Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

²Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them.

³The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them,

⁴they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.

⁵Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

⁶They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

⁷When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

⁸And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground.

⁹When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

¹⁰Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”]]

¹²Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

¹³Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.”

¹⁴Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.

¹⁵You judge by human standards; I judge no one.

¹⁶Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.

¹⁷In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid.

¹⁸I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.”

¹⁹Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

²⁰He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

²¹Again he said to them, “I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”

²²Then the Jews said, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”

²³He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.

²⁴I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.”

²⁵They said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Why do I speak to you at all?

²⁶I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.”

²⁷They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father.

²⁸So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me.

²⁹And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.”

³⁰As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

³¹Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples;

³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

³³They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

³⁵The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever.

³⁶So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

³⁷I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word.

³⁸I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.”

³⁹They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did,

⁴⁰but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.

⁴¹You are indeed doing what your father does.” They said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me.

⁴³Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word.

⁴⁴You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

⁴⁶Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?

⁴⁷Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.”

⁴⁸The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

⁴⁹Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.

⁵⁰Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge.

⁵¹Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.”

⁵²The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’

⁵³Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?”

⁵⁴Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’

⁵⁵though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word.

⁵⁶Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.”

⁵⁷Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”

⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”

⁵⁹So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

¹Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen, and blue, purple, and crimson yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them.

²The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be of the same size.

³Five curtains shall be joined to one another; and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another.

⁴You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set; and likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set.

⁵You shall make fifty loops on the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite one another.

⁶You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and join the curtains to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be one whole.

⁷You shall also make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you shall make eleven curtains.

⁸The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains shall be of the same size.

⁹You shall join five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and the sixth curtain you shall double over at the front of the tent.

¹⁰You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set.

¹¹You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and join the tent together, so that it may be one whole.

¹²The part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle.

¹³The cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the other side, of what remains in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and that side, to cover it.

¹⁴You shall make for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins and an outer covering of fine leather.

¹⁵You shall make upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle.

¹⁶Ten cubits shall be the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the width of each frame.

¹⁷There shall be two pegs in each frame to fit the frames together; you shall make these for all the frames of the tabernacle.

¹⁸You shall make the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side;

¹⁹and you shall make forty bases of silver under the twenty frames, two bases under the first frame for its two pegs, and two bases under the next frame for its two pegs;

²⁰and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side twenty frames,

²¹and their forty bases of silver, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame;

²²and for the rear of the tabernacle westward you shall make six frames.

²³You shall make two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear;

²⁴they shall be separate beneath, but joined at the top, at the first ring; it shall be the same with both of them; they shall form the two corners.

²⁵And so there shall be eight frames, with their bases of silver, sixteen bases; two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame.

²⁶You shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle,

²⁷and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the side of the tabernacle at the rear westward.

²⁸The middle bar, halfway up the frames, shall pass through from end to end.

²⁹You shall overlay the frames with gold, and shall make their rings of gold to hold the bars; and you shall overlay the bars with gold.

³⁰Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain.

³¹You shall make a curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it.

³²You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, which have hooks of gold and rest on four bases of silver.

³³You shall hang the curtain under the clasps, and bring the ark of the covenant in there, within the curtain; and the curtain shall separate for you the holy place from the most holy.

³⁴You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant in the most holy place.

³⁵You shall set the table outside the curtain, and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table; and you shall put the table on the north side.

³⁶You shall make a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen, embroidered with needlework.

³⁷You shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them.

¹Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

²Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.

³By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

⁴By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks.

⁵By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and “he was not found, because God had taken him.” For it was attested before he was taken away that “he had pleased God.”

⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

⁷By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.

⁸By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.

⁹By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

¹⁰For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

¹¹By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old — and Sarah herself was barren — because he considered him faithful who had promised.

¹²Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

¹³All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,

¹⁴for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

¹⁵If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.

¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

¹⁷By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son,

¹⁸of whom he had been told, “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.”

¹⁹He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead — and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

²⁰By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau.

²¹By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, “bowing in worship over the top of his staff.”

²²By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.

²³By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

²⁴By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter,

²⁵choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

²⁶He considered abuse suffered for the Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward.

²⁷By faith he left Egypt, unafraid of the king’s anger; for he persevered as though he saw him who is invisible.

²⁸By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

²⁹By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned.

³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days.

³¹By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.

³²And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets —

³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,

³⁴quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

³⁵Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection.

³⁶Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

³⁷They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented —

³⁸of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

³⁹Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised,

⁴⁰since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.

¹The saying is sure: whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task.

²Now a bishop must be above reproach, married only once, temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher,

³not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and not a lover of money.

⁴He must manage his own household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way —

⁵for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?

⁶He must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

⁷Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace and the snare of the devil.

⁸Deacons likewise must be serious, not double-tongued, not indulging in much wine, not greedy for money;

⁹they must hold fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

¹⁰And let them first be tested; then, if they prove themselves blameless, let them serve as deacons.

¹¹Women likewise must be serious, not slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things.

¹²Let deacons be married only once, and let them manage their children and their households well;

¹³for those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that,

¹⁵if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.

¹⁶Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.

¹“A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble,

²comes up like a flower and withers, flees like a shadow and does not last.

³Do you fix your eyes on such a one? Do you bring me into judgment with you?

⁴Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one can.

⁵Since their days are determined, and the number of their months is known to you, and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass,

⁶look away from them, and desist, that they may enjoy, like laborers, their days.

⁷“For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.

⁸Though its root grows old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground,

⁹yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant.

¹⁰But mortals die, and are laid low; humans expire, and where are they?

¹¹As waters fail from a lake, and a river wastes away and dries up,

¹²so mortals lie down and do not rise again; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake or be roused out of their sleep.

¹³O that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

¹⁴If mortals die, will they live again? All the days of my service I would wait until my release should come.

¹⁵You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands.

¹⁶For then you would not number my steps, you would not keep watch over my sin;

¹⁷my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity.

¹⁸“But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place;

¹⁹the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you destroy the hope of mortals.

²⁰You prevail forever against them, and they pass away; you change their countenance, and send them away.

²¹Their children come to honor, and they do not know it; they are brought low, and it goes unnoticed.

²²They feel only the pain of their own bodies, and mourn only for themselves.”

¹In Judah God is known, his name is great in Israel.

²His abode has been established in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion.

³There he broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah

⁴Glorious are you, more majestic than the everlasting mountains.

⁵The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil; they sank into sleep; none of the troops was able to lift a hand.

⁶At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both rider and horse lay stunned.

⁷But you indeed are awesome! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused?

⁸From the heavens you uttered judgment; the earth feared and was still

⁹when God rose up to establish judgment, to save all the oppressed of the earth. Selah

¹⁰Human wrath serves only to praise you, when you bind the last bit of your wrath around you.

¹¹Make vows to the LORD your God, and perform them; let all who are around him bring gifts to the one who is awesome,

¹²who cuts off the spirit of princes, who inspires fear in the kings of the earth.

¹The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands.

²Those who walk uprightly fear the LORD, but one who is devious in conduct despises him.

³The talk of fools is a rod for their backs, but the lips of the wise preserve them.

⁴Where there are no oxen, there is no grain; abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.

⁵A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies.

⁶A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for one who understands.

⁷Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not find words of knowledge.

⁸It is the wisdom of the clever to understand where they go, but the folly of fools misleads.

⁹Fools mock at the guilt offering, but the upright enjoy God’s favor.

¹⁰The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.

¹¹The house of the wicked is destroyed, but the tent of the upright flourishes.

¹²There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.

¹³Even in laughter the heart is sad, and the end of joy is grief.

¹⁴The perverse get what their ways deserve, and the good, what their deeds deserve.

¹⁵The simple believe everything, but the clever consider their steps.

¹⁶The wise are cautious and turn away from evil, but the fool throws off restraint and is careless.

¹⁷One who is quick-tempered acts foolishly, and the schemer is hated.

¹⁸The simple are adorned with folly, but the clever are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹The evil bow down before the good, the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰The poor are disliked even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.

²¹Those who despise their neighbors are sinners, but happy are those who are kind to the poor.

²²Do they not err that plan evil? Those who plan good find loyalty and faithfulness.

²³In all toil there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

²⁴The crown of the wise is their wisdom, but folly is the garland of fools.

²⁵A truthful witness saves lives, but one who utters lies is a betrayer.

²⁶In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and one’s children will have a refuge.

²⁷The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, so that one may avoid the snares of death.

²⁸The glory of a king is a multitude of people; without people a prince is ruined.

²⁹Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but one who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

³⁰A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh, but passion makes the bones rot.

³¹Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor him.

³²The wicked are overthrown by their evildoing, but the righteous find a refuge in their integrity.

³³Wisdom is at home in the mind of one who has understanding, but it is not known in the heart of fools.

³⁴Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

³⁵A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor, but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.

¹David said in his heart, “I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines; then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.”

²So David set out and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath.

³David stayed with Achish at Gath, he and his troops, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow.

⁴When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought for him.

⁵Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your sight, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, so that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

⁶So that day Achish gave him Ziklag; therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.

⁷The length of time that David lived in the country of the Philistines was one year and four months.

⁸Now David and his men went up and made raids on the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites; for these were the landed settlements from Telam on the way to Shur and on to the land of Egypt.

⁹David struck the land, leaving neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing, and came back to Achish.

¹⁰When Achish asked, “Against whom have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.”

¹¹David left neither man nor woman alive to be brought back to Gath, thinking, “They might tell about us, and say, ‘David has done so and so.’” Such was his practice all the time he lived in the country of the Philistines.

¹²Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself utterly abhorrent to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.”

¹Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.

²Thus says the LORD: Do not learn the way of the nations, or be dismayed at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are dismayed at them.

³For the customs of the peoples are false: a tree from the forest is cut down, and worked with an ax by the hands of an artisan;

⁴people deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.

⁵Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good.

⁶There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might.

⁷Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For that is your due; among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is no one like you.

⁸They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction given by idols is no better than wood!

⁹Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the artisan and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is blue and purple; they are all the product of skilled workers.

¹⁰But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

¹¹Thus shall you say to them: The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.

¹²It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

¹³When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain, and he brings out the wind from his storehouses.

¹⁴Everyone is stupid and without knowledge; goldsmiths are all put to shame by their idols; for their images are false, and there is no breath in them.

¹⁵They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

¹⁶Not like these is the LORD, the portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the LORD of hosts is his name.

¹⁷Gather up your bundle from the ground, O you who live under siege!

¹⁸For thus says the LORD: I am going to sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress on them, so that they shall feel it.

¹⁹Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is severe. But I said, “Truly this is my punishment, and I must bear it.”

²⁰My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken; my children have gone from me, and they are no more; there is no one to spread my tent again, and to set up my curtains.

²¹For the shepherds are stupid, and do not inquire of the LORD; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.

²²Hear, a noise! Listen, it is coming — a great commotion from the land of the north to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals.

²³I know, O LORD, that the way of human beings is not in their control, that mortals as they walk cannot direct their steps.

²⁴Correct me, O LORD, but in just measure; not in your anger, or you will bring me to nothing.

²⁵Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you, and on the peoples that do not call on your name; for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.

¹After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples; and after encouraging them and saying farewell, he left for Macedonia.

²When he had gone through those regions and had given the believers much encouragement, he came to Greece,

³where he stayed for three months. He was about to set sail for Syria when a plot was made against him by the Jews, and so he decided to return through Macedonia.

⁴He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Beroea, by Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, by Gaius from Derbe, and by Timothy, as well as by Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.

⁵They went ahead and were waiting for us in Troas;

⁶but we sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we joined them in Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

⁷On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were meeting.

⁹A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down, and bending over him took him in his arms, and said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.”

¹¹Then Paul went upstairs, and after he had broken bread and eaten, he continued to converse with them until dawn; then he left.

¹²Meanwhile they had taken the boy away alive and were not a little comforted.

¹³We went ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there; for he had made this arrangement, intending to go by land himself.

¹⁴When he met us in Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene.

¹⁵We sailed from there, and on the following day we arrived opposite Chios. The next day we touched at Samos, and the day after that we came to Miletus.

¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia; he was eager to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷From Miletus he sent a message to Ephesus, asking the elders of the church to meet him.

¹⁸When they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the entire time from the first day that I set foot in Asia,

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, enduring the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews.

²⁰I did not shrink from doing anything helpful, proclaiming the message to you and teaching you publicly and from house to house,

²¹as I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus.

²²And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

²³except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me.

²⁴But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.

²⁵“And now I know that none of you, among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom, will ever see my face again.

²⁶Therefore I declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you,

²⁷for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.

²⁸Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son.

²⁹I know that after I have gone, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

³⁰Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them.

³¹Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to warn everyone with tears.

³²And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified.

³³I coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing.

³⁴You know for yourselves that I worked with my own hands to support myself and my companions.

³⁵In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶When he had finished speaking, he knelt down with them all and prayed.

³⁷There was much weeping among them all; they embraced Paul and kissed him,

³⁸grieving especially because of what he had said, that they would not see him again. Then they brought him to the ship.