Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him.

²But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near,

³Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do.

⁴No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.”

⁵For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

⁶Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do.

⁷The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil.

⁸You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.”

⁹After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.

¹¹Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”

¹²Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.”

¹³But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

¹⁴Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.

¹⁵The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”

¹⁶Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.

¹⁷Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.

¹⁸Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.

¹⁹Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

²⁰“You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

²¹Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed.

²²Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath.

²³Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath?

²⁴Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

²⁵At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?

²⁶Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah?

²⁷But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him,

²⁹but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

³⁰At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

³¹Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”

³²The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

³³Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me.

³⁴You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

³⁵The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?

³⁶What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.

³⁸Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

³⁹By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

⁴⁰On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”

⁴¹Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee?

⁴²Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”

⁴³Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.

⁴⁴Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

⁴⁵Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

⁴⁶“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.

⁴⁷“You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted.

⁴⁸“Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?

⁴⁹No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

⁵⁰Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked,

⁵¹“Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

⁵²They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” [The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53—8:11. A few manuscripts include these verses, wholly or in part, after John 7:36, John 21:25, Luke 21:38 or Luke 24:53.]

⁵³Then they all went home,

¹The LORD said to Moses,

²“Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give.

³These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze;

⁴blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair;

⁵ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood;

⁶olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;

⁷and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.

⁸“Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.

⁹Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.

¹⁰“Have them make an ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

¹¹Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it.

¹²Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other.

¹³Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

¹⁴Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it.

¹⁵The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed.

¹⁶Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you.

¹⁷“Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.

¹⁸And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover.

¹⁹Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends.

²⁰The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover.

²¹Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you.

²²There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.

²³“Make a table of acacia wood—two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high.

²⁴Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it.

²⁵Also make around it a rim a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim.

²⁶Make four gold rings for the table and fasten them to the four corners, where the four legs are.

²⁷The rings are to be close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table.

²⁸Make the poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold and carry the table with them.

²⁹And make its plates and dishes of pure gold, as well as its pitchers and bowls for the pouring out of offerings.

³⁰Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.

³¹“Make a lampstand of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft, and make its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them.

³²Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other.

³³Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand.

³⁴And on the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms.

³⁵One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all.

³⁶The buds and branches shall all be of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.

³⁷“Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it.

³⁸Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold.

³⁹A talent of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories.

⁴⁰See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.

¹The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.

²Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.

³But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.

⁴It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;

⁶with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.

⁷Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.’ ”

⁸First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law.

⁹Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second.

¹⁰And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

¹²But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

¹³and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.

¹⁴For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

¹⁵The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

¹⁶“This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

¹⁷Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”

¹⁸And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

¹⁹Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,

²⁰by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,

²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

²²let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,

²⁵not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

²⁶If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,

²⁷but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

²⁸Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

²⁹How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

³⁰For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

³¹It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³²Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering.

³³Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.

³⁴You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

³⁵So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

³⁶You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

³⁷For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.”

³⁸And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.”

³⁹But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

¹I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—

²for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

³This is good, and pleases God our Savior,

⁴who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

⁵For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,

⁶who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.

⁷And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.

⁸Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.

⁹I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,

¹⁰but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

¹¹A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.

¹²I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.

¹³For Adam was formed first, then Eve.

¹⁴And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

¹⁵But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

¹“My eyes have seen all this, my ears have heard and understood it.

²What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.

³But I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God.

⁴You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you!

⁵If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom.

⁶Hear now my argument; listen to the pleas of my lips.

⁷Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf? Will you speak deceitfully for him?

⁸Will you show him partiality? Will you argue the case for God?

⁹Would it turn out well if he examined you? Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?

¹⁰He would surely call you to account if you secretly showed partiality.

¹¹Would not his splendor terrify you? Would not the dread of him fall on you?

¹²Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.

¹³“Keep silent and let me speak; then let come to me what may.

¹⁴Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life in my hands?

¹⁵Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.

¹⁶Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless person would dare come before him!

¹⁷Listen carefully to what I say; let my words ring in your ears.

¹⁸Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated.

¹⁹Can anyone bring charges against me? If so, I will be silent and die.

²⁰“Only grant me these two things, God, and then I will not hide from you:

²¹Withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors.

²²Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply to me.

²³How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin.

²⁴Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?

²⁵Will you torment a windblown leaf? Will you chase after dry chaff?

²⁶For you write down bitter things against me and make me reap the sins of my youth.

²⁷You fasten my feet in shackles; you keep close watch on all my paths by putting marks on the soles of my feet.

²⁸“So man wastes away like something rotten, like a garment eaten by moths.

¹For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A psalm of Asaph. A song. We praise you, God, we praise you, for your Name is near; people tell of your wonderful deeds.

²You say, “I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge with equity.

³When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm.

⁴To the arrogant I say, ‘Boast no more,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns.

⁵Do not lift your horns against heaven; do not speak so defiantly.’ ”

⁶No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt themselves.

⁷It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.

⁸In the hand of the LORD is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices; he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs.

⁹As for me, I will declare this forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob,

¹⁰who says, “I will cut off the horns of all the wicked, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”

¹A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not respond to rebukes.

²From the fruit of their lips people enjoy good things, but the unfaithful have an appetite for violence.

³Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin.

⁴A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.

⁵The righteous hate what is false, but the wicked make themselves a stench and bring shame on themselves.

⁶Righteousness guards the person of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.

⁷One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

⁸A person’s riches may ransom their life, but the poor cannot respond to threatening rebukes.

⁹The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out.

¹⁰Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

¹¹Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

¹³Whoever scorns instruction will pay for it, but whoever respects a command is rewarded.

¹⁴The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.

¹⁵Good judgment wins favor, but the way of the unfaithful leads to their destruction.

¹⁶All who are prudent act with knowledge, but fools expose their folly.

¹⁷A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a trustworthy envoy brings healing.

¹⁸Whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.

¹⁹A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil.

²⁰Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

²¹Trouble pursues the sinner, but the righteous are rewarded with good things.

²²A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.

²³An unplowed field produces food for the poor, but injustice sweeps it away.

²⁴Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.

²⁵The righteous eat to their hearts’ content, but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry.

¹The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?”

²So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand select Israelite troops, to search there for David.

³Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul had followed him there,

⁴he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived.

⁵Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the camp, with the army encamped around him.

⁶David then asked Ahimelek the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?” “I’ll go with you,” said Abishai.

⁷So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.

⁸Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t strike him twice.”

⁹But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?

¹⁰As surely as the LORD lives,” he said, “the LORD himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.

¹¹But the LORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.”

¹²So David took the spear and water jug near Saul’s head, and they left. No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up. They were all sleeping, because the LORD had put them into a deep sleep.

¹³Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the hill some distance away; there was a wide space between them.

¹⁴He called out to the army and to Abner son of Ner, “Aren’t you going to answer me, Abner?” Abner replied, “Who are you who calls to the king?”

¹⁵David said, “You’re a man, aren’t you? And who is like you in Israel? Why didn’t you guard your lord the king? Someone came to destroy your lord the king.

¹⁶What you have done is not good. As surely as the LORD lives, you and your men must die, because you did not guard your master, the LORD’s anointed. Look around you. Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were near his head?”

¹⁷Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is that your voice, David my son?” David replied, “Yes it is, my lord the king.”

¹⁸And he added, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done, and what wrong am I guilty of?

¹⁹Now let my lord the king listen to his servant’s words. If the LORD has incited you against me, then may he accept an offering. If, however, people have done it, may they be cursed before the LORD! They have driven me today from my share in the LORD’s inheritance and have said, ‘Go, serve other gods.’

²⁰Now do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the LORD. The king of Israel has come out to look for a flea—as one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

²¹Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. Because you considered my life precious today, I will not try to harm you again. Surely I have acted like a fool and have been terribly wrong.”

²²“Here is the king’s spear,” David answered. “Let one of your young men come over and get it.

²³The LORD rewards everyone for their righteousness and faithfulness. The LORD delivered you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed.

²⁴As surely as I valued your life today, so may the LORD value my life and deliver me from all trouble.”

²⁵Then Saul said to David, “May you be blessed, David my son; you will do great things and surely triumph.” So David went on his way, and Saul returned home.

¹Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.

²Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people.

³“They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me,” declares the LORD.

⁴“Beware of your friends; do not trust anyone in your clan. For every one of them is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer.

⁵Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning.

⁶You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the LORD.

⁷Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: “See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people?

⁸Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully. With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors, but in their hearts they set traps for them.

⁹Should I not punish them for this?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?”

¹⁰I will weep and wail for the mountains and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands. They are desolate and untraveled, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. The birds have all fled and the animals are gone.

¹¹“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals; and I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there.”

¹²Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the LORD and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?

¹³The LORD said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.

¹⁴Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.”

¹⁵Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water.

¹⁶I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them.”

¹⁷This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come; send for the most skillful of them.

¹⁸Let them come quickly and wail over us till our eyes overflow with tears and water streams from our eyelids.

¹⁹The sound of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How ruined we are! How great is our shame! We must leave our land because our houses are in ruins.’ ”

²⁰Now, you women, hear the word of the LORD; open your ears to the words of his mouth. Teach your daughters how to wail; teach one another a lament.

²¹Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has removed the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares.

²²Say, “This is what the LORD declares: “ ‘Dead bodies will lie like dung on the open field, like cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather them.’ ”

²³This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches,

²⁴but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.

²⁵“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh—

²⁶Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

¹While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples

²and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied.

⁴Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

⁵On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

⁶When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

⁷There were about twelve men in all.

⁸Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.

⁹But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

¹⁰This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

¹¹God did extraordinary miracles through Paul,

¹²so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

¹³Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.”

¹⁴Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.

¹⁵One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”

¹⁶Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

¹⁷When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.

¹⁸Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done.

¹⁹A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.

²⁰In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

²¹After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.”

²²He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.

²³About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.

²⁴A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there.

²⁵He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business.

²⁶And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all.

²⁷There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

²⁸When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

²⁹Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together.

³⁰Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him.

³¹Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.

³²The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there.

³³The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people.

³⁴But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?

³⁶Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash.

³⁷You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess.

³⁸If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges.

³⁹If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly.

⁴⁰As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.”

⁴¹After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.