Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹"Be [very] careful not to do your good deeds publicly, to be seen by men; otherwise you will have no reward [prepared and awaiting you] with your Father who is in heaven.

²"So whenever you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not blow a trumpet before you [to advertise it], as the hypocrites do [like actors acting out a role] in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored and recognized and praised by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full.

³But when you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing [give in complete secrecy],

⁴so that your charitable acts will be done in secret; and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.

⁵"Also, when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to pray [publicly] standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets so that they may be seen by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full.

⁶But when you pray, go into your most private room, close the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.

⁷"And when you pray, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

⁸So do not be like them [praying as they do]; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁹"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

¹⁰' Your kingdom come, Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹'Give us this day our daily bread.

¹²'And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment].

¹³'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]'

¹⁴For if you forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins], your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

¹⁵But if you do not forgive others [nurturing your hurt and anger with the result that it interferes with your relationship with God], then your Father will not forgive your trespasses.

¹⁶"And whenever you are fasting, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they put on a sad and dismal face [like actors, discoloring their faces with ashes or dirt] so that their fasting may be seen by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full.

¹⁷But when you fast, put oil on your head [as you normally would to groom your hair] and wash your face

¹⁸so that your fasting will not be noticed by people, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.

¹⁹"Do not store up for yourselves [material] treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal;

²¹for where your treasure is, there your heart [your wishes, your desires; that on which your life centers] will be also.

²²"The eye is the lamp of the body; so if your eye is clear [spiritually perceptive], your whole body will be full of light [benefiting from God's precepts].

²³But if your eye is bad [spiritually blind], your whole body will be full of darkness [devoid of God's precepts]. So if the [very] light inside you [your inner self, your heart, your conscience] is darkness, how great and terrible is that darkness!

²⁴"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].

²⁵"Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?

²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the harvest] nor gather [the crops] into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?

²⁷And who of you by worrying can add one hour to [the length of] his life?

²⁸And why are you worried about clothes? See how the lilies and wildflowers of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin [wool to make clothing],

²⁹yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these.

³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive and green today and tomorrow is [cut and] thrown [as fuel] into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!

³¹Therefore do not worry or be anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted), saying, 'What are we going to eat?' or 'What are we going to drink?' or 'What are we going to wear?'

³²For the [pagan] Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; [but do not worry,] for your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

³³But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.

³⁴"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

¹"You shall not see your countryman's ox or his sheep straying away or being stolen, and ignore [your duty to help] them; you shall certainly take them back to him.

²If your countryman is not nearby or you do not know him, you shall bring the animal to your house, and it shall stay with you until he searches for it; then you shall return it to him.

³You shall do this with his donkey or with his garment or with anything that your countryman has lost and you have found. You are not allowed to ignore [your duty to help] them.

⁴You shall not see your countryman's donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and ignore [your duty to help] them; you shall certainly help him lift it up.

⁵"A woman shall not wear a man's clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman's clothing; for whoever does these things is utterly repulsive to the LORD your God.

⁶"If you happen to come upon a bird's nest along the road, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother [bird] is sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young.

⁷You shall certainly let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself, so that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.

⁸"When you build a new house, you shall make a railing (parapet) around your [flat] roof, so that you do not bring the guilt of [innocent] blood on your house if someone falls from it.

⁹"You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or everything produced by the seed which you have sown and the yield of the vineyard will become defiled [and banned for use].

¹⁰"You shall not plow with an ox [a clean animal] and a donkey [an unclean animal] together.

¹¹"You shall not wear a fabric made of wool and linen blended together [a fabric pagans believed to be magical].

¹²"You shall make tassels for yourself on the four corners of your outer garment with which you cover yourself.

¹³"If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then scorns and hates her,

¹⁴and charges her [without cause] with shameful behavior and publicly defames her, and says, 'I took this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,'

¹⁵then the young woman's father and her mother shall get and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city at the gate [where court is held].

¹⁶The father of the young woman shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he hates her and has turned against her;

¹⁷and behold, he has made baseless charges against her, saying, "I did not find in your daughter the evidence of her virginity." But this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity.' And they shall spread out the garment before the elders of the city.

¹⁸"Then the elders of that city shall take the man and reprimand him,

¹⁹and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the father of the young woman, because he publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he is not allowed to divorce her as long as he lives.

²⁰"But if this charge is true that the evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman,

²¹then they shall bring her out to the doorway of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed a deliberate sin in Israel by playing the prostitute in her father's house. So you shall remove the evil from among you.

²²"If a man is intimate with a woman who is another man's wife, they shall both be put to death, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall remove the evil from Israel.

²³"If a young woman who is a virgin is engaged (legally betrothed) to a man, and another man finds her in the city and is intimate with her,

²⁴then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out for help [though she was] in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor's [promised] wife. So you shall remove the evil from among you.

²⁵"However, if the man finds the girl who is engaged (legally betrothed) in the [open] field, and seizes her and is intimate with her [by force], then only the man who lies with her shall be put to death.

²⁶But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no sin worthy of death, for this is the same as when a man attacks his neighbor and murders him.

²⁷When he found her in the [open] field, the engaged girl [may have] cried out for help, but there was no one to [hear and] save her.

²⁸"If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not engaged, and seizes her and is intimate with her and they are discovered,

²⁹then the man who was intimate with her shall give fifty shekels of silver to the girl's father, and she shall become his wife because he has violated her; he can never divorce her.

³⁰" A man shall not take his father's [former] wife, so that he will not expose his father's wife.

¹It was for this freedom that Christ set us free [completely liberating us]; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [which you once removed].

²Notice, it is I, Paul, who tells you that if you receive circumcision [as a supposed requirement of salvation], Christ will be of no benefit to you [for you will lack the faith in Christ that is necessary for salvation].

³Once more I solemnly affirm to every man who receives circumcision [as a supposed requirement of salvation], that he is under obligation and required to keep the whole Law.

⁴You have been severed from Christ, if you seek to be justified [that is, declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing with God] through the Law; you have fallen from grace [for you have lost your grasp on God's unmerited favor and blessing].

⁵For we [not relying on the Law but] through the [strength and power of the Holy] Spirit, by faith, are waiting [confidently] for the hope of righteousness [the completion of our salvation].

⁶For [if we are] in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but only faith activated and expressed and working through love.

⁷You were running [the race] well; who has interfered and prevented you from obeying the truth?

⁸This [deceptive] persuasion is not from Him who called you [to freedom in Christ].

⁹A little leaven [a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers] leavens the whole batch [it perverts the concept of faith and misleads the church].

¹⁰I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view [contrary to mine on the matter]; but the one who is disturbing you, whoever he is, will have to bear the penalty.

¹¹But as for me, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision [as I had done before I met Christ; and as some accuse me of doing now, as necessary for salvation], why am I still being persecuted [by Jews]? In that case the stumbling block of the cross [to unbelieving Jews] has been abolished.

¹²I wish that those who are troubling you [by teaching that circumcision is necessary for salvation] would even [go all the way and] castrate themselves!

¹³For you, my brothers, were called to freedom; only do not let your freedom become an opportunity for the sinful nature (worldliness, selfishness), but through love serve and seek the best for one another.

¹⁴For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is fulfilled in one precept, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, you shall have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit]."

¹⁵But if you bite and devour one another [in bickering and strife], watch out that you [along with your entire fellowship] are not consumed by one another.

¹⁶But I say, walk habitually in the [Holy] Spirit [seek Him and be responsive to His guidance], and then you will certainly not carry out the desire of the sinful nature [which responds impulsively without regard for God and His precepts].

¹⁷For the sinful nature has its desire which is opposed to the Spirit, and the [desire of the] Spirit opposes the sinful nature; for these [two, the sinful nature and the Spirit] are in direct opposition to each other [continually in conflict], so that you [as believers] do not [always] do whatever [good things] you want to do.

¹⁸But if you are guided and led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the Law.

¹⁹Now the practices of the sinful nature are clearly evident: they are sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality (total irresponsibility, lack of self-control),

²⁰idolatry, sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions [that promote heresies],

²¹envy, drunkenness, riotous behavior, and other things like these. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²³gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

²⁴And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature together with its passions and appetites.

²⁵If we [claim to] live by the [Holy] Spirit, we must also walk by the Spirit [with personal integrity, godly character, and moral courage—our conduct empowered by the Holy Spirit].

²⁶We must not become conceited, challenging or provoking one another, envying one another.

¹My little children (believers, dear ones), I am writing you these things so that you will not sin and violate God's law. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate [who will intercede for us] with the Father: Jesus Christ the righteous [the upright, the just One, who conforms to the Father's will in every way—purpose, thought, and action].

²And He [that same Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins [the atoning sacrifice that holds back the wrath of God that would otherwise be directed at us because of our sinful nature—our worldliness, our lifestyle]; and not for ours alone, but also for [the sins of all believers throughout] the whole world.

³And this is how we know [daily, by experience] that we have come to know Him [to understand Him and be more deeply acquainted with Him]: if we habitually keep [focused on His precepts and obey] His commandments (teachings).

⁴Whoever says, "I have come to know Him," but does not habitually keep [focused on His precepts and obey] His commandments (teachings), is a liar, and the truth [of the divine word] is not in him.

⁵But whoever habitually keeps His word and obeys His precepts [and treasures His message in its entirety], in him the love of God has truly been perfected [it is completed and has reached maturity]. By this we know [for certain] that we are in Him:

⁶whoever says he lives in Christ [that is, whoever says he has accepted Him as God and Savior] ought [as a moral obligation] to walk and conduct himself just as He walked and conducted Himself.

⁷Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the message which you have heard [before from us].

⁸On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true and realized in Christ and in you, because the darkness [of moral blindness] is clearing away and the true Light [the revelation of God in Christ] is already shining.

⁹The one who says he is in the Light [in consistent fellowship with Christ] and yethabitually hates (works against) his brother [in Christ] is in the darkness until now.

¹⁰The one who loves and unselfishly seeks the best for his [believing] brother lives in the Light, and in him there is no occasion for stumbling or offense [he does not hurt the cause of Christ or lead others to sin].

¹¹But the one who habitually hates (works against) his brother [in Christ] is in [spiritual] darkness and is walking in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

¹²I am writing to you, little children (believers, dear ones), because your sins have been forgiven for His name's sake [you have been pardoned and released from spiritual debt through His name because you have confessed His name, believing in Him as Savior].

¹³I am writing to you, fathers [those believers who are spiritually mature], because you know Him who has existed from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men [those believers who are growing in spiritual maturity], because you have been victorious and have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children [those who are new believers, those spiritually immature], because you have come to know the Father.

¹⁴I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has existed from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and vigorous, and the word of God remains [always] in you, and you have been victorious over the evil one [by accepting Jesus as Savior].

¹⁵Do not love the world [of sin that opposes God and His precepts], nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

¹⁶For all that is in the world—the lust and sensual craving of the flesh and the lust and longing of the eyes and the boastful pride of life [pretentious confidence in one's resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father, but are from the world.

¹⁷The world is passing away, and with it its lusts [the shameful pursuits and ungodly longings]; but the one who does the will of God and carries out His purposes lives forever.

¹⁸Children, it is the last hour [the end of this age]; and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming [the one who will oppose Christ and attempt to replace Him], even now many antichrists (false teachers) have appeared, which confirms our belief that it is the last hour.

¹⁹They went out from us [seeming at first to be Christians], but they were not really of us [because they were not truly born again and spiritually transformed]; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out [teaching false doctrine], so that it would be clearly shown that none of them are of us.

²⁰But you have an anointing from the Holy One [you have been set apart, specially gifted and prepared by the Holy Spirit], and all of you know [the truth because He teaches us, illuminates our minds, and guards us from error].

²¹I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie [nothing false, no deception] is of the truth.

²²Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)? This is the antichrist [the enemy and antagonist of Christ], the one who denies and consistently refuses to acknowledge the Father and the Son.

²³Whoever denies and repudiates the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses and acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

²⁴As for you, let that remain in you [keeping in your hearts that message of salvation] which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you too will remain in the Son and in the Father [forever].

²⁵This is the promise which He Himself promised us—eternal life.

²⁶These things I have written to you with reference to those who are trying to deceive you [seducing you and leading you away from the truth and sound doctrine].

²⁷As for you, the anointing [the special gift, the preparation] which you received from Him remains [permanently] in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But just as His anointing teaches you [giving you insight through the presence of the Holy Spirit] about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as His anointing has taught you, you must remain in Him [being rooted in Him, knit to Him].

²⁸Now, little children (believers, dear ones), remain in Him [with unwavering faith], so that when He appears [at His return], we may have [perfect] confidence and not be ashamed and shrink away from Him at His coming.

²⁹If you know that He is absolutely righteous, you know [for certain] that everyone who practices righteousness [doing what is right and conforming to God's will] has been born of Him.

¹Dead flies make the oil of the perfumer give off a foul odor; so a little foolishness [in one who is esteemed] outweighs wisdom and honor.

²A wise man's heart turns him toward the right [which is the way of blessing], but a fool's heart turns him toward the left [which is the way of condemnation].

³Even when a fool walks along the road, his [common] sense and good judgment fail him and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool.

⁴If the temper of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post [showing resistance], because composure and calmness prevent great offenses.

⁵There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error which proceeds from the ruler—

⁶folly is set in many exalted places and in great dignity while the rich sit in humble places.

⁷I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the ground.

⁸He who digs a pit [for others] may fall into it, and a serpent may bite him who breaks through a [stone] wall.

⁹He who quarries stones may be hurt with them, and he who splits logs may be endangered by them.

¹⁰If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength; but wisdom [to sharpen the axe] helps him succeed [with less effort].

¹¹If the serpent bites before being charmed, then there is no profit for the charmer.

¹²The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious and win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him;

¹³the beginning of his talking is foolishness and the end of his talk is wicked madness.

¹⁴Yet the fool multiplies words, though no man knows what will happen, and who can tell him what will come after he is gone?

¹⁵The labor of a fool so wearies him [because he is ignorant] that he does not even know how to go to a city.

¹⁶Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and when your [incompetent] officials and princes feast in the morning.

¹⁷Blessed [prosperous and admired] are you, O land, when your king is a man of noble birth, and your princes and officials feast at the proper time—for strength and not for drunkenness.

¹⁸Through laziness the rafters [of state affairs] decay and the roof sags, and through idleness [the roof of] the house leaks.

¹⁹The officials make a feast for enjoyment [instead of repairing what is broken], and serve wine to make life merry, and money is the answer to everything.

²⁰Moreover, do not curse the king, even in your bedroom, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry the sound and a winged creature will make the matter known.

¹To the Chief Musician; to Jeduthun [Ethan, the noted musician, founder of an official musical family]. A Psalm of David. For God alone my soul waits in silence; From Him comes my salvation.

²He alone is my rock and my salvation, My defense and my strong tower; I will not be shaken or disheartened.

³How long will you attack a man So that you may murder him, all of you, Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?

⁴They consult only to throw him down from his high position [to dishonor him]; They delight in lies. They bless with [the words of] their mouths, But inwardly they curse. Selah.

⁵For God alone my soul waits in silence and quietly submits to Him, For my hope is from Him.

⁶He only is my rock and my salvation; My fortress and my defense, I will not be shaken or discouraged.

⁷On God my salvation and my glory rest; He is my rock of [unyielding] strength, my refuge is in God.

⁸Trust [confidently] in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. Selah.

⁹Men of low degree are only a breath (emptiness), and men of [high] rank are a lie (delusion). In the balances they go up [because they have no measurable weight or value]; They are together lighter than a breath.

¹⁰Do not trust in oppression, And do not vainly hope in robbery; If riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

¹¹God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God.

¹²Also to You, O Lord, belong lovingkindness and compassion, For You compensate every man according to [the value of] his work.

¹The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it whichever way He wishes.

²Every man's way is right in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs and examines the hearts [of people and their motives].

³To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice [for wrongs repeatedly committed].

⁴Haughty and arrogant eyes and a proud heart, The lamp of the wicked [their self-centered pride], is sin [in the eyes of God].

⁵The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance and advantage, But everyone who acts in haste comes surely to poverty.

⁶Acquiring treasures by a lying tongue Is a fleeting vapor, the seeking and pursuit of death.

⁷The violence of the wicked will [return to them and] drag them away [like fish caught in a net], Because they refuse to act with justice.

⁸The way of the guilty is [exceedingly] crooked, But as for the pure, his conduct is upright.

⁹It is better to live in a corner of the housetop [on the flat roof, exposed to the weather] Than in a house shared with a quarrelsome (contentious) woman.

¹⁰The soul of the wicked desires evil [like an addictive substance]; His neighbor finds no compassion in his eyes.

¹¹When the scoffer is punished, the naive [observes the lesson and] becomes wise; But when the wise and teachable person is instructed, he receives knowledge.

¹²The righteous one keeps an eye on the house of the wicked— How the wicked are cast down to ruin.

¹³Whoever shuts his ears at the cry of the poor Will cry out himself and not be answered.

¹⁴A gift in secret subdues anger, And a bribe [hidden] in the pocket, strong wrath.

¹⁵When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous (the upright, the one in right standing with God), But to the evildoers it is disaster.

¹⁶A man who wanders from the way of understanding (godly wisdom) Will remain in the assembly of the dead.

¹⁷He who loves [only selfish] pleasure will become a poor man; He who loves and is devoted to wine and [olive] oil will not become rich.

¹⁸The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, And the treacherous in the place of the upright [for they fall into their own traps].

¹⁹It is better to dwell in a desert land Than with a contentious and troublesome woman.

²⁰There is precious treasure and oil in the house of the wise [who prepare for the future], But a short-sighted and foolish man swallows it up and wastes it.

²¹He who earnestly seeks righteousness and loyalty Finds life, righteousness, and honor.

²²A wise man scales the city [walls] of the mighty And brings down the stronghold in which they trust.

²³He who guards his mouth and his tongue Guards himself from troubles.

²⁴"Proud," "Haughty," "Scoffer," are his names Who acts with overbearing and insolent pride.

²⁵The desire of the lazy kills him, For his hands refuse to labor;

²⁶He craves all the day long [and does no work], But the righteous [willingly] gives and does not withhold [what he has].

²⁷The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable and offensive [to the LORD]. How much more [unacceptable and insulting can it be] when he brings it with evil intention?

²⁸A false witness will perish, But a man who listens to the truth will speak forever and go unchallenged.

²⁹A wicked man puts on a bold face, But as for the upright, he considers, directs, and establishes his way [with the confidence of integrity].

³⁰There is no [human] wisdom or understanding Or counsel [that can prevail] against the LORD.

³¹The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But deliverance and victory belong to the LORD.

¹Now it happened when Solomon had finished building the house (temple) of the LORD and the king's house (palace), and all else which he was pleased to do,

²that the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, just as He had appeared to him at Gibeon.

³The LORD told him, "I have heard your prayer and supplication which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My Name and My Presence there forever. My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually.

⁴As for you, if you walk (live your life) before Me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, acting in accordance with everything that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My precepts,

⁵then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised your father David, saying, 'You shall not be without a man (descendant) on the throne of Israel.'

⁶"But if you or your sons turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,

⁷then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and I will cast out of My sight the house which I have consecrated for My Name and Presence. Then Israel will become a proverb (a saying) and a byword (object of ridicule) among all the peoples.

⁸This house (temple) will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be appalled and sneer and say, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this house?'

⁹And they [who know] will say, 'Because they abandoned the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and they have chosen other gods and have worshiped and served them; that is the reason the LORD has brought on them all this adversity.'"

¹⁰Now at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the temple of the LORD and the palace of the king

¹¹(Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with as much cedar and cypress timber [from Lebanon] and gold as he desired), at that time King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee (northern Israel).

¹²So Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please him.

¹³He said, "What are these cities [good for] which you have given me, my brother?" So they have been called the land of Cabul (like nothing, unproductive) to this day.

¹⁴And Hiram sent to the king 120 talents of gold.

¹⁵Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the LORD, his own house, the Millo (fortification), the wall of Jerusalem, [and the fortress cities of] Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.

¹⁶For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, burned it with fire and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and he had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.

¹⁷So Solomon rebuilt [and fortified] Gezer and Lower Beth-horon,

¹⁸Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,

¹⁹and all the storage cities [for surplus provisions] which Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen, and whatever it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule.

²⁰As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the sons (descendants) of Israel,

²¹their children who were left after them in the land, whom the Israelites were unable to completely destroy, from them Solomon levied (conscripted) forced laborers, even to this day (the date of this writing).

²²But Solomon did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war (soldiers), his servants, his officers, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.

²³These were the chief officers who were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people doing the work.

²⁴As soon as Pharaoh's daughter came up from the City of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, then he built the Millo (fortification).

²⁵Three times a year [during the major annual festivals] Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built to the LORD, and he burned incense with them before the LORD. So he finished the house [of the LORD].

²⁶King Solomon built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds), in the land of Edom.

²⁷And Hiram [king of Tyre] sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon.

²⁸They came to Ophir and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

¹The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the [Gentile] nations.

²Concerning Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated [decisively] in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:

³"Line up the buckler (small shield) and [large] shield, And advance for battle!

⁴"Harness the horses, And mount, you riders! Take your stand with your helmets! Polish the spears, Put on the coats of mail!

⁵"Why have I seen it? They are terrified And have turned back, And their warriors are beaten down. They take flight in haste Without looking back; Terror is on every side!" Says the LORD.

⁶Do not let the swift man run, Nor the mighty man escape; In the north by the river Euphrates They have stumbled and fallen.

⁷Who is this that rises up like the Nile [River], Like the rivers [in the delta of Egypt] whose waters surge about?

⁸Egypt rises like the Nile, Even like the rivers whose waters surge about. And He has said, "I will rise, I will cover that land; I will certainly destroy the city and its inhabitants."

⁹Charge, you horses, And drive like madmen, you chariots! Let the warriors go forward: Ethiopia and Put (Libya) who handle the shield, And the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.

¹⁰For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of hosts, A day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself on His adversaries. And the sword will devour and be satiated And drink its fill of their blood; For the Lord GOD of hosts has a sacrifice [like that of a great sin offering] In the north country by the river Euphrates.

¹¹Go up to Gilead and obtain [healing] balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you use many medicines; For you there is no healing or remedy.

¹²The nations have heard of your disgrace and shame, And your cry [of distress] has filled the earth. For warrior has stumbled against warrior, And both of them have fallen together.

¹³The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

¹⁴"Declare in Egypt and proclaim in Migdol, And proclaim in Memphis and in Tahpanhes; Say, 'Take your stand and get yourself ready, For the sword has devoured those around you.'

¹⁵"Why have your strong ones been cut down? They do not stand because the LORD drove them away.

¹⁶"He will make many stumble and fall; Yes, they have fallen one on another. Then they said, 'Arise, and let us go back To our own people and to the land of our birth, Away from the sword of the oppressor.'

¹⁷"They cried there, 'Pharaoh king of Egypt is destroyed and is merely a loud noise; He has let the appointed time [of opportunity] pass by!'

¹⁸"As I live," says the King, Whose name is the LORD of hosts, "Surely like Tabor among the mountains Or like Carmel by the sea, So shall he [the great king of Babylon] come.

¹⁹"O you daughter who dwells in Egypt and you who dwell with her, Prepare yourselves [with all you will need] to go into exile, For Memphis will become desolate; It will even be burned down and without inhabitant.

²⁰"Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But a horsefly (Babylonia) is coming [against her] out of the north!

²¹"Also her mercenaries in her army Are like fattened calves, For they too have turned back and have fled together; They did not stand [their ground], Because the day of their disaster has come upon them, The time of their punishment.

²²"The sound [of Egypt fleeing from the enemy] is like [the rustling of] an escaping serpent, For her foes advance with a mighty army And come against her like woodcutters with axes.

²³"They have cut down her forest," says the LORD; "Certainly it will no longer be found, Because they (the invaders) are more numerous than locusts And cannot be counted.

²⁴"The Daughter of Egypt has been shamed, Given over to the power of the people of the north [the Chaldeans of Babylonia]."

²⁵The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says, "Behold, I am going to punish Amon [chief god of the sacred city] of Thebes [the capital of Upper Egypt], and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings—even Pharaoh and those who put their trust in him [as a shield against Babylon].

²⁶I will put them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his servants. Afterward Egypt will be inhabited as in the days of old," says the LORD.

²⁷"But as for you, do not fear, O My servant Jacob, Nor be dismayed, O Israel! For behold, I will save you from [your captivity in] a distant land, And your descendants from the land of their exile; And Jacob will return and be quiet and secure, And no one will make him afraid.

²⁸"Do not fear, O Jacob My servant," says the LORD, "For I am with you. For I will make a full and complete end of all the nations To which I have driven you; Yet I will not make a full end of you. But I will discipline and correct you appropriately And by no means will I declare you guiltless or leave you unpunished."

¹Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You are [now] permitted to speak on your own behalf." At that, Paul stretched out his hand [as an orator] and made his defense [as follows]:

²"I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, since it is before you that I am to make my defense today regarding all the charges brought against me by the Jews,

³especially because you are an expert [fully knowledgeable, experienced and unusually conversant] in all the Jewish customs and controversial issues; therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴"So then, all the Jews know my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation [the Jewish people], and in Jerusalem.

⁵They have known me for a long time, if they are willing to testify to it, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I have lived as a Pharisee.

⁶And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.

⁷Which hope [of the Messiah and the resurrection] our twelve tribes [confidently] expect to realize as they serve and worship God in earnest night and day. And for this hope, O King, I am being accused by Jews!

⁸Why is it thought incredible by [any of] you that God raises the dead?

⁹"So then, I [once] thought to myself that it was my duty to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; I not only locked up many of the saints (God's people) in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.

¹¹And I often punished them [making them suffer] in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme; and in my extreme rage at them, I kept hunting them even to foreign cities [harassing and persecuting them].

¹²"While so engaged, as I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission and full power of the chief priests,

¹³at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven surpassing the brightness of the sun, shining all around me and those who were traveling with me.

¹⁴And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice in the Hebrew dialect (Jewish Aramaic) saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick [repeatedly] against the goads [offering pointless resistance].'

¹⁵And I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

¹⁶Get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you [to serve] as a minister and as a witness [to testify, with authority,] not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you,

¹⁷[choosing you for Myself and] rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,

¹⁸to open their [spiritual] eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness and release from their sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified (set apart, made holy) by faith in Me.'

¹⁹"So, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

²⁰but I openly proclaimed first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent [change their inner self—their old way of thinking] and turn to God, doing deeds and living lives which are consistent with repentance.

²¹Because of this some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

²²But I have had help from God to this day, and I stand [before people] testifying to small and great alike, stating nothing except what the Prophets and Moses said would come to pass—

²³that the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) was to suffer, and that He by being the first to rise from the dead [with an incorruptible body] would proclaim light (salvation) both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."

²⁴While Paul was making this defense, Festus said loudly, "Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great education is turning you toward madness."

²⁵But Paul replied, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent and noble Festus, but [with a sound mind] I am uttering rational words of truth and reason.

²⁶For [your majesty] the king understands these things, and [therefore] I am also speaking to him with confidence and boldness, since I am convinced that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner [hidden from view, in secret].

²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the [writings of the] Prophets [their messages and words]? I know that you do."

²⁸Then Agrippa said to Paul, "In a short time [and with so little effort] you [almost] persuade me to become a Christian."

²⁹And Paul replied, "Whether in a short time or long, I wish to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become such as I am, except for these chains."

³⁰Then the king stood up, and [with him] the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them;

³¹and after they had gone out, they began saying to one another, "This man is not doing anything worthy of death or [even] of imprisonment."

³²And Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar (Emperor Nero)."