Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

²being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

³And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

⁴But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”

⁵Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

⁶And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

⁷Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

⁸And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

⁹Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.

¹⁰For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’

¹¹and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

¹²And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ ”

¹³Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

¹⁴Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.

¹⁵And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

¹⁶So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.

¹⁷And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

¹⁸“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

¹⁹To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”

²⁰Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

²¹And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

²²So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

²³He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’ ”

²⁴Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.

²⁵But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land;

²⁶but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

²⁷And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,

²⁹and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.

³⁰Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.

³¹Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths.

³²And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.

³³Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice,

³⁴saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are— the Holy One of God!”

³⁵But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him.

³⁶Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.”

³⁷And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

³⁸Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her.

³⁹So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.

⁴⁰When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.

⁴¹And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

⁴²Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them;

⁴³but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”

⁴⁴And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

¹Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, “Indeed your father is sick”; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

²And Jacob was told, “Look, your son Joseph is coming to you”; and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed.

³Then Jacob said to Joseph: “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,

⁴and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’

⁵And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

⁶Your offspring whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.

⁷But as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

⁸Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?”

⁹And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”

¹⁰Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

¹¹And Israel said to Joseph, “I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!”

¹²So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth.

¹³And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him.

¹⁴Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

¹⁵And he blessed Joseph, and said: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,

¹⁶The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

¹⁷Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.

¹⁸And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

²⁰So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.

²²Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”

¹O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?

²This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

³Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

⁴Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?

⁵Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—

⁶just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

⁷Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.

⁸And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”

⁹So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

¹⁰For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”

¹¹But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”

¹²Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”

¹³Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),

¹⁴that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

¹⁵Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.

¹⁶Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.

¹⁷And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.

¹⁸For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

¹⁹What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.

²⁰Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.

²¹Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.

²²But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

²³But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.

²⁴Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

²⁵But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

²⁶For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁷For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

²⁹And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

¹And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.

²Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?”

³And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.

⁴So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it.

⁵But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”

⁶And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

⁷Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

⁸Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

⁹And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

¹⁰And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

¹¹Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,

¹²saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

¹³And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

¹⁴Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

¹There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:

²A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil affliction.

³If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he—

⁴for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.

⁵Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man,

⁶even if he lives a thousand years twice—but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one place?

⁷All the labor of man is for his mouth, And yet the soul is not satisfied.

⁸For what more has the wise man than the fool? What does the poor man have, Who knows how to walk before the living?

⁹Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹⁰Whatever one is, he has been named already, For it is known that he is man; And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.

¹¹Since there are many things that increase vanity, How is man the better?

¹²For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?

¹A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. [1] Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised In the city of our God, In His holy mountain.

²Beautiful in elevation, The joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, The city of the great King.

³God is in her palaces; He is known as her refuge.

⁴For behold, the kings assembled, They passed by together.

⁵They saw it, and so they marveled; They were troubled, they hastened away.

⁶Fear took hold of them there, And pain, as of a woman in birth pangs,

⁷As when You break the ships of Tarshish With an east wind.

⁸As we have heard, So we have seen In the city of the LORD of hosts, In the city of our God: God will establish it forever. Selah

⁹We have thought, O God, on Your lovingkindness, In the midst of Your temple.

¹⁰According to Your name, O God, So is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness.

¹¹Let Mount Zion rejoice, Let the daughters of Judah be glad, Because of Your judgments.

¹²Walk about Zion, And go all around her. Count her towers;

¹³Mark well her bulwarks; Consider her palaces; That you may tell it to the generation following.

¹⁴For this is God, Our God forever and ever; He will be our guide Even to death.

¹Better is a dry morsel with quietness, Than a house full of feasting with strife.

²A wise servant will rule over a son who causes shame, And will share an inheritance among the brothers.

³The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the LORD tests the hearts.

⁴An evildoer gives heed to false lips; A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue.

⁵He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker; He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

⁶Children’s children are the crown of old men, And the glory of children is their father.

⁷Excellent speech is not becoming to a fool, Much less lying lips to a prince.

⁸A present is a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor; Wherever he turns, he prospers.

⁹He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends.

¹⁰Rebuke is more effective for a wise man Than a hundred blows on a fool.

¹¹An evil man seeks only rebellion; Therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

¹²Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs, Rather than a fool in his folly.

¹³Whoever rewards evil for good, Evil will not depart from his house.

¹⁴The beginning of strife is like releasing water; Therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts.

¹⁵He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.

¹⁶Why is there in the hand of a fool the purchase price of wisdom, Since he has no heart for it?

¹⁷A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.

¹⁸A man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge, And becomes surety for his friend.

¹⁹He who loves transgression loves strife, And he who exalts his gate seeks destruction.

²⁰He who has a deceitful heart finds no good, And he who has a perverse tongue falls into evil.

²¹He who begets a scoffer does so to his sorrow, And the father of a fool has no joy.

²²A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

²³A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back To pervert the ways of justice.

²⁴Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding, But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son is a grief to his father, And bitterness to her who bore him.

²⁶Also, to punish the righteous is not good, Nor to strike princes for their uprightness.

²⁷He who has knowledge spares his words, And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.

²⁸Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.

¹Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you?

²Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.

³Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

⁴Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do.”

⁵And she said to her, “All that you say to me I will do.”

⁶So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her.

⁷And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

⁸Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet.

⁹And he said, “Who are you?” So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.”

¹⁰Then he said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich.

¹¹And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman.

¹²Now it is true that I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I.

¹³Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you—good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you, as the LORD lives! Lie down until morning.”

¹⁴So she lay at his feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another. Then he said, “Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”

¹⁵Also he said, “Bring the shawl that is on you and hold it.” And when she held it, he measured six ephahs of barley, and laid it on her. Then she went into the city.

¹⁶When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “Is that you, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her.

¹⁷And she said, “These six ephahs of barley he gave me; for he said to me, ‘Do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’ ”

¹⁸Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.”

¹“Hear this, O house of Jacob, Who are called by the name of Israel, And have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah; Who swear by the name of the LORD, And make mention of the God of Israel, But not in truth or in righteousness;

²For they call themselves after the holy city, And lean on the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is His name:

³“I have declared the former things from the beginning; They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.

⁴Because I knew that you were obstinate, And your neck was an iron sinew, And your brow bronze,

⁵Even from the beginning I have declared it to you; Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you, Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them, And my carved image and my molded image Have commanded them.’

⁶“You have heard; See all this. And will you not declare it? I have made you hear new things from this time, Even hidden things, and you did not know them.

⁷They are created now and not from the beginning; And before this day you have not heard them, Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’

⁸Surely you did not hear, Surely you did not know; Surely from long ago your ear was not opened. For I knew that you would deal very treacherously, And were called a transgressor from the womb.

⁹“For My name’s sake I will defer My anger, And for My praise I will restrain it from you, So that I do not cut you off.

¹⁰Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

¹¹For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another.

¹²“Listen to Me, O Jacob, And Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last.

¹³Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, And My right hand has stretched out the heavens; When I call to them, They stand up together.

¹⁴“All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; He shall do His pleasure on Babylon, And His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.

¹⁵I, even I, have spoken; Yes, I have called him, I have brought him, and his way will prosper.

¹⁶“Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; From the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord GOD and His Spirit Have sent Me.”

¹⁷Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.

¹⁸Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

¹⁹Your descendants also would have been like the sand, And the offspring of your body like the grains of sand; His name would not have been cut off Nor destroyed from before Me.”

²⁰Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With a voice of singing, Declare, proclaim this, Utter it to the end of the earth; Say, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”

²¹And they did not thirst When He led them through the deserts; He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them; He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.

²²“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”

¹After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia.

²Now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece

³and stayed three months. And when the Jews plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

⁴And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia—also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.

⁵These men, going ahead, waited for us at Troas.

⁶But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days.

⁷Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together.

⁹And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.”

¹¹Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed.

¹²And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.

¹³Then we went ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos, there intending to take Paul on board; for so he had given orders, intending himself to go on foot.

¹⁴And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene.

¹⁵We sailed from there, and the next day came opposite Chios. The following day we arrived at Samos and stayed at Trogyllium. The next day we came to Miletus.

¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the Day of Pentecost.

¹⁷From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.

¹⁸And when they had come to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you,

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews;

²⁰how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house,

²¹testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

²²And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there,

²³except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.

²⁴But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

²⁵“And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more.

²⁶Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.

²⁷For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.

²⁸Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

²⁹For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

³⁰Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

³¹Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

³²“So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

³³I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel.

³⁴Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me.

³⁵I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

³⁶And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

³⁷Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him,

³⁸sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.