Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber.

²The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

³The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

⁴When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice.

⁵They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.”

⁶Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

⁷Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

⁸All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.

⁹I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.

¹⁰A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

¹²The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them.

¹³This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep.

¹⁴“I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me,

¹⁵just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.

¹⁶But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.

¹⁷This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again.

¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

¹⁹Again the Jews were divided because of these words.

²⁰Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and he’s crazy. Why do you listen to him?”

²¹Others were saying, “These aren’t the words of someone who is demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

²²Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter.

²³Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon’s Colonnade.

²⁴The Jews surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

²⁵“I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify about me.

²⁶But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep.

²⁷My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.

²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.

²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

³⁰I and the Father are one.”

³¹Again the Jews picked up rocks to stone him.

³²Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me?”

³³“We aren’t stoning you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because you — being a man — make yourself God.”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, I said, you are gods?

³⁵If he called those whom the word of God came to ‘gods’ — and the Scripture cannot be broken — 

³⁶do you say, ‘You are blaspheming’ to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am the Son of God?

³⁷If I am not doing my Father’s works, don’t believe me.

³⁸But if I am doing them and you don’t believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”

³⁹Then they were trying again to seize him, but he eluded their grasp.

⁴⁰So he departed again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there.

⁴¹Many came to him and said, “John never did a sign, but everything John said about this man was true.”

⁴²And many believed in him there.

¹“Have your brother Aaron, with his sons, come to you from the Israelites to serve me as priest — Aaron, his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²Make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and beauty.

³You are to instruct all the skilled artisans, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, to make Aaron’s garments for consecrating him to serve me as priest.

⁴These are the garments that they must make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a specially woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons so that they may serve me as priests.

⁵They should use gold; blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; and fine linen.

⁶“They are to make the ephod of finely spun linen embroidered with gold, and with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn.

⁷It must have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges so that it can be joined together.

⁸The artistically woven waistband that is on the ephod must be of one piece, according to the same workmanship of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen.

⁹“Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of Israel’s sons:

¹⁰six of their names on the first stone and the remaining six names on the second stone, in the order of their birth.

¹¹Engrave the two stones with the names of Israel’s sons as a gem cutter engraves a seal. Mount them, surrounded with gold filigree settings.

¹²Fasten both stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the Israelites. Aaron will carry their names on his two shoulders before the LORD as a reminder.

¹³Fashion gold filigree settings

¹⁴and two chains of pure gold; you will make them of braided cord work, and attach the cord chains to the settings.

¹⁵“You are to make an embroidered breastpiece for making decisions. Make it with the same workmanship as the ephod; make it of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen.

¹⁶It must be square and folded double, nine inches long and nine inches wide.

¹⁷Place a setting of gemstones on it, four rows of stones: The first row should be a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald;

¹⁸the second row, a turquoise, a lapis lazuli, and a diamond;

¹⁹the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

²⁰and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They should be adorned with gold filigree in their settings.

²¹The twelve stones are to correspond to the names of Israel’s sons. Each stone must be engraved like a seal, with one of the names of the twelve tribes.

²²“You are to make braided chains of pure gold cord work for the breastpiece.

²³Fashion two gold rings for the breastpiece and attach them to its two corners.

²⁴Then attach the two gold cords to the two gold rings at the corners of the breastpiece.

²⁵Attach the other ends of the two cords to the two filigree settings, and in this way attach them to the ephod’s shoulder pieces in the front.

²⁶Make two other gold rings and put them at the two other corners of the breastpiece on the edge that is next to the inner border of the ephod.

²⁷Make two more gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the ephod’s two shoulder pieces on its front, close to its seam, and above the ephod’s woven waistband.

²⁸The artisans are to tie the breastpiece from its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece is above the ephod’s waistband and does not come loose from the ephod.

²⁹“Whenever he enters the sanctuary, Aaron is to carry the names of Israel’s sons over his heart on the breastpiece for decisions, as a continual reminder before the LORD.

³⁰Place the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece for decisions, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the LORD. Aaron will continually carry the means of decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD.

³¹“You are to make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue yarn.

³²There should be an opening at its top in the center of it. Around the opening, there should be a woven collar with an opening like that of body armor so that it does not tear.

³³Make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn on its lower hem and all around it. Put gold bells between them all the way around,

³⁴so that gold bells and pomegranates alternate around the lower hem of the robe.

³⁵The robe will be worn by Aaron whenever he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he enters the sanctuary before the LORD and when he exits, so that he does not die.

³⁶“You are to make a pure gold medallion and engrave it, like the engraving of a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD.

³⁷Fasten it to a cord of blue yarn so it can be placed on the turban; the medallion is to be on the front of the turban.

³⁸It will be on Aaron’s forehead so that Aaron may bear the guilt connected with the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate as all their holy gifts. It is always to be on his forehead, so that they may find acceptance with the LORD.

³⁹“You are to weave the tunic from fine linen, make a turban of fine linen, and make an embroidered sash.

⁴⁰Make tunics, sashes, and headbands for Aaron’s sons to give them glory and beauty.

⁴¹Put these on your brother Aaron and his sons; then anoint, ordain, and consecrate them, so that they may serve me as priests.

⁴²Make them linen undergarments to cover their naked bodies; they must extend from the waist to the thighs.

⁴³These must be worn by Aaron and his sons whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary area, so that they do not incur guilt and die. This is to be a permanent statute for Aaron and for his future descendants.

¹Let brotherly love continue.

²Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.

³Remember those in prison, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily.

⁴Marriage is to be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, because God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

⁵Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.

⁶Therefore, we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

⁷Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s word to you. As you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith.

⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

⁹Don’t be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by food regulations, since those who observe them have not benefited.

¹⁰We have an altar from which those who worship at the tabernacle do not have a right to eat.

¹¹For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the most holy place by the high priest as a sin offering are burned outside the camp.

¹²Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might sanctify the people by his own blood.

¹³Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing his disgrace.

¹⁴For we do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come.

¹⁵Therefore, through him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

¹⁶Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

¹⁸Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a clear conscience, wanting to conduct ourselves honorably in everything.

¹⁹And I urge you all the more to pray that I may be restored to you very soon.

²⁰Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus — the great Shepherd of the sheep  — through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

²¹equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²²Brothers and sisters, I urge you to receive this message of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.

²³Be aware that our brother Timothy has been released. If he comes soon enough, he will be with me when I see you.

²⁴Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who are from Italy send you greetings.

²⁵Grace be with you all.

¹Don’t rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers,

²older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters with all purity.

³Support widows who are genuinely in need.

⁴But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn to practice godliness toward their own family first and to repay their parents, for this pleases God.

⁵The widow who is truly in need and left all alone has put her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers;

⁶however, she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.

⁷Command this also, so that they will be above reproach.

⁸But if anyone does not provide for his own family, especially for his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

⁹No widow is to be enrolled on the list for support unless she is at least sixty years old, has been the wife of one husband,

¹⁰and is well known for good works  — that is, if she has brought up children, shown hospitality, washed the saints’ feet, helped the afflicted, and devoted herself to every good work.

¹¹But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when they are drawn away from Christ by desire, they want to marry

¹²and will therefore receive condemnation because they have renounced their original pledge.

¹³At the same time, they also learn to be idle, going from house to house; they are not only idle, but are also gossips and busybodies, saying things they shouldn’t say.

¹⁴Therefore, I want younger women to marry, have children, manage their households, and give the adversary no opportunity to accuse us.

¹⁵For some have already turned away to follow Satan.

¹⁶If any believing woman has widows in her family, let her help them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it can help widows in genuine need.

¹⁷The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.

¹⁸For the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and the worker is worthy of his wages.

¹⁹Don’t accept an accusation against an elder unless it is supported by two or three witnesses.

²⁰Publicly rebuke those who sin, so that the rest will be afraid.

²¹I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing out of favoritism.

²²Don’t be too quick to appoint anyone as an elder, and don’t share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

²³Don’t continue drinking only water, but use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.

²⁴Some people’s sins are obvious, preceding them to judgment, but the sins of others surface later.

²⁵Likewise, good works are obvious, and those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden.

¹Then Job answered:

²I have heard many things like these. You are all miserable comforters.

³Is there no end to your empty words? What provokes you that you continue testifying?

⁴If you were in my place I could also talk like you. I could string words together against you and shake my head at you.

⁵Instead, I would encourage you with my mouth, and the consolation from my lips would bring relief.

⁶If I speak, my suffering is not relieved, and if I hold back, does any of it leave me?

⁷Surely he has now exhausted me. You have devastated my entire family.

⁸You have shriveled me up  — it has become a witness; my frailty rises up against me and testifies to my face.

⁹His anger tears at me, and he harasses me. He gnashes his teeth at me. My enemy pierces me with his eyes.

¹⁰They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join themselves together against me.

¹¹God hands me over to the unjust; he throws me to the wicked.

¹²I was at ease, but he shattered me; he seized me by the scruff of the neck and smashed me to pieces. He set me up as his target;

¹³his archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and pours my bile on the ground.

¹⁴He breaks through my defenses again and again; he charges at me like a warrior.

¹⁵I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my strength in the dust.

¹⁶My face has grown red with weeping, and darkness covers my eyes,

¹⁷although my hands are free from violence and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸Earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry for help find no resting place.

¹⁹Even now my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is in the heights!

²⁰My friends scoff at me as I weep before God.

²¹I wish that someone might argue for a man with God just as anyone would for a friend.

²²For only a few years will pass before I go the way of no return.

¹A of Asaph. [1] My people, hear my instruction; listen to the words from my mouth.

²I will declare wise sayings; I will speak mysteries from the past  —

³things we have heard and known and that our fathers have passed down to us.

⁴We will not hide them from their children, but will tell a future generation the praiseworthy acts of the LORD, his might, and the wondrous works he has performed.

⁵He established a testimony in Jacob and set up a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children

⁶so that a future generation — children yet to be born — might know. They were to rise and tell their children

⁷so that they might put their confidence in God and not forget God’s works, but keep his commands.

⁸Then they would not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not loyal and whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁹The Ephraimite archers turned back on the day of battle.

¹⁰They did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law.

¹¹They forgot what he had done, the wondrous works he had shown them.

¹²He worked wonders in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, the territory of Zoan.

¹³He split the sea and brought them across; the water stood firm like a wall.

¹⁴He led them with a cloud by day and with a fiery light throughout the night.

¹⁵He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the depths.

¹⁶He brought streams out of the stone and made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷But they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

¹⁸They deliberately tested God, demanding the food they craved.

¹⁹They spoke against God, saying, “Is God able to provide food in the wilderness?

²⁰Look! He struck the rock and water gushed out; torrents overflowed. But can he also provide bread or furnish meat for his people?”

²¹Therefore, the LORD heard and became furious; then fire broke out against Jacob, and anger flared up against Israel

²²because they did not believe God or rely on his salvation.

²³He gave a command to the clouds above and opened the doors of heaven.

²⁴He rained manna for them to eat; he gave them grain from heaven.

²⁵People ate the bread of angels. He sent them an abundant supply of food.

²⁶He made the east wind blow in the skies and drove the south wind by his might.

²⁷He rained meat on them like dust, and winged birds like the sand of the seas.

²⁸He made them fall in the camp, all around the tents.

²⁹The people ate and were completely satisfied, for he gave them what they craved.

³⁰Before they had turned from what they craved, while the food was still in their mouths,

³¹God’s anger flared up against them, and he killed some of their best men. He struck down Israel’s fit young men.

³²Despite all this, they kept sinning and did not believe his wondrous works.

³³He made their days end in futility, their years in sudden disaster.

³⁴When he killed some of them, the rest began to seek him; they repented and searched for God.

³⁵They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God, their Redeemer.

³⁶But they deceived him with their mouths, they lied to him with their tongues,

³⁷their hearts were insincere toward him, and they were unfaithful to his covenant.

³⁸Yet he was compassionate; he atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often turned his anger aside and did not unleash all his wrath.

³⁹He remembered that they were only flesh, a wind that passes and does not return.

⁴⁰How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert.

⁴¹They constantly tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

⁴²They did not remember his power shown on the day he redeemed them from the foe,

⁴³when he performed his miraculous signs in Egypt and his wonders in the territory of Zoan.

⁴⁴He turned their rivers into blood, and they could not drink from their streams.

⁴⁵He sent among them swarms of flies, which fed on them, and frogs, which devastated them.

⁴⁶He gave their crops to the caterpillar and the fruit of their labor to the locust.

⁴⁷He killed their vines with hail and their sycamore fig trees with a flood.

⁴⁸He handed over their livestock to hail and their cattle to lightning bolts.

⁴⁹He sent his burning anger against them: fury, indignation, and calamity — a band of deadly messengers.

⁵⁰He cleared a path for his anger. He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague.

⁵¹He struck all the firstborn in Egypt, the first progeny of the tents of Ham.

⁵²He led his people out like sheep and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.

⁵³He led them safely, and they were not afraid; but the sea covered their enemies.

⁵⁴He brought them to his holy territory, to the mountain his right hand acquired.

⁵⁵He drove out nations before them. He apportioned their inheritance by lot and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

⁵⁶But they rebelliously tested the Most High God, for they did not keep his decrees.

⁵⁷They treacherously turned away like their fathers; they became warped like a faulty bow.

⁵⁸They enraged him with their high places and provoked his jealousy with their carved images.

⁵⁹God heard and became furious; he completely rejected Israel.

⁶⁰He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh, the tent where he resided among mankind.

⁶¹He gave up his strength to captivity and his splendor to the hand of a foe.

⁶²He surrendered his people to the sword because he was enraged with his heritage.

⁶³Fire consumed his chosen young men, and his young women had no wedding songs.

⁶⁴His priests fell by the sword, and the widows could not lament.

⁶⁵The Lord awoke as if from sleep, like a warrior from the effects of wine.

⁶⁶He beat back his foes; he gave them lasting disgrace.

⁶⁷He rejected the tent of Joseph and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.

⁶⁸He chose instead the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved.

⁶⁹He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever.

⁷⁰He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens;

⁷¹he brought him from tending ewes to be shepherd over his people Jacob — over Israel, his inheritance.

⁷²He shepherded them with a pure heart and guided them with his skillful hands.

¹The reflections of the heart belong to mankind, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

²All a person’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs motives.

³Commit your activities to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

⁴The LORD has prepared everything for his purpose — even the wicked for the day of disaster.

⁵Everyone with a proud heart is detestable to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished.

⁶Iniquity is atoned for by loyalty and faithfulness, and one turns from evil by the fear of the LORD.

⁷When a person’s ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

⁸Better a little with righteousness than great income with injustice.

⁹A person’s heart plans his way, but the LORD determines his steps.

¹⁰God’s verdict is on the lips of a king; his mouth should not give an unfair judgment.

¹¹Honest balances and scales are the LORD’s; all the weights in the bag are his concern.

¹²Wicked behavior is detestable to kings, since a throne is established through righteousness.

¹³Righteous lips are a king’s delight, and he loves one who speaks honestly.

¹⁴A king’s fury is a messenger of death, but a wise person appeases it.

¹⁵When a king’s face lights up, there is life; his favor is like a cloud with spring rain.

¹⁶Get wisdom — how much better it is than gold! And get understanding — it is preferable to silver.

¹⁷The highway of the upright avoids evil; the one who guards his way protects his life.

¹⁸Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.

¹⁹Better to be lowly of spirit with the humble than to divide plunder with the proud.

²⁰The one who understands a matter finds success, and the one who trusts in the LORD will be happy.

²¹Anyone with a wise heart is called discerning, and pleasant speech increases learning.

²²Insight is a fountain of life for its possessor, but the discipline of fools is folly.

²³The heart of a wise person instructs his mouth; it adds learning to his speech.

²⁴Pleasant words are a honeycomb: sweet to the taste and health to the body.

²⁵There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.

²⁶A worker’s appetite works for him because his hunger urges him on.

²⁷A worthless person digs up evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.

²⁸A contrary person spreads conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.

²⁹A violent person lures his neighbor, leading him on a path that is not good.

³⁰The one who narrows his eyes is planning deceptions; the one who compresses his lips brings about evil.

³¹Gray hair is a glorious crown; it is found in the ways of righteousness.

³²Patience is better than power, and controlling one’s emotions, than capturing a city.

³³The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

¹The Philistines brought all their military units together at Aphek while Israel was camped by the spring in Jezreel.

²As the Philistine leaders were passing in review with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were passing in review behind them with Achish.

³Then the Philistine commanders asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” Achish answered the Philistine commanders, “That is David, servant of King Saul of Israel. He has been with me a considerable period of time. From the day he defected until today, I’ve found no fault with him.”

⁴The Philistine commanders, however, were enraged with Achish and told him, “Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the battle. What better way could he ingratiate himself with his master than with the heads of our men?

⁵Isn’t this the David they sing about during their dances: Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands?”

⁶So Achish summoned David and told him, “As the LORD lives, you are an honorable man. I think it is good to have you fighting in this unit with me, because I have found no fault in you from the day you came to me until today. But the leaders don’t think you are reliable.

⁷Now go back quietly and you won’t be doing anything the Philistine leaders think is wrong.”

⁸“But what have I done?” David replied to Achish. “From the first day I entered your service until today, what have you found against your servant to keep me from going to fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

⁹Achish answered David, “I’m convinced that you are as reliable as an angel of God. But the Philistine commanders have said, ‘He must not go into battle with us.’

¹⁰So get up early in the morning, you and your masters’ servants who came with you. When you’ve all gotten up early, go as soon as it’s light.”

¹¹So David and his men got up early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

¹You will be righteous, LORD, even if I bring a case against you. Yet, I wish to contend with you: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the treacherous live at ease?

²You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their conscience.

³As for you, LORD, you know me; you see me. You test whether my heart is with you. Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter and set them apart for the day of killing.

⁴How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? Because of the evil of its residents, animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”

⁵If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?

⁶Even your brothers — your own father’s family — even they were treacherous to you; even they have cried out loudly after you. Do not have confidence in them, though they speak well of you.

⁷I have abandoned my house; I have deserted my inheritance. I have handed the love of my life over to her enemies.

⁸My inheritance has behaved toward me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against me. Therefore, I hate her.

⁹Is my inheritance like a hyena to me? Are birds of prey circling her? Go, gather all the wild animals; bring them to devour her.

¹⁰Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled my plot of land. They have turned my desirable plot into a desolate wasteland.

¹¹They have made it a desolation. It mourns, desolate, before me. All the land is desolate, but no one takes it to heart.

¹²Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the LORD has a sword that devours from one end of the earth to the other. No one has peace.

¹³They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves but have no profit. Be put to shame by your harvests because of the LORD’s burning anger.

¹⁴This is what the LORD says: “Concerning all my evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to my people, Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them.

¹⁵After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.

¹⁶If they will diligently learn the ways of my people  — to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ just as they taught my people to swear by Baal — they will be built up among my people.

¹⁷However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”

²When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter.

³He continued, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.

⁴I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting and putting both men and women in jail,

⁵as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to arrest those who were there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶“As I was traveling and approaching Damascus, about noon an intense light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.

⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

⁸“I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you are persecuting.’

⁹Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

¹⁰“I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ “The Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that you have been assigned to do.’

¹¹“Since I couldn’t see because of the brightness of the light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and went into Damascus.

¹²Someone named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, who had a good reputation with all the Jews living there,

¹³came and stood by me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And in that very hour I looked up and saw him.

¹⁴And he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the words from his mouth,

¹⁵since you will be a witness for him to all people of what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶And now, why are you delaying? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

¹⁷“After I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance

¹⁸and saw him telling me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹“But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in synagogue after synagogue I had those who believed in you imprisoned and beaten.

²⁰And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I stood there giving approval and guarding the clothes of those who killed him.’

²¹“He said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’  ”

²²They listened to him up to this point. Then they raised their voices, shouting, “Wipe this man off the face of the earth! He should not be allowed to live!”

²³As they were yelling and flinging aside their garments and throwing dust into the air,

²⁴the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, directing that he be interrogated with the scourge to discover the reason they were shouting against him like this.

²⁵As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?”

²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, saying, “What are you going to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”

²⁷The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he said.

²⁸The commander replied, “I bought this citizenship for a large amount of money.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul said.

²⁹So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had bound him.

³⁰The next day, since he wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and instructed the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to convene. He brought Paul down and placed him before them.