Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John

²(though Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were),

³he left Judea and went again to Galilee.

⁴He had to travel through Samaria;

⁵so he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph.

⁶Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from his journey, sat down at the well. It was about noon.

⁷A woman of Samaria came to draw water. “Give me a drink,” Jesus said to her,

⁸because his disciples had gone into town to buy food.

⁹“How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

¹⁰Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.”

¹¹“Sir,” said the woman, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this ‘living water’?

¹²You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.”

¹³Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again.

¹⁴But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.”

¹⁵“Sir,” the woman said to him, “give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”

¹⁶“Go call your husband,” he told her, “and come back here.”

¹⁷“I don’t have a husband,” she answered. “You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus said.

¹⁸“For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

¹⁹“Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet.

²⁰Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

²¹Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

²²You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.

²³But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him.

²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”

²⁵The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ ). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶Jesus told her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”

²⁷Just then his disciples arrived, and they were amazed that he was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

²⁸Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people,

²⁹“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”

³⁰They left the town and made their way to him.

³¹In the meantime the disciples kept urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

³²But he said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”

³³The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?”

³⁴“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,” Jesus told them.

³⁵“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest.

³⁶The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.

³⁷For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’

³⁸I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”

³⁹Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.”

⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.

⁴¹Many more believed because of what he said.

⁴²And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”

⁴³After two days he left there for Galilee.

⁴⁴(Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. )

⁴⁵When they entered Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen everything he did in Jerusalem during the festival. For they also had gone to the festival.

⁴⁶He went again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum.

⁴⁷When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die.

⁴⁸Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”

⁴⁹“Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.”

⁵⁰“Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and departed.

⁵¹While he was still going down, his servants met him saying that his boy was alive.

⁵²He asked them at what time he got better. “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him,” they answered.

⁵³The father realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household.

⁵⁴Now this was also the second sign Jesus performed after he came from Judea to Galilee.

¹“When a man steals an ox or a sheep and butchers it or sells it, he must repay five cattle for the ox or four sheep for the sheep.

²If a thief is caught in the act of breaking in, and he is beaten to death, no one is guilty of bloodshed.

³But if this happens after sunrise, the householder is guilty of bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution. If he is unable, he is to be sold because of his theft.

⁴If what was stolen — whether ox, donkey, or sheep — is actually found alive in his possession, he must repay double.

⁵“When a man lets a field or vineyard be grazed in, and then allows his animals to go and graze in someone else’s field, he must repay with the best of his own field or vineyard.

⁶“When a fire gets out of control, spreads to thornbushes, and consumes stacks of cut grain, standing grain, or a field, the one who started the fire must make full restitution for what was burned.

⁷“When a man gives his neighbor valuables or goods to keep, but they are stolen from that person’s house, the thief, if caught, must repay double.

⁸If the thief is not caught, the owner of the house must present himself to the judges to determine whether or not he has taken his neighbor’s property.

⁹In any case of wrongdoing involving an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or anything else lost, and someone claims, ‘That’s mine,’ the case between the two parties is to come before the judges. The one the judges condemn must repay double to his neighbor.

¹⁰“When a man gives his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any other animal to care for, but it dies, is injured, or is stolen, while no one is watching,

¹¹there must be an oath before the LORD between the two of them to determine whether or not he has taken his neighbor’s property. Its owner must accept the oath, and the other man does not have to make restitution.

¹²But if, in fact, the animal was stolen from his custody, he must make restitution to its owner.

¹³If it was actually torn apart by a wild animal, he is to bring it as evidence; he does not have to make restitution for the torn carcass.

¹⁴“When a man borrows an animal from his neighbor, and it is injured or dies while its owner is not there with it, the man must make full restitution.

¹⁵If its owner is there with it, the man does not have to make restitution. If it was rented, the loss is covered by its rental price.

¹⁶“If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged, and he sleeps with her, he must certainly pay the bridal price for her to be his wife.

¹⁷If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must pay an amount in silver equal to the bridal price for virgins.

¹⁸“Do not allow a sorceress to live.

¹⁹“Whoever has sexual intercourse with an animal must be put to death.

²⁰“Whoever sacrifices to any gods, except the LORD alone, is to be set apart for destruction.

²¹“You must not exploit a resident alien or oppress him, since you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.

²²“You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.

²³If you do mistreat them, they will no doubt cry to me, and I will certainly hear their cry.

²⁴My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.

²⁵“If you lend silver to my people, to the poor person among you, you must not be like a creditor to him; you must not charge him interest.

²⁶“If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him before sunset.

²⁷For it is his only covering; it is the clothing for his body. What will he sleep in? And if he cries out to me, I will listen because I am gracious.

²⁸“You must not blaspheme God or curse a leader among your people.

²⁹“You must not hold back offerings from your harvest or your vats. Give me the firstborn of your sons.

³⁰Do the same with your cattle and your flock. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day you are to give them to me.

³¹“Be my holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; throw it to the dogs.

¹For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, met Abraham and blessed him as he returned from defeating the kings,

²and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means king of righteousness, then also, king of Salem, meaning king of peace.

³Without father, mother, or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

⁴Now consider how great this man was: even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the plunder to him.

⁵The sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have a command according to the law to collect a tenth from the people  — that is, from their brothers and sisters — though they have also descended from Abraham.

⁶But one without this lineage collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.

⁷Without a doubt, the inferior is blessed by the superior.

⁸In the one case, men who will die receive a tenth, but in the other case, Scripture testifies that he lives.

⁹And in a sense Levi himself, who receives a tenth, has paid a tenth through Abraham,

¹⁰for he was still within his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

¹¹Now if perfection came through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the law ), what further need was there for another priest to appear, said to be according to the order of Melchizedek and not according to the order of Aaron?

¹²For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must be a change of law as well.

¹³For the one these things are spoken about belonged to a different tribe. No one from it has served at the altar.

¹⁴Now it is evident that our Lord came from Judah, and Moses said nothing about that tribe concerning priests.

¹⁵And this becomes clearer if another priest like Melchizedek appears,

¹⁶who did not become a priest based on a legal regulation about physical descent but based on the power of an indestructible life.

¹⁷For it has been testified: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

¹⁸So the previous command is annulled because it was weak and unprofitable

¹⁹(for the law perfected nothing), but a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

²⁰None of this happened without an oath. For others became priests without an oath,

²¹but he became a priest with an oath made by the one who said to him: The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever.”

²²Because of this oath, Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant.

²³Now many have become Levitical priests, since they are prevented by death from remaining in office.

²⁴But because he remains forever, he holds his priesthood permanently.

²⁵Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them.

²⁶For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

²⁷He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do — first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all time when he offered himself.

²⁸For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the promise of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son, who has been perfected forever.

¹I am disgusted with my life. I will give vent to my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.

²I will say to God, “Do not declare me guilty! Let me know why you prosecute me.

³Is it good for you to oppress, to reject the work of your hands, and favor the plans of the wicked?

⁴Do you have eyes of flesh, or do you see as a human sees?

⁵Are your days like those of a human, or your years like those of a man,

⁶that you look for my iniquity and search for my sin,

⁷even though you know that I am not wicked and that there is no one who can rescue from your power?

⁸“Your hands shaped me and formed me. Will you now turn and destroy me?

⁹Please remember that you formed me like clay. Will you now return me to dust?

¹⁰Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese?

¹¹You clothed me with skin and flesh, and wove me together with bones and tendons.

¹²You gave me life and faithful love, and your care has guarded my life.

¹³“Yet you concealed these thoughts in your heart; I know that this was your hidden plan:

¹⁴if I sin, you would notice, and would not acquit me of my iniquity.

¹⁵If I am wicked, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am filled with shame and have drunk deeply of my affliction.

¹⁶If I am proud, you hunt me like a lion and again display your miraculous power against me.

¹⁷You produce new witnesses against me and multiply your anger toward me. Hardships assault me, wave after wave.

¹⁸“Why did you bring me out of the womb? I should have died and never been seen.

¹⁹I wish I had never existed but had been carried from the womb to the grave.

²⁰Are my days not few? Stop it! Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little

²¹before I go to a land of darkness and gloom, never to return.

²²It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness, gloomy and chaotic, where even the light is like the darkness.”

¹Of Solomon. [1] God, give your justice to the king and your righteousness to the king’s son.

²He will judge your people with righteousness and your afflicted ones with justice.

³May the mountains bring well-being to the people and the hills, righteousness.

⁴May he vindicate the afflicted among the people, help the poor, and crush the oppressor.

⁵May they fear you while the sun endures and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

⁶May the king be like rain that falls on the cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.

⁷May the righteous flourish in his days and well-being abound until the moon is no more.

⁸May he rule from sea to sea and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.

⁹May desert tribes kneel before him and his enemies lick the dust.

¹⁰May the kings of Tarshish and the coasts and islands bring tribute, the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.

¹¹Let all kings bow in homage to him, all nations serve him.

¹²For he will rescue the poor who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.

¹³He will have pity on the poor and helpless and save the lives of the poor.

¹⁴He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their lives are precious in his sight.

¹⁵May he live long! May gold from Sheba be given to him. May prayer be offered for him continually, and may he be blessed all day long.

¹⁶May there be plenty of grain in the land; may it wave on the tops of the mountains. May its crops be like Lebanon. May people flourish in the cities like the grass of the field.

¹⁷May his name endure forever; as long as the sun shines, may his fame increase. May all nations be blessed by him and call him blessed.

¹⁸Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does wonders.

¹⁹Blessed be his glorious name forever; the whole earth is filled with his glory. Amen and amen.

²⁰The prayers of David son of Jesse are concluded.

¹Solomon’s proverbs: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son, heartache to his mother.

²Ill-gotten gains do not profit anyone, but righteousness rescues from death.

³The LORD will not let the righteous go hungry, but he denies the wicked what they crave.

⁴Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring riches.

⁵The son who gathers during summer is prudent; the son who sleeps during harvest is disgraceful.

⁶Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

⁷The remembrance of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

⁸A wise heart accepts commands, but foolish lips will be destroyed.

⁹The one who lives with integrity lives securely, but whoever perverts his ways will be found out.

¹⁰A sly wink of the eye causes grief, and foolish lips will be destroyed.

¹¹The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

¹²Hatred stirs up conflicts, but love covers all offenses.

¹³Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of the one who lacks sense.

¹⁴The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool hastens destruction.

¹⁵The wealth of the rich is his fortified city; the poverty of the poor is their destruction.

¹⁶The reward of the righteous is life; the wages of the wicked is punishment.

¹⁷The one who follows instruction is on the path to life, but the one who rejects correction goes astray.

¹⁸The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

¹⁹When there are many words, sin is unavoidable, but the one who controls his lips is prudent.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is pure silver; the heart of the wicked is of little value.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense.

²²The LORD’s blessing enriches, and he adds no painful effort to it.

²³As shameful conduct is pleasure for a fool, so wisdom is for a person of understanding.

²⁴What the wicked dreads will come to him, but what the righteous desire will be given to them.

²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous are secure forever.

²⁶Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so the slacker is to the one who sends him on an errand.

²⁷The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.

²⁸The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.

²⁹The way of the LORD is a stronghold for the honorable, but destruction awaits the malicious.

³⁰The righteous will never be shaken, but the wicked will not remain on the earth.

³¹The mouth of the righteous produces wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out.

³²The lips of the righteous know what is appropriate, but the mouth of the wicked, only what is perverse.

¹It was reported to David: “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and raiding the threshing floors.”

²So David inquired of the LORD: “Should I launch an attack against these Philistines?” The LORD answered David, “Launch an attack against the Philistines and rescue Keilah.”

³But David’s men said to him, “Look, we’re afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!”

⁴Once again, David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him: “Go at once to Keilah, for I will hand the Philistines over to you.”

⁵Then David and his men went to Keilah, fought against the Philistines, drove their livestock away, and inflicted heavy losses on them. So David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, and he brought an ephod with him.

⁷When it was reported to Saul that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with barred gates.”

⁸Then Saul summoned all the troops to go to war at Keilah and besiege David and his men.

⁹When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod.”

¹⁰Then David said, “LORD God of Israel, your servant has reliable information that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the town because of me.

¹¹Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? LORD God of Israel, please tell your servant.” The LORD answered, “He will come down.”

¹²Then David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” “They will,” the LORD responded.

¹³So David and his men, numbering about six hundred, left Keilah at once and moved from place to place. When it was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he called off the expedition.

¹⁴David then stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul searched for him every day, but God did not hand David over to him.

¹⁵David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in Horesh when he saw that Saul had come out to take his life.

¹⁶Then Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and encouraged him in his faith in God,

¹⁷saying, “Don’t be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. You yourself will be king over Israel, and I’ll be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows it is true.”

¹⁸Then the two of them made a covenant in the LORD’s presence. Afterward, David remained in Horesh, while Jonathan went home.

¹⁹Some Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “David is hiding among us in the strongholds in Horesh on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon.

²⁰Now, whenever the king wants to come down, let him come down. Our part will be to hand him over to the king.”

²¹“May you be blessed by the LORD,” replied Saul, “for you have shown concern for me.

²²Go and check again. Investigate where he goes and who has seen him there; they tell me he is extremely cunning.

²³Investigate all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with accurate information, and I’ll go with you. If it turns out he really is in the region, I’ll search for him among all the clans of Judah.”

²⁴So they went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness near Maon in the Arabah south of Jeshimon,

²⁵and Saul and his men went to look for him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. Saul heard of this and pursued David there.

²⁶Saul went along one side of the mountain and David and his men went along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away from Saul, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.

²⁷Then a messenger came to Saul saying, “Come quickly, because the Philistines have raided the land!”

²⁸So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to engage the Philistines. Therefore, that place was named the Rock of Separation.

²⁹From there David went up and stayed in the strongholds of En-gedi.

¹“Run for cover out of Jerusalem, Benjaminites. Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa; raise a smoke signal over Beth-haccherem, for disaster threatens from the north, even a crushing blow.

²Though she is beautiful and delicate, I will destroy Daughter Zion.

³Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents all around her. Each will pasture his own portion.

⁴Set them apart for war against her; rise up, let’s attack at noon. Woe to us, for the day is passing; the evening shadows grow long.

⁵Rise up, let’s attack by night. Let us destroy her fortresses.”

⁶For this is what the LORD of Armies says: Cut down the trees; raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This city must be punished. There is nothing but oppression within her.

⁷As a well gushes out its water, so she pours out her evil. Violence and destruction resound in her. Sickness and wounds keep coming to my attention.

⁸Be warned, Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you; I will make you a desolation, a land without inhabitants.

⁹This is what the LORD of Armies says: Glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine. Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer over the branches.

¹⁰Who can I speak to and give such a warning that they will listen? Look, their ear is uncircumcised, so they cannot pay attention. See, the word of the LORD has become contemptible to them — they find no pleasure in it.

¹¹But I am full of the LORD’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. Pour it out on the children in the street, on the gathering of young men as well. For both husband and wife will be captured, the old with the very old.

¹²Their houses will be turned over to others, their fields and wives as well, for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land. This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹³For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is making profit dishonestly. From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.

¹⁴They have treated my people’s brokenness superficially, claiming, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.

¹⁵Were they ashamed when they acted so detestably? They weren’t at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.

¹⁶This is what the LORD says: Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths, “Which is the way to what is good?” Then take it and find rest for yourselves. But they protested, “We won’t!”

¹⁷I appointed watchmen over you and said, “Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.” But they protested, “We won’t listen!”

¹⁸Therefore listen, you nations and you witnesses, learn what the charge is against them.

¹⁹Listen, earth! I am about to bring disaster on these people, the fruit of their own plotting, for they have paid no attention to my words. They have rejected my instruction.

²⁰What use to me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please me.

²¹Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I am going to place stumbling blocks before these people; fathers and sons together will stumble over them; friends and neighbors will also perish.

²²This is what the LORD says: Look, an army is coming from a northern land; a great nation will be stirred up from the remote regions of the earth.

²³They grasp bow and javelin. They are cruel and show no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, lined up like men in battle formation against you, Daughter Zion.

²⁴We have heard about it, and our hands have become weak. Distress has seized us — pain, like a woman in labor.

²⁵Don’t go out to the fields; don’t walk on the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.

²⁶My dear people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in the dust. Mourn as you would for an only son, a bitter lament, for suddenly the destroyer will come on us.

²⁷I have appointed you to be an assayer among my people — a refiner  — so you may know and assay their way of life.

²⁸All are stubborn rebels spreading slander. They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt.

²⁹The bellows blow, blasting the lead with fire. The refining is completely in vain; the evil ones are not separated out.

³⁰They are called rejected silver, for the LORD has rejected them.

¹Paul went on to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman, but his father was a Greek.

²The brothers and sisters at Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him.

³Paul wanted Timothy to go with him; so he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴As they traveled through the towns, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem for the people to observe.

⁵So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

⁶They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

⁷When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

⁸Passing by Mysia they went down to Troas.

⁹During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!”

¹⁰After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis,

¹²and from there to Philippi, a Roman colony and a leading city of the district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for several days.

¹³On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there.

¹⁴A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.

¹⁵After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

¹⁶Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling.

¹⁷As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.”

¹⁸She did this for many days. Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the spirit, he said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.

¹⁹When her owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

²⁰Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews

²¹and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.”

²²The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods.

²³After they had severely flogged them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to guard them carefully.

²⁴Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

²⁶Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose.

²⁷When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Don’t harm yourself, because we’re all here!”

²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.

³⁰He escorted them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household.”

³²And they spoke the word of the Lord to him along with everyone in his house.

³³He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized.

³⁴He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had come to believe in God with his entire household.

³⁵When daylight came, the chief magistrates sent the police to say, “Release those men.”

³⁶The jailer reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders for you to be released. So come out now and go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without a trial, although we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. And now are they going to send us away secretly? Certainly not! On the contrary, let them come themselves and escort us out.”

³⁸The police reported these words to the magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

³⁹So they came to appease them, and escorting them from prison, they urged them to leave town.

⁴⁰After leaving the jail, they came to Lydia’s house, where they saw and encouraged the brothers and sisters, and departed.