Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret;

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

³And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the land. And He sat down and continued teaching the crowds from the boat.

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

⁵Simon responded and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”

⁶And when they had done this, they caught a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to tear;

⁷so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, to the point that they were sinking.

⁸But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

⁹For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;

¹⁰and likewise also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear; from now on you will be catching people.”

¹¹When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

¹²While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

¹³And He reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him.

¹⁴And He ordered him to tell no one, saying, “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

¹⁵But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.

¹⁶But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.

¹⁷One day He was teaching, and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing.

¹⁸And some men were carrying a man on a stretcher who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him.

¹⁹But when they did not find any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.

²⁰And seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”

²¹The scribes and the Pharisees began thinking of the implications, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, except God alone?”

²²But Jesus, aware of their thoughts, responded and said to them, “Why are you thinking this way 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 said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher, and go home.”

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

²⁶And they were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God. They were also filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today!”

²⁷After that He went out and looked at a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.”

²⁸And he left everything behind, and got up and began following Him.

²⁹And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them.

³⁰The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling to His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”

³¹And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.

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

³³And they said to Him, “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink.”

³⁴And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make theattendants of the groom fast while the groom is with them, can you?

³⁵But the days will come; and when the groom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.”

³⁶And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the patch from the new garment will not match the old.

³⁷And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.

³⁸But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.

³⁹And no one, after drinking old wine wants new; for he says, ‘The old is fine.’ ”

¹Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves, so that I may tell you what will happen to you in the days to come.

²Gather together and listen, sons of Jacob; Yes, listen to Israel your father.

³“Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.

⁴Uncontrollable as water, you shall not have preeminence, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.

⁵“Simeon and Levi are brothers; Their swords are implements of violence.

⁶May my soul not enter into their council; May my glory not be united with their assembly; For in their anger they killed men, And in their self-will they lamed oxen.

⁷Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel. I will scatter them in Jacob, And disperse them among Israel.

⁸“As for you, Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

⁹Judah is a lion’s cub; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares to stir him up?

¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

¹¹He ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine; He washes his garments in wine, And his robes in the blood of grapes.

¹²His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.

¹³“Zebulun will reside at the seashore; And he shall be a harbor for ships, And his flank shall be toward Sidon.

¹⁴“Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying down between the sheepfolds.

¹⁵When he saw that a resting place was good And that the land was pleasant, He bowed his shoulder to carry burdens, And became a slave at forced labor.

¹⁶“Dan shall judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷Dan shall be a serpent in the way, A horned viper in the path, That bites the horse’s heels, So that its rider falls backward.

¹⁸For Your salvation I wait, LORD.

¹⁹“As for Gad, a band of raiders shall attack him, But he will attack at their heels.

²⁰“As for Asher, his food shall be rich, And he will yield royal delicacies.

²¹“Naphtali is a doe let loose; He utters beautiful words.

²²“Joseph is a fruitful branch, A fruitful branch by a spring; Its branches hang over a wall.

²³The archers provoked him, And shot at him and were hostile toward him;

²⁴But his bow remained firm, And his arms were agile, From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

²⁵From the God of your father who helps you, And by the Almighty who blesses you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

²⁶The blessings of your father Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to the furthest boundary of the everlasting hills; May they be on the head of Joseph, And on the top of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.

²⁷“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he devours the prey, And in the evening he divides the spoils.”

²⁸All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him.

²⁹Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

³⁰in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.

³¹There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah—

³²the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.”

³³When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

¹Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave, although he is owner of everything,

²but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.

³So we too, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elementary principles of the world.

⁴But when the fullness of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,

⁵so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters.

⁶Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!”

⁷Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

⁸However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are not gods.

⁹But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles, to which you want to be enslaved all over again?

¹⁰You meticulously observe days and months and seasons and years.

¹¹I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.

¹²I beg of you, brothers and sisters, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong;

¹³but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time;

¹⁴and you did not despise that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition, nor express contempt, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself.

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

¹⁶So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?

¹⁷They eagerly seek you, not in a commendable way, but they want to shut you out so that you will seek them.

¹⁸But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable way, and not only when I am present with you.

¹⁹My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you—

²⁰but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone of voice, for I am at a loss about you!

²¹Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the Law?

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

²³But the son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise.

²⁴This is speaking allegorically, for these women are two covenants: one coming from Mount Sinai giving birth to children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar.

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

²⁶But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.

²⁷For it is written: “REJOICE, INFERTILE ONE, YOU WHO DO NOT GIVE BIRTH; BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR; FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE ONE are more numerous THAN those of the one who has a husband.”

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

²⁹But as at that time the son who was born according to the flesh persecuted the one who was born according to the Spirit, so it is even now.

³⁰But what does the Scripture say? “DRIVE OUT THE SLAVE WOMAN AND HER SON, FOR THE SON OF THE SLAVE WOMAN SHALL NOT BE AN HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN.”

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

¹Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come!”

²I looked, and behold, a white horse, and the one who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

³When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!”

⁴And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that people would kill one another; and a large sword was given to him.

⁵When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come!” I looked, and behold, a black horse, and the one who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.

⁶And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”

⁷When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come!”

⁸I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and the one who sat on it had the name Death, and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, and famine, and plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.

⁹When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;

¹⁰and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth?”

¹¹And a white robe was given to each of them; and they were told that they were to rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who were to be killed even as they had been, was completed also.

¹²And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;

¹³and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.

¹⁴The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

¹⁵Then the kings of the earth and the eminent people, and the commanders and the wealthy and the strong, and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;

¹⁶and they *said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the sight of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;

¹⁷for the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

¹A good name is better than good oil, 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, Because that is the end of every person, And the living takes it to heart.

³Sorrow is better than laughter, For when a face is sad a heart may be happy.

⁴The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, While the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.

⁵It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise person Than for one to listen to the song of fools.

⁶For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool; And this too is futility.

⁷For oppression makes a wise person look foolish, And a bribe corrupts the heart.

⁸The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than arrogance of spirit.

⁹Do not be eager in your spirit to be angry, For anger resides in the heart of fools.

¹⁰Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

¹¹Wisdom along with an inheritance is good, And an advantage to those who see the sun.

¹²For wisdom is protection just as money is protection, But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom keeps its possessors alive.

¹³Consider the work of God, For who is able to straighten what He has bent?

¹⁴On the day of prosperity be happy, But on the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other So that a person will not discover anything that will come after him.

¹⁵I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is a righteous person who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked person who prolongs his life in his wickedness.

¹⁶Do not be excessively righteous, and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?

¹⁷Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be foolish. Why should you die before your time?

¹⁸It is good that you grasp one thing while not letting go of the other; for one who fears God comes out with both of them.

¹⁹Wisdom strengthens a wise person more than ten rulers who are in a city.

²⁰Indeed, there is not a righteous person on earth who always does good and does not ever sin.

²¹Also, do not take seriously all the words which are spoken, so that you do not hear your servant cursing you,

²²for you know that even you have cursed others many times as well.

²³I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” but wisdom was far from me.

²⁴What has been is remote and very mysterious. Who can discover it?

²⁵I directed my mind to know and to investigate, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of foolishness and the foolishness of insanity.

²⁶And I discovered as more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her.

²⁷“Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “by adding one thing to another to find an explanation,

²⁸which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these.

²⁹Behold, I have found only this, that God made people upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

¹Hear this, all peoples; Listen, all inhabitants of the world,

²Both low and high, Rich and poor together.

³My mouth will speak wisdom, And the meditation of my heart will be understanding.

⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle on the harp.

⁵Why should I fear in days of adversity, When the injustice of those who betray me surrounds me,

⁶Those who trust in their wealth And boast in the abundance of their riches?

⁷No one can by any means redeem another Or give God a ransom for him—

⁸For the redemption of his soul is priceless, And he should cease imagining forever—

⁹That he might live on eternally, That he might not undergo decay.

¹⁰For he sees that even wise people die; The foolish and the stupid alike perish And leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their inner thought is that their houses are forever And their dwelling places to all generations; They have named their lands after their own names.

¹²But man in his splendor will not endure; He is like the animals that perish.

¹³This is the way of those who are foolish, And of those after them who approve their words. Selah

¹⁴Like sheep they sink down to Sheol; Death will be their shepherd; And the upright will rule over them in the morning, And their form shall be for Sheol to consume So that they have no lofty home.

¹⁵But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, For He will receive me. Selah

¹⁶Do not be afraid when a person becomes rich, When the splendor of his house is increased;

¹⁷For when he dies, he will take nothing with him; His wealth will not descend after him.

¹⁸Though while he lives he congratulates himself— And though people praise you when you do well for yourself—

¹⁹He will go to the generation of his fathers; They will never see the light.

²⁰Mankind in its splendor, yet without understanding, Is like the animals that perish.

¹One who separates himself seeks his own desire; He quarrels against all sound wisdom.

²A fool does not delight in understanding, But in revealing his own mind.

³When a wicked person comes, contempt also comes, And with dishonor comes taunting.

⁴The words of a person’s mouth are deep waters; The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

⁵To show partiality to the wicked is not good, Nor to suppress the righteous in judgment.

⁶A fool’s lips bring strife, And his mouth invites beatings.

⁷A fool’s mouth is his ruin, And his lips are the snare of his soul.

⁸The words of a gossiper are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

⁹He also who is lax in his work Is a brother to him who destroys.

¹⁰The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.

¹¹A rich person’s wealth is his strong city, And like a high wall in his own imagination.

¹²Before destruction the heart of a person is haughty, But humility goes before honor.

¹³One who gives an answer before he hears, It is foolishness and shame to him.

¹⁴The spirit of a person can endure his sickness, But as for a broken spirit, who can endure it?

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

¹⁶A person’s gift makes room for him And brings him before great people.

¹⁷The first to plead his case seems right, Until another comes and examines him.

¹⁸The cast lot puts an end to quarrels, And decides between the mighty ones.

¹⁹A brother who is offended is harder to be won than a strong city, And quarrels are like the bars of a citadel.

²⁰With the fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied 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.

²²He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the LORD.

²³A poor person utters pleadings, But a rich person answers defiantly.

²⁴A person of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

¹Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, the redeemer of whom Boaz spoke was passing by, so he said, “Come over here, friend, sit down here.” And he came over and sat down.

²Then he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down.

³And he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, has to sell the plot of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.

⁴So I thought that I would inform you, saying, ‘Buy it before those who are sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if not, tell me so that I may know; for there is no one except you to redeem it, and I am after you.’ ” And he said, “I will redeem it.”

⁵Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.”

⁶Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, otherwise I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, since I cannot redeem it.”

⁷Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter: a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the way of confirmation in Israel.

⁸So the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” And he removed his sandal.

⁹Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon.

¹⁰Furthermore, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased will not be eliminated from his brothers or from the court of his birth place; you are witnesses today.”

¹¹And all the people who were in the court, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel; and may you achieve wealth in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem.

¹²Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the descendants whom the LORD will give you by this young woman.”

¹³So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he had relations with her. And the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.

¹⁴Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the LORD who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel.

¹⁵May he also be to you one who restores life and sustains your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

¹⁶Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse.

¹⁷And the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron,

¹⁹Hezron fathered Ram, and Ram fathered Amminadab,

²⁰and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon,

²¹and Salmon fathered Boaz, and Boaz fathered Obed,

²²and Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

¹Listen to Me, you islands, And pay attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother He named Me.

²He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me; And He has also made Me a sharpened arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver.

³He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel, In whom I will show My glory.”

⁴But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and futility; Nevertheless, the justice due to Me 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 too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the protected ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

⁷This is what the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, Says to the despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers: “Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down, Because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

⁸This is what the LORD says: “At a favorable time I answered You, And on a day of salvation I helped You; And I will watch over You and make You a covenant of the people, To restore the land, to give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands;

⁹Saying to those who are bound, ‘Go free,’ To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the roads, And their pasture will be on all bare heights.

¹⁰They will not hunger or thirst, Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down; For He who has compassion on them will lead them, And He will guide them to springs of water.

¹¹I will make all My mountains a road, And My highways will be raised up.

¹²Behold, these will come from afar; And behold, these will come from the north and from the west, And these from the land of Aswan.”

¹³Shout for joy, you heavens! And rejoice, you earth! Break forth into joyful shouting, mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people And will have compassion on His afflicted.

¹⁴But Zion said, “The LORD has abandoned me, And the Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵“Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.

¹⁶Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.

¹⁷Your builders hurry; Your destroyers and devastators Will leave you.

¹⁸Raise your eyes and look around; All of them gather together, they come to you. As I live,” declares the LORD, “You will certainly put them all on as jewelry and bind them on as a bride.

¹⁹For your ruins and deserted places and your destroyed land— Now you will certainly be too cramped for the inhabitants, And those who swallowed you will be far away.

²⁰The children you lost will yet say in your ears, ‘The place is too cramped for me; Make room for me that I may live here.’

²¹Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has fathered these for me, Since I have been bereaved of my children And cannot conceive, and I am an exile, and a wanderer? And who has raised these? Behold, I was left alone; Where are these from?’ ”

²²This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations And set up My flag to the peoples; And they will bring your sons in their arms, And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.

²³Kings will be your guardians, And their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the ground And lick the dust from your feet; And you will know that I am the LORD; Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.

²⁴“Can the prey be taken from a mighty man, Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?”

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

²⁶I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh, And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine; And humanity will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

¹Now when we had parted from them and had set sail, we ran a straight course to Cos, and on the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara;

²and having found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.

³When we came in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to Syria and landed at Tyre; for the ship was to unload its cargo there.

⁴After looking up the disciples, we stayed there for seven days; and they kept telling Paul, through the Spirit, not to set foot in Jerusalem.

⁵When our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, escorted us until we were out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another.

⁶Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting the brothers and sisters, we stayed with them for a day.

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

⁹Now this man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses.

¹⁰As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

¹¹And he came to us and took Paul’s belt and bound 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 hand him over to the Gentiles.’ ”

¹²When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging 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 even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴And since he would not be persuaded, we became quiet, remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”

¹⁵After these days we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of Cyprus, a disciple of long standing with whom we were to stay.

¹⁷After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us gladly.

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

¹⁹After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰And when they heard about them, they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law;

²¹and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.

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

²³Therefore, do as we tell you: we have four men who have a vow upon themselves;

²⁴take them along and purify yourself together with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and then everyone will know that there is nothing to what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also conform, keeping the Law.

²⁵But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we sent a letter, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶Then Paul took along the men, and the next day, after purifying himself together with them, he went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

²⁷When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him,

²⁸crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who instructs everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even 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 thought that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰Then the whole city was provoked and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.

³¹While they were intent on killing him, a report came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion.

³²He immediately took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered that he be bound with two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done.

³⁴But among the crowd, some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks.

³⁵When Paul got to the stairs, it came about that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob;

³⁶for the multitude of people kept following them, shouting, “Away with him!”

³⁷As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he *said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek?

³⁸Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?”

³⁹But Paul said, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”

⁴⁰When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying,