⁶“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

⁷“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

⁸“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

⁹“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

¹⁰“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people.

¹⁴“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;

¹⁵nor do people light a lamp and put it under abasket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

¹⁶Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

¹⁷“Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.

¹⁸For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, notthe smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished!

¹⁹Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teachesothers to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoeverkeeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰“For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

²¹“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MURDER,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be answerable to the court.’

²²But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable tothe supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into thefiery hell.

²³Therefore, if you are presenting youroffering at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you,

²⁴leave youroffering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present youroffering.

²⁵Come to good terms with your accuser quickly, while you are with him on the way to court, so that your accuser will not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you will not be thrown into prison.

²⁶Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the lastquadrans.

²⁷“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’;

²⁸but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

²⁹Now if your right eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body,than for your whole body to be thrown intohell.

³⁰And if your right hand is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; for it is better for youto lose one of the parts of your body,than for your whole body to go intohell.

³¹“Now it was said, ‘WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY IS TO GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE’;

³²but I say to you that everyone whodivorces his wife, except for the reason of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries adivorced woman commits adultery.

³³“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘ YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.’

³⁴But I say to you, take no oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

³⁵nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, norby Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING.

³⁶Nor shall you take an oath by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.

³⁷But make sure your statement is, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these isof evil origin.

³⁸“You have heard that it was said, ‘EYE FOR EYE, and TOOTH FOR TOOTH.’

³⁹But I say to you, do not show opposition against an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other toward him also.

⁴⁰And if anyone wants to sue you and take yourtunic, let him have yourcloak also.

⁴¹Whoeverforces you to go one mile, go with him two.

⁴²Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’

⁴⁴But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

⁴⁵so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

⁴⁶For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same?

⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same?

⁴⁸Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

¹“If a person who has been killed by someone is found lying in the open country in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who struck him,

²then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the one who was killed.

³And it shall be that the city which is nearest to the person killed, that is, that the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked and has not pulled in a yoke;

⁴and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley.

⁵Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, because the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the name of the LORD; and every dispute and violent crime shall be settled by them.

⁶And all the elders of that city which is nearest to the person killed shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

⁷and they shall respond and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see who did.

⁸Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, LORD, and do not place the guilt for innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.’ And the guilt for bloodshed shall be forgiven them.

⁹So you shall remove the guilt for innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

¹⁰“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God hands them over to you and you take them away captive,

¹¹and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and are strongly attracted to her and would take her as a wife for yourself,

¹²then you shall bring her into your home, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails.

¹³She shall also remove the clothes of her captivity and shall remain in your house, and weep for her father and mother a full month; and after that you may have relations with her and become her husband and she shall be your wife.

¹⁴But it shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go wherever she wishes; and you certainly shall not sell her for money, you shall not treat her as merchandise, since you have humiliated her.

¹⁵“If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, and the firstborn son belongs to the unloved,

¹⁶then it shall be on the day that he wills what he owns as an inheritance to his sons, he is not allowed to treat the son of the loved wife as the firstborn, at the expense of the son of the unloved, who actually is the firstborn son.

¹⁷On the contrary, he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of everything that he owns, for he was the beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the firstborn.

¹⁸“If any person has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father or his mother, and when they discipline him, he does not listen to them,

¹⁹then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown.

²⁰And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us, he is thoughtless and given to drinking.’

²¹Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall eliminate the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear about it and fear.

²²“Now if a person has committed a sin carrying a sentence of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,

²³his body is not to be left overnight on the tree, but you shall certainly bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is cursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

¹Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave, although he is owner of everything,

²but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.

³So we too, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elementary principles of the world.

⁴But when the fullness of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,

⁵so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters.

⁶Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!”

⁷Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

⁸However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are not gods.

⁹But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles, to which you want to be enslaved all over again?

¹⁰You meticulously observe days and months and seasons and years.

¹¹I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.

¹²I beg of you, brothers and sisters, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong;

¹³but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time;

¹⁴and you did not despise that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition, nor express contempt, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself.

¹⁵Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I testify about you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

¹⁶So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?

¹⁷They eagerly seek you, not in a commendable way, but they want to shut you out so that you will seek them.

¹⁸But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable way, and not only when I am present with you.

¹⁹My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you—

²⁰but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone of voice, for I am at a loss about you!

²¹Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the Law?

²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free woman.

²³But the son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise.

²⁴This is speaking allegorically, for these women are two covenants: one coming from Mount Sinai giving birth to children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar.

²⁵Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is enslaved with her children.

²⁶But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.

²⁷For it is written: “REJOICE, INFERTILE ONE, YOU WHO DO NOT GIVE BIRTH; BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR; FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE ONE are more numerous THAN those of the one who has a husband.”

²⁸And you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.

²⁹But as at that time the son who was born according to the flesh persecuted the one who was born according to the Spirit, so it is even now.

³⁰But what does the Scripture say? “DRIVE OUT THE SLAVE WOMAN AND HER SON, FOR THE SON OF THE SLAVE WOMAN SHALL NOT BE AN HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN.”

³¹So then, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave woman, but of the free woman.

¹What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—

²and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us—

³what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

⁴These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

⁵This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

⁶If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;

⁷but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

⁸If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

¹For I have taken all this to my heart, even to examine it all, that righteous people, wise people, and their deeds are in the hand of God. People do not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits them.

²It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and the unclean; for the person who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good person is, so is the sinner; the one who swears an oath is just as the one who is afraid to swear an oath.

³This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of mankind are full of evil, and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterward they go to the dead.

⁴For whoever is joined to all the living, there is hope; for better a live dog, than a dead lion.

⁵For the living know that they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor do they have a reward any longer, for their memory is forgotten.

⁶Indeed their love, their hate, and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.

⁷Go then, eat your bread in happiness, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works.

⁸See that your clothes are white all the time, and that there is no lack of oil on your head.

⁹Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your futile life which He has given you under the sun, all the days of your futility; for this is your reward in life and in your work which you have labored under the sun.

¹⁰Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

¹¹I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning, nor favor to the skillful; for time and chance overtake them all.

¹²For indeed, a person does not know his time: like fish that are caught in a treacherous net and birds caught in a snare, so the sons of mankind are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them.

¹³This too I saw as wisdom under the sun, and it impressed me:

¹⁴there was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it, surrounded it, and constructed large siegeworks against it.

¹⁵But there was found in it a poor wise man, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

¹⁶So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are ignored.

¹⁷The words of the wise heard in calm are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

¹Hear my cry, God; Give Your attention to my prayer.

²From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

³For You have been a refuge for me, A tower of strength against the enemy.

⁴Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah

⁵For You have heard my vows, God; You have given me the inheritance of those who fear Your name.

⁶You will prolong the king’s life; His years will be like generations.

⁷He will sit enthroned before God forever; Appoint faithfulness and truth that they may watch over him.

⁸So I will sing praise to Your name forever, That I may pay my vows day by day.

¹Wine is a mocker, intoxicating drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

²The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion; One who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

³Avoiding strife is an honor for a person, But any fool will quarrel.

⁴The lazy one does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.

⁵A plan in the heart of a person is like deep water, But a person of understanding draws it out.

⁶Many a person proclaims his own loyalty, But who can find a trustworthy person?

⁷A righteous person who walks in his integrity— How blessed are his sons after him.

⁸A king who sits on the throne of justice Disperses all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin”?

¹⁰Differing weights and differing measures, Both of them are abominable to the LORD.

¹¹It is by his deeds that a boy distinguishes himself, If his conduct is pure and right.

¹²The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made both of them.

¹³Do not love sleep, or you will become poor; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.

¹⁴“Bad, bad,” says the buyer, But when he goes his way, then he boasts.

¹⁵There is gold, and an abundance of jewels; But lips of knowledge are a more precious thing.

¹⁶Take his garment when he becomes guarantor for a stranger; And for foreigners, seize a pledge from him.

¹⁷Bread obtained by a lie is sweet to a person, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

¹⁸Prepare plans by consultation, And make war by wise guidance.

¹⁹One who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets; Therefore do not associate with a gossip.

²⁰He who curses his father or his mother, His lamp will go out in time of darkness.

²¹An inheritance gained in a hurry at the beginning Will not be blessed in the end.

²²Do not say, “I will repay evil”; Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.

²³Differing weights are an abomination to the LORD, And a false scale is not good.

²⁴A man’s steps are ordained by the LORD; How then can a person understand his way?

²⁵It is a trap for a person to say carelessly, “It is holy!” And after the vows to make inquiry.

²⁶A wise king scatters the wicked, And drives a threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The spirit of a person is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being.

²⁸Loyalty and truth watch over the king, And he upholds his throne by loyalty.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength, And the honor of old men is their gray hair.

³⁰Bruising wounds clean away evil, And blows cleanse the innermost parts.

¹Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the city of David, that is, Zion.

²So all the men of Israel assembled themselves before King Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, that is, the seventh month.

³Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

⁴And they brought up the ark of the LORD, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils which were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.

⁵And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were gathered together to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

⁶Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.

⁷For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its carrying poles from above.

⁸But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day.

⁹There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰And it happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD,

¹¹so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

¹²Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.

¹³I have truly built You a lofty house, A place for Your dwelling forever.”

¹⁴Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.

¹⁵He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and fulfilled it with His hands, saying,

¹⁶‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel from Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that My name would be there, but I chose David to be over My people Israel.’

¹⁷Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹⁸But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.

¹⁹Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he will build the house for My name.’

²⁰Now the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

²¹And there I have set a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

²²Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and he spread out his hands toward heaven.

²³And he said, “LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping the covenant and showing faithfulness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart,

²⁴You who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You promised him; You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.

²⁵Now then, LORD, God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father that which You have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not be deprived of a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful about their way, to walk before Me as you have walked.’

²⁶Now then, God of Israel, let Your words, please, be confirmed, which You have spoken to Your servant, my father David.

²⁷“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!

²⁸Nevertheless, turn Your attention to the prayer of Your servant and to his plea, LORD, my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today,

²⁹so that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ to listen to the prayer which Your servant will pray toward this place.

³⁰And listen to the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; hear in heaven Your dwelling place; hear and forgive!

³¹“If a person sins against his neighbor and is compelled to take an oath of innocence, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house,

³²then hear in heaven and act and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and acquitting the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

³³“When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, if they turn to You again and confess Your name and pray and implore Your favor in this house,

³⁴then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave their fathers.

³⁵“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and praise Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them,

³⁶then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel; indeed, teach them the good way in which they are to walk. And provide rain on Your land, which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

³⁷“If there is a famine in the land, if there is a plague, if there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, if their enemy harasses them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,

³⁸whatever prayer or plea is offered by any person or by all Your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading his hands toward this house;

³⁹then hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive and act, and give to each in accordance with all his ways, whose heart You know—for You alone know the hearts of all mankind—

⁴⁰so that they will fear You all the days that they live on the land which You have given to our fathers.

⁴¹“Also regarding the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country on account of Your name

⁴²(for they will hear of Your great name and Your mighty hand, and of Your outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house,

⁴³hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and act in accordance with all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name.

⁴⁴“When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way You send them, and they pray to the LORD toward the city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name,

⁴⁵then hear in heaven their prayer and their pleading, and maintain their cause.

⁴⁶“When they sin against You (for there is no person who does not sin) and You are angry with them and turn them over to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to the land of the enemy, distant or near;

⁴⁷if they take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and implore Your favor in the land of those who have taken them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have acted wickedly’;

⁴⁸if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and pray to You toward their land which You have given to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name;

⁴⁹then hear their prayer and their pleading in heaven, Your dwelling place, and maintain their cause,

⁵⁰and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all their wrongdoings which they have committed against You, and make them objects of compassion before those who have taken them captive, so that they will have compassion on them

⁵¹(for they are Your people and Your inheritance which You have brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace),

⁵²so that Your eyes may be open to the pleading of Your servant and to the pleading of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You.

⁵³For You have singled them out from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, just as You spoke through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord GOD.”

⁵⁴When Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and plea to the LORD, he stood up from the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread toward heaven.

⁵⁵And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:

⁵⁶“Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel in accordance with everything that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant.

⁵⁷May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us nor forsake us,

⁵⁸so that He may guide our hearts toward Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers.

⁵⁹And may these words of mine, with which I have implored the favor of the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, so that He will maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires,

⁶⁰so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no one else.

⁶¹Your hearts therefore shall be wholly devoted to the LORD our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”

⁶²Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifice before the LORD.

⁶³And Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the LORD, twenty-two thousand oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.

⁶⁴On the same day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the house of the LORD, because there he offered the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the peace offerings; for the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too small to hold the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, for seven days and seven more days, that is, fourteen days.

⁶⁶On the eighth day he dismissed the people, and they blessed the king. Then they went to their tents joyful and with happy hearts for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David His servant, and to Israel His people.

¹This is the message which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at Jeremiah’s dictation, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying:

²“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says to you, Baruch:

³‘You said, “Oh, woe to me! For the LORD has added grief to my pain; I am weary with my groaning and have found no rest.” ’

⁴This is what you are to say to him: ‘This is what the LORD says: “Behold, what I have built I am going to tear down, and what I have planted I am going to uproot, that is, all the people of the land.”

⁵But as for you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to bring disaster on all flesh,’ declares the LORD, ‘but I will give your life to you as plunder in all the places where you may go.’ ”

¹Festus, then, after arriving in the province, went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea three days later.

²And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul, and they were pleading with Festus,

³requesting a concession against Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time, setting an ambush to kill him on the way).

⁴Festus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody in Caesarea, and that he himself was about to leave shortly.

⁵“Therefore,” he *said, “have the influential men among you go there with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, have them bring charges against him.”

⁶After Festus had spent no more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered that Paul be brought.

⁷After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many, and serious, charges against him which they could not prove,

⁸while Paul said in his own defense, “I have not done anything wrong either against the Law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against Caesar.”

⁹But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, replied to Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?”

¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know.

¹¹If, therefore, I am in the wrong and have committed something deserving death, I am not trying to avoid execution; but if there is nothing to the accusations which these men are bringing against me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.”

¹²Then when Festus had conferred with his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go.”

¹³Now when several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea, paying their respects to Festus.

¹⁴And while they were spending many days there, Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix;

¹⁵and when I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.

¹⁶I replied to them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any person before the accused meets his accusers face to face, and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges.

¹⁷So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered that the man be brought.

¹⁸When the accusers stood up, they did not begin bringing any charges against him of crimes that I suspected,

¹⁹but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive.

²⁰And being at a loss how to investigate such matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these matters.

²¹But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered that he be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.”

²²Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he *said, “you shall hear him.”

²³So, on the next day when Agrippa and Bernice came amid great pomp and entered the auditorium, accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought before them.

²⁴And Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.

²⁵But I found that he had committed nothing deserving death; and since he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him.

²⁶Yet, I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore, I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write.

²⁷For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him as well.”