Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God’s word, he was standing by Lake Gennesaret.

²He saw two boats at the edge of the lake; the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.

³He got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat.

⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

⁵“Master,” Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.”

⁶When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear.

⁷So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

⁸When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”

⁹For he and all those with him were amazed at the catch of fish they had taken,

¹⁰and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners. “Don’t be afraid,” Jesus told Simon. “From now on you will be catching people.”

¹¹Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed him.

¹²While he was in one of the towns, a man was there who had leprosy all over him. He saw Jesus, fell facedown, and begged him: “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

¹³Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean,” and immediately the leprosy left him.

¹⁴Then he ordered him to tell no one: “But go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them.”

¹⁵But the news about him spread even more, and large crowds would come together to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.

¹⁶Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.

¹⁷On one of those days while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and also from Jerusalem. And the Lord’s power to heal was in him.

¹⁸Just then some men came, carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed. They tried to bring him in and set him down before him.

¹⁹Since they could not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the roof tiles into the middle of the crowd before Jesus.

²⁰Seeing their faith he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

²¹Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to think to themselves: “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

²²But perceiving their thoughts, Jesus replied to them, “Why are you thinking this in your hearts?

²³Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

²⁴But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”  — he told the paralyzed man, “I tell you: Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

²⁵Immediately he got up before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.

²⁶Then everyone was astounded, and they were giving glory to God. And they were filled with awe and said, “We have seen incredible things today.”

²⁷After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me.”

²⁸So, leaving everything behind, he got up and began to follow him.

²⁹Then Levi hosted a grand banquet for him at his house. Now there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were guests with them.

³⁰But the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

³¹Jesus replied to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick.

³²I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

³³Then they said to him, “John’s disciples fast often and say prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but yours eat and drink.”

³⁴Jesus said to them, “You can’t make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them, can you?

³⁵But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them — then they will fast in those days.”

³⁶He also told them a parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. Otherwise, not only will he tear the new, but also the piece from the new garment will not match the old.

³⁷And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, it will spill, and the skins will be ruined.

³⁸No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.

³⁹And no one, after drinking old wine, wants new, because he says, ‘The old is better.’”

¹Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather around, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come.

²Come together and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel:

³Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength and the firstfruits of my virility, excelling in prominence, excelling in power.

⁴Turbulent as water, you will not excel, because you got into your father’s bed and you defiled it — he got into my bed.

⁵Simeon and Levi are brothers; their knives are vicious weapons.

⁶May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For in their anger they kill men, and on a whim they hamstring oxen.

⁷Their anger is cursed, for it is strong, and their fury, for it is cruel! I will disperse them throughout Jacob and scatter them throughout Israel.

⁸Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you.

⁹Judah is a young lion  — my son, you return from the kill. He crouches; he lies down like a lion or a lioness — who dares to rouse him?

¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until he whose right it is comes and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him.

¹¹He ties his donkey to a vine, and the colt of his donkey to the choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine and his robes in the blood of grapes.

¹²His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.

¹³Zebulun will live by the seashore and will be a harbor for ships, and his territory will be next to Sidon.

¹⁴Issachar is a strong donkey lying down between the saddlebags.

¹⁵He saw that his resting place was good and that the land was pleasant, so he leaned his shoulder to bear a load and became a forced laborer.

¹⁶Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷Dan will be a snake by the road, a viper beside the path, that bites the horses’ heels so that its rider falls backward.

¹⁸I wait for your salvation, LORD.

¹⁹Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels.

²⁰Asher’s food will be rich, and he will produce royal delicacies.

²¹Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.

²²Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine beside a spring; its branches climb over the wall.

²³The archers attacked him, shot at him, and were hostile toward him.

²⁴Yet his bow remained steady, and his strong arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

²⁵by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and the womb.

²⁶The blessings of your father excel the blessings of my ancestors and the bounty of the ancient hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.

²⁷Benjamin is a wolf; he tears his prey. In the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the plunder.”

²⁸These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.

²⁹Then he commanded them: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hethite.

³⁰The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hethite as burial property.

³¹Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there, Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there, and I buried Leah there.

³²The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hethites.”

³³When Jacob had finished giving charges to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, took his last breath, and was gathered to his people.

¹Now I say that as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything.

²Instead, he is under guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.

³In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elements of the world.

⁴When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

⁵to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

⁶And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”

⁷So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.

⁸But in the past, since you didn’t know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods.

⁹But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elements? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?

¹⁰You are observing special days, months, seasons, and years.

¹¹I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted.

¹²I beg you, brothers and sisters: Become like me, for I also became like you. You have not wronged me;

¹³you know that previously I preached the gospel to you because of a weakness of the flesh.

¹⁴You did not despise or reject me though my physical condition was a trial for you. On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself.

¹⁵Where, then, is your blessing? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

¹⁶So then, have I become your enemy because I told you the truth?

¹⁷They court you eagerly, but not for good. They want to exclude you from me, so that you would pursue them.

¹⁸But it is always good to be pursued in a good manner — and not just when I am with you.

¹⁹My children, I am again suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you.

²⁰I would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I don’t know what to do about you.

²¹Tell me, you who want to be under the law, don’t you hear the law?

²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman.

²³But the one by the slave was born as a result of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born through promise.

²⁴These things are being taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery — this is Hagar.

²⁵Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

²⁶But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

²⁷For it is written, Rejoice, childless woman, unable to give birth. Burst into song and shout, you who are not in labor, for the children of the desolate woman will be many, more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.

²⁸Now you too, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.

²⁹But just as then the child born as a result of the flesh persecuted the one born as a result of the Spirit, so also now.

³⁰But what does the Scripture say? “Drive out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never be a coheir with the son of the free woman.”

³¹Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave but of the free woman.

¹Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!”

²I looked, and there was a white horse. Its rider held a bow; a crown was given to him, and he went out as a conqueror in order to conquer.

³When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”

⁴Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its rider was allowed to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him.

⁵When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and there was a black horse. Its rider held a set of scales in his hand.

⁶Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, but do not harm the oil and the wine.”

⁷When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”

⁸And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following after him. They were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.

⁹When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and the testimony they had given.

¹⁰They cried out with a loud voice: “Lord, the one who is holy and true, how long until you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood? ”

¹¹So they were each given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters, who were going to be killed just as they had been.

¹²Then I saw him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth made of hair; the entire moon became like blood;

¹³the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind;

¹⁴the sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place.

¹⁵Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.

¹⁶And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,

¹⁷because the great day of their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?”

¹A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.

²It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart.

³Grief is better than laughter, for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.

⁴The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.

⁵It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person than to listen to the song of fools,

⁶for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.

⁷Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the mind.

⁸The end of a matter is better than its beginning; a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit.

⁹Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides in the heart of fools.

¹⁰Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?” since it is not wise of you to ask this.

¹¹Wisdom is as good as an inheritance and an advantage to those who see the sun,

¹²because wisdom is protection as silver is protection; but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.

¹³Consider the work of God, for who can straighten out what he has made crooked?

¹⁴In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that no one can discover anything that will come after him.

¹⁵In my futile life I have seen everything: someone righteous perishes in spite of his righteousness, and someone wicked lives long in spite of his evil.

¹⁶Don’t be excessively righteous, and don’t be overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

¹⁷Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time?

¹⁸It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them.

¹⁹Wisdom makes the wise person stronger than ten rulers of a city.

²⁰There is certainly no one righteous on the earth who does good and never sins.

²¹Don’t pay attention to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you,

²²for in your heart you know that many times you yourself have cursed others.

²³I have tested all this by wisdom. I resolved, “I will be wise,” but it was beyond me.

²⁴What exists is beyond reach and very deep. Who can discover it?

²⁵I turned my thoughts to know, explore, and examine wisdom and an explanation for things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness.

²⁶And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap: her heart a net and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her.

²⁷“Look,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation,

²⁸which my soul continually searches for but does not find: I found one person in a thousand, but none of those was a woman.

²⁹Only see this: I have discovered that God made people upright, but they pursued many schemes.”

¹For the choir director. A psalm of the sons of Korah. [1] Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who inhabit the world,

²both low and high, rich and poor together.

³My mouth speaks wisdom; my heart’s meditation brings understanding.

⁴I turn my ear to a proverb; I explain my riddle with a lyre.

⁵Why should I fear in times of trouble? The iniquity of my foes surrounds me.

⁶They trust in their wealth and boast of their abundant riches.

⁷Yet these cannot redeem a person or pay his ransom to God  —

⁸since the price of redeeming him is too costly, one should forever stop trying  —

⁹so that he may live forever and not see the Pit.

¹⁰For one can see that the wise die; the foolish and stupid also pass away. Then they leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their graves are their permanent homes, their dwellings from generation to generation, though they have named estates after themselves.

¹²But despite his assets, mankind will not last; he is like the animals that perish.

¹³This is the way of those who are arrogant, and of their followers, who approve of their words. Selah

¹⁴Like sheep they are headed for Sheol; Death will shepherd them. The upright will rule over them in the morning, and their form will waste away in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.

¹⁵But God will redeem me from the power of Sheol, for he will take me. Selah

¹⁶Do not be afraid when a person gets rich, when the wealth of his house increases.

¹⁷For when he dies, he will take nothing at all; his wealth will not follow him down.

¹⁸Though he blesses himself during his lifetime — and you are acclaimed when you do well for yourself  —

¹⁹he will go to the generation of his fathers; they will never see the light.

²⁰Mankind, with his assets but without understanding, is like the animals that perish.

¹One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound wisdom.

²A fool does not delight in understanding, but only wants to show off his opinions.

³When a wicked person comes, contempt also comes, and along with dishonor, derision.

⁴The words of a person’s mouth are deep waters, a flowing river, a fountain of wisdom.

⁵It is not good to show partiality to the guilty, denying an innocent person justice.

⁶A fool’s lips lead to strife, and his mouth provokes a beating.

⁷A fool’s mouth is his devastation, and his lips are a trap for his life.

⁸A gossip’s words are like choice food that goes down to one’s innermost being.

⁹The one who is lazy in his work is brother to a vandal.

¹⁰The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are protected.

¹¹The wealth of the rich is his fortified city; in his imagination it is like a high wall.

¹²Before his downfall a person’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

¹³The one who gives an answer before he listens — this is foolishness and disgrace for him.

¹⁴A person’s spirit can endure sickness, but who can survive a broken spirit?

¹⁵The mind of the discerning acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks it.

¹⁶A person’s gift opens doors for him and brings him before the great.

¹⁷The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

¹⁸Casting the lot ends quarrels and separates powerful opponents.

¹⁹An offended brother is harder to reach than a fortified city, and quarrels are like the bars of a fortress.

²⁰From the fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is filled with the product of his lips.

²¹Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

²²A man who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.

²³The poor person pleads, but the rich one answers roughly.

²⁴One with many friends may be harmed, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.

¹Boaz went to the gate of the town and sat down there. Soon the family redeemer Boaz had spoken about came by. Boaz said, “Come over here and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.

²Then Boaz took ten men of the town’s elders and said, “Sit here.” And they sat down.

³He said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the territory of Moab, is selling the portion of the field that belonged to our brother Elimelech.

⁴I thought I should inform you: Buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do it. But if you do not want to redeem it, tell me so that I will know, because there isn’t anyone other than you to redeem it, and I am next after you.” “I want to redeem it,” he answered.

⁵Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you will acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate the man’s name on his property.”

⁶The redeemer replied, “I can’t redeem it myself, or I will ruin my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I can’t redeem it.”

⁷At an earlier period in Israel, a man removed his sandal and gave it to the other party in order to make any matter legally binding concerning the right of redemption or the exchange of property. This was the method of legally binding a transaction in Israel.

⁸So the redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy back the property yourself.”

⁹Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon.

¹⁰I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to perpetuate the deceased man’s name on his property, so that his name will not disappear among his relatives or from the gate of his hometown. You are witnesses today.”

¹¹All the people who were at the city gate, including the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is entering your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel. May you be powerful in Ephrathah and your name well known in Bethlehem.

¹²May your house become like the house of Perez, the son Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman.”

¹³Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. He slept with her, and the LORD granted conception to her, and she gave birth to a son.

¹⁴The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you without a family redeemer today. May his name become well known in Israel.

¹⁵He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. Indeed, your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

¹⁶Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became his nanny.

¹⁷The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸Now these are the family records of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron,

¹⁹Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab,

²⁰Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon,

²¹Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed,

²²Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

¹Coasts and islands, listen to me; distant peoples, pay attention. The LORD called me before I was born. He named me while I was in my mother’s womb.

²He made my words like a sharp sword; he hid me in the shadow of his hand. He made me like a sharpened arrow; he hid me in his quiver.

³He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

⁴But I myself said: I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and futility; yet my vindication is with the LORD, and my reward is with my God.

⁵And now, says the LORD, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him; for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and my God is my strength —

⁶he says, “It is not enough for you to be my servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

⁷This is what the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, says to one who is despised, to one abhorred by people, to a servant of rulers: “Kings will see, princes will stand up, and they will all bow down because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel  — and he has chosen you.”

⁸This is what the LORD says: I will answer you in a time of favor, and I will help you in the day of salvation. I will keep you, and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to make them possess the desolate inheritances,

⁹saying to the prisoners: Come out, and to those who are in darkness: Show yourselves. They will feed along the pathways, and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.

¹⁰They will not hunger or thirst, the scorching heat or sun will not strike them; for their compassionate one will guide them, and lead them to springs.

¹¹I will make all my mountains into a road, and my highways will be raised up.

¹²See, these will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Sinim.

¹³Shout for joy, you heavens! Earth, rejoice! Mountains break into joyful shouts! For the LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.

¹⁴Zion says, “The LORD has abandoned me; the Lord has forgotten me!”

¹⁵“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the child of her womb? Even if these forget, yet I will not forget you.

¹⁶Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

¹⁷Your builders hurry; those who destroy and devastate you will leave you.

¹⁸Look up, and look around. They all gather together; they come to you. As I live” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “you will wear all your children as jewelry, and put them on as a bride does.

¹⁹For your waste and desolate places and your land marked by ruins — will now be indeed too small for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away.

²⁰Yet as you listen, the children that you have been deprived of will say, ‘This place is too small for me; make room for me so that I may settle.’

²¹Then you will say within yourself, ‘Who fathered these for me? I was deprived of my children and unable to conceive, exiled and wandering — but who brought them up? See, I was left by myself — but these, where did they come from?’”

²²This is what the Lord GOD says: Look, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.

²³Kings will be your guardians and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the ground and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who put their hope in me will not be put to shame.

²⁴Can the prey be taken from a mighty man, or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?

²⁵For this is what the LORD says: “Even the captives of a mighty man will be taken, and the prey of a tyrant will be delivered; I will contend with the one who contends with you, and I will save your children.

²⁶I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they will be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine. Then all people will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

¹After we tore ourselves away from them, we set sail straight for Cos, the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

²Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded and set sail.

³After we sighted Cyprus, passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria and arrived at Tyre, since the ship was to unload its cargo there.

⁴We sought out the disciples and stayed there seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

⁵When our time had come to an end, we left to continue our journey, while all of them, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach to pray,

⁶we said farewell to one another and boarded the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we completed our voyage from Tyre, we reached Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.

⁸The next day we left and came to Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.

⁹This man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

¹⁰After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

¹¹He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him over to the Gentiles.’”

¹²When we heard this, both we and the local people pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴Since he would not be persuaded, we said no more except, “The Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵After this we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and brought us to Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.

¹⁷When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us warmly.

¹⁸The following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

¹⁹After greeting them, he reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰When they heard it, they glorified God and said, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law.

²¹But they have been informed about you — that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to live according to our customs.

²²So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you’ve come.

²³Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have made a vow.

²⁴Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you amounts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about observing the law.

²⁵With regard to the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter containing our decision that they should keep themselves from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶So the next day, Paul took the men, having purified himself along with them, and entered the temple, announcing the completion of the purification days when the offering would be made for each of them.

²⁷When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and seized him,

²⁸shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. What’s more, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

²⁹For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.

³¹As they were trying to kill him, word went up to the commander of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in chaos.

³²Taking along soldiers and centurions, he immediately ran down to them. Seeing the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the commander approached, took him into custody, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done.

³⁴Some in the crowd were shouting one thing and some another. Since he was not able to get reliable information because of the uproar, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks.

³⁵When Paul got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd,

³⁶for the mass of people followed, yelling, “Get rid of him!”

³⁷As he was about to be brought into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “Am I allowed to say something to you?” He replied, “You know how to speak Greek?

³⁸Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led four thousand men of the Assassins into the wilderness?”

³⁹Paul said, “I am a Jewish man from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Now I ask you, let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰After he had given permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When there was a great hush, he addressed them in Aramaic: