Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now it happened that Jesus was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath, and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.

²But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

³And Jesus, answering them, said, “Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him,

⁴how he entered the house of God, and took and ate theconsecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?”

⁵And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁶On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught; and a man was there whose right hand was withered.

⁷Now the scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse Him.

⁸But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up andcome forward!” And he got up and came forward.

⁹And Jesus said to them, “I ask you whether it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do harm, to save a life or to destroy it?”

¹⁰And after looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored.

¹¹But they themselves were filled with senseless rage, and began discussing together what they might do to Jesus.

¹²Now it was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer with God.

¹³And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles:

¹⁴Simon, whom He also named Peter, and his brother Andrew; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew;

¹⁵and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot;

¹⁶Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

¹⁷And then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon,

¹⁸who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled by unclean spirits were being cured.

¹⁹And all the people were trying to touch Him, because power was coming from Him and healing them all.

²⁰And He raised His eyes toward His disciples and began saying, “Blessed areyou who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹Blessed areyou who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed areyou who weep now, for you will laugh.

²²Blessed are you when the people hate you, and when theyexclude you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man.

²³Rejoice on that day and jump for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For their fathers used totreat the prophets the same way.

²⁴But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.

²⁵Woe to you whoare well-fed now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

²⁶Woe to you when all the people speak well of you; for their fathers used totreat the false prophets the same way.

²⁷“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who are abusive to you.

²⁹Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away yourcloak, do not withhold yourtunic from him either.

³⁰Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.

³¹Treat people the same way you want them totreat you.

³²If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

³³And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

³⁴And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.

³⁵But love your enemies and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil people.

³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.

³⁸Give, and it will be given to you. They willpour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

³⁹Now He also spoke a parable to them: “A person who is blind cannot guide another who is blind, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?

⁴⁰Astudent is not above the teacher; but everyone, when he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.

⁴¹Why do you look at thespeck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

⁴²How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out thespeck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out thespeck that is in your brother’s eye.

⁴³For there is no good tree that bears bad fruit, nor,on the other hand, a bad tree that bears good fruit.

⁴⁴For each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.

⁴⁵The good person out of the goodtreasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil person out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks fromthat which fills his heart.

⁴⁶“Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

⁴⁷Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words andacts on them, I will show you whom he is like:

⁴⁸he is like a man building a house, whodug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when there was a flood, the river burst against that house and yet it could not shake it, because it had been well built.

⁴⁹But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; and the river burst against it and it immediately collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

¹Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him and kissed him.

²Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.

³Now forty days were required for it, for such is the period required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.

⁴When the days of mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak to Pharaoh, saying,

⁵‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now then, please let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’ ”

⁶Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

⁷So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

⁸and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen.

⁹Chariots with teams of horses also went up with him; and it was a very great company.

¹⁰When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they mourned there with a very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he observed seven days of mourning for his father.

¹¹Now when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore it was named Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

¹²And so his sons did for him as he had commanded them;

¹³for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah opposite Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite.

¹⁴And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

¹⁵When Joseph’s brothers had seen that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!”

¹⁶So they sent instructions to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded us before he died, saying,

¹⁷‘This is what you shall say to Joseph: “Please forgive, I beg you, the offense of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.” ’ And now, please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

¹⁸Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.”

¹⁹But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place?

²⁰As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive.

²¹So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

²²Now Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived 110 years.

²³Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s sons; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees.

²⁴Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will assuredly take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

²⁵Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will assuredly take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.”

²⁶So Joseph died at the age of 110 years; and they embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.

¹It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

²Look! I, Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.

³And I testify again to every man who has himself circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Law.

⁴You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace.

⁵For we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.

⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

⁷You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?

⁸This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.

⁹A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.

¹⁰I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear the punishment, whoever he is.

¹¹But as for me, brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been eliminated.

¹²I wish that those who are troubling you would even emasculate themselves.

¹³For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.

¹⁴For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

¹⁵But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

¹⁶But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

¹⁷For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.

¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

¹⁹Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior,

²⁰idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions,

²¹envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²³gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

²⁴Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit as well.

²⁶Let’s not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

¹After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.

²And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, holding the seal of the living God; and he called out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea,

³saying, “Do not harm the earth, or the sea, or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”

⁴And I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

⁵from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,

⁶from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,

⁷from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,

⁸from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, and from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

⁹After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;

¹⁰and they *cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

¹¹And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

¹²saying, “Amen, blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might belong to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

¹³Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?”

¹⁴I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁵For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.

¹⁶They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat;

¹⁷for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

¹Who is like the wise person and who knows the meaning of a matter? A person’s wisdom illuminates his face and makes his stern face brighten up.

²I say, “Keep the command of the king because of the oath before God.

³Do not be in a hurry to leave him. Do not join in an evil matter, for he will do whatever he pleases.”

⁴Since the word of the king is authoritative, who will say to him, “What are you doing?”

⁵One who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure.

⁶For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a person’s trouble is heavy upon him.

⁷If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?

⁸No one has authority over the wind to restrain the wind, nor authority over the day of death; and there is no military discharge in the time of war, and evil will not save those who practice it.

⁹All this I have seen, and have applied my mind to every deed that has been done under the sun at a time when one person has exercised authority over another person to his detriment.

¹⁰So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did such things. This too is futility.

¹¹Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of mankind among them are fully given to do evil.

¹²Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will go well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly.

¹³But it will not go well for the evil person and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.

¹⁴There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility.

¹⁵So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a person under the sun except to eat, drink, and be joyful, and this will stand by him in his labor throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

¹⁶When I devoted my mind to know wisdom and to see the business which has been done on the earth (even though one should never sleep day or night),

¹⁷and I saw every work of God, I concluded that one cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though a person laboriously seeks, he will not discover; and even if the wise person claims to know, he cannot discover.

¹The Mighty One, God, the LORD, has spoken And summoned the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting.

²Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shone.

³May our God come and not keep silent; Fire devours before Him, And a storm is violently raging around Him.

⁴He summons the heavens above, And the earth, to judge His people:

⁵“Gather My godly ones to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

⁶And the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is judge. Selah

⁷“Hear, My people, and I will speak; Israel, I will testify against you; I am God, your God.

⁸I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.

⁹I will not take a bull from your house, Nor male goats from your folds.

¹⁰For every animal of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine.

¹²If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and everything it contains.

¹³Shall I eat the flesh of bulls Or drink the blood of male goats?

¹⁴Offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High;

¹⁵Call upon Me on the day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you will honor Me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked God says, “What right do you have to tell of My statutes And to take My covenant in your mouth?

¹⁷For you yourself hate discipline, And you throw My words behind you.

¹⁸When you see a thief, you become friends with him, And you associate with adulterers.

¹⁹You let your mouth loose in evil, And your tongue harnesses deceit.

²⁰You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son.

²¹These things you have done and I kept silent; You thought that I was just like you; I will rebuke you and present the case before your eyes.

²²“Now consider this, you who forget God, Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be no one to save you.

²³He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who sets his way properly I will show the salvation of God.”

¹Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity Than a person who is perverse in speech and is a fool.

²Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And one who hurries his footsteps errs.

³The foolishness of a person ruins his way, And his heart rages against the LORD.

⁴Wealth adds many friends, But a poor person is separated from his friend.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, And one who declares lies will not escape.

⁶Many will seek the favor of a generous person, And every person is a friend to him who gives gifts.

⁷All the brothers of a poor person hate him; How much more do his friends abandon him! He pursues them with words, but they are gone.

⁸One who gets wisdom loves his own soul; One who keeps understanding will find good.

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished, And one who declares lies will perish.

¹⁰Luxury is not fitting for a fool; Much less for a slave to rule over princes.

¹¹A person’s discretion makes him slow to anger, And it is his glory to overlook an offense.

¹²A king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, But his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹³A foolish son is destruction to his father, And the quarrels of a wife are a constant dripping.

¹⁴House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the LORD.

¹⁵Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And a lazy person will suffer hunger.

¹⁶One who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, But one who is careless of conduct will die.

¹⁷One who is gracious to a poor person lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed.

¹⁸Discipline your son while there is hope, And do not desire his death.

¹⁹A person of great anger will suffer the penalty, For if you rescue him, you will only have to do it again.

²⁰Listen to advice and accept discipline, So that you may be wise the rest of your days.

²¹Many plans are in a person’s heart, But the advice of the LORD will stand.

²²What is desirable in a person is his kindness, And it is better to be a poor person than a liar.

²³The fear of the LORD leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.

²⁴The lazy one buries his hand in the dish, But will not even bring it back to his mouth.

²⁵Strike a scoffer and the naive may become clever, But rebuke one who has understanding, and he will gain knowledge.

²⁶He who assaults his father and drives his mother away Is a shameful and disgraceful son.

²⁷Stop listening, my son, to discipline, And you will stray from the words of knowledge.

²⁸A worthless witness makes a mockery of justice, And the mouth of the wicked swallows wrongdoing.

²⁹Judgments are prepared for scoffers, And beatings for the backs of fools.

¹Now there was a man from Ramathaim-zophim from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

²And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah and the name of the other Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

³Now this man would go up from his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of armies in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD there.

⁴When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters;

⁵but to Hannah he would give a double portion, because he loved Hannah, but the LORD had closed her womb.

⁶Her rival, moreover, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.

⁷And it happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of the LORD, that she would provoke her; so she wept and would not eat.

⁸Then Elkanah her husband would say to her, “Hannah, why do you weep, and why do you not eat, and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

⁹Then Hannah got up after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.

¹⁰She, greatly distressed, prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.

¹¹And she made a vow and said, “LORD of armies, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your bond-servant and remember me, and not forget Your bond-servant, but will give Your bond-servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.”

¹²Now it came about, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli was watching her mouth.

¹³As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were quivering, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought that she was drunk.

¹⁴Then Eli said to her, “How long will you behave like a drunk? Get rid of your wine!”

¹⁵But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman despairing in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD.

¹⁶Do not consider your bond-servant a useless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation.”

¹⁷Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your request that you have asked of Him.”

¹⁸She said, “Let your bond-servant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went on her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

¹⁹Then they got up early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.

²⁰It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him of the LORD.”

²¹Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow.

²²But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, so that he may appear before the LORD and stay there for life.”

²³Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you. Stay until you have weaned him; only may the LORD confirm His word.” So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she weaned him.

²⁴Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull, one ephah of flour, and a jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh, although the child was young.

²⁵Then they slaughtered the bull, and brought the boy to Eli.

²⁶And she said, “Pardon me, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the LORD.

²⁷For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my request which I asked of Him.

²⁸So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.

¹This is what the LORD says: “Where is the certificate of divorce By which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your wrongdoings, And for your wrongful acts your mother was sent away.

²Why was there no one when I came? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Is My hand so short that it cannot redeem? Or do I have no power to rescue? Behold, I dry up the sea with My rebuke, I turn rivers into a wilderness; Their fish stink for lack of water, And die of thirst.

³I clothe the heavens with blackness, And make sackcloth their covering.”

⁴The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples, So that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.

⁵The Lord GOD has opened My ear, And I was not disobedient, Nor did I turn back.

⁶I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pull out My beard; I did not hide My face from insults and spitting.

⁷For the Lord GOD helps Me, Therefore, I am not disgraced; Therefore, I have made My face like flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed.

⁸He who vindicates Me is near; Who will contend with Me? Let us stand up to each other. Who has a case against Me? Let him approach Me.

⁹Behold, the Lord GOD helps Me; Who is he who condemns Me? Behold, they will all wear out like a garment; A moth will eat them.

¹⁰Who is among you who fears the LORD, Who obeys the voice of His servant, Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.

¹¹Behold, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with flaming arrows, Walk in the light of your fire And among the flaming arrows you have set ablaze. This you will have from My hand: You will lie down in torment.

¹“Brothers and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

²And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he *said,

³“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the Law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today.

⁴I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons,

⁵as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brothers, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.

⁶“But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus at about noon, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me,

⁷and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’

⁸And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’

⁹And those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.

¹⁰And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that has been appointed for you to do.’

¹¹But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I came into Damascus being led by the hand by those who were with me.

¹²“Now a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,

¹³came to me, and standing nearby he said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I looked up at him.

¹⁴And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear a message from His mouth.

¹⁵For you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins by calling on His name.’

¹⁷“It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance,

¹⁸and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’

¹⁹And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You.

²⁰And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby and approving, and watching over the cloaks of those who were killing him.’

²¹And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’  ”

²²They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a man from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!”

²³And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air,

²⁴the commander ordered that he be brought into the barracks, saying that he was to be interrogated by flogging so that he would find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way.

²⁵But when they stretched him out with straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?”

²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.”

²⁷The commander came and said to Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.”

²⁸The commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.”

²⁹Therefore, those who were about to interrogate him immediately backed away from him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains.

³⁰Now on the next day, wanting to know for certain why Paul had been accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Council to assemble, and he brought Paul down and placed him before them.