Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

²At dawn he went to the temple again, and all the people were coming to him. He sat down and began to teach them.

³Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center.

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

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

⁶They asked this to trap him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse him. Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger.

⁷When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.”

⁸Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground.

⁹When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center.

¹⁰When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹“No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”

¹²Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

¹³So the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”

¹⁴“Even if I testify about myself,” Jesus replied, “My testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I’m going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going.

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

¹⁶And if I do judge, my judgment is true, because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.

¹⁷Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true.

¹⁸I am the one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”

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

²⁰He spoke these words by the treasury, while teaching in the temple. But no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

²¹Then he said to them again, “I’m going away; you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I’m going, you cannot come.”

²²So the Jews said again, “He won’t kill himself, will he, since he says, ‘Where I’m going, you cannot come’ ?”

²³“You are from below,” he told them, “I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

²⁴Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”

²⁵“Who are you?” they questioned. “Exactly what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them.

²⁶“I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the one who sent me is true, and what I have heard from him — these things I tell the world.”

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

²⁸So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own. But just as the Father taught me, I say these things.

²⁹The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.”

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

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

³²You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³“We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.

³⁵A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever.

³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.

³⁷I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you.

³⁸I speak what I have seen in the presence of the Father; so then, you do what you have heard from your father.”

³⁹“Our father is Abraham,” they replied. “If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did.

⁴⁰But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.

⁴¹You’re doing what your father does.” “We weren’t born of sexual immorality,” they said. “We have one Father — God.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me.

⁴³Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to my word.

⁴⁴You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out 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 tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

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

⁴⁶Who among you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?

⁴⁷The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”

⁴⁸The Jews responded to him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you’re a Samaritan and have a demon?”

⁴⁹“I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered. “On the contrary, I honor my Father and you dishonor me.

⁵⁰I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and judges.

⁵¹Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

⁵²Then the Jews said, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’

⁵³Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be?”

⁵⁴“If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father — about whom you say, ‘He is our God’ — he is the one who glorifies me.

⁵⁵You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word.

⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.”

⁵⁷The Jews replied, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?”

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

⁵⁹So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple.

¹“You are to construct the tabernacle itself with ten curtains. You must make them of finely spun linen, and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with a design of cherubim worked into them.

²Each curtain should be forty-two feet long and six feet wide; all the curtains are to have the same measurements.

³Five of the curtains should be joined together, and the other five curtains joined together.

⁴Make loops of blue yarn on the edge of the last curtain in the first set, and do the same on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set.

⁵Make fifty loops on the one curtain and make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain in the second set, so that the loops line up together.

⁶Also make fifty gold clasps and join the curtains together with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be a single unit.

⁷“You are to make curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tabernacle; make eleven of these curtains.

⁸Each curtain should be forty-five feet long and six feet wide. All eleven curtains are to have the same measurements.

⁹Join five of the curtains by themselves, and the other six curtains by themselves. Then fold the sixth curtain double at the front of the tent.

¹⁰Make fifty loops on the edge of one curtain, the outermost in the first set, and make fifty loops on the edge of the corresponding curtain of the second set.

¹¹Make fifty bronze clasps; put the clasps through the loops and join the tent together so that it is a single unit.

¹²As for the flap that remains from the tent curtains, the leftover half curtain is to hang over the back of the tabernacle.

¹³What remains along the length of the tent curtains — a half yard on one side and a half yard on the other side — should hang over the sides of the tabernacle on either side to cover it.

¹⁴Make a covering for the tent from ram skins dyed red and a covering of fine leather on top of that.

¹⁵“You are to make upright supports of acacia wood for the tabernacle.

¹⁶Each support is to be fifteen feet long and twenty-seven inches wide.

¹⁷Each support will have two tenons for joining. Do the same for all the supports of the tabernacle.

¹⁸Make the supports for the tabernacle as follows: twenty supports for the south side,

¹⁹and make forty silver bases under the twenty supports, two bases under the first support for its two tenons, and two bases under the next support for its two tenons;

²⁰twenty supports for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side,

²¹along with their forty silver bases, two bases under the first support and two bases under each support;

²²and make six supports for the west side of the tabernacle.

²³Make two additional supports for the two back corners of the tabernacle.

²⁴They are to be paired at the bottom, and joined together at the top in a single ring. So it should be for both of them; they will serve as the two corners.

²⁵There are to be eight supports with their silver bases: sixteen bases; two bases under the first support and two bases under each support.

²⁶“You are to make five crossbars of acacia wood for the supports on one side of the tabernacle,

²⁷five crossbars for the supports on the other side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for the supports of the back side of the tabernacle on the west.

²⁸The central crossbar is to run through the middle of the supports from one end to the other.

²⁹Then overlay the supports with gold, and make their rings of gold as the holders for the crossbars. Also overlay the crossbars with gold.

³⁰You are to set up the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you have been shown on the mountain.

³¹“You are to make a curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen with a design of cherubim worked into it.

³²Hang it on four gold-plated pillars of acacia wood that have gold hooks and that stand on four silver bases.

³³Hang the curtain under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony there behind the curtain, so the curtain will make a separation for you between the holy place and the most holy place.

³⁴Put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.

³⁵Place the table outside the curtain and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle, opposite the table; put the table on the north side.

³⁶“For the entrance to the tent you are to make a screen embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen.

³⁷Make five pillars of acacia wood for the screen and overlay them with gold; their hooks are to be gold, and you are to cast five bronze bases for them.

¹Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.

²For by it our ancestors won God’s approval.

³By faith we understand that the universe was created 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 better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith.

⁵By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God.

⁶Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

⁷By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

⁸By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going.

⁹By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise.

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

¹¹By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the one who had promised was faithful.

¹²Therefore, from one man — in fact, from one as good as dead — came offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and as innumerable as the grains of sand along the seashore.

¹³These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth.

¹⁴Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

¹⁵If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return.

¹⁶But they now desire a better place — a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

¹⁷By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and yet he was offering his one and only son,

¹⁸the one to whom it had been said, Your offspring will be called through Isaac.

¹⁹He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking.

²⁰By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

²¹By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

²²By faith Joseph, as he was nearing the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones.

²³By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict.

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

²⁵and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin.

²⁶For he considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking ahead to the reward.

²⁷By faith he left Egypt behind, not being afraid of the king’s anger, for Moses persevered as one who sees him who is invisible.

²⁸By faith he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the Israelites.

²⁹By faith they crossed the Red Sea as though they were on dry land. When the Egyptians attempted to do this, they were drowned.

³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after being marched around by the Israelites for seven days.

³¹By faith Rahab the prostitute welcomed the spies in peace and didn’t perish with those who disobeyed.

³²And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,

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

³⁴quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.

³⁵Women received their dead, raised to life again. Other people were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection.

³⁶Others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment.

³⁷They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated.

³⁸The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.

³⁹All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised,

⁴⁰since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.

¹This saying is trustworthy: “If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.”

²An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

³not an excessive drinker, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy.

⁴He must manage his own household competently and have his children under control with all dignity.

⁵(If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?)

⁶He must not be a new convert, or he might become conceited and incur the same condemnation as the devil.

⁷Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he does not fall into disgrace and the devil’s trap.

⁸Deacons, likewise, should be worthy of respect, not hypocritical, not drinking a lot of wine, not greedy for money,

⁹holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

¹⁰They must also be tested first; if they prove blameless, then they can serve as deacons.

¹¹Wives, too, must be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, faithful in everything.

¹²Deacons are to be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently.

¹³For those who have served well as deacons acquire a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴I write these things to you, hoping to come to you soon.

¹⁵But if I should be delayed, I have written so that you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

¹⁶And most certainly, the mystery of godliness is great: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

¹Anyone born of woman is short of days and full of trouble.

²He blossoms like a flower, then withers; he flees like a shadow and does not last.

³Do you really take notice of one like this? Will you bring me into judgment against you?

⁴Who can produce something pure from what is impure? No one!

⁵Since a person’s days are determined and the number of his months depends on you, and since you have set limits he cannot pass,

⁶look away from him and let him rest so that he can enjoy his day like a hired worker.

⁷There is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its shoots will not die.

⁸If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump starts to die in the soil,

⁹the scent of water makes it thrive and produce twigs like a sapling.

¹⁰But a person dies and fades away; he breathes his last — where is he?

¹¹As water disappears from a lake and a river becomes parched and dry,

¹²so people lie down never to rise again. They will not wake up until the heavens are no more; they will not stir from their sleep.

¹³If only you would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until your anger passes. If only you would appoint a time for me and then remember me.

¹⁴When a person dies, will he come back to life? If so, I would wait all the days of my struggle until my relief comes.

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

¹⁶For then you would count my steps but would not take note of my sin.

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

¹⁸But as a mountain collapses and crumbles and a rock is dislodged from its place,

¹⁹as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil from the land, so you destroy a man’s hope.

²⁰You completely overpower him, and he passes on; you change his appearance and send him away.

²¹If his sons receive honor, he does not know it; if they become insignificant, he is unaware of it.

²²He feels only the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself.

¹For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph. A song. [1] God is known in Judah; his name is great in Israel.

²His tent is in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion.

³There he shatters the bow’s flaming arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah

⁴You are resplendent and majestic coming down from the mountains of prey.

⁵The brave-hearted have been plundered; they have slipped into their final sleep. None of the warriors was able to lift a hand.

⁶At your rebuke, God of Jacob, both chariot and horse lay still.

⁷And you — you are to be feared. When you are angry, who can stand before you?

⁸From heaven you pronounced judgment. The earth feared and grew quiet

⁹when God rose up to judge and to save all the lowly of the earth. Selah

¹⁰Even human wrath will praise you; you will clothe yourself with the wrath that remains.

¹¹Make and keep your vows to the LORD your God; let all who are around him bring tribute to the awe-inspiring one.

¹²He humbles the spirit of leaders; he is feared by the kings of the earth.

¹Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.

²Whoever lives with integrity fears the LORD, but the one who is devious in his ways despises him.

³The proud speech of a fool brings a rod of discipline, but the lips of the wise protect them.

⁴Where there are no oxen, the feeding trough is empty, but an abundant harvest comes through the strength of an ox.

⁵An honest witness does not deceive, but a dishonest witness utters lies.

⁶A mocker seeks wisdom and doesn’t find it, but knowledge comes easily to the perceptive.

⁷Stay away from a foolish person; you will gain no knowledge from his speech.

⁸The sensible person’s wisdom is to consider his way, but the stupidity of fools deceives them.

⁹Fools mock at making reparation, but there is goodwill among the upright.

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

¹¹The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.

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

¹³Even in laughter a heart may be sad, and joy may end in grief.

¹⁴The disloyal one will get what his conduct deserves, and a good one, what his deeds deserve.

¹⁵The inexperienced one believes anything, but the sensible one watches his steps.

¹⁶A wise person is cautious and turns from evil, but a fool is easily angered and is careless.

¹⁷A quick-tempered person acts foolishly, and one who schemes is hated.

¹⁸The inexperienced inherit foolishness, but the sensible are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹The evil bow before those who are good, and the wicked, at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰A poor person is hated even by his neighbor, but there are many who love the rich.

²¹The one who despises his neighbor sins, but whoever shows kindness to the poor will be happy.

²²Don’t those who plan evil go astray? But those who plan good find loyalty and faithfulness.

²³There is profit in all hard work, but endless talk leads only to poverty.

²⁴The crown of the wise is their wealth, but the foolishness of fools produces foolishness.

²⁵A truthful witness rescues lives, but one who utters lies is deceitful.

²⁶In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence and his children have a refuge.

²⁷The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning people away from the snares of death.

²⁸A large population is a king’s splendor, but a shortage of people is a ruler’s devastation.

²⁹A patient person shows great understanding, but a quick-tempered one promotes foolishness.

³⁰A tranquil heart is life to the body, but jealousy is rottenness to the bones.

³¹The one who oppresses the poor person insults his Maker, but one who is kind to the needy honors him.

³²The wicked one is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous one has a refuge in his death.

³³Wisdom resides in the heart of the discerning; she is known even among fools.

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

³⁵A king favors a prudent servant, but his anger falls on a disgraceful one.

¹David said to himself, “One of these days I’ll be swept away by Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape immediately to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me everywhere in Israel, and I’ll escape from him.”

²So David set out with his six hundred men and went over to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath.

³David and his men stayed with Achish in Gath. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow.

⁴When it was reported to Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

⁵Now David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

⁶That day Achish gave Ziklag to him, and it still belongs to the kings of Judah today.

⁷The length of time that David stayed in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.

⁸David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. From ancient times they had been the inhabitants of the region through Shur as far as the land of Egypt.

⁹Whenever David attacked the land, he did not leave a single person alive, either man or woman, but he took flocks, herds, donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he came back to Achish,

¹⁰who inquired, “Where did you raid today?” David replied, “The south country of Judah,” “The south country of the Jerahmeelites,” or “The south country of the Kenites.”

¹¹David did not let a man or woman live to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Or they will inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’” This was David’s custom during the whole time he stayed in the Philistine territory.

¹²So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself repulsive to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”

¹Hear the word that the LORD has spoken to you, house of Israel.

²This is what the LORD says: Do not learn the way of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, although the nations are terrified by them,

³for the customs of the peoples are worthless. Someone cuts down a tree from the forest; it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel.

⁴He decorates it with silver and gold. It is fastened with hammer and nails, so it won’t totter.

⁵Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them for they can do no harm  — and they cannot do any good.

⁶LORD, there is no one like you. You are great; your name is great in power.

⁷Who should not fear you, King of the nations? It is what you deserve. For among all the wise people of the nations and among all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.

⁸They are both stupid and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!

⁹Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. The work of a craftsman and of a goldsmith’s hands is clothed in blue and purple, all the work of skilled artisans.

¹⁰But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at his wrath, and the nations cannot endure his rage.

¹¹You are to say this to them: “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”

¹²He made the earth by his power, established the world by his wisdom, and spread out the heavens by his understanding.

¹³When he thunders, the waters in the heavens are in turmoil, and he causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings the wind from his storehouses.

¹⁴Everyone is stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image, for his cast images are a lie; there is no breath in them.

¹⁵They are worthless, a work to be mocked. At the time of their punishment they will be destroyed.

¹⁶Jacob’s Portion is not like these because he is the one who formed all things. Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the LORD of Armies is his name.

¹⁷Gather up your belongings from the ground, you who live under siege.

¹⁸For this is what the LORD says: Look, I am flinging away the land’s residents at this time and bringing them such distress that they will feel it.

¹⁹Woe to me because of my brokenness — I am severely wounded! I exclaimed, “This is my intense suffering, but I must bear it.”

²⁰My tent is destroyed; all my tent cords are snapped. My sons have departed from me and are no more. I have no one to pitch my tent again or to hang up my curtains.

²¹For the shepherds are stupid: They don’t seek the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and their whole flock is scattered.

²²Listen! A noise — it is coming — a great commotion from the land to the north. The cities of Judah will be made desolate, a jackals’ den.

²³I know, LORD, that a person’s way of life is not his own; no one who walks determines his own steps.

²⁴Discipline me, LORD, but with justice — not in your anger, or you will reduce me to nothing.

²⁵Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t recognize you and on the families that don’t call on your name, for they have consumed Jacob; they have consumed him and finished him off and made his homeland desolate.

¹After the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, and after saying farewell, departed to go to Macedonia.

²And when he had passed through those areas and offered them many words of encouragement, he came to Greece

³and stayed three months. The Jews plotted against him when he was about to set sail for Syria, and so he decided to go back through Macedonia.

⁴He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

⁵These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas,

⁶but we sailed away from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread. In five days we reached them at Troas, where we spent seven days.

⁷On the first day of the week, we assembled to break bread. Paul spoke to them, and since he was about to depart the next day, he kept on talking until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were assembled,

⁹and a young man named Eutychus was sitting on a window sill and sank into a deep sleep as Paul kept on talking. When he was overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down, bent over him, embraced him, and said, “Don’t be alarmed, because he’s alive.”

¹¹After going upstairs, breaking the bread, and eating, Paul talked a long time until dawn. Then he left.

¹²They brought the boy home alive and were greatly comforted.

¹³We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul on board, because these were his instructions, since he himself was going by land.

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

¹⁵Sailing from there, the next day we arrived off Chios. The following day we crossed over to Samos, and the day after, we came to Miletus.

¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, because he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, for the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church.

¹⁸When they came to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,

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

²⁰You know that I did not avoid proclaiming to you anything that was profitable or from teaching you publicly and from house to house.

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

²²“And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there,

²³except that in every town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.

²⁴But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.

²⁵“And now I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will ever see me again.

²⁶Therefore I declare to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you,

²⁷because I did not avoid declaring to you the whole plan of God.

²⁸Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.

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

³⁰Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them.

³¹Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.

³²“And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

³³I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.

³⁴You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me.

³⁵In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.

³⁷There were many tears shed by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him,

³⁸grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.