Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

²There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.

³What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

⁴“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.

⁵But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

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

⁷Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

⁸“I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.

⁹But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God.

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

¹¹“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say,

¹²for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

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

¹⁴Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”

¹⁵Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

¹⁶And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.

¹⁷He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

¹⁸“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.

¹⁹And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’

²⁰“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

²¹“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

²²Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.

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

²⁴Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!

²⁵Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?

²⁶Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

²⁷“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

²⁸If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!

²⁹And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.

³⁰For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.

³¹But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

³²“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.

³³Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

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

³⁵“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning,

³⁶like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.

³⁷It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.

³⁸It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak.

³⁹But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

⁴⁰You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

⁴¹Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”

⁴²The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time?

⁴³It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns.

⁴⁴Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

⁴⁵But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, 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 is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

⁴⁷“The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows.

⁴⁸But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

⁴⁹“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

⁵⁰But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!

⁵¹Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.

⁵²From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, 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 daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does.

⁵⁵And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is.

⁵⁶Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

⁵⁷“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?

⁵⁸As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.

⁵⁹I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”

²God also said to Moses, “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 fully known to them.

⁴I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners.

⁵Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

⁶“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.

⁷I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

⁸And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.’ ”

⁹Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.

¹⁰Then the LORD said to Moses,

¹¹“Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”

¹²But Moses said to the LORD, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?”

¹³Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

¹⁴These were the heads of their families: The sons of Reuben the firstborn son of Israel were Hanok and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the clans of Reuben.

¹⁵The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.

¹⁶These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.

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

¹⁸The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.

¹⁹The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Levi according to their records.

²⁰Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.

²¹The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg and Zikri.

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

²³Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²⁴The sons of Korah were: Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.

²⁵Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan.

²⁶It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.”

²⁷They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.

²⁸Now when the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt,

²⁹he said to him, “I am the LORD. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”

³⁰But Moses said to the LORD, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

¹Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children

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

³But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.

⁴Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

⁵For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

⁷Therefore do not be partners with them.

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light

⁹(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)

¹⁰and find out what pleases the Lord.

¹¹Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

¹²It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

¹³But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

¹⁴This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,

¹⁶making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

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

¹⁸Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,

¹⁹speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,

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

²¹Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

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

²³For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.

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

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

²⁶to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,

²⁷and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

²⁸In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

²⁹After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—

³⁰for we are members of his body.

³¹“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”

³²This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

³³However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

¹The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.

²The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.

³One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.

⁴People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”

⁵The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months.

⁶It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.

⁷It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.

⁸All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

⁹Whoever has ears, let them hear.

¹⁰“If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed.” This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.

¹¹Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.

¹²It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.

¹³And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people.

¹⁴Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

¹⁵The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.

¹⁶It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads,

¹⁷so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

¹⁸This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

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

²Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the young women.

³Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

⁴Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love.

⁵Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.

⁶His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.

⁷Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.

⁸Listen! My beloved! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills.

⁹My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.

¹⁰My beloved spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me.

¹¹See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.

¹²Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.

¹³The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.”

¹⁴My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

¹⁵Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.

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

¹⁷Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills.

¹For the director of music. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” Of David. A miktam. When the Philistines had seized him in Gath. Be merciful to me, my God, for my enemies are in hot pursuit; all day long they press their attack.

²My adversaries pursue me all day long; in their pride many are attacking me.

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

⁴In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?

⁵All day long they twist my words; all their schemes are for my ruin.

⁶They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, hoping to take my life.

⁷Because of their wickedness do not let them escape; in your anger, God, bring the nations down.

⁸Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll— are they not in your record?

⁹Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me.

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

¹¹in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?

¹²I am under vows to you, my God; I will present my thank offerings to you.

¹³For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

¹These are more proverbs of Solomon, compiled by the men of Hezekiah king of Judah:

²It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

³As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.

⁴Remove the dross from the silver, and a silversmith can produce a vessel;

⁵remove wicked officials from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established through righteousness.

⁶Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence, and do not claim a place among his great men;

⁷it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here,” than for him to humiliate you before his nobles. What you have seen with your eyes

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

⁹If you take your neighbor to court, do not betray another’s confidence,

¹⁰or the one who hears it may shame you and the charge against you will stand.

¹¹Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a ruling rightly given.

¹²Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is the rebuke of a wise judge to a listening ear.

¹³Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him; he refreshes the spirit of his master.

¹⁴Like clouds and wind without rain is one who boasts of gifts never given.

¹⁵Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.

¹⁶If you find honey, eat just enough— too much of it, and you will vomit.

¹⁷Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house— too much of you, and they will hate you.

¹⁸Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow is one who gives false testimony against a neighbor.

¹⁹Like a broken tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in a time of trouble.

²⁰Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on a wound, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

²²In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

²³Like a north wind that brings unexpected rain is a sly tongue—which provokes a horrified look.

²⁴Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

²⁵Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.

²⁶Like a muddied spring or a polluted well are the righteous who give way to the wicked.

²⁷It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to search out matters that are too deep.

²⁸Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.

¹So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD. They brought it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the LORD.

²The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all. Then all the people of Israel turned back to the LORD.

³So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”

⁴So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.

⁵Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the LORD for you.”

⁶When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” Now Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Mizpah.

⁷When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines.

⁸They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.”

⁹Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on Israel’s behalf, and the LORD answered him.

¹⁰While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.

¹¹The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar.

¹²Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”

¹³So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel’s territory. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines.

¹⁴The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵Samuel continued as Israel’s leader all the days of his life.

¹⁶From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places.

¹⁷But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also held court for Israel. And he built an altar there to the LORD.

¹This is what the LORD says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.

²Blessed is the one who does this— the person who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”

³Let no foreigner who is bound to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.” And let no eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.”

⁴For this is what the LORD says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant—

⁵to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever.

⁶And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—

⁷these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

⁸The Sovereign LORD declares— he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.”

⁹Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!

¹⁰Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.

¹¹They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, they seek their own gain.

¹²“Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer! And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better.”

¹Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta.

²The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.

³Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.

⁴When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.”

⁵But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.

⁶The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

⁷There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days.

⁸His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.

⁹When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured.

¹⁰They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.

¹¹After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island—it was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux.

¹²We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days.

¹³From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found some brothers and sisters who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these people Paul thanked God and was encouraged.

¹⁶When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.

¹⁷Three days later he called together the local Jewish leaders. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.

¹⁸They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death.

¹⁹The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people.

²⁰For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”

²¹They replied, “We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of our people who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you.

²²But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.”

²³They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus.

²⁴Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.

²⁵They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet:

²⁶“ ‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”

²⁷For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’

²⁸“Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!”

²⁹

³⁰For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him.

³¹He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!