Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Later on there was a Jewish feast (festival), and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

²Now in Jerusalem, near the Sheep Gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew (Jewish Aramaic) Bethesda, having five porticoes (alcoves, colonnades).

³In these porticoes lay a great number of people who were sick, blind, lame, withered, [waiting for the stirring of the water;

⁴for an angel of the Lord went down into the pool at appointed seasons and stirred up the water; the first one to go in after the water was stirred was healed of his disease.]

⁵There was a certain man there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.

⁶When Jesus noticed him lying there [helpless], knowing that he had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to get well?"

⁷The invalid answered, "Sir, I have no one to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am coming [to get into it myself], someone else steps down ahead of me."

⁸Jesus said to him, "Get up; pick up your pallet and walk."

⁹Immediately the man was healed and recovered his strength, and picked up his pallet and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.

¹⁰So the Jews kept saying to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and you are not permitted to pick up your pallet [because it is unlawful]."

¹¹He answered them, "The Man who healed me and gave me back my strength was the One who said to me, 'Pick up your pallet and walk.'"

¹²They asked him, "Who is the Man who told you, 'Pick up your pallet and walk'?"

¹³Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away [unnoticed] since there was a crowd in that place.

¹⁴Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well! Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."

¹⁵The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

¹⁶For this reason the Jews began to persecute Jesus continually because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.

¹⁷But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now [He has never ceased working], and I too am working."

¹⁸This made the Jews more determined than ever to kill Him, for not only was He breaking the Sabbath [from their viewpoint], but He was also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

¹⁹So Jesus answered them by saying, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself [of His own accord], unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever things the Father does, the Son [in His turn] also does in the same way.

²⁰For the Father dearly loves the Son and shows Him everything that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be filled with wonder.

²¹Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life [and allows them to live on], even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.

²²For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment [that is, the prerogative of judging] to the Son [placing it entirely into His hands],

²³so that all will give honor (reverence, homage) to the Son just as they give honor to the Father. [In fact] the one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who has sent Him.

²⁴"I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the person who hears My word [the one who heeds My message], and believes and trusts in Him who sent Me, has (possesses now) eternal life [that is, eternal life actually begins—the believer is transformed], and does not come into judgment and condemnation, but has passed [over] from death into life.

²⁵I assure you and most solemnly say to you, a time is coming and is [here] now, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will live.

²⁶For just as the Father has life in Himself [and is self-existent], even so He has given to the Son to have life in Himself [and be self-existent].

²⁷And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is a Son of Man [sinless humanity, qualifying Him to sit in judgment over mankind].

²⁸Do not be surprised at this; for a time is coming when all those who are in the tombs will hear His voice,

²⁹and they will come out—those who did good things [will come out] to a resurrection of [new] life, but those who did evil things [will come out] to a resurrection of judgment [that is, to be sentenced].

³⁰"I can do nothing on my own initiative or authority. Just as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just (fair, righteous, unbiased), because I do not seek My own will, but only the will of Him who sent Me.

³¹"If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid.

³²There is another [My Father] who testifies about Me, and I know [without any doubt] that His testimony on My behalf is true and valid.

³³You have sent [an inquiry] to John [the Baptist] and he has testified [as an eyewitness] to the truth.

³⁴But the testimony I receive is not from man [a merely human witness]; but I say these things so that you may be saved [that is, have eternal life].

³⁵John was the lamp that kept on burning and shining [to show you the way], and you were willing for a while to rejoice in his light.

³⁶But the testimony which I have is far greater than the testimony of John; for the works that the Father has given Me to finish—the very same works [that is, the miracles and proofs of My deity] that I am [now] doing—testify about Me, [by providing evidence] that the Father has sent Me.

³⁷And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form [His majesty and greatness—what He is like].

³⁸You do not have His word (Scripture) abiding in you [actually living in your hearts and minds], because you do not believe in Him whom He has sent.

³⁹ You search and keep on searching and examining the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and yet it is those [very Scriptures] that testify about Me;

⁴⁰and still you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

⁴¹I do not receive glory and approval from men;

⁴²but I know you and recognize that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.

⁴³I have come in My Father's name and with His power, and you do not receive Me [because your minds are closed]; but if another comes in his own name and with no authority or power except his own, you will receive him and give your approval to an imposter.

⁴⁴How can you believe [in Me], when you [seek and] receive glory and approval from one another, and yet you do not seek the glory and approval which comes from the one and only God?

⁴⁵Do not think that I [am the One who] will accuse you before the Father. There [already] is one who accuses you: Moses, [the very one] in whom you have placed your hope [for salvation].

⁴⁶For if you believed and relied on [the Scriptures written by] Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me [personally].

⁴⁷But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

¹"You shall not give a false report; you shall not join hands with the wicked to be a malicious witness [promoting wrong and violence].

²You shall not follow a crowd to do [something] evil, nor shall you testify at a trial or in a dispute so as to side with a crowd in order to pervert justice;

³nor shall you favor or be partial to a poor man in his dispute [simply because he is poor].

⁴"If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey wandering off, you must bring it back to him.

⁵If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall not leave the man to deal with it [alone]; you must help him release the animal [from its burden].

⁶"You shall not pervert (bend) the justice due to your poor in his dispute.

⁷Keep far away from a false charge or action, and do not condemn to death the innocent or the righteous, for I will not justify and acquit the guilty.

⁸"You shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the testimony and the cause of the righteous.

⁹"You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the soul [the feelings, thoughts, and concerns] of a stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt.

¹⁰"You shall sow your land six years and harvest its yield,

¹¹but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie uncultivated, so that the poor among your people may eat [what the land grows naturally]; whatever they leave the animals of the field may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

¹²"Six days [each week] you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall stop [working] so that your ox and your donkey may settle down and rest, and the son of your female servant, as well as your stranger, may be refreshed.

¹³Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; do not mention the name of other gods [either in a blessing or in a curse]; do not let such speech be heard [coming] from your mouth.

¹⁴"Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast [dedicated] to Me.

¹⁵You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. No one shall appear before Me empty-handed [but you shall bring sacrificial offerings].

¹⁶Also [you shall observe] the Feast of Harvest (Weeks, Pentecost, or First Fruits), acknowledging the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. And [third] the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the end of the year when you gather in [the fruit of] your labors from the field.

¹⁷Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

¹⁸"You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; and the fat of My feast is not to be left overnight until morning.

¹⁹"You shall bring the choice first fruits of your ground into the house of the LORD your God. "You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

²⁰"Behold, I am going to send an Angel before you to keep and guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.

²¹Be on your guard before Him, listen to and obey His voice; do not be rebellious toward Him or provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgression, since My Name (authority) is in Him.

²²But if you will indeed listen to and truly obey His voice and do everything that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

²³When My Angel goes before you and brings you to [the land of] the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, I will reject them and completely destroy them.

²⁴You shall not bow down to worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do [anything] in accordance with their practices. You shall completely overthrow them and break down their [sacred] pillars and images [of pagan worship].

²⁵You shall serve [only] the LORD your God, and He shall bless your bread and water. I will also remove sickness from among you.

²⁶No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.

²⁷I will send My terror ahead of you, and I will throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you [in flight].

²⁸I will send hornets ahead of you which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you.

²⁹I will not drive them out before you in a single year, so that the land does not become desolate [due to lack of attention] and the [wild] animals of the field do not become too numerous for you.

³⁰I will drive them out before you little by little, until you have increased and are strong enough to take possession of the land.

³¹I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines (the Mediterranean), and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will hand over the residents of the land to you, and you shall drive them out before you.

³²You shall not make a covenant with them or with their gods.

³³They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it is certain to be a trap for you [resulting in judgment]."

¹Now the main point of what we have to say is this: we have such a High Priest, [the Christ] who is seated [in the place of honor] at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty (God) in heaven,

²a Minister (Officiating Priest) in the holy places and in the true tabernacle, which is erected not by man, but by the Lord.

³For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is essential for this One also to have something to offer.

⁴Now if He were [still living] on earth, He would not be a priest at all, for there are priests who offer the gifts [to God] in accordance with the Law.

⁵They serve as a pattern and foreshadowing of [what has its true existence and reality in] the heavenly things (sanctuary). For when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was warned by God, saying, "See that you make it all [exactly] according to the pattern which was shown to you on the mountain."

⁶But as it is, Christ has acquired a [priestly] ministry which is more excellent [than the old Levitical priestly ministry], for He is the Mediator (Arbiter) of a better covenant [uniting God and man], which has been enacted and rests on better promises.

⁷For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one or an attempt to institute another one [the new covenant].

⁸However, God finds fault with them [showing its inadequacy] when He says, "Behold, the days will come, says the Lord, When I will make and ratify a new covenant With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;

⁹Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not abide in My covenant, And so I withdrew My favor and disregarded them, says the Lord.

¹⁰"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their minds [even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding], And engrave them upon their hearts [effecting their regeneration]. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people.

¹¹"And it will not be [necessary] for each one to teach his fellow citizen, Or each one his brother, saying, 'Know [by experience, have knowledge of] the Lord,' For all will know [Me by experience and have knowledge of] Me, From the least to the greatest of them.

¹²"For I will be merciful and gracious toward their wickedness, And I will remember their sins no more."

¹³When God speaks of "A new covenant," He makes the first one obsolete. And whatever is becoming obsolete (out of use, annulled) and growing old is ready to disappear.

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,

²"Shall a multitude of words not be answered? And should a talkative man [making such a long-winded defense] be acquitted?

³"Should your boasts and babble silence men? And shall you scoff and no one put you to shame?

⁴"For you have said, 'My teaching (doctrine) [that God knowingly afflicts the righteous] is pure, And I am innocent in your eyes.'

⁵"But oh, that God would speak, And open His lips [to speak] against you,

⁶And [that He would] show you the secrets of wisdom! For sound wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God forgets a part of your wickedness and guilt.

⁷"Can you discover the depths of God? Can you [by searching] discover the limits of the Almighty [ascend to His heights, extend to His widths, and comprehend His infinite perfection]?

⁸"His wisdom is as high as the heights of heaven. What can you do? It is deeper than Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead). What can you know?

⁹"It is longer in measure [and scope] than the earth, And broader than the sea.

¹⁰"If God passes by or arrests, Or calls an assembly [of judgment], who can restrain Him? [If He is against a man, who can call Him to account for it?]

¹¹"For He recognizes and knows false and worthless men, And He sees wickedness, will He not consider it?

¹²"But a hollow (empty-headed) man will become intelligent and wise [Only] when the colt of a wild donkey is born as a man.

¹³"If you direct your heart [on the right path] And stretch out your hands to Him,

¹⁴If sin is in your hand, put it far away [from you], And do not let wrongdoing dwell in your tents;

¹⁵Then, indeed, you could lift up your face [to Him] without moral defect, And you would be firmly established and secure and not fear.

¹⁶"For you would forget your trouble; You would remember it as waters that have passed by.

¹⁷"And your life would be brighter than the noonday; Darkness [then] would be like the morning.

¹⁸"Then you would trust [with confidence], because there is hope; You would look around you and rest securely.

¹⁹"You would lie down with no one to frighten you, And many would entreat and seek your favor.

²⁰"But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And they will not escape [the justice of God]; And their hope is to breathe their last [and die]."

¹A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart.

²But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, My steps had almost slipped.

³For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴For there are no pains in their death, Their body is fat and pampered.

⁵They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like mankind.

⁶Therefore pride is their necklace; Violence covers them like a garment [like a long, luxurious robe].

⁷Their eye bulges from fatness [they have more than the heart desires]; The imaginations of their mind run riot [with foolishness].

⁸They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak loftily [with malice].

⁹They set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue swaggers through the earth.

¹⁰Therefore his people return to this place, And waters of abundance [offered by the irreverent] are [blindly] drunk by them.

¹¹They say, "How does God know? Is there knowledge [of us] with the Most High?"

¹²Behold, these are the ungodly, Who always prosper and are at ease [in the world]; they have increased in wealth.

¹³Surely then in vain I have cleansed my heart And washed my hands in innocence.

¹⁴For all the day long have I been stricken, And punished every morning.

¹⁵If I had said, "I will say this," [and expressed my feelings], I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.

¹⁶When I considered how to understand this, It was too great an effort for me and too painful

¹⁷Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood [for I considered] their end.

¹⁸Surely You set the wicked-minded and immoral on slippery places; You cast them down to destruction.

¹⁹How they are destroyed in a moment! They are completely swept away by sudden terrors!

²⁰Like a dream [which seems real] until one awakens, O Lord, when stirred, [You observe the wicked], You will despise their image.

²¹When my heart was embittered And I was pierced within [as with the fang of an adder],

²²Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.

²³Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand.

²⁴You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to honor and glory.

²⁵Whom have I in heaven [but You]? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

²⁶My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the rock and strength of my heart and my portion forever.

²⁷For behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful and have abandoned You.

²⁸But as for me, it is good for me to draw near to God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge and placed my trust in Him, That I may tell of all Your works.

¹A false balance and dishonest business practices are extremely offensive to the LORD, But an accurate scale is His delight.

²When pride comes [boiling up with an arrogant attitude of self-importance], then come dishonor and shame, But with the humble [the teachable who have been chiseled by trial and who have learned to walk humbly with God] there is wisdom and soundness of mind.

³The integrity and moral courage of the upright will guide them, But the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them.

⁴Riches will not provide security in the day of wrath and judgment, But righteousness rescues from death.

⁵The righteousness of the blameless will smooth their way and keep it straight, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.

⁶The righteousness of the upright will rescue them, But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.

⁷When the wicked man dies, his expectation will perish; And the hope of [godless] strong men perishes.

⁸The righteous is rescued from trouble, And the wicked takes his place.

⁹With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, But through knowledge and discernment the righteous will be rescued.

¹⁰When it goes well for the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.

¹¹By the blessing [of the influence] of the upright the city is exalted, But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.

¹²He who despises his neighbor lacks sense, But a man of understanding keeps silent.

¹³He who goes about as a gossip reveals secrets, But he who is trustworthy and faithful keeps a matter hidden.

¹⁴Where there is no [wise, intelligent] guidance, the people fall [and go off course like a ship without a helm], But in the abundance of [wise and godly] counselors there is victory.

¹⁵He who puts up security and guarantees a debt for an outsider will surely suffer [for his foolishness], But he who hates (declines) being a guarantor is secure [from its penalties].

¹⁶A gracious and good woman attains honor, And ruthless men attain riches [but not respect].

¹⁷The merciful and generous man benefits his soul [for his behavior returns to bless him], But the cruel and callous man does himself harm.

¹⁸The wicked man earns deceptive wages, But he who sows righteousness and lives his life with integrity will have a true reward [that is both permanent and satisfying].

¹⁹He who is steadfast in righteousness attains life, But he who pursues evil attains his own death.

²⁰The perverse in heart are repulsive and shamefully vile to the LORD, But those who are blameless and above reproach in their walk are His delight!

²¹Assuredly, the evil man will not go unpunished, But the descendants of the righteous will be freed.

²²As a ring of gold in a swine's snout, So is a beautiful woman who is without discretion [her lack of character mocks her beauty].

²³The desire of the righteous brings only good, But the expectation of the wicked brings wrath.

²⁴There is the one who [generously] scatters [abroad], and yet increases all the more; And there is the one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want and poverty.

²⁵The generous man [is a source of blessing and] shall be prosperous and enriched, And he who waters will himself be watered [reaping the generosity he has sown].

²⁶The people curse him who holds back grain [when the public needs it], But a blessing [from God and man] is upon the head of him who sells it.

²⁷He who diligently seeks good seeks favor and grace, But he who seeks evil, evil will come to him.

²⁸He who leans on and trusts in and is confident in his riches will fall, But the righteous [who trust in God's provision] will flourish like a green leaf.

²⁹He who troubles (mismanages) his own house will inherit the wind (nothing), And the foolish will be a servant to the wise-hearted.

³⁰The fruit of the [consistently] righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise captures and wins souls [for God—he gathers them for eternity].

³¹If the righteous will be rewarded on the earth [with godly blessings], How much more [will] the wicked and the sinner [be repaid with punishment]!

¹When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, "Behold, David is in the Wilderness of Engedi."

²Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to search for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.

³On the way he came to the sheepfolds where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the cave's innermost recesses.

⁴David's men said to him, "Behold, this is the day of which the LORD said to you, 'Behold, I will hand over your enemy to you, and you shall do to him as seems good to you.'" Then David arose [in the darkness] and stealthily cut off the hem (edge) of Saul's robe.

⁵Afterward, David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the hem of Saul's robe.

⁶He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, to put out my hand against him, since he is the anointed of the LORD."

⁷So David strongly rebuked his men with these words and did not let them rise up against Saul. Saul got up, left the cave and went on his way.

⁸Then David also got up afterward and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, "My lord the king!" And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and lay himself face down.

⁹David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to the words of men who say, 'David seeks to harm you?'

¹⁰Behold, your eyes have seen today how the LORD had given you into my hand in the cave. Some told me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, 'I will not reach out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord's anointed.'

¹¹Look, my father! Indeed, see the hem of your robe in my hand! Since I cut off the hem of your robe and did not kill you, know and understand [without question] that there is no evil or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait to take my life.

¹²May the LORD judge between me and you; and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you.

¹³As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Out of the wicked comes wickedness'; but my hand shall not be against you.

¹⁴After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue [with three thousand men]? A dead dog, a single flea?

¹⁵May the LORD be the judge and render judgment between me and you; and may He see and plead my cause and vindicate me by saving me from your hand."

¹⁶When David had finished saying these words to Saul, Saul said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" Then Saul raised his voice and wept.

¹⁷He said to David, "You are more righteous and upright [in God's eyes] than I; for you have done good to me, but I have done evil to you.

¹⁸You have declared today the good that you have done to me, for when the LORD put me into your hand, you did not kill me.

¹⁹For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away unharmed? So may the LORD reward you with good in return for what you have done for me this day.

²⁰Now, behold, I know that you will certainly be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.

²¹So now swear to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father's household (extended family)."

²²David gave Saul his oath; and Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the mountain stronghold.

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

²"Stand in the gate of the Lord's house and proclaim there this word and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter by these gates to worship the LORD.'"

³Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Change your ways and your behavior, and I will let you live in this place.

⁴"Do not trust in the deceptive and lying words [of the false prophets who claim that Jerusalem will be protected by God because of the temple], saying, 'This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.'

⁵For if you thoroughly change your ways and your behavior, if you thoroughly and honestly practice justice between a man and his neighbor,

⁶if you do not oppress the transient and the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood [by oppression and by unjust judicial murders] in Jerusalem, nor follow after other gods to your own ruin,

⁷then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers [to live in] forever and ever.

⁸"Behold, you are trusting in deceptive and useless words that bring no benefit.

⁹Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear [oaths] falsely, offer sacrifices or burn incense to Baal, and follow after other gods that you have not known,

¹⁰and [then dare to] come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My Name, and say, 'We are protected and set free [by this act of religious ritual]!'—only to go on with this wickedness and these disgusting and loathsome things?

¹¹Has this house, which is called by My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes [a place of retreat for you between acts of violence]? Behold, I Myself have seen it," says the LORD.

¹²"But go now to My place which was in Shiloh [in Ephraim], where I first set My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.

¹³And now, because you have done all these things," says the LORD, "and I spoke [persistently] to you, even rising up early and speaking, but you did not listen, and I called you but you did not answer,

¹⁴therefore, I will do to this house (the temple) which is called by My Name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, just as I did to Shiloh.

¹⁵I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers (relatives through Jacob), all the descendants of Ephraim.

¹⁶"Therefore, do not pray for this people [of Judah] or lift up a cry or entreaty for them or make intercession to Me, for I do not hear you.

¹⁷Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁸The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods that they may offend and provoke Me to anger.

¹⁹Do they offend and provoke Me to anger?" says the LORD. "Is it not themselves [they offend], to their own shame?"

²⁰Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, My anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and [the fire will] not be quenched."

²¹Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the meat.

²²"For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices.

²³But this thing I did command them: 'Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, so that it may be well with you.'

²⁴But they did not obey Me or bend their ear [to hear Me], but followed the counsels and the stubbornness of their [own] evil heart (mind), and [they turned and] went backward instead of forward.

²⁵Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have [persistently] sent you all My servants the prophets, sending them daily, early [and late].

²⁶Yet they did not listen to Me and obey Me or bend their ear [to hear Me], but stiffened their neck; they did more evil and behaved worse than their fathers.

²⁷"You shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall [also] call to them, but they will not answer you.

²⁸You shall say to them, 'This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God or accept correction and warning; truth and faithfulness have perished and have completely vanished from their mouths.

²⁹'Cut off your hair [your crown, O Jerusalem] and throw it away, And take up a mournful cry on the barren heights, For the LORD has rejected and abandoned The generation of His wrath.'

³⁰For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight," says the LORD; "they have set their disgusting and shamefully vile things in the house which is called by My Name, to defile it.

³¹They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire [to honor Molech, the fire god]—which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart (mind).

³²"Therefore, behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when it will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of the Slaughter, for [in bloody warfare] they will bury [the dead] in Topheth until there is no more room.

³³And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth and no one will frighten them away.

³⁴Then I will cause the voices of joy and gladness, and the voices of the bridegroom and the bride to vanish from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem; for the land will become a ruin—a wasteland.

¹Now after Paul and Silas had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

²And Paul entered the synagogue, as was his custom, and for three Sabbaths he engaged in discussion and friendly debate with them from the Scriptures,

³explaining and pointing out [scriptural evidence] that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I am proclaiming to you, is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)."

⁴And some of them were persuaded to believe and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and many of the leading women.

⁵But the [unbelieving] Jews became jealous, and taking along some thugs from [the lowlifes in] the market place, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and then attacking Jason's house tried to bring Paul and Silas out to the people.

⁶But when they failed to find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too;

⁷and Jason has welcomed them [into his house and protected them]! And they all are saying things contrary to the decrees of Caesar, [actually] claiming that there is another king, Jesus."

⁸They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.

⁹And when they had taken security (bail) from Jason and the others, they let them go.

¹⁰The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea; and when they arrived, they entered the Jewish synagogue.

¹¹Now these people were more noble and open-minded than those in Thessalonica, so they received the message [of salvation through faith in the Christ] with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

¹²As a result many of them became believers, together with a number of prominent Greek women and men.

¹³But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ] had also been preached by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and disturbing the crowds.

¹⁴So at that time the brothers immediately sent Paul away to go as far as the sea; but Silas and Timothy remained there [at Berea].

¹⁵Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens; and [after] receiving instructions [from Paul] for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible, they left.

¹⁶Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was greatly angered when he saw that the city was full of idols.

¹⁷So he had discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place day after day with any who happened to be there.

¹⁸And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to engage in conversation with him. And some said, "What could this idle babbler [with his eclectic, scrap-heap learning] have in mind to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities"—because he was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹They took him and brought him to the Areopagus (Hill of Ares, the Greek god of war), saying, "May we know what this [strange] new teaching is which you are proclaiming?

²⁰For you are bringing some startling and strange things to our ears; so we want to know what they mean."

²¹(Now all the Athenians and the foreigners visiting there used to spend their [leisure] time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

²²So Paul, standing in the center of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I observe [with every turn I make throughout the city] that you are very religious and devout in all respects.

²³Now as I was going along and carefully looking at your objects of worship, I came to an altar with this inscription: 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' Therefore what you already worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

²⁴The God who created the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;

²⁵nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, because it is He who gives to all [people] life and breath and all things.

²⁶And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands and territories.

²⁷This was so that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grasp for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

²⁸For in Him we live and move and exist [that is, in Him we actually have our being], as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'

²⁹So then, being God's children, we should not think that the Divine Nature (deity) is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination or skill of man.

³⁰Therefore God overlooked and disregarded the former ages of ignorance; but now He commands all people everywhere to repent [that is, to change their old way of thinking, to regret their past sins, and to seek God's purpose for their lives],

³¹because He has set a day when He will judge the inhabited world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed and destined for that task, and He has provided credible proof to everyone by raising Him from the dead."

³²Now when they heard [the term] resurrection from the dead, some mocked and sneered; but others said, "We will hear from you again about this matter."

³³So Paul left them.

³⁴But some men joined him and believed; among them were Dionysius, [a judge] of the Council of Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.