Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.

²Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb

³and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

⁴But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

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

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

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

⁸Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. [The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9 — 20.]

⁹When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.

¹⁰She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping.

¹¹When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.

¹²Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country.

¹³These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

¹⁴Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

¹⁵He 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 with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

¹⁹After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.

²⁰Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

¹Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack.

²Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” And he did as Joseph said.

³As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.

⁴They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?

⁵Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.’ ”

⁶When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them.

⁷But they said to him, “Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that!

⁸We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?

⁹If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.”

¹⁰“Very well, then,” he said, “let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame.”

¹¹Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it.

¹²Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

¹³At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.

¹⁴Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him.

¹⁵Joseph said to them, “What is this you have done? Don’t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?”

¹⁶“What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves—we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.”

¹⁷But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace.”

¹⁸Then Judah went up to him and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself.

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

²⁰And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’

²¹“Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.’

²²And we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.’

²³But you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’

²⁴When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.

²⁵“Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy a little more food.’

²⁶But we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’

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

²⁸One of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since.

²⁹If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.’

³⁰“So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life,

³¹sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow.

³²Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!’

³³“Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.

³⁴How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.”

¹I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.

²I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.

³And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—

⁴was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.

⁵I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.

⁶Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say,

⁷or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

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

¹⁰That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

¹¹I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.

¹²I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles.

¹³How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!

¹⁴Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.

¹⁵So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less?

¹⁶Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery!

¹⁷Did I exploit you through any of the men I sent to you?

¹⁸I urged Titus to go to you and I sent our brother with him. Titus did not exploit you, did he? Did we not walk in the same footsteps by the same Spirit?

¹⁹Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? We have been speaking in the sight of God as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening.

²⁰For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.

²¹I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.

¹The revelation from Jesus Christ, which 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 testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

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

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

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

⁶and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

⁷“Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.

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

⁹I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

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

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

¹²I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,

¹³and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.

¹⁴The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.

¹⁵His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.

¹⁶In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.

¹⁸I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

¹⁹“Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.

²⁰The mystery of the seven stars that 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, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless.

²“Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?”

³I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.

⁴I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.

⁵I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.

⁶I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.

⁷I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.

⁸I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart.

⁹I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

¹⁰I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil.

¹¹Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

¹²Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done?

¹³I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.

¹⁴The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.

¹⁵Then I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.”

¹⁶For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die!

¹⁷So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

¹⁸I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.

¹⁹And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.

²⁰So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.

²¹For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.

²²What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?

²³All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.

²⁴A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God,

²⁵for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?

²⁶To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

¹For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago.

²With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our ancestors; you crushed the peoples and made our ancestors flourish.

³It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.

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

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

⁶I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory;

⁷but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame.

⁸In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever.

⁹But now you have rejected and humbled us; you no longer go out with our armies.

¹⁰You made us retreat before the enemy, and our adversaries have plundered us.

¹¹You gave us up to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations.

¹²You sold your people for a pittance, gaining nothing from their sale.

¹³You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us.

¹⁴You have made us a byword among the nations; the peoples shake their heads at us.

¹⁵I live in disgrace all day long, and my face is covered with shame

¹⁶at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me, because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.

¹⁷All this came upon us, though we had not forgotten you; we had not been false to your covenant.

¹⁸Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from your path.

¹⁹But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals; you covered us over with deep darkness.

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

²¹would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart?

²²Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

²³Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.

²⁴Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?

²⁵We are brought down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground.

²⁶Rise up and help us; rescue us because of your unfailing love.

¹A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not respond to rebukes.

²From the fruit of their lips people enjoy good things, but the unfaithful have an appetite for violence.

³Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin.

⁴A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.

⁵The righteous hate what is false, but the wicked make themselves a stench and bring shame on themselves.

⁶Righteousness guards the person of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.

⁷One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

⁸A person’s riches may ransom their life, but the poor cannot respond to threatening rebukes.

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

¹⁰Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

¹¹Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

¹³Whoever scorns instruction will pay for it, but whoever respects a command is rewarded.

¹⁴The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.

¹⁵Good judgment wins favor, but the way of the unfaithful leads to their destruction.

¹⁶All who are prudent act with knowledge, but fools expose their folly.

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

¹⁸Whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.

¹⁹A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil.

²⁰Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

²¹Trouble pursues the sinner, but the righteous are rewarded with good things.

²²A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.

²³An unplowed field produces food for the poor, but injustice sweeps it away.

²⁴Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.

²⁵The righteous eat to their hearts’ content, but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry.

¹Then all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came together as one and assembled before the LORD in Mizpah.

²The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, four hundred thousand men armed with swords.

³(The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.”

⁴So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.

⁵During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died.

⁶I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel’s inheritance, because they committed this lewd and outrageous act in Israel.

⁷Now, all you Israelites, speak up and tell me what you have decided to do.”

⁸All the men rose up together as one, saying, “None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house.

⁹But now this is what we’ll do to Gibeah: We’ll go up against it in the order decided by casting lots.

¹⁰We’ll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for this outrageous act done in Israel.”

¹¹So all the Israelites got together and united as one against the city.

¹²The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What about this awful crime that was committed among you?

¹³Now turn those wicked men of Gibeah over to us so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.” But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites.

¹⁴From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites.

¹⁵At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred able young men from those living in Gibeah.

¹⁶Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

¹⁷Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fit for battle.

¹⁸The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They said, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” The LORD replied, “Judah shall go first.”

¹⁹The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah.

²⁰The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah.

²¹The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day.

²²But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day.

²³The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and they inquired of the LORD. They said, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?” The LORD answered, “Go up against them.”

²⁴Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day.

²⁵This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords.

²⁶Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD.

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

²⁸with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites, or not?” The LORD responded, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.”

²⁹Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah.

³⁰They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before.

³¹The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads—the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.

³²While the Benjamites were saying, “We are defeating them as before,” the Israelites were saying, “Let’s retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads.”

³³All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west of Gibeah.

³⁴Then ten thousand of Israel’s able young men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how near disaster was.

³⁵The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords.

³⁶Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten. Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah.

³⁷Those who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword.

³⁸The Israelites had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke from the city,

³⁹and then the Israelites would counterattack. The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the Israelites (about thirty), and they said, “We are defeating them as in the first battle.”

⁴⁰But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the whole city going up in smoke.

⁴¹Then the Israelites counterattacked, and the Benjamites were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come on them.

⁴²So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness, but they could not escape the battle. And the Israelites who came out of the towns cut them down there.

⁴³They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east.

⁴⁴Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters.

⁴⁵As they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more.

⁴⁶On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters.

⁴⁷But six hundred of them turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months.

⁴⁸The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.

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

²This is what the LORD says— he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, 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 offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

⁴They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.

⁵Some will say, ‘I belong to the LORD’; others will call themselves by the name of Jacob; still others will write on their hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and will take the name Israel.

⁶“This is what the LORD says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.

⁷Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come— yes, let them foretell what will come.

⁸Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

⁹All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame.

¹⁰Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit nothing?

¹¹People who do that will be put to shame; such craftsmen are only human beings. Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and shame.

¹²The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint.

¹³The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in human form, human form in all its glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.

¹⁴He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.

¹⁵It is used as fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it.

¹⁶Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”

¹⁷From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!”

¹⁸They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.

¹⁹No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”

²⁰Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

²¹“Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are my servant. I have made you, you are my servant; Israel, I will not forget you.

²²I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”

²³Sing for joy, you heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, you earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.

²⁴“This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself,

²⁵who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense,

²⁶who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’ of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,’ and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,’

²⁷who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,’

²⁸who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.” ’

¹Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek.

²The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.

³Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.

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

⁶Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.

⁷When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.

⁸So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.

⁹During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

¹⁰After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave 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, and the next day we went on to Neapolis.

¹²From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

¹³On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.

¹⁴One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.

¹⁵When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

¹⁶Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.

¹⁷She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”

¹⁸She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

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

²⁰They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar

²¹by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

²²The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.

²³After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.

²⁴When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

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

²⁶Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.

²⁷The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

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

³⁰He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

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

³²Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.

³³At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.

³⁴The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

³⁵When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.”

³⁶The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”

³⁸The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed.

³⁹They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city.

⁴⁰After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.