Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.

²And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

³Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

⁵Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,

⁶saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

⁷And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

⁸The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.

⁹For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

¹⁰When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

¹¹And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

¹²But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

¹⁴Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever.

¹⁵So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.

¹⁶When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,

¹⁷that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”

¹⁸And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.

¹⁹Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”

²⁰And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

²¹Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

²²But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

²³Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.

²⁴And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.

²⁵Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

²⁶But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

²⁷So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

²⁸When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.

²⁹And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

³⁰Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.

³¹So the demons begged Him, saying, “If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.”

³²And He said to them, “Go.” So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.

³³Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.

³⁴And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.

¹“When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house,

²when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife,

³if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife,

⁴then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

⁵“When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken.

⁶“No man shall take the lower or the upper millstone in pledge, for he takes one’s living in pledge.

⁷“If a man is found kidnapping any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and mistreats him or sells him, then that kidnapper shall die; and you shall put away the evil from among you.

⁸“Take heed in an outbreak of leprosy, that you carefully observe and do according to all that the priests, the Levites, shall teach you; just as I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do.

⁹Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the way when you came out of Egypt!

¹⁰“When you lend your brother anything, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge.

¹¹You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge out to you.

¹²And if the man is poor, you shall not keep his pledge overnight.

¹³You shall in any case return the pledge to him again when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his own garment and bless you; and it shall be righteousness to you before the LORD your God.

¹⁴“You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates.

¹⁵Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the LORD, and it be sin to you.

¹⁶“Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.

¹⁷“You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow’s garment as a pledge.

¹⁸But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this thing.

¹⁹“When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

²⁰When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.

²¹When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.

²²And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing.

¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:

²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

⁴just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

⁵having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

⁶to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

⁷In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

⁸which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

⁹having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,

¹⁰that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.

¹¹In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

¹²that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

¹³In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

¹⁴who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

¹⁵Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

¹⁶do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:

¹⁷that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,

¹⁸the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

¹⁹and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power

²⁰which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

²¹far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

²²And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,

²³which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

¹Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

²By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,

³and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

⁴You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

⁵They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.

⁶We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

⁸He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

⁹In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

¹²No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.

¹³By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

¹⁴And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.

¹⁵Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

¹⁶And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

¹⁷Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

¹⁸There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

¹⁹We love Him because He first loved us.

²⁰If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

²¹And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

¹Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”:

²While the sun and the light, The moon and the stars, Are not darkened, And the clouds do not return after the rain;

³In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, And the strong men bow down; When the grinders cease because they are few, And those that look through the windows grow dim;

⁴When the doors are shut in the streets, And the sound of grinding is low; When one rises up at the sound of a bird, And all the daughters of music are brought low.

⁵Also they are afraid of height, And of terrors in the way; When the almond tree blossoms, The grasshopper is a burden, And desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, And the mourners go about the streets.

⁶Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, Or the golden bowl is broken, Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the well.

⁷Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

⁸“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “All is vanity.”

⁹And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth.

¹¹The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd.

¹²And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.

¹³Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.

¹⁴For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.

¹To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. [1] Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation; Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.

²Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity,

³Who sharpen their tongue like a sword, And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,

⁴That they may shoot in secret at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.

⁵They encourage themselves in an evil matter; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, “Who will see them?”

⁶They devise iniquities: “We have perfected a shrewd scheme.” Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.

⁷But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they shall be wounded.

⁸So He will make them stumble over their own tongue; All who see them shall flee away.

⁹All men shall fear, And shall declare the work of God; For they shall wisely consider His doing.

¹⁰The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.

¹When you sit down to eat with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you;

²And put a knife to your throat If you are a man given to appetite.

³Do not desire his delicacies, For they are deceptive food.

⁴Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease!

⁵Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.

⁶Do not eat the bread of a miser, Nor desire his delicacies;

⁷For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you.

⁸The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit up, And waste your pleasant words.

⁹Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not remove the ancient landmark, Nor enter the fields of the fatherless;

¹¹For their Redeemer is mighty; He will plead their cause against you.

¹²Apply your heart to instruction, And your ears to words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold correction from a child, For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.

¹⁴You shall beat him with a rod, And deliver his soul from hell.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, My heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself;

¹⁶Yes, my inmost being will rejoice When your lips speak right things.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day;

¹⁸For surely there is a hereafter, And your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Hear, my son, and be wise; And guide your heart in the way.

²⁰Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;

²¹For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

²²Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who begets a wise child will delight in him.

²⁵Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her who bore you rejoice.

²⁶My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes observe my ways.

²⁷For a harlot is a deep pit, And a seductress is a narrow well.

²⁸She also lies in wait as for a victim, And increases the unfaithful among men.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

³⁰Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine.

³¹Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it swirls around smoothly;

³²At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like a viper.

³³Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will utter perverse things.

³⁴Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying:

³⁵“They have struck me, but I was not hurt; They have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?”

¹But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites—

²from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.

³And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

⁴For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David.

⁵For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

⁶Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David.

⁷Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.

⁸And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹So the LORD became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

¹⁰and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the LORD had commanded.

¹¹Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

¹²Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

¹³However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

¹⁴Now the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was a descendant of the king in Edom.

¹⁵For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, after he had killed every male in Edom

¹⁶(because for six months Joab remained there with all Israel, until he had cut down every male in Edom),

¹⁷that Hadad fled to go to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him. Hadad was still a little child.

¹⁸Then they arose from Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, apportioned food for him, and gave him land.

¹⁹And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, that is, the sister of Queen Tahpenes.

²⁰Then the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.

²¹So when Hadad heard in Egypt that David rested with his fathers, and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.”

²²Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that suddenly you seek to go to your own country?” So he answered, “Nothing, but do let me go anyway.”

²³And God raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his lord, Hadadezer king of Zobah.

²⁴So he gathered men to him and became captain over a band of raiders, when David killed those of Zobah. And they went to Damascus and dwelt there, and reigned in Damascus.

²⁵He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon (besides the trouble that Hadad caused); and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.

²⁶Then Solomon’s servant, Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zereda, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the king.

²⁷And this is what caused him to rebel against the king: Solomon had built the Millo and repaired the damages to the City of David his father.

²⁸The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon, seeing that the young man was industrious, made him the officer over all the labor force of the house of Joseph.

²⁹Now it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he had clothed himself with a new garment, and the two were alone in the field.

³⁰Then Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces.

³¹And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you

³²(but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel),

³³because they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David.

³⁴However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes.

³⁵But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and give it to you—ten tribes.

³⁶And to his son I will give one tribe, that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there.

³⁷So I will take you, and you shall reign over all your heart desires, and you shall be king over Israel.

³⁸Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.

³⁹And I will afflict the descendants of David because of this, but not forever.’ ”

⁴⁰Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

⁴¹Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

⁴²And the period that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.

⁴³Then Solomon rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

¹Against Moab. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe to Nebo! For it is plundered, Kirjathaim is shamed and taken; The high stronghold is shamed and dismayed—

²No more praise of Moab. In Heshbon they have devised evil against her: ‘Come, and let us cut her off as a nation.’ You also shall be cut down, O Madmen! The sword shall pursue you;

³A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim: ‘Plundering and great destruction!’

⁴“Moab is destroyed; Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard;

⁵For in the Ascent of Luhith they ascend with continual weeping; For in the descent of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.

⁶“Flee, save your lives! And be like the juniper in the wilderness.

⁷For because you have trusted in your works and your treasures, You also shall be taken. And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, His priests and his princes together.

⁸And the plunderer shall come against every city; No one shall escape. The valley also shall perish, And the plain shall be destroyed, As the LORD has spoken.

⁹“Give wings to Moab, That she may flee and get away; For her cities shall be desolate, Without any to dwell in them.

¹⁰Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD deceitfully, And cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.

¹¹“Moab has been at ease from his youth; He has settled on his dregs, And has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, Nor has he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remained in him, And his scent has not changed.

¹²“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I shall send him wine-workers Who will tip him over And empty his vessels And break the bottles.

¹³Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, As the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

¹⁴“How can you say, ‘We are mighty And strong men for the war’?

¹⁵Moab is plundered and gone up from her cities; Her chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,” says the King, Whose name is the LORD of hosts.

¹⁶“The calamity of Moab is near at hand, And his affliction comes quickly.

¹⁷Bemoan him, all you who are around him; And all you who know his name, Say, ‘How the strong staff is broken, The beautiful rod!’

¹⁸“O daughter inhabiting Dibon, Come down from your glory, And sit in thirst; For the plunderer of Moab has come against you, He has destroyed your strongholds.

¹⁹O inhabitant of Aroer, Stand by the way and watch; Ask him who flees And her who escapes; Say, ‘What has happened?’

²⁰Moab is shamed, for he is broken down. Wail and cry! Tell it in Arnon, that Moab is plundered.

²¹“And judgment has come on the plain country: On Holon and Jahzah and Mephaath,

²²On Dibon and Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,

²³On Kirjathaim and Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,

²⁴On Kerioth and Bozrah, On all the cities of the land of Moab, Far or near.

²⁵The horn of Moab is cut off, And his arm is broken,” says the LORD.

²⁶“Make him drunk, Because he exalted himself against the LORD. Moab shall wallow in his vomit, And he shall also be in derision.

²⁷For was not Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him, You shake your head in scorn.

²⁸You who dwell in Moab, Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, And be like the dove which makes her nest In the sides of the cave’s mouth.

²⁹“We have heard the pride of Moab (He is exceedingly proud), Of his loftiness and arrogance and pride, And of the haughtiness of his heart.”

³⁰“I know his wrath,” says the LORD, “But it is not right; His lies have made nothing right.

³¹Therefore I will wail for Moab, And I will cry out for all Moab; I will mourn for the men of Kir Heres.

³²O vine of Sibmah! I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer. Your plants have gone over the sea, They reach to the sea of Jazer. The plunderer has fallen on your summer fruit and your vintage.

³³Joy and gladness are taken From the plentiful field And from the land of Moab; I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses; No one will tread with joyous shouting— Not joyous shouting!

³⁴“From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh and to Jahaz They have uttered their voice, From Zoar to Horonaim, Like a three-year-old heifer; For the waters of Nimrim also shall be desolate.

³⁵“Moreover,” says the LORD, “I will cause to cease in Moab The one who offers sacrifices in the high places And burns incense to his gods.

³⁶Therefore My heart shall wail like flutes for Moab, And like flutes My heart shall wail For the men of Kir Heres. Therefore the riches they have acquired have perished.

³⁷“For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped; On all the hands shall be cuts, and on the loins sackcloth—

³⁸A general lamentation On all the housetops of Moab, And in its streets; For I have broken Moab like a vessel in which is no pleasure,” says the LORD.

³⁹“They shall wail: ‘How she is broken down! How Moab has turned her back with shame!’ So Moab shall be a derision And a dismay to all those about her.”

⁴⁰For thus says the LORD: “Behold, one shall fly like an eagle, And spread his wings over Moab.

⁴¹Kerioth is taken, And the strongholds are surprised; The mighty men’s hearts in Moab on that day shall be Like the heart of a woman in birth pangs.

⁴²And Moab shall be destroyed as a people, Because he exalted himself against the LORD.

⁴³Fear and the pit and the snare shall be upon you, O inhabitant of Moab,” says the LORD.

⁴⁴“He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit, And he who gets out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For upon Moab, upon it I will bring The year of their punishment,” says the LORD.

⁴⁵“Those who fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon Because of exhaustion. But a fire shall come out of Heshbon, A flame from the midst of Sihon, And shall devour the brow of Moab, The crown of the head of the sons of tumult.

⁴⁶Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh perish; For your sons have been taken captive, And your daughters captive.

⁴⁷“Yet I will bring back the captives of Moab In the latter days,” says the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.

¹Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta.

²And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.

³But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

⁴So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.”

⁵But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

⁷In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days.

⁸And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him.

⁹So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.

¹⁰They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary.

¹¹After three months we sailed in an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the Twin Brothers, which had wintered at the island.

¹²And landing at Syracuse, we stayed three days.

¹³From there we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew; and the next day we came to Puteoli,

¹⁴where we found brethren, and were invited to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome.

¹⁵And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

¹⁷And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them: “Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,

¹⁸who, when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death.

¹⁹But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation.

²⁰For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”

²¹Then they said to him, “We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you.

²²But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.

²⁴And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

²⁵So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,

²⁶saying, ‘Go to this people and say: “Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; And seeing you will see, and not perceive;

²⁷For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” ’

²⁸“Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!”

²⁹And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.

³⁰Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,

³¹preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.