Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples broke off heads of grain, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grain.

²But some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”

³Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

⁴He went into the house of God and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests can eat. He also gave some to his companions.”

⁵And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath.”

⁶On another Sabbath day, a man with a deformed right hand was in the synagogue while Jesus was teaching.

⁷The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.

⁸But Jesus knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” So the man came forward.

⁹Then Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”

¹⁰He looked around at them one by one and then said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored!

¹¹At this, the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him.

¹²One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night.

¹³At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:

¹⁴Simon (whom he named Peter), Andrew (Peter’s brother), James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,

¹⁵Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the zealot),

¹⁶Judas (son of James), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).

¹⁷When they came down from the mountain, the disciples stood with Jesus on a large, level area, surrounded by many of his followers and by the crowds. There were people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon.

¹⁸They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those troubled by evil spirits were healed.

¹⁹Everyone tried to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone.

²⁰Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.

²¹God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh.

²²What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man.

²³When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.

²⁴“What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now.

²⁵What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now, for a time of awful hunger awaits you. What sorrow awaits you who laugh now, for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow.

²⁶What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds, for their ancestors also praised false prophets.

²⁷“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.

²⁸Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.

²⁹If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also.

³⁰Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back.

³¹Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

³²“If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them!

³³And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much!

³⁴And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

³⁵“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.

³⁶You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

³⁷“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.

³⁸Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full — pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back. ”

³⁹Then Jesus gave the following illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch?

⁴⁰Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.

⁴¹“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?

⁴²How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

⁴³“A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.

⁴⁴A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes.

⁴⁵A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

⁴⁶“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?

⁴⁷I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it.

⁴⁸It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built.

⁴⁹But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”

¹Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him.

²Then Joseph told the physicians who served him to embalm his father’s body; so Jacob was embalmed.

³The embalming process took the usual forty days. And the Egyptians mourned his death for seventy days.

⁴When the period of mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh’s advisers and said, “Please do me this favor and speak to Pharaoh on my behalf.

⁵Tell him that my father made me swear an oath. He said to me, ‘Listen, I am about to die. Take my body back to the land of Canaan, and bury me in the tomb I prepared for myself.’ So please allow me to go and bury my father. After his burial, I will return without delay.”

⁶Pharaoh agreed to Joseph’s request. “Go and bury your father, as he made you promise,” he said.

⁷So Joseph went up to bury his father. He was accompanied by all of Pharaoh’s officials, all the senior members of Pharaoh’s household, and all the senior officers of Egypt.

⁸Joseph also took his entire household and his brothers and their households. But they left their little children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.

⁹A great number of chariots and charioteers accompanied Joseph.

¹⁰When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan River, they held a very great and solemn memorial service, with a seven-day period of mourning for Joseph’s father.

¹¹The local residents, the Canaanites, watched them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad. Then they renamed that place (which is near the Jordan) Abel-mizraim, for they said, “This is a place of deep mourning for these Egyptians.”

¹²So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them.

¹³They carried his body to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the cave that Abraham had bought as a permanent burial site from Ephron the Hittite.

¹⁴After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial.

¹⁵But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him,” they said.

¹⁶So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before your father died, he instructed us

¹⁷to say to you: ‘Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to you — for their sin in treating you so cruelly.’ So we, the servants of the God of your father, beg you to forgive our sin.” When Joseph received the message, he broke down and wept.

¹⁸Then his brothers came and threw themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are your slaves!” they said.

¹⁹But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you?

²⁰You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.

²¹No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.

²²So Joseph and his brothers and their families continued to live in Egypt. Joseph lived to the age of 110.

²³He lived to see three generations of descendants of his son Ephraim, and he lived to see the birth of the children of Manasseh’s son Makir, whom he claimed as his own.

²⁴“Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

²⁵Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, and he said, “When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you.”

²⁶So Joseph died at the age of 110. The Egyptians embalmed him, and his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

¹So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

²Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you.

³I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses.

⁴For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.

⁵But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us.

⁶For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.

⁷You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth?

⁸It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom.

⁹This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!

¹⁰I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.

¹¹Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised — as some say I do — why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended.

¹²I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.

¹³For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

¹⁴For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

¹⁵But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

¹⁶So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

¹⁷The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

¹⁸But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

¹⁹When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,

²⁰idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,

²¹envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

²²But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²³gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

²⁵Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

²⁶Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

¹Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the earth or the sea, or even on any tree.

²And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted to those four angels, who had been given power to harm land and sea,

³“Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.”

⁴And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God — 144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel:

⁵from Judah — 12,000 from Reuben — 12,000 from Gad — 12,000

⁶from Asher — 12,000 from Naphtali — 12,000 from Manasseh — 12,000

⁷from Simeon — 12,000 from Levi — 12,000 from Issachar — 12,000

⁸from Zebulun — 12,000 from Joseph — 12,000 from Benjamin — 12,000

⁹After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.

¹⁰And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”

¹¹And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God.

¹²They sang, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

¹³Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, “Who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from?”

¹⁴And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.

¹⁵“That is why they stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his Temple. And he who sits on the throne will give them shelter.

¹⁶They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun.

¹⁷For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

¹How wonderful to be wise, to analyze and interpret things. Wisdom lights up a person’s face, softening its harshness.

²Obey the king since you vowed to God that you would.

³Don’t try to avoid doing your duty, and don’t stand with those who plot evil, for the king can do whatever he wants.

⁴His command is backed by great power. No one can resist or question it.

⁵Those who obey him will not be punished. Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right,

⁶for there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble.

⁷Indeed, how can people avoid what they don’t know is going to happen?

⁸None of us can hold back our spirit from departing. None of us has the power to prevent the day of our death. There is no escaping that obligation, that dark battle. And in the face of death, wickedness will certainly not rescue the wicked.

⁹I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other.

¹⁰I have seen wicked people buried with honor. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless.

¹¹When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong.

¹²But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off.

¹³The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows.

¹⁴And this is not all that is meaningless in our world. In this life, good people are often treated as though they were wicked, and wicked people are often treated as though they were good. This is so meaningless!

¹⁵So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.

¹⁶In my search for wisdom and in my observation of people’s burdens here on earth, I discovered that there is ceaseless activity, day and night.

¹⁷I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim.

¹The LORD, the Mighty One, is God, and he has spoken; he has summoned all humanity from where the sun rises to where it sets.

²From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines in glorious radiance.

³Our God approaches, and he is not silent. Fire devours everything in his way, and a great storm rages around him.

⁴He calls on the heavens above and earth below to witness the judgment of his people.

⁵“Bring my faithful people to me — those who made a covenant with me by giving sacrifices.”

⁶Then let the heavens proclaim his justice, for God himself will be the judge. Interlude

⁷“O my people, listen as I speak. Here are my charges against you, O Israel: I am God, your God!

⁸I have no complaint about your sacrifices or the burnt offerings you constantly offer.

⁹But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens.

¹⁰For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field are mine.

¹²If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it.

¹³Do I eat the meat of bulls? Do I drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High.

¹⁵Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.”

¹⁶But God says to the wicked: “Why bother reciting my decrees and pretending to obey my covenant?

¹⁷For you refuse my discipline and treat my words like trash.

¹⁸When you see thieves, you approve of them, and you spend your time with adulterers.

¹⁹Your mouth is filled with wickedness, and your tongue is full of lies.

²⁰You sit around and slander your brother — your own mother’s son.

²¹While you did all this, I remained silent, and you thought I didn’t care. But now I will rebuke you, listing all my charges against you.

²²Repent, all of you who forget me, or I will tear you apart, and no one will help you.

²³But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”

¹Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and a fool.

²Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes.

³People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD.

⁴Wealth makes many “friends”; poverty drives them all away.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, nor will a liar escape.

⁶Many seek favors from a ruler; everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts!

⁷The relatives of the poor despise them; how much more will their friends avoid them! Though the poor plead with them, their friends are gone.

⁸To acquire wisdom is to love yourself; people who cherish understanding will prosper.

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished, and a liar will be destroyed.

¹⁰It isn’t right for a fool to live in luxury or for a slave to rule over princes!

¹¹Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.

¹²The king’s anger is like a lion’s roar, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹³A foolish child is a calamity to a father; a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping.

¹⁴Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the LORD can give an understanding wife.

¹⁵Lazy people sleep soundly, but idleness leaves them hungry.

¹⁶Keep the commandments and keep your life; despising them leads to death.

¹⁷If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD — and he will repay you!

¹⁸Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives.

¹⁹Hot-tempered people must pay the penalty. If you rescue them once, you will have to do it again.

²⁰Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life.

²¹You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.

²²Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest.

²³Fear of the LORD leads to life, bringing security and protection from harm.

²⁴Lazy people take food in their hand but don’t even lift it to their mouth.

²⁵If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded will learn a lesson; if you correct the wise, they will be all the wiser.

²⁶Children who mistreat their father or chase away their mother are an embarrassment and a public disgrace.

²⁷If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will turn your back on knowledge.

²⁸A corrupt witness makes a mockery of justice; the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.

²⁹Punishment is made for mockers, and the backs of fools are made to be beaten.

¹There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim.

²Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not.

³Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the LORD at that time were the two sons of Eli — Hophni and Phinehas.

⁴On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children.

⁵And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion because the LORD had given her no children.

⁶So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the LORD had kept her from having children.

⁷Year after year it was the same — Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.

⁸“Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me — isn’t that better than having ten sons?”

⁹Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle.

¹⁰Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the LORD.

¹¹And she made this vow: “O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the LORD, his hair will never be cut. ”

¹²As she was praying to the LORD, Eli watched her.

¹³Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking.

¹⁴“Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!”

¹⁵“Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the LORD.

¹⁶Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.”

¹⁷“In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”

¹⁸“Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.

¹⁹The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the LORD once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the LORD remembered her plea,

²⁰and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the LORD for him.”

²¹The next year Elkanah and his family went on their annual trip to offer a sacrifice to the LORD and to keep his vow.

²²But Hannah did not go. She told her husband, “Wait until the boy is weaned. Then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there with the LORD permanently. ”

²³“Whatever you think is best,” Elkanah agreed. “Stay here for now, and may the LORD help you keep your promise. ” So she stayed home and nursed the boy until he was weaned.

²⁴When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull for the sacrifice and a basket of flour and some wine.

²⁵After sacrificing the bull, they brought the boy to Eli.

²⁶“Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the LORD.

²⁷I asked the LORD to give me this boy, and he has granted my request.

²⁸Now I am giving him to the LORD, and he will belong to the LORD his whole life.” And they worshiped the LORD there.

¹This is what the LORD says: “Was your mother sent away because I divorced her? Did I sell you as slaves to my creditors? No, you were sold because of your sins. And your mother, too, was taken because of your sins.

²Why was no one there when I came? Why didn’t anyone answer when I called? Is it because I have no power to rescue? No, that is not the reason! For I can speak to the sea and make it dry up! I can turn rivers into deserts covered with dying fish.

³I dress the skies in darkness, covering them with clothes of mourning.”

⁴The Sovereign LORD has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will.

⁵The Sovereign LORD has spoken to me, and I have listened. I have not rebelled or turned away.

⁶I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting.

⁷Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will. And I know that I will not be put to shame.

⁸He who gives me justice is near. Who will dare to bring charges against me now? Where are my accusers? Let them appear!

⁹See, the Sovereign LORD is on my side! Who will declare me guilty? All my enemies will be destroyed like old clothes that have been eaten by moths!

¹⁰Who among you fears the LORD and obeys his servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the LORD and rely on your God.

¹¹But watch out, you who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires. This is the reward you will receive from me: You will soon fall down in great torment.

¹“Brothers and esteemed fathers,” Paul said, “listen to me as I offer my defense.”

²When they heard him speaking in their own language, the silence was even greater.

³Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today.

⁴And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison.

⁵The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the followers of the Way from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished.

⁶“As I was on the road, approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me.

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

⁸“‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting.’

⁹The people with me saw the light but didn’t understand the voice speaking to me.

¹⁰“I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ “And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are to do.’

¹¹“I was blinded by the intense light and had to be led by the hand to Damascus by my companions.

¹²A man named Ananias lived there. He was a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all the Jews of Damascus.

¹³He came and stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And that very moment I could see him!

¹⁴“Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak.

¹⁵For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’

¹⁷“After I returned to Jerusalem, I was praying in the Temple and fell into a trance.

¹⁸I saw a vision of Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹“‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.

²⁰And I was in complete agreement when your witness Stephen was killed. I stood by and kept the coats they took off when they stoned him.’

²¹“But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”

²²The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, “Away with such a fellow! He isn’t fit to live!”

²³They yelled, threw off their coats, and tossed handfuls of dust into the air.

²⁴The commander brought Paul inside and ordered him lashed with whips to make him confess his crime. He wanted to find out why the crowd had become so furious.

²⁵When they tied Paul down to lash him, Paul said to the officer standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried?”

²⁶When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”

²⁷So the commander went over and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I certainly am,” Paul replied.

²⁸“I am, too,” the commander muttered, “and it cost me plenty!” Paul answered, “But I am a citizen by birth!”

²⁹The soldiers who were about to interrogate Paul quickly withdrew when they heard he was a Roman citizen, and the commander was frightened because he had ordered him bound and whipped.

³⁰The next day the commander ordered the leading priests into session with the Jewish high council. He wanted to find out what the trouble was all about, so he released Paul to have him stand before them.