Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they could go and anoint him.

²Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb at sunrise.

³They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?”

⁴Looking up, they noticed that the stone — which was very large — had been rolled away.

⁵When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side; they were alarmed.

⁶“Don’t be alarmed,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they put him.

⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there just as he told you.’”

⁸They went out and ran from the tomb, because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid. [Some of the earliest mss conclude with 16:8.] [

⁹Early on the first day of the week, after he had risen, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.

¹⁰She went and reported to those who had been with him, as they were mourning and weeping.

¹¹Yet, when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it.

¹²After this, he appeared in a different form to two of them walking on their way into the country.

¹³And they went and reported it to the rest, who did not believe them either.

¹⁴Later he appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table. He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who saw him after he had risen.

¹⁵Then he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

¹⁶Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

¹⁷And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

¹⁸they will pick up snakes; if they should drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.”

¹⁹So the Lord Jesus, after speaking to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

²⁰And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word by the accompanying signs.]

¹Joseph commanded his steward, “Fill the men’s bags with as much food as they can carry, and put each one’s silver at the top of his bag.

²Put my cup, the silver one, at the top of the youngest one’s bag, along with the silver for his grain.” So he did as Joseph told him.

³At morning light, the men were sent off with their donkeys.

⁴They had not gone very far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Get up. Pursue the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?

⁵Isn’t this the cup that my master drinks from and uses for divination? What you have done is wrong! ’”

⁶When he overtook them, he said these words to them.

⁷They said to him, “Why does my lord say these things? Your servants could not possibly do such a thing.

⁸We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found at the top of our bags. How could we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?

⁹If it is found with one of us, your servants, he must die, and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.”

¹⁰The steward replied, “What you have said is right, but only the one who is found to have it will be my slave, and the rest of you will be blameless.”

¹¹So each one quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it.

¹²The steward searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

¹³Then they tore their clothes, and each one loaded his donkey and returned to the city.

¹⁴When Judah and his brothers reached Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell to the ground before him.

¹⁵“What is this you have done?” Joseph said to them. “Didn’t you know that a man like me could uncover the truth by divination?”

¹⁶“What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed your servants’ iniquity. We are now my lord’s slaves — both we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

¹⁷Then Joseph said, “I swear that I will not do this. The man in whose possession the cup was found will be my slave. The rest of you can go in peace to your father.”

¹⁸But Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh.

¹⁹My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’

²⁰and we answered my lord, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’

²¹Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him to me so that I can see him.’

²²But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’

²³Then you said to your servants, ‘If your younger brother does not come down with you, you will not see me again.’

²⁴“This is what happened when we went back to your servant my father: We reported to him the words of my lord.

²⁵But our father said, ‘Go again, and buy us a little food.’

²⁶We told him, ‘We cannot go down unless our younger brother goes with us. If our younger brother isn’t with us, we cannot see the man.’

²⁷Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.

²⁸One is gone from me — I said he must have been torn to pieces — and I have never seen him again.

²⁹If you also take this one from me and anything happens to him, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.’

³⁰“So if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us — his life is wrapped up with the boy’s life —

³¹when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hairs of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.

³²Your servant became accountable to my father for the boy, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will always bear the guilt for sinning against you, my father.’

³³Now please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave, in place of the boy. Let him go back with his brothers.

³⁴For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father.”

¹Boasting is necessary. It is not profitable, but I will move on to visions and revelations of the Lord.

²I know a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether he was in the body or out of the body, I don’t know; God knows.

³I know that this man — whether in the body or out of the body I don’t know; God knows —

⁴was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a human being is not allowed to speak.

⁵I will boast about this person, but not about myself, except of my weaknesses.

⁶For if I want to boast, I wouldn’t be a fool, because I would be telling the truth. But I will spare you, so that no one can credit me with something beyond what he sees in me or hears from me,

⁷especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself.

⁸Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me.

⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.

¹⁰So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

¹¹I have been a fool; you forced it on me. You ought to have commended me, since I am not in any way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.

¹²The signs of an apostle were performed with unfailing endurance among you, including signs and wonders and miracles.

¹³So in what way are you worse off than the other churches, except that I personally did not burden you? Forgive me for this wrong!

¹⁴Look, I am ready to come to you this third time. I will not burden you, since I am not seeking what is yours, but you. For children ought not save up for their parents, but parents for their children.

¹⁵I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?

¹⁶Now granted, I did not burden you; yet sly as I am, I took you in by deceit!

¹⁷Did I take advantage of you by any of those I sent you?

¹⁸I urged Titus to go, and I sent the brother with him. Titus didn’t take advantage of you, did he? Didn’t we walk in the same spirit and in the same footsteps?

¹⁹Have you been thinking all along that we were defending ourselves to you? No, in the sight of God we are speaking in Christ, and everything, dear friends, is for building you up.

²⁰For I fear that perhaps when I come I will not find you to be what I want, and you may not find me to be what you want. Perhaps there will be quarreling, jealousy, angry outbursts, selfish ambitions, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

²¹I fear that when I come my God will again humiliate me in your presence, and I will grieve for many who sinned before and have not repented of the moral impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality they practiced.

¹The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

²who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatever he saw.

³Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near.

⁴John: To the seven churches in Asia. Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne,

⁵and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by his blood,

⁶and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father — to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

⁷Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen.

⁸“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

⁹I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

¹⁰I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet

¹¹saying, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹²Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,

¹³and among the lampstands was one like the Son of Man, dressed in a robe and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest.

¹⁴The hair of his head was white as wool — white as snow  — and his eyes like a fiery flame.

¹⁵His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace, and his voice like the sound of cascading waters.

¹⁶He had seven stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth, and his face was shining like the sun at full strength.

¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last,

¹⁸and the Living One. I was dead, but look — I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.

¹⁹Therefore write what you have seen, what is, and what will take place after this.

²⁰The mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

¹I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile.

²I said about laughter, “It is madness,” and about pleasure, “What does this accomplish?”

³I explored with my mind the pull of wine on my body — my mind still guiding me with wisdom — and how to grasp folly, until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

⁴I increased my achievements. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.

⁵I made gardens and parks for myself and planted every kind of fruit tree in them.

⁶I constructed reservoirs for myself from which to irrigate a grove of flourishing trees.

⁷I acquired male and female servants and had slaves who were born in my house. I also owned livestock — large herds and flocks — more than all who were before me in Jerusalem.

⁸I also amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered male and female singers for myself, and many concubines, the delights of men.

⁹So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; my wisdom also remained with me.

¹⁰All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them. I did not refuse myself any pleasure, for I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles.

¹¹When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.

¹²Then I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly, for what will the king’s successor be like? He will do what has already been done.

¹³And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness.

¹⁴The wise person has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both.

¹⁵So I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will also happen to me. Why then have I been overly wise?” And I said to myself that this is also futile.

¹⁶For, just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise person dies just like the fool?

¹⁷Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁸I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun because I must leave it to the one who comes after me.

¹⁹And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

²⁰So I began to give myself over to despair concerning all my work that I had labored at under the sun.

²¹When there is a person whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a person who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong.

²²For what does a person get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors at under the sun?

²³For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

²⁴There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,

²⁵because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from him?

²⁶For to the person who is pleasing in his sight, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹For the choir director. A of the sons of Korah. [1] God, we have heard with our ears — our ancestors have told us — the work you accomplished in their days, in days long ago:

²In order to plant them, you displaced the nations by your hand; in order to settle them, you brought disaster on the peoples.

³For they did not take the land by their sword — their arm did not bring them victory — but by your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, because you were favorable toward them.

⁴You are my King, my God, who ordains victories for Jacob.

⁵Through you we drive back our foes; through your name we trample our enemies.

⁶For I do not trust in my bow, and my sword does not bring me victory.

⁷But you give us victory over our foes and let those who hate us be disgraced.

⁸We boast in God all day long; we will praise your name forever. Selah

⁹But you have rejected and humiliated us; you do not march out with our armies.

¹⁰You make us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have taken plunder for themselves.

¹¹You hand us over to be eaten like sheep and scatter us among the nations.

¹²You sell your people for nothing; you make no profit from selling them.

¹³You make us an object of reproach to our neighbors, a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us.

¹⁴You make us a joke among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.

¹⁵My disgrace is before me all day long, and shame has covered my face,

¹⁶because of the taunts of the scorner and reviler, because of the enemy and avenger.

¹⁷All this has happened to us, but we have not forgotten you or betrayed your covenant.

¹⁸Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from your path.

¹⁹But you have crushed us in a haunt of jackals and have covered us with deepest darkness.

²⁰If we had forgotten the name of our God and spread out our hands to a foreign god,

²¹wouldn’t God have found this out, since he knows the secrets of the heart?

²²Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.

²³Wake up, LORD! Why are you sleeping? Get up! Don’t reject us forever!

²⁴Why do you hide and forget our affliction and oppression?

²⁵For we have sunk down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground.

²⁶Rise up! Help us! Redeem us because of your faithful love.

¹A wise son responds to his father’s discipline, but a mocker doesn’t listen to rebuke.

²From the fruit of his mouth, a person will enjoy good things, but treacherous people have an appetite for violence.

³The one who guards his mouth protects his life; the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.

⁴The slacker craves, yet has nothing, but the diligent is fully satisfied.

⁵The righteous hate lying, but the wicked bring disgust and shame.

⁶Righteousness guards people of integrity, but wickedness undermines the sinner.

⁷One person pretends to be rich but has nothing; another pretends to be poor but has abundant wealth.

⁸Riches are a ransom for a person’s life, but a poor person hears no threat.

⁹The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is put out.

¹⁰Arrogance leads to nothing but strife, but wisdom is gained by those who take advice.

¹¹Wealth obtained by fraud will dwindle, but whoever earns it through labor will multiply it.

¹²Hope delayed makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

¹³The one who has contempt for instruction will pay the penalty, but the one who respects a command will be rewarded.

¹⁴A wise person’s instruction is a fountain of life, turning people away from the snares of death.

¹⁵Good sense wins favor, but the way of the treacherous never changes.

¹⁶Every sensible person acts knowledgeably, but a fool displays his stupidity.

¹⁷A wicked envoy falls into trouble, but a trustworthy courier brings healing.

¹⁸Poverty and disgrace come to those who ignore discipline, but the one who accepts correction will be honored.

¹⁹Desire fulfilled is sweet to the taste, but to turn from evil is detestable to fools.

²⁰The one who walks with the wise will become wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm.

²¹Disaster pursues sinners, but good rewards the righteous.

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

²³The uncultivated field of the poor yields abundant food, but without justice, it is swept away.

²⁴The one who will not use the rod hates his son, but the one who loves him disciplines him diligently.

²⁵A righteous person eats until he is satisfied, but the stomach of the wicked is empty.

¹All the Israelites from Dan to Beer-sheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the community assembled as one body before the LORD at Mizpah.

²The leaders of all the people and of all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: four hundred thousand armed foot soldiers.

³The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. The Israelites asked, “Tell us, how did this evil act happen?”

⁴The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I went to Gibeah in Benjamin with my concubine to spend the night.

⁵Citizens of Gibeah came to attack me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, but they raped my concubine, and she died.

⁶Then I took my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout Israel’s territory, because they have committed a wicked outrage in Israel.

⁷Look, all of you are Israelites. Give your judgment and verdict here and now.”

⁸Then all the people stood united and said, “None of us will go to his tent or return to his house.

⁹Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will attack it. By lot

¹⁰we will take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred out of every thousand, and one thousand out of every ten thousand to get provisions for the troops when they go to Gibeah in Benjamin to punish them for all the outrage they committed in Israel.”

¹¹So all the men of Israel gathered united against the city.

¹²Then the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this evil act that has happened among you?

¹³Hand over the wicked men in Gibeah so we can put them to death and eradicate evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to their fellow Israelites.

¹⁴Instead, the Benjaminites gathered together from their cities to Gibeah to go out and fight against the Israelites.

¹⁵On that day the Benjaminites mobilized twenty-six thousand armed men from their cities, besides seven hundred fit young men rallied by the inhabitants of Gibeah.

¹⁶There were seven hundred fit young men who were left-handed among all these troops; all could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

¹⁷The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mobilized four hundred thousand armed men, every one an experienced warrior.

¹⁸They set out, went to Bethel, and inquired of God. The Israelites asked, “Who is to go first to fight for us against the Benjaminites?” And the LORD answered, “Judah will be first.”

¹⁹In the morning, the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah.

²⁰The men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took their battle positions against Gibeah.

²¹The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah and slaughtered twenty-two thousand men of Israel on the field that day.

²²But the Israelite troops rallied and again took their battle positions in the same place where they positioned themselves on the first day.

²³They went up, wept before the LORD until evening, and inquired of him: “Should we again attack our brothers the Benjaminites?” And the LORD answered: “Fight against them.”

²⁴On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjaminites.

²⁵That same day the Benjaminites came out from Gibeah to meet them and slaughtered an additional eighteen thousand Israelites on the field; all were armed.

²⁶The whole Israelite army went to Bethel where they wept and sat before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD.

²⁷Then the Israelites inquired of the LORD. In those days, the ark of the covenant of God was there,

²⁸and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving before it. The Israelites asked: “Should we again fight against our brothers the Benjaminites or should we stop?” The LORD answered: “Fight, because I will hand them over to you tomorrow.”

²⁹So Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah.

³⁰On the third day the Israelites fought against the Benjaminites and took their battle positions against Gibeah as before.

³¹Then the Benjaminites came out against the troops and were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the troops as before, killing about thirty men of Israel on the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah through the open country.

³²The Benjaminites said, “We are defeating them as before.” But the Israelites said, “Let’s flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.”

³³So all the men of Israel got up from their places and took their battle positions at Baal-tamar, while the Israelites in ambush charged out of their places west of Geba.

³⁴Then ten thousand fit young men from all Israel made a frontal assault against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce, but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was about to strike them.

³⁵The LORD defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 men of Benjamin; all were armed.

³⁶Then the Benjaminites realized they had been defeated. The men of Israel had retreated before Benjamin, because they were confident in the ambush they had set against Gibeah.

³⁷The men in ambush had rushed quickly against Gibeah; they advanced and put the whole city to the sword.

³⁸The men of Israel had a prearranged signal with the men in ambush: when they sent up a great cloud of smoke from the city,

³⁹the men of Israel would return to the battle. When Benjamin had begun to strike them down, killing about thirty men of Israel, they said, “They’re defeated before us, just as they were in the first battle.”

⁴⁰But when the column of smoke began to go up from the city, Benjamin looked behind them, and the whole city was going up in smoke.

⁴¹Then the men of Israel returned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had struck them.

⁴²They retreated before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the cities slaughtered those between them.

⁴³They surrounded the Benjaminites, pursued them, and easily overtook them near Gibeah toward the east.

⁴⁴There were eighteen thousand men who died from Benjamin; all were warriors.

⁴⁵Then Benjamin turned and fled toward the wilderness to Rimmon Rock, and Israel killed five thousand men on the highways. They overtook them at Gidom and struck two thousand more dead.

⁴⁶All the Benjaminites who died that day were twenty-five thousand armed men; all were warriors.

⁴⁷But six hundred men escaped into the wilderness to Rimmon Rock and stayed there four months.

⁴⁸The men of Israel turned back against the other Benjaminites and killed them with their swords — the entire city, the animals, and everything that remained. They also burned all the cities that remained.

¹“And now listen, Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen.

²This is the word of the LORD your Maker, the one who formed you from the womb: He will help you. Do not fear, Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

³For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring.

⁴They will sprout among the grass like poplars by flowing streams.

⁵This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’s’; another will use the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and take on the name of Israel.”

⁶This is what the LORD, the King of Israel and its Redeemer, the LORD of Armies, says: I am the first and I am the last. There is no God but me.

⁷Who, like me, can announce the future? Let him say so and make a case before me, since I have established an ancient people. Let these gods declare the coming things, and what will take place.

⁸Do not be startled or afraid. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me? There is no other Rock; I do not know any.

⁹All who make idols are nothing, and what they treasure benefits no one. Their witnesses do not see or know anything, so they will be put to shame.

¹⁰Who makes a god or casts a metal image that benefits no one?

¹¹Look, all its worshipers will be put to shame, and the craftsmen are humans. They all will assemble and stand; they all will be startled and put to shame.

¹²The ironworker labors over the coals, shapes the idol with hammers, and works it with his strong arm. Also he grows hungry and his strength fails; he doesn’t drink water and is faint.

¹³The woodworker stretches out a measuring line, he outlines it with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He makes it according to a human form, like a beautiful person, to dwell in a temple.

¹⁴He cuts down cedars for his use, or he takes a cypress or an oak. He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.

¹⁵A person can use it for fuel. He takes some of it and warms himself; also he kindles a fire and bakes bread; he even makes it into a god and worships it; he makes an idol from it and bows down to it.

¹⁶He burns half of it in a fire, and he roasts meat on that half. He eats the roast and is satisfied. He warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm, I see the blaze.”

¹⁷He makes a god or his idol with the rest of it. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it, “Save me, for you are my god.”

¹⁸Such people do not comprehend and cannot understand, for he has shut their eyes so they cannot see, and their minds so they cannot understand.

¹⁹No one comes to his senses; no one has the perception or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, I also baked bread on its coals, I roasted meat and ate. Should I make something detestable with the rest of it? Should I bow down to a block of wood?”

²⁰He feeds on ashes. His deceived mind has led him astray, and he cannot rescue himself, or say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?”

²¹Remember these things, Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you, you are my servant; Israel, you will never be forgotten by me.

²²I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.

²³Rejoice, heavens, for the LORD has acted; shout, depths of the earth. Break out into singing, mountains, forest, and every tree in it. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and glorifies himself through Israel.

²⁴This is what the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb, says: I am the LORD, who made everything; who stretched out the heavens by myself; who alone spread out the earth;

²⁵who destroys the omens of the false prophets and makes fools of diviners; who confounds the wise and makes their knowledge foolishness;

²⁶who confirms the message of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers; who says to Jerusalem, “She will be inhabited,” and to the cities of Judah, “They will be rebuilt,” and I will restore her ruins;

²⁷who says to the depths of the sea, “Be dry,” and I will dry up your rivers;

²⁸who says to Cyrus, “My shepherd, he will fulfill all my pleasure” and says to Jerusalem, “She will be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Its foundation will be laid.”

¹Paul went on to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman, but his father was a Greek.

²The brothers and sisters at Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him.

³Paul wanted Timothy to go with him; so he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴As they traveled through the towns, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem for the people to observe.

⁵So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

⁶They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

⁷When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

⁸Passing by Mysia they went down to Troas.

⁹During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!”

¹⁰After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis,

¹²and from there to Philippi, a Roman colony and a leading city of the district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for several days.

¹³On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there.

¹⁴A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.

¹⁵After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

¹⁶Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling.

¹⁷As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.”

¹⁸She did this for many days. Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the spirit, he said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.

¹⁹When her owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

²⁰Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews

²¹and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.”

²²The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods.

²³After they had severely flogged them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to guard them carefully.

²⁴Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

²⁶Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose.

²⁷When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Don’t harm yourself, because we’re all here!”

²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.

³⁰He escorted them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household.”

³²And they spoke the word of the Lord to him along with everyone in his house.

³³He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized.

³⁴He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had come to believe in God with his entire household.

³⁵When daylight came, the chief magistrates sent the police to say, “Release those men.”

³⁶The jailer reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders for you to be released. So come out now and go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without a trial, although we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. And now are they going to send us away secretly? Certainly not! On the contrary, let them come themselves and escort us out.”

³⁸The police reported these words to the magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

³⁹So they came to appease them, and escorting them from prison, they urged them to leave town.

⁴⁰After leaving the jail, they came to Lydia’s house, where they saw and encouraged the brothers and sisters, and departed.