Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias).

²A large crowd was following Him, because they were watching the signs which He was performing on those who were sick.

³But Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.

⁴Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.

⁵So Jesus, after raising His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, *said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?”

⁶But He was saying this only to test him, for He Himself knew what He intended to do.

⁷Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not enough for them, for each to receive just a little!”

⁸One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, *said to Him,

⁹“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are these for so many people?”

¹⁰Jesus said, “Have the people recline to eat.” Now there was plenty of grass in the place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.

¹¹Jesus then took the loaves, and after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were reclining; likewise also of the fish, as much as they wanted.

¹²And when they had eaten their fill, He *said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be lost.”

¹³So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with pieces from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

¹⁵So Jesus, aware that they intended to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself, alone.

¹⁶Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea,

¹⁷and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

¹⁸In addition, the sea began getting rough, because a strong wind was blowing.

¹⁹Then, when they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they *saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat; and they were frightened.

²⁰But He *said to them, “It is I;do not be afraid.”

²¹So they were willing to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

²²The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there except one, and that Jesus had not gotten into the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had departed alone.

²³Other small boats came from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

²⁴So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats and came to Capernaum, looking for Jesus.

²⁵And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”

²⁶Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you sawsigns, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled.

²⁷Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, has set Hisseal.”

²⁸Therefore they said to Him, “What are we to do, so that we may accomplish the works of God?”

²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

³⁰So they said to Him, “What then are You doing as a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work are You performing?

³¹Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.’ ”

³²Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.

³³For the bread of God isthat which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”

³⁵Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty.

³⁶But I said to you that you have indeed seen Me, and yet you do not believe.

³⁷Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out.

³⁸For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

³⁹And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day.

⁴⁰For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

⁴¹So then the Jews were complaining about Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.”

⁴²And they were saying, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”

⁴³Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop complaining among yourselves.

⁴⁴No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets: ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.

⁴⁶Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.

⁴⁷Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who believes has eternal life.

⁴⁸I am the bread of life.

⁴⁹Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

⁵⁰This is the bread that comes down out of heaven, so that anyone may eat from it and not die.

⁵¹I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I will give for the life of the world also is My flesh.”

⁵²Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.

⁵⁴The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

⁵⁵For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.

⁵⁶The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him.

⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.

⁵⁸This is the bread that came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died; the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

⁵⁹These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

⁶⁰So then many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This statement is very unpleasant; who can listen to it?”

⁶¹But Jesus, aware that His disciples were complaining about this, said to them, “Is thisoffensive to you?

⁶²What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?

⁶³It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life.

⁶⁴But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him.

⁶⁵And He was saying, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”

⁶⁶As a result of this many of His disciples left, and would no longer walk with Him.

⁶⁷So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to leave also, do you?”

⁶⁸Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.

⁶⁹And we have already believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”

⁷⁰Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.”

⁷¹Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot; for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.

¹Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance.

²Moses alone, however, shall approach the LORD, but they shall not approach, nor shall the people come up with him.”

³Then Moses came and reported to the people all the words of the LORD and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the LORD has spoken we will do!”

⁴And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Then he got up early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve memorial stones for the twelve tribes of Israel.

⁵And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as peace offerings to the LORD.

⁶Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

⁷Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it as the people listened; and they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!”

⁸So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

⁹Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,

¹⁰and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.

¹¹Yet He did not reach out with His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank.

¹²Now the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the Law and the commandments which I have written for their instruction.”

¹³So Moses got up along with Joshua his servant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God.

¹⁴But to the elders he said, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter, have him approach them.”

¹⁵Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.

¹⁶The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud.

¹⁷And to the eyes of the sons of Israel, the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountain top.

¹⁸Then Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

¹Now even the first covenant had regulations for divine worship and the earthly sanctuary.

²For a tabernacle was equipped, the outer sanctuary, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the sacred bread; this is called the Holy Place.

³Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Most Holy Place,

⁴having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, Aaron’s staff which budded, and the tablets of the covenant;

⁵and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the atoning cover; but about these things we cannot now speak in detail.

⁶Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship,

⁷but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

⁸The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing,

⁹which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience,

¹⁰since they relate only to food, drink, and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.

¹¹But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things having come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation;

¹²and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all time, having obtained eternal redemption.

¹³For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh,

¹⁴how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

¹⁵For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the violations that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

¹⁶For where there is a covenant, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.

¹⁷For a covenant is valid only when people are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives.

¹⁸Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood.

¹⁹For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,

²⁰saying, “THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT WHICH GOD COMMANDED YOU.”

²¹And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood.

²²And almost all things are cleansed with blood, according to the Law, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

²³Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these things, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

²⁴For Christ did not enter a holy place made by hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

²⁵nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year by year with blood that is not his own.

²⁶Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

²⁷And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment,

²⁸so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope,

²To Timothy, my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³Just as I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, to remain on at Ephesus so that you would instruct certain people not to teach strange doctrines,

⁴nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to useless speculation rather than advance the plan of God, which is by faith, so I urge you now.

⁵But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere faith.

⁶Some people have strayed from these things and have turned aside to fruitless discussion,

⁷wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.

⁸But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully,

⁹realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and worldly, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,

¹⁰for the sexually immoral, homosexuals, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,

¹¹according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

¹²I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service,

¹³even though I was previously a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief;

¹⁴and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost.

¹⁶Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost sinner Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

¹⁷Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁸This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight,

¹⁹keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.

²⁰Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.

¹Then Job responded,

²“Truly then you are the people, And with you wisdom will die!

³But I have intelligence as well as you; I am not inferior to you. And who does not know such things as these?

⁴I am a joke to my friends, The one who called on God and He answered him; The just and blameless man is a joke.

⁵He who is at ease holds disaster in contempt, As prepared for those whose feet slip.

⁶The tents of the destroyers prosper, And those who provoke God are secure, Whom God brings into their power.

⁷“But just ask the animals, and have them teach you; And the birds of the sky, and have them tell you.

⁸Or speak to the earth, and have it teach you; And have the fish of the sea tell you.

⁹Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this,

¹⁰In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?

¹¹Does the ear not put words to the test, As the palate tastes its food?

¹²Wisdom is with the aged, And with long life comes understanding.

¹³“Wisdom and might are with Him; Advice and understanding belong to Him.

¹⁴Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt; He imprisons a person, and there is no release.

¹⁵Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up; And He sends them out, and they inundate the earth.

¹⁶Strength and sound wisdom are with Him. One who goes astray and one who leads astray belong to Him.

¹⁷He makes advisers walk barefoot And makes fools of judges.

¹⁸He undoes the binding of kings, And ties a loincloth around their waist.

¹⁹He makes priests walk barefoot, And overthrows the secure ones.

²⁰He deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders.

²¹He pours contempt on nobles, And loosens the belt of the strong.

²²He reveals mysteries from the darkness, And brings the deep darkness into light.

²³He makes the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away.

²⁴He deprives the leaders of the earth’s people of intelligence And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.

²⁵They grope in darkness with no light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken person.

¹God, why have You rejected us forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

²Remember Your congregation, which You purchased of old, Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance; And this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.

³Step toward the irreparable ruins; The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.

⁴Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place; They have set up their own signs as signs.

⁵It seems like one bringing up His axe into a forest of trees.

⁶And now they break down all its carved work With axe and hammers.

⁷They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name.

⁸They said in their heart, “Let’s completely subdue them.” They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹We do not see our signs; There is no longer any prophet, Nor is there anyone among us who knows how long.

¹⁰How long, God, will the enemy taunt You? Shall the enemy treat Your name disrespectfully forever?

¹¹Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? Extend it from Your chest and destroy them!

¹²Yet God is my King from long ago, Who performs acts of salvation in the midst of the earth.

¹³You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

¹⁴You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

¹⁵You broke open springs and torrents; You dried up ever-flowing streams.

¹⁶Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun.

¹⁷You have established all the boundaries of the earth; You have created summer and winter.

¹⁸Remember this, LORD, that the enemy has taunted You, And a foolish people has treated Your name disrespectfully.

¹⁹Do not give the soul of Your turtledove to the wild animal; Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.

²⁰Consider the covenant; For the dark places of the land are full of the places of violence.

²¹May the oppressed person not return dishonored; May the afflicted and the needy praise Your name.

²²Arise, God, and plead Your own cause; Remember how the foolish person taunts You all day long.

²³Do not forget the voice of Your adversaries, The uproar of those who rise against You, which ascends continually.

¹One who loves discipline loves knowledge, But one who hates rebuke is stupid.

²A good person will obtain favor from the LORD, But He will condemn a person who devises evil.

³A person will not be established by wickedness, But the root of the righteous will not be moved.

⁴An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, But she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just, But the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked wait in ambush for blood, But the mouth of the upright will rescue them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown and are no more, But the house of the righteous will stand.

⁸A person will be praised according to his insight, But one of perverse mind will be despised.

⁹Better is one who is lightly esteemed and has a servant, Than one who honors himself and lacks bread.

¹⁰A righteous person has regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.

¹¹One who works his land will have plenty of bread, But one who pursues worthless things lacks sense.

¹²The wicked person desires the plunder of evil people, But the root of the righteous yields fruit.

¹³An evil person is ensnared by the offense of his lips, But the righteous will escape from trouble.

¹⁴A person will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, And the deeds of a person’s hands will return to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a person who listens to advice is wise.

¹⁶A fool’s anger is known at once, But a prudent person conceals dishonor.

¹⁷One who declares truth tells what is right, But a false witness, deceit.

¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹Truthful lips will endure forever, But a lying tongue is only for a moment.

²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy.

²¹No harm happens to the righteous, But the wicked are filled with trouble.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal faithfully are His delight.

²³A prudent person conceals knowledge, But the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.

²⁴The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy hand will be put to forced labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a person’s heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad.

²⁶The righteous person is a guide to his neighbor, But the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷A lazy person does not roast his prey, But the precious possession of a person is diligence.

²⁸In the way of righteousness there is life, And in its pathway there is no death.

¹Then Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him at his house in Ramah. And David set out and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

²Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; and the man was very rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel

³(now the man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite),

⁴that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

⁵So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and visit Nabal, and greet him in my name;

⁶and this is what you shall say: ‘Have a long life, peace to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have!

⁷Now then, I have heard that you have shearers. Now, your shepherds have been with us; we have not harmed them, nor has anything of theirs gone missing all the days they were in Carmel.

⁸Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”

⁹When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal in accordance with all these words in David’s name; then they waited.

¹⁰But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master.

¹¹Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men whose origin I do not know?”

¹²So David’s young men made their way back and returned; and they came and informed him in accordance with all these words.

¹³Then David said to his men, “Each of you strap on his sword.” So each man strapped on his sword. And David also strapped on his sword, and about four hundred men went up behind David, while two hundred stayed with the baggage.

¹⁴Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, and he spoke to them in anger.

¹⁵Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not harmed, nor did anything go missing as long as we went with them, while we were in the fields.

¹⁶They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep.

¹⁷Now then, be aware and consider what you should do, because harm is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a worthless man that no one can speak to him.”

¹⁸Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine, and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain, and a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and she loaded them on donkeys.

¹⁹Then she said to her young men, “Go on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

²⁰And it happened as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; so she met them.

²¹Now David had said, “It is certainly for nothing that I have guarded everything that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing has gone missing of all that belonged to him! For he has returned me evil for good.

²²May God do so to the enemies of David, and more so, if by morning I leave alive as much as one male of any who belong to him.”

²³When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face in front of David and bowed herself to the ground.

²⁴She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your slave speak to you, and listen to the words of your slave.

²⁵Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and stupidity is with him; but I your slave did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

²⁶“Now then, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, since the LORD has restrained you from shedding blood, and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now then, may your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be like Nabal.

²⁷And now let this gift which your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who accompany my lord.

²⁸Please forgive the offense of your slave; for the LORD will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil will not be found in you all your days.

²⁹Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; but the lives of your enemies He will sling out as from the hollow of a sling.

³⁰And when the LORD does for my lord in accordance with all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel,

³¹this will not become an obstacle to you, or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord’s having avenged himself. When the LORD deals well with my lord, then remember your slave.”

³²Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me,

³³and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.

³⁴Nevertheless, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, there certainly would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one male.”

³⁵So David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and granted your request.”

³⁶Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was having a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was cheerful within him, for he was very drunk; so she did not tell him anything at all until the morning light.

³⁷But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became like a stone.

³⁸About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal and he died.

³⁹When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has pleaded the cause of the shame inflicted on me by the hand of Nabal, and has kept back His servant from evil. The LORD has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife.

⁴⁰When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.”

⁴¹And she got up and bowed with her face to the ground, and said, “Behold, your slave is a servant to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

⁴²Then Abigail got up quickly, and rode on a donkey, with her five female attendants who accompanied her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

⁴³David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives.

⁴⁴But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

¹“At that time,” declares the LORD, “they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its leaders, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves.

²They will spread them out to the sun, the moon, and to all the heavenly lights, which they have loved, which they have served, which they have followed, which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered nor buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground.

³And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family, that remains in all the places to which I have driven them,” declares the LORD of armies.

⁴“You shall say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: “Do people fall and not get up? Does one turn away and not repent?

⁵Why has this people, Jerusalem, Turned away in continual apostasy? They hold on to deceit, They refuse to return.

⁶I have listened and heard, They have spoken what is not right; No one repented of his wickedness, Saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his own course, Like a horse charging into the battle.

⁷Even the stork in the sky Knows her seasons; And the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane Keep to the time of their migration; But My people do not know The judgment of the LORD.

⁸“How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the Law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie.

⁹The wise men are put to shame, They are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, So what kind of wisdom do they have?

¹⁰Therefore I will give their wives to others, Their fields to new owners; Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is greedy for gain; From the prophet even to the priest, Everyone practices deceit.

¹¹They have healed the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.

¹²Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They were not ashamed at all, And they did not know how to be ashamed; Therefore they will fall among those who fall; At the time of their punishment they will collapse,” Says the LORD.

¹³“I will certainly snatch them away,” declares the LORD. “There will be no grapes on the vine And no figs on the fig tree, And the leaf will wither; And what I have given them will pass away.” ’ ”

¹⁴Why are we sitting still? Assemble yourselves, and let’s go into the fortified cities And perish there, For the LORD our God has doomed us And given us poisoned water to drink, Because we have sinned against the LORD.

¹⁵We waited for peace, but no good came; For a time of healing, but behold, terror!

¹⁶From Dan there is heard the snorting of his horses; At the sound of the neighing of his stallions The whole land quakes; For they come and devour the land and its fullness, The city and its inhabitants.

¹⁷“For behold, I am sending serpents among you, Vipers for which there is no charm; And they will bite you,” declares the LORD.

¹⁸My sorrow is beyond healing, My heart is faint within me!

¹⁹Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not within her?” “Why have they provoked Me with their carved images, with foreign idols?”

²⁰“Harvest is past, summer is over, And we are not saved.”

²¹I am broken over the brokenness of the daughter of my people. I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.

²²Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?

¹After these events Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

²And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them,

³and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and they worked together, for they were tent-makers by trade.

⁴And Paul was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

⁵But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

⁶But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁷Then he left the synagogue and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

⁸Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household; and many of the Corinthians, as they listened to Paul, were believing and being baptized.

⁹And the Lord said to Paul by a vision at night, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent;

¹⁰for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

¹¹And he settled there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹²But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,

¹³saying, “This man is inciting the people to worship God contrary to the law.”

¹⁴But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or vicious, unscrupulous act, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you;

¹⁵but if there are questions about teaching and persons and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.”

¹⁶And he drove them away from the judgment seat.

¹⁷But they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. And yet Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

¹⁸Now Paul, when he had remained many days longer, took leave of the brothers and sisters and sailed away to Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. Paul first had his hair cut at Cenchrea, for he was keeping a vow.

¹⁹They came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

²⁰When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent,

²¹but took leave of them and said, “I will return to you again if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

²²When he had landed in Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch.

²³And after spending some time there, he left and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was proficient in the Scriptures.

²⁵This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was accurately speaking and teaching things about Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John;

²⁶and he began speaking boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately to him.

²⁷And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace,

²⁸for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.