Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.

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

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

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

⁵They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

⁶Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁷So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

⁸All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.

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

¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

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

¹²The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away — and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

¹³The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.

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

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

¹⁶I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.

¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power 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 is out of his mind. Why listen to him?”

²¹Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

²²At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter,

²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.

²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

²⁵Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me;

²⁶but you do not believe, because you do not belong to 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.

²⁹What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.

³⁰The Father and I are one.”

³¹The Jews took up stones again to stone him.

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

³³The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.”

³⁴Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?

³⁵If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ — and the scripture cannot be annulled —

³⁶can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?

³⁷If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me.

³⁸But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

³⁹Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands.

⁴⁰He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there.

⁴¹Many came to him, and they were saying, “John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”

⁴²And many believed in him there.

¹Then bring near to you your brother Aaron, and his sons with him, from among the Israelites, to serve me as priests — Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²You shall make sacred vestments for the glorious adornment of your brother Aaron.

³And you shall speak to all who have ability, whom I have endowed with skill, that they make Aaron’s vestments to consecrate him for my priesthood.

⁴These are the vestments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a checkered tunic, a turban, and a sash. When they make these sacred vestments for your brother Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests,

⁵they shall use gold, blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine linen.

⁶They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen, skillfully worked.

⁷It shall have two shoulder-pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together.

⁸The decorated band on it shall be of the same workmanship and materials, of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen.

⁹You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel,

¹⁰six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth.

¹¹As a gem-cutter engraves signets, so you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel; you shall mount them in settings of gold filigree.

¹²You shall set the two stones on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders for remembrance.

¹³You shall make settings of gold filigree,

¹⁴and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; and you shall attach the corded chains to the settings.

¹⁵You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work; you shall make it in the style of the ephod; of gold, of blue and purple and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen you shall make it.

¹⁶It shall be square and doubled, a span in length and a span in width.

¹⁷You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of carnelian, chrysolite, and emerald shall be the first row;

¹⁸and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and a moonstone;

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

²⁰and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper; they shall be set in gold filigree.

²¹There shall be twelve stones with names corresponding to the names of the sons of Israel; they shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes.

²²You shall make for the breastpiece chains of pure gold, twisted like cords;

²³and you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece.

²⁴You shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece;

²⁵the two ends of the two cords you shall attach to the two settings, and so attach it in front to the shoulder-pieces of the ephod.

²⁶You shall make two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod.

²⁷You shall make two rings of gold, and attach them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod, at its joining above the decorated band of the ephod.

²⁸The breastpiece shall be bound by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it may lie on the decorated band of the ephod, and so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod.

²⁹So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart when he goes into the holy place, for a continual remembrance before the LORD.

³⁰In the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the LORD; thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the Israelites on his heart before the LORD continually.

³¹You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.

³²It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a coat of mail, so that it may not be torn.

³³On its lower hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, all around the lower hem, with bells of gold between them all around —

³⁴a golden bell and a pomegranate alternating all around the lower hem of the robe.

³⁵Aaron shall wear it when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the LORD, and when he comes out, so that he may not die.

³⁶You shall make a rosette of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, “Holy to the LORD.”

³⁷You shall fasten it on the turban with a blue cord; it shall be on the front of the turban.

³⁸It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall take on himself any guilt incurred in the holy offering that the Israelites consecrate as their sacred donations; it shall always be on his forehead, in order that they may find favor before the LORD.

³⁹You shall make the checkered tunic of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash embroidered with needlework.

⁴⁰For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics and sashes and headdresses; you shall make them for their glorious adornment.

⁴¹You shall put them on your brother Aaron, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, so that they may serve me as priests.

⁴²You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh; they shall reach from the hips to the thighs;

⁴³Aaron and his sons shall wear them when they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place; or they will bring guilt on themselves and die. This shall be a perpetual ordinance for him and for his descendants after him.

¹Let mutual love continue.

²Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

³Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.

⁴Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.

⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

⁶So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?”

⁷Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

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

⁹Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings; for it is well for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by regulations about food, which have not benefited those who observe them.

¹⁰We have an altar from which those who officiate in the tent have no right to eat.

¹¹For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp.

¹²Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood.

¹³Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured.

¹⁴For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

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

¹⁶Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls and will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with sighing — for that would be harmful to you.

¹⁸Pray for us; we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.

¹⁹I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you very soon.

²⁰Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,

²¹make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

²²I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.

²³I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been set free; and if he comes in time, he will be with me when I see you.

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

²⁵Grace be with all of you.

¹Do not speak harshly to an older man, but speak to him as to a father, to younger men as brothers,

²to older women as mothers, to younger women as sisters — with absolute purity.

³Honor widows who are really widows.

⁴If a widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn their religious duty to their own family and make some repayment to their parents; for this is pleasing in God’s sight.

⁵The real widow, left alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day;

⁶but the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.

⁷Give these commands as well, so that they may be above reproach.

⁸And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

⁹Let a widow be put on the list if she is not less than sixty years old and has been married only once;

¹⁰she must be well attested for her good works, as one who has brought up children, shown hospitality, washed the saints’ feet, helped the afflicted, and devoted herself to doing good in every way.

¹¹But refuse to put younger widows on the list; for when their sensual desires alienate them from Christ, they want to marry,

¹²and so they incur condemnation for having violated their first pledge.

¹³Besides that, they learn to be idle, gadding about from house to house; and they are not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not say.

¹⁴So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, and manage their households, so as to give the adversary no occasion to revile us.

¹⁵For some have already turned away to follow Satan.

¹⁶If any believing woman has relatives who are really widows, let her assist them; let the church not be burdened, so that it can assist those who are real widows.

¹⁷Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching;

¹⁸for the scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves to be paid.”

¹⁹Never accept any accusation against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

²⁰As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest also may stand in fear.

²¹In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I warn you to keep these instructions without prejudice, doing nothing on the basis of partiality.

²²Do not ordain anyone hastily, and do not participate in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.

²³No longer drink only water, but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

²⁴The sins of some people are conspicuous and precede them to judgment, while the sins of others follow them there.

²⁵So also good works are conspicuous; and even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden.

¹Then Job answered:

²“I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all.

³Have windy words no limit? Or what provokes you that you keep on talking?

⁴I also could talk as you do, if you were in my place; I could join words together against you, and shake my head at you.

⁵I could encourage you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.

⁶“If I speak, my pain is not assuaged, and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me?

⁷Surely now God has worn me out; he has made desolate all my company.

⁸And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me; my leanness has risen up against me, and it testifies to my face.

⁹He has torn me in his wrath, and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.

¹⁰They have gaped at me with their mouths; they have struck me insolently on the cheek; they mass themselves together against me.

¹¹God gives me up to the ungodly, and casts me into the hands of the wicked.

¹²I was at ease, and he broke me in two; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he set me up as his target;

¹³his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys, and shows no mercy; he pours out my gall on the ground.

¹⁴He bursts upon me again and again; he rushes at me like a warrior.

¹⁵I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and have laid my strength in the dust.

¹⁶My face is red with weeping, and deep darkness is on my eyelids,

¹⁷though there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸“O earth, do not cover my blood; let my outcry find no resting place.

¹⁹Even now, in fact, my witness is in heaven, and he that vouches for me is on high.

²⁰My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God,

²¹that he would maintain the right of a mortal with God, as one does for a neighbor.

²²For when a few years have come, I shall go the way from which I shall not return.

¹Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

²I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old,

³things that we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us.

⁴We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.

⁵He established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children;

⁶that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children,

⁷so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;

⁸and that they should not be like their ancestors, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁹The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle.

¹⁰They did not keep God’s covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.

¹¹They forgot what he had done, and the miracles that he had shown them.

¹²In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.

¹³He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.

¹⁴In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all night long with a fiery light.

¹⁵He split rocks open in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.

¹⁶He made streams come out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

¹⁷Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert.

¹⁸They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.

¹⁹They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?

²⁰Even though he struck the rock so that water gushed out and torrents overflowed, can he also give bread, or provide meat for his people?”

²¹Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of rage; a fire was kindled against Jacob, his anger mounted against Israel,

²²because they had no faith in God, and did not trust his saving power.

²³Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven;

²⁴he rained down on them manna to eat, and gave them the grain of heaven.

²⁵Mortals ate of the bread of angels; he sent them food in abundance.

²⁶He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind;

²⁷he rained flesh upon them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas;

²⁸he let them fall within their camp, all around their dwellings.

²⁹And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved.

³⁰But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths,

³¹the anger of God rose against them and he killed the strongest of them, and laid low the flower of Israel.

³²In spite of all this they still sinned; they did not believe in his wonders.

³³So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror.

³⁴When he killed them, they sought for him; they repented and sought God earnestly.

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

³⁶But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues.

³⁷Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not true to his covenant.

³⁸Yet he, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; often he restrained his anger, and did not stir up all his wrath.

³⁹He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and does not come again.

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

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

⁴²They did not keep in mind his power, or the day when he redeemed them from the foe;

⁴³when he displayed his signs in Egypt, and his miracles in the fields of Zoan.

⁴⁴He turned their rivers to blood, so that they could not drink of their streams.

⁴⁵He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them.

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

⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamores with frost.

⁴⁸He gave over their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to thunderbolts.

⁴⁹He let loose on them his fierce anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels.

⁵⁰He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague.

⁵¹He struck all the firstborn in Egypt, the first issue of their strength in the tents of Ham.

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

⁵³He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid; but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

⁵⁴And he brought them to his holy hill, to the mountain that his right hand had won.

⁵⁵He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

⁵⁶Yet they tested the Most High God, and rebelled against him. They did not observe his decrees,

⁵⁷but turned away and were faithless like their ancestors; they twisted like a treacherous bow.

⁵⁸For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols.

⁵⁹When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel.

⁶⁰He abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mortals,

⁶¹and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe.

⁶²He gave his people to the sword, and vented his wrath on his heritage.

⁶³Fire devoured their young men, and their girls had no marriage song.

⁶⁴Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.

⁶⁵Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a warrior shouting because of wine.

⁶⁶He put his adversaries to rout; he put them to everlasting disgrace.

⁶⁷He rejected the tent of Joseph, he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;

⁶⁸but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves.

⁶⁹He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever.

⁷⁰He chose his servant David, and took him from the sheepfolds;

⁷¹from tending the nursing ewes he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel, his inheritance.

⁷²With upright heart he tended them, and guided them with skillful hand.

¹The plans of the mind belong to mortals, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

²All one’s ways may be pure in one’s own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.

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

⁴The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

⁵All those who are arrogant are an abomination to the LORD; be assured, they will not go unpunished.

⁶By loyalty and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one avoids evil.

⁷When the ways of people please the LORD, he causes even their enemies to be at peace with them.

⁸Better is a little with righteousness than large income with injustice.

⁹The human mind plans the way, but the LORD directs the steps.

¹⁰Inspired decisions are on the lips of a king; his mouth does not sin in judgment.

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

¹²It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness.

¹³Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves those who speak what is right.

¹⁴A king’s wrath is a messenger of death, and whoever is wise will appease it.

¹⁵In the light of a king’s face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.

¹⁶How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

¹⁷The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their way preserve their lives.

¹⁸Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

¹⁹It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.

²⁰Those who are attentive to a matter will prosper, and happy are those who trust in the LORD.

²¹The wise of heart is called perceptive, and pleasant speech increases persuasiveness.

²²Wisdom is a fountain of life to one who has it, but folly is the punishment of fools.

²³The mind of the wise makes their speech judicious, and adds persuasiveness to their lips.

²⁴Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

²⁵Sometimes there is a way that seems to be right, but in the end it is the way to death.

²⁶The appetite of workers works for them; their hunger urges them on.

²⁷Scoundrels concoct evil, and their speech is like a scorching fire.

²⁸A perverse person spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.

²⁹The violent entice their neighbors, and lead them in a way that is not good.

³⁰One who winks the eyes plans perverse things; one who compresses the lips brings evil to pass.

³¹Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.

³²One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and one whose temper is controlled than one who captures a city.

³³The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is the LORD’s alone.

¹Now the Philistines gathered all their forces at Aphek, while the Israelites were encamped by the fountain that is in Jezreel.

²As the lords of the Philistines were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were passing on in the rear with Achish,

³the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, who has been with me now for days and years? Since he deserted to me I have found no fault in him to this day.”

⁴But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him; and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, so that he may return to the place that you have assigned to him; he shall not go down with us to battle, or else he may become an adversary to us in the battle. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here?

⁵Is this not David, of whom they sing to one another in dances, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”

⁶Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the LORD lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that you should march out and in with me in the campaign; for I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me until today. Nevertheless the lords do not approve of you.

⁷So go back now; and go peaceably; do nothing to displease the lords of the Philistines.”

⁸David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I should not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

⁹Achish replied to David, “I know that you are as blameless in my sight as an angel of God; nevertheless, the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’

¹⁰Now then rise early in the morning, you and the servants of your lord who came with you, and go to the place that I appointed for you. As for the evil report, do not take it to heart, for you have done well before me. Start early in the morning, and leave as soon as you have light.”

¹¹So David set out with his men early in the morning, to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

¹You will be in the right, O LORD, when I lay charges against you; but let me put my case to you. Why does the way of the guilty prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?

²You plant them, and they take root; they grow and bring forth fruit; you are near in their mouths yet far from their hearts.

³But you, O LORD, know me; You see me and test me — my heart is with you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter.

⁴How long will the land mourn, and the grass of every field wither? For the wickedness of those who live in it the animals and the birds are swept away, and because people said, “He is blind to our ways.”

⁵If you have raced with foot-runners and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you fall down, how will you fare in the thickets of the Jordan?

⁶For even your kinsfolk and your own family, even they have dealt treacherously with you; they are in full cry after you; do not believe them, though they speak friendly words to you.

⁷I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of my heart into the hands of her enemies.

⁸My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest; she has lifted up her voice against me — therefore I hate her.

⁹Is the hyena greedy for my heritage at my command? Are the birds of prey all around her? Go, assemble all the wild animals; bring them to devour her.

¹⁰Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trampled down my portion, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

¹¹They have made it a desolation; desolate, it mourns to me. The whole land is made desolate, but no one lays it to heart.

¹²Upon all the bare heights in the desert spoilers have come; for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the land to the other; no one shall be safe.

¹³They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns, they have tired themselves out but profit nothing. They shall be ashamed of their harvests because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

¹⁴Thus says the LORD concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that I have given my people Israel to inherit: I am about to pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them.

¹⁵And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again to their heritage and to their land, every one of them.

¹⁶And then, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, “As the LORD lives,” as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people.

¹⁷But if any nation will not listen, then I will completely uproot it and destroy it, says the LORD.

¹“Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense that I now make before you.”

²When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then he said:

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

⁴I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison,

⁵as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I went there in order to bind those who were there and to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.

⁶“While I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me.

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

⁸I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Then he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.’

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

¹⁰I asked, ‘What am I to do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told everything that has been assigned to you to do.’

¹¹Since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, those who were with me took my hand and led me to Damascus.

¹²“A certain Ananias, who was a devout man according to the law and well spoken of by all the Jews living there,

¹³came to me; and standing beside me, he said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ In that very hour I regained my sight and saw him.

¹⁴Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear his own voice;

¹⁵for you will be his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶And now why do you delay? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.’

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

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

¹⁹And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.

²⁰And while the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing by, approving and keeping the coats of those who killed him.’

²¹Then he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

²²Up to this point they listened to him, but then they shouted, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.”

²³And while they were shouting, throwing off their cloaks, and tossing dust into the air,

²⁴the tribune directed that he was to be brought into the barracks, and ordered him to be examined by flogging, to find out the reason for this outcry against him.

²⁵But when they had tied him up with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who is uncondemned?”

²⁶When the centurion heard that, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen.”

²⁷The tribune came and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.”

²⁸The tribune answered, “It cost me a large sum of money to get my citizenship.” Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”

²⁹Immediately those who were about to examine him drew back from him; and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.

³⁰Since he wanted to find out what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and the entire council to meet. He brought Paul down and had him stand before them.