Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees — their hypocrisy.

²The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all.

³Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!

⁴“Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that.

⁵But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.

⁶“What is the price of five sparrows — two copper coins ? Yet God does not forget a single one of them.

⁷And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

⁸“I tell you the truth, everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, the Son of Man will also acknowledge in the presence of God’s angels.

⁹But anyone who denies me here on earth will be denied before God’s angels.

¹⁰Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

¹¹“And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how to defend yourself or what to say,

¹²for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said.”

¹³Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.”

¹⁴Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?”

¹⁵Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

¹⁶Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops.

¹⁷He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’

¹⁸Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods.

¹⁹And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

²⁰“But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’

²¹“Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

²²Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life — whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear.

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

²⁴Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds!

²⁵Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

²⁶And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?

²⁷“Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.

²⁸And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

²⁹“And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things.

³⁰These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs.

³¹Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.

³²“So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.

³³“Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it.

³⁴Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

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

³⁶as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks.

³⁷The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat!

³⁸He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.

³⁹“Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into.

⁴⁰You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”

⁴¹Peter asked, “Lord, is that illustration just for us or for everyone?”

⁴²And the Lord replied, “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them.

⁴³If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward.

⁴⁴I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns.

⁴⁵But what if the servant thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk?

⁴⁶The master will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant in pieces and banish him with the unfaithful.

⁴⁷“And a servant who knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions, will be severely punished.

⁴⁸But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.

⁴⁹“I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning!

⁵⁰I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished.

⁵¹Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other!

⁵²From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against — or two in favor and three against.

⁵³‘Father will be divided against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’ ”

⁵⁴Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, “When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right.

⁵⁵When the south wind blows, you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is.

⁵⁶You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times.

⁵⁷“Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right?

⁵⁸When you are on the way to court with your accuser, try to settle the matter before you get there. Otherwise, your accuser may drag you before the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, who will throw you into prison.

⁵⁹And if that happens, you won’t be free again until you have paid the very last penny. ”

¹Then the LORD told Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. When he feels the force of my strong hand, he will let the people go. In fact, he will force them to leave his land!”

²And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh — ‘the LORD.’

³I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai — ‘God Almighty’ — but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them.

⁴And I reaffirmed my covenant with them. Under its terms, I promised to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners.

⁵You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. And I am well aware of my covenant with them.

⁶“Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the LORD. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment.

⁷I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt.

⁸I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the LORD!’”

⁹So Moses told the people of Israel what the LORD had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery.

¹⁰Then the LORD said to Moses,

¹¹“Go back to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and tell him to let the people of Israel leave his country.”

¹²“But LORD!” Moses objected. “My own people won’t listen to me anymore. How can I expect Pharaoh to listen? I’m such a clumsy speaker! ”

¹³But the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them orders for the Israelites and for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. The LORD commanded Moses and Aaron to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt.

¹⁴These are the ancestors of some of the clans of Israel: The sons of Reuben, Israel’s oldest son, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. Their descendants became the clans of Reuben.

¹⁵The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul. (Shaul’s mother was a Canaanite woman.) Their descendants became the clans of Simeon.

¹⁶These are the descendants of Levi, as listed in their family records: The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (Levi lived to be 137 years old.)

¹⁷The descendants of Gershon included Libni and Shimei, each of whom became the ancestor of a clan.

¹⁸The descendants of Kohath included Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. (Kohath lived to be 133 years old.)

¹⁹The descendants of Merari included Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, as listed in their family records.

²⁰Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she gave birth to his sons, Aaron and Moses. (Amram lived to be 137 years old.)

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

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

²³Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she gave birth to his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

²⁴The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. Their descendants became the clans of Korah.

²⁵Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she gave birth to his son, Phinehas. These are the ancestors of the Levite families, listed according to their clans.

²⁶The Aaron and Moses named in this list are the same ones to whom the LORD said, “Lead the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt like an army.”

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

²⁸When the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

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

³⁰But Moses argued with the LORD, saying, “I can’t do it! I’m such a clumsy speaker! Why should Pharaoh listen to me?”

¹Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

²Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

³Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.

⁴Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes — these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.

⁵You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

⁶Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.

⁷Don’t participate in the things these people do.

⁸For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!

⁹For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

¹⁰Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.

¹¹Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

¹²It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.

¹³But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them,

¹⁴for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

¹⁵So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.

¹⁶Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.

¹⁷Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

¹⁸Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,

¹⁹singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.

²⁰And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²¹And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²²For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

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

²⁴As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

²⁵For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her

²⁶to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.

²⁷He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

²⁸In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.

²⁹No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.

³⁰And we are members of his body.

³¹As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”

³²This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.

³³So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

¹Then I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on its horns. And written on each head were names that blasphemed God.

²This beast looked like a leopard, but it had the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion! And the dragon gave the beast his own power and throne and great authority.

³I saw that one of the heads of the beast seemed wounded beyond recovery — but the fatal wound was healed! The whole world marveled at this miracle and gave allegiance to the beast.

⁴They worshiped the dragon for giving the beast such power, and they also worshiped the beast. “Who is as great as the beast?” they exclaimed. “Who is able to fight against him?”

⁵Then the beast was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do whatever he wanted for forty-two months.

⁶And he spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and his dwelling — that is, those who dwell in heaven.

⁷And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation.

⁸And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made.

⁹Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.

¹⁰Anyone who is destined for prison will be taken to prison. Anyone destined to die by the sword will die by the sword. This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful.

¹¹Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb, but he spoke with the voice of a dragon.

¹²He exercised all the authority of the first beast. And he required all the earth and its people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.

¹³He did astounding miracles, even making fire flash down to earth from the sky while everyone was watching.

¹⁴And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life.

¹⁵He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die.

¹⁶He required everyone — small and great, rich and poor, free and slave — to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead.

¹⁷And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.

¹⁸Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with understanding solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.

¹I am the spring crocus blooming on the Sharon Plain, the lily of the valley.

²Like a lily among thistles is my darling among young women.

³Like the finest apple tree in the orchard is my lover among other young men. I sit in his delightful shade and taste his delicious fruit.

⁴He escorts me to the banquet hall; it’s obvious how much he loves me.

⁵Strengthen me with raisin cakes, refresh me with apples, for I am weak with love.

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

⁷Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and wild deer, not to awaken love until the time is right.

⁸Ah, I hear my lover coming! He is leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills.

⁹My lover is like a swift gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he is behind the wall, looking through the window, peering into the room.

¹⁰My lover said to me, “Rise up, my darling! Come away with me, my fair one!

¹¹Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone.

¹²The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.

¹³The fig trees are forming young fruit, and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming. Rise up, my darling! Come away with me, my fair one!”

¹⁴My dove is hiding behind the rocks, behind an outcrop on the cliff. Let me see your face; let me hear your voice. For your voice is pleasant, and your face is lovely.

¹⁵Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming!

¹⁶My lover is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies.

¹⁷Before the dawn breezes blow and the night shadows flee, return to me, my love, like a gazelle or a young stag on the rugged mountains.

¹O God, have mercy on me, for people are hounding me. My foes attack me all day long.

²I am constantly hounded by those who slander me, and many are boldly attacking me.

³But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.

⁴I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?

⁵They are always twisting what I say; they spend their days plotting to harm me.

⁶They come together to spy on me — watching my every step, eager to kill me.

⁷Don’t let them get away with their wickedness; in your anger, O God, bring them down.

⁸You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.

⁹My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help. This I know: God is on my side!

¹⁰I praise God for what he has promised; yes, I praise the LORD for what he has promised.

¹¹I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?

¹²I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help.

¹³For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light.

¹These are more proverbs of Solomon, collected by the advisers of King Hezekiah of Judah.

²It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the king’s privilege to discover them.

³No one can comprehend the height of heaven, the depth of the earth, or all that goes on in the king’s mind!

⁴Remove the impurities from silver, and the sterling will be ready for the silversmith.

⁵Remove the wicked from the king’s court, and his reign will be made secure by justice.

⁶Don’t demand an audience with the king or push for a place among the great.

⁷It’s better to wait for an invitation to the head table than to be sent away in public disgrace. Just because you’ve seen something,

⁸don’t be in a hurry to go to court. For what will you do in the end if your neighbor deals you a shameful defeat?

⁹When arguing with your neighbor, don’t betray another person’s secret.

¹⁰Others may accuse you of gossip, and you will never regain your good reputation.

¹¹Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket.

¹²To one who listens, valid criticism is like a gold earring or other gold jewelry.

¹³Trustworthy messengers refresh like snow in summer. They revive the spirit of their employer.

¹⁴A person who promises a gift but doesn’t give it is like clouds and wind that bring no rain.

¹⁵Patience can persuade a prince, and soft speech can break bones.

¹⁶Do you like honey? Don’t eat too much, or it will make you sick!

¹⁷Don’t visit your neighbors too often, or you will wear out your welcome.

¹⁸Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Putting confidence in an unreliable person in times of trouble is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a lame foot.

²⁰Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in a wound.

²¹If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink.

²²You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads, and the LORD will reward you.

²³As surely as a north wind brings rain, so a gossiping tongue causes anger!

²⁴It’s better to live alone in the corner of an attic than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home.

²⁵Good news from far away is like cold water to the thirsty.

²⁶If the godly give in to the wicked, it’s like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring.

²⁷It’s not good to eat too much honey, and it’s not good to seek honors for yourself.

²⁸A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.

¹So the men of Kiriath-jearim came to get the Ark of the LORD. They took it to the hillside home of Abinadab and ordained Eleazar, his son, to be in charge of it.

²The Ark remained in Kiriath-jearim for a long time — twenty years in all. During that time all Israel mourned because it seemed the LORD had abandoned them.

³Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you want to return to the LORD with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the LORD and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.”

⁴So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the LORD.

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

⁶So they gathered at Mizpah and, in a great ceremony, drew water from a well and poured it out before the LORD. They also went without food all day and confessed that they had sinned against the LORD. (It was at Mizpah that Samuel became Israel’s judge.)

⁷When the Philistine rulers heard that Israel had gathered at Mizpah, they mobilized their army and advanced. The Israelites were badly frightened when they learned that the Philistines were approaching.

⁸“Don’t stop pleading with the LORD our God to save us from the Philistines!” they begged Samuel.

⁹So Samuel took a young lamb and offered it to the LORD as a whole burnt offering. He pleaded with the LORD to help Israel, and the LORD answered him.

¹⁰Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the LORD spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them.

¹¹The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way.

¹²Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the LORD has helped us!”

¹³So the Philistines were subdued and didn’t invade Israel again for some time. And throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the LORD’s powerful hand was raised against the Philistines.

¹⁴The Israelite villages near Ekron and Gath that the Philistines had captured were restored to Israel, along with the rest of the territory that the Philistines had taken. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites in those days.

¹⁵Samuel continued as Israel’s judge for the rest of his life.

¹⁶Each year he traveled around, setting up his court first at Bethel, then at Gilgal, and then at Mizpah. He judged the people of Israel at each of these places.

¹⁷Then he would return to his home at Ramah, and he would hear cases there, too. And Samuel built an altar to the LORD at Ramah.

¹This is what the LORD says: “Be just and fair to all. Do what is right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you and to display my righteousness among you.

²Blessed are all those who are careful to do this. Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest and keep themselves from doing wrong.

³“Don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the LORD say, ‘The LORD will never let me be part of his people.’ And don’t let the eunuchs say, ‘I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’

⁴For this is what the LORD says: I will bless those eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days holy and who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me.

⁵I will give them — within the walls of my house — a memorial and a name far greater than sons and daughters could give. For the name I give them is an everlasting one. It will never disappear!

⁶“I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the LORD, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant.

⁷I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.

⁸For the Sovereign LORD, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.”

⁹Come, wild animals of the field! Come, wild animals of the forest! Come and devour my people!

¹⁰For the leaders of my people — the LORD’s watchmen, his shepherds — are blind and ignorant. They are like silent watchdogs that give no warning when danger comes. They love to lie around, sleeping and dreaming.

¹¹Like greedy dogs, they are never satisfied. They are ignorant shepherds, all following their own path and intent on personal gain.

¹²“Come,” they say, “let’s get some wine and have a party. Let’s all get drunk. Then tomorrow we’ll do it again and have an even bigger party!”

¹Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta.

²The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.

³As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand.

⁴The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.”

⁵But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed.

⁶The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.

⁷Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days.

⁸As it happened, Publius’s father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, he healed him.

⁹Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed.

¹⁰As a result we were showered with honors, and when the time came to sail, people supplied us with everything we would need for the trip.

¹¹It was three months after the shipwreck that we set sail on another ship that had wintered at the island — an Alexandrian ship with the twin gods as its figurehead.

¹²Our first stop was Syracuse, where we stayed three days.

¹³From there we sailed across to Rhegium. A day later a south wind began blowing, so the following day we sailed up the coast to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found some believers, who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵The brothers and sisters in Rome had heard we were coming, and they came to meet us at the Forum on the Appian Way. Others joined us at The Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he was encouraged and thanked God.

¹⁶When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to have his own private lodging, though he was guarded by a soldier.

¹⁷Three days after Paul’s arrival, he called together the local Jewish leaders. He said to them, “Brothers, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Roman government, even though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors.

¹⁸The Romans tried me and wanted to release me, because they found no cause for the death sentence.

¹⁹But when the Jewish leaders protested the decision, I felt it necessary to appeal to Caesar, even though I had no desire to press charges against my own people.

²⁰I asked you to come here today so we could get acquainted and so I could explain to you that I am bound with this chain because I believe that the hope of Israel — the Messiah — has already come.”

²¹They replied, “We have had no letters from Judea or reports against you from anyone who has come here.

²²But we want to hear what you believe, for the only thing we know about this movement is that it is denounced everywhere.”

²³So a time was set, and on that day a large number of people came to Paul’s lodging. He explained and testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade them about Jesus from the Scriptures. Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to them from morning until evening.

²⁴Some were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe.

²⁵And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet,

²⁶‘Go and say to this people: When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend.

²⁷For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes — so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’

²⁸So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.”

²⁹

³⁰For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him,

³¹boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him.