Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

² Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

³Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

⁴“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.

⁵But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

⁶Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.

⁷Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

⁸“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God,

⁹but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

¹⁰And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

¹¹ And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say,

¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

¹³Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

¹⁵And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

¹⁶And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully,

¹⁷and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’

¹⁸And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

¹⁹And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’

²⁰But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

²¹So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

²²And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.

²³For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

²⁴ Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

²⁵And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

²⁶If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?

²⁷Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

²⁸But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!

²⁹And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.

³⁰For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

³¹Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

³² “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

³³ Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

³⁴ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

³⁵ “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning,

³⁶and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.

³⁷ Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.

³⁸If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!

³⁹ But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into.

⁴⁰You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

⁴¹Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?”

⁴²And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?

⁴³ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

⁴⁴Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.

⁴⁵But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,

⁴⁶the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.

⁴⁷ And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating.

⁴⁸ But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

⁴⁹ “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!

⁵⁰ I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!

⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.

⁵²For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.

⁵³They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens.

⁵⁵And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens.

⁵⁶You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

⁵⁷“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?

⁵⁸ As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison.

⁵⁹I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

¹But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

²God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD.

³I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.

⁴I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners.

⁵Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.

⁶Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.

⁷I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

⁸I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.’”

⁹Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

¹⁰So the LORD said to Moses,

¹¹“Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.”

¹²But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?”

¹³But the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁴These are the heads of their fathers' houses: the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben.

¹⁵The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the clans of Simeon.

¹⁶These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years.

¹⁷The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans.

¹⁸The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years.

¹⁹The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations.

²⁰Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years.

²¹The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.

²²The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

²³Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

²⁴The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the clans of the Korahites.

²⁵Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites by their clans.

²⁶These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.”

²⁷It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.

²⁸On the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

²⁹the LORD said to Moses, “I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

³⁰But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”

¹Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

²And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

³But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.

⁴Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

⁵For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

⁷Therefore do not become partners with them;

⁸for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

⁹(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),

¹⁰and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

¹¹Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

¹²For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.

¹³But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible,

¹⁴for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,

¹⁶making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

¹⁸And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

¹⁹addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,

²⁰giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

²¹submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²²Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

²³For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

²⁶that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

²⁷so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

²⁸In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

²⁹For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,

³⁰because we are members of his body.

³¹“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

³²This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

³³However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

¹And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.

²And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.

³One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.

⁴And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

⁵And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.

⁶It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.

⁷Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation,

⁸and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

⁹If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

¹⁰If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

¹¹Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.

¹²It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.

¹³It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,

¹⁴and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

¹⁵And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.

¹⁶Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,

¹⁷so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

¹⁸This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

¹I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

²As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women.

³As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

⁴He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

⁵Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love.

⁶His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!

⁷I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.

⁸The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills.

⁹My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice.

¹⁰My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away,

¹¹for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.

¹²The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

¹³The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.

¹⁴O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

¹⁵Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”

¹⁶My beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes among the lilies.

¹⁷Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains.

¹Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me;

²my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly.

³When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

⁴In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

⁵All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil.

⁶They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life.

⁷For their crime will they escape? In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

⁸You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?

⁹Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me.

¹⁰In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise,

¹¹in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?

¹²I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you.

¹³For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

¹These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied.

²It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.

³As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.

⁴Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel;

⁵take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great,

⁷for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. What your eyes have seen

⁸do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame?

⁹Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another's secret,

¹⁰lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end.

¹¹A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

¹²Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.

¹³Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters.

¹⁴Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.

¹⁵With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.

¹⁶If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.

¹⁷Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.

¹⁸A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.

²⁰Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,

²²for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

²³The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.

²⁴It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.

²⁵Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

²⁶Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

²⁷It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory.

²⁸A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

¹And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the LORD.

²From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.

³And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”

⁴So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the LORD only.

⁵Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you.”

⁶So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the LORD and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.

⁷Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.

⁸And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”

⁹So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. And Samuel cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him.

¹⁰As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the LORD thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel.

¹¹And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.

¹²Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.”

¹³So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

¹⁴The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

¹⁶And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places.

¹⁷Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the LORD.

¹Thus says the LORD: “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my righteousness be revealed.

²Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

³Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely separate me from his people”; and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”

⁴For thus says the LORD: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant,

⁵I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

⁶“And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant —

⁷these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

⁸The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.”

⁹All you beasts of the field, come to devour — all you beasts in the forest.

¹⁰His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.

¹¹The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.

¹²“Come,” they say, “let me get wine; let us fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be like this day, great beyond measure.”

¹After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta.

²The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold.

³When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.

⁴When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”

⁵He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

⁷Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days.

⁸It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him.

⁹And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.

¹⁰They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.

¹¹After three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods as a figurehead.

¹²Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.

¹³And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.

¹⁷After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

¹⁸When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case.

¹⁹But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar — though I had no charge to bring against my nation.

²⁰For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.”

²¹And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you.

²²But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.”

²³When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.

²⁴And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved.

²⁵And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:

²⁶“‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

²⁷For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

²⁸Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

²⁹

³⁰He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him,

³¹proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.