Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

²Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick.

³So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

⁴When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus.

⁶So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was.

⁷Then after that, he said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again.”

⁸“Rabbi,” the disciples told him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you’re going there again?”

⁹“Aren’t there twelve hours in a day?” Jesus answered. “If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

¹⁰But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him.”

¹¹He said this, and then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m on my way to wake him up.”

¹²Then the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.”

¹³Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep.

¹⁴So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died.

¹⁵I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.”

¹⁶Then Thomas (called “Twin” ) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.”

¹⁷When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

¹⁸Bethany was near Jerusalem (less than two miles away).

¹⁹Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.

²⁰As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house.

²¹Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.

²²Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

²³“Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her.

²⁴Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live.

²⁶Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷“Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world.”

²⁸Having said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

²⁹As soon as Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.

³⁰Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha had met him.

³¹The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw that Mary got up quickly and went out. They followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to cry there.

³²As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and told him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!”

³³When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled.

³⁴“Where have you put him?” he asked. “Lord,” they told him, “come and see.”

³⁵Jesus wept.

³⁶So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

³⁷But some of them said, “Couldn’t he who opened the blind man’s eyes also have kept this man from dying?”

³⁸Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.

³⁹“Remove the stone,” Jesus said. Martha, the dead man’s sister, told him, “Lord, there is already a stench because he has been dead four days.”

⁴⁰Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

⁴¹So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me.

⁴²I know that you always hear me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so that they may believe you sent me.”

⁴³After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

⁴⁴The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”

⁴⁵Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he did believed in him.

⁴⁶But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

⁴⁷So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and were saying, “What are we going to do since this man is doing many signs?

⁴⁸If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

⁴⁹One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all!

⁵⁰You’re not considering that it is to your advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.”

⁵¹He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,

⁵²and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children of God.

⁵³So from that day on they plotted to kill him.

⁵⁴Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews but departed from there to the countryside near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and he stayed there with the disciples.

⁵⁵Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country to purify themselves before the Passover.

⁵⁶They were looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple: “What do you think? He won’t come to the festival, will he?”

⁵⁷The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it so that they could arrest him.

¹“This is what you are to do for them to consecrate them to serve me as priests. Take a young bull and two unblemished rams,

²with unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers coated with oil. Make them out of fine wheat flour,

³put them in a basket, and bring them in the basket, along with the bull and two rams.

⁴Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water.

⁵Then take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, the robe for the ephod, the ephod itself, and the breastpiece; fasten the ephod on him with its woven waistband.

⁶Put the turban on his head and place the holy diadem on the turban.

⁷Take the anointing oil, pour it on his head, and anoint him.

⁸You must also bring his sons and clothe them with tunics.

⁹Tie the sashes on Aaron and his sons and fasten headbands on them. The priesthood is to be theirs by a permanent statute. This is the way you will ordain Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰“You are to bring the bull to the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons must lay their hands on the bull’s head.

¹¹Slaughter the bull before the LORD at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

¹²Take some of the bull’s blood and apply it to the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

¹³Take all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar.

¹⁴But burn the bull’s flesh, its hide, and its waste outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

¹⁵“Take one ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head.

¹⁶You are to slaughter the ram, take its blood, and splatter it on all sides of the altar.

¹⁷Cut the ram into pieces. Wash its entrails and legs, and place them with its head and its pieces on the altar.

¹⁸Then burn the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD. It is a pleasing aroma, a fire offering to the LORD.

¹⁹“You are to take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons must lay their hands on the ram’s head.

²⁰Slaughter the ram, take some of its blood, and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe, on his sons’ right earlobes, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Splatter the remaining blood on all sides of the altar.

²¹Take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle them on Aaron and his garments, as well as on his sons and their garments. So he and his garments will be holy, as well as his sons and their garments.

²²“Take the fat from the ram, the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the fatty lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat on them, and the right thigh (since this is a ram for ordination );

²³take one loaf of bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before the LORD;

²⁴and put all of them in the hands of Aaron and his sons and present them as a presentation offering before the LORD.

²⁵Take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offering, as a pleasing aroma before the LORD; it is a fire offering to the LORD.

²⁶“Take the breast from the ram of Aaron’s ordination and present it as a presentation offering before the LORD; it is to be your portion.

²⁷Consecrate for Aaron and his sons the breast of the presentation offering that is presented and the thigh of the contribution that is lifted up from the ram of ordination.

²⁸This will belong to Aaron and his sons as a regular portion from the Israelites, for it is a contribution. It will be the Israelites’ contribution from their fellowship sacrifices, their contribution to the LORD.

²⁹“The holy garments that belong to Aaron are to belong to his sons after him, so that they can be anointed and ordained in them.

³⁰Any priest who is one of his sons and who succeeds him and enters the tent of meeting to minister in the sanctuary must wear them for seven days.

³¹“You are to take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place.

³²Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

³³They must eat those things by which atonement was made at the time of their ordination and consecration. An unauthorized person must not eat them, for these things are holy.

³⁴If any of the meat of ordination or any of the bread is left until morning, burn what is left over. It must not be eaten because it is holy.

³⁵“This is what you are to do for Aaron and his sons based on all I have commanded you. Take seven days to ordain them.

³⁶Sacrifice a bull as a sin offering each day for atonement. Purify the altar when you make atonement for it, and anoint it in order to consecrate it.

³⁷For seven days you must make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. The altar will be especially holy. Whatever touches the altar will be consecrated.

³⁸“This is what you are to offer regularly on the altar every day: two year-old lambs.

³⁹In the morning offer one lamb, and at twilight offer the other lamb.

⁴⁰With the first lamb offer two quarts of fine flour mixed with one quart of oil from crushed olives, and a drink offering of one quart of wine.

⁴¹You are to offer the second lamb at twilight. Offer a grain offering and a drink offering with it, like the one in the morning, as a pleasing aroma, a fire offering to the LORD.

⁴²This will be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet you to speak with you.

⁴³I will also meet with the Israelites there, and that place will be consecrated by my glory.

⁴⁴I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests.

⁴⁵I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.

⁴⁶And they will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

¹Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God  —

²which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures —

³concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh

⁴and was appointed to be the powerful Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead.

⁵Through him we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the Gentiles,

⁶including you who are also called by Jesus Christ.

⁷To all who are in Rome, loved by God, called as saints. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because the news of your faith is being reported in all the world.

⁹God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in telling the good news about his Son — that I constantly mention you,

¹⁰always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God’s will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

¹¹For I want very much to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,

¹²that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

¹³Now I don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now ) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles.

¹⁴I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish.

¹⁵So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

¹⁷For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.

¹⁸For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,

¹⁹since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them.

²⁰For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

²¹For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.

²²Claiming to be wise, they became fools

²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.

²⁴Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves.

²⁵They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.

²⁶For this reason God delivered them over to disgraceful passions. Their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.

²⁷The men in the same way also left natural relations with women and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error.

²⁸And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right.

²⁹They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,

³⁰slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

³¹senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.

³²Although they know God’s just sentence — that those who practice such things deserve to die  — they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.

¹All who are under the yoke as slaves should regard their own masters as worthy of all respect, so that God’s name and his teaching will not be blasphemed.

²Let those who have believing masters not be disrespectful to them because they are brothers, but serve them even better, since those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly loved. Teach and encourage these things.

³If anyone teaches false doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness,

⁴he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in disputes and arguments over words. From these come envy, quarreling, slander, evil suspicions,

⁵and constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain.

⁶But godliness with contentment is great gain.

⁷For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out.

⁸If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.

⁹But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction.

¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

¹¹But you, man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.

¹²Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and about which you have made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

¹³In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you

¹⁴to keep this command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵God will bring this about in his own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords,

¹⁶who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal power. Amen.

¹⁷Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy.

¹⁸Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share,

¹⁹storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.

²⁰Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding irreverent and empty speech and contradictions from what is falsely called knowledge.

²¹By professing it, some people have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.

¹My spirit is broken. My days are extinguished. A graveyard awaits me.

²Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.

³Accept my pledge! Put up security for me. Who else will be my sponsor?

⁴You have closed their minds to understanding, therefore you will not honor them.

⁵If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.

⁶He has made me an object of scorn to the people; I have become a man people spit at.

⁷My eyes have grown dim from grief, and my whole body has become but a shadow.

⁸The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are roused against the godless.

⁹Yet the righteous person will hold to his way, and the one whose hands are clean will grow stronger.

¹⁰But come back and try again, all of you. I will not find a wise man among you.

¹¹My days have slipped by; my plans have been ruined, even the things dear to my heart.

¹²They turned night into day and made light seem near in the face of darkness.

¹³If I await Sheol as my home, spread out my bed in darkness,

¹⁴and say to corruption, “You are my father,” and to the maggot, “My mother” or “My sister,”

¹⁵where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?

¹⁶Will it go down to the gates of Sheol, or will we descend together to the dust?

¹A psalm of Asaph. [1] God, the nations have invaded your inheritance, desecrated your holy temple, and turned Jerusalem into ruins.

²They gave the corpses of your servants to the birds of the sky for food, the flesh of your faithful ones to the beasts of the earth.

³They poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.

⁴We have become an object of reproach to our neighbors, a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us.

⁵How long, LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy keep burning like fire?

⁶Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t acknowledge you, on the kingdoms that don’t call on your name,

⁷for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland.

⁸Do not hold past iniquities against us; let your compassion come to us quickly, for we have become very weak.

⁹God of our salvation, help us  — for the glory of your name. Rescue us and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake.

¹⁰Why should the nations ask, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, let vengeance for the shed blood of your servants be known among the nations.

¹¹Let the groans of the prisoners reach you; according to your great power, preserve those condemned to die.

¹²Pay back sevenfold to our neighbors the reproach they have hurled at you, Lord.

¹³Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture, will thank you forever; we will declare your praise to generation after generation.

¹Better a dry crust with peace than a house full of feasting with strife.

²A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son and share an inheritance among brothers.

³A crucible for silver, and a smelter for gold, and the LORD is the tester of hearts.

⁴A wicked person listens to malicious talk; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

⁵The one who mocks the poor insults his Maker, and one who rejoices over calamity will not go unpunished.

⁶Grandchildren are the crown of the elderly, and the pride of children is their fathers.

⁷Eloquent words are not appropriate on a fool’s lips; how much worse are lies for a ruler.

⁸A bribe seems like a magic stone to its owner; wherever he turns, he succeeds.

⁹Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but whoever gossips about it separates friends.

¹⁰A rebuke cuts into a perceptive person more than a hundred lashes into a fool.

¹¹An evil person desires only rebellion; a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

¹²Better for a person to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his foolishness.

¹³If anyone returns evil for good, evil will never depart from his house.

¹⁴To start a conflict is to release a flood; stop the dispute before it breaks out.

¹⁵Acquitting the guilty and condemning the just  — both are detestable to the LORD.

¹⁶Why does a fool have money in his hand with no intention of buying wisdom?

¹⁷A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.

¹⁸One without sense enters an agreement and puts up security for his friend.

¹⁹One who loves to offend loves strife; one who builds a high threshold invites injury.

²⁰One with a twisted mind will not succeed, and one with deceitful speech will fall into ruin.

²¹A man fathers a fool to his own sorrow; the father of a fool has no joy.

²²A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

²³A wicked person secretly takes a bribe to subvert the course of justice.

²⁴Wisdom is the focus of the perceptive, but a fool’s eyes roam to the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son is grief to his father and bitterness to the one who bore him.

²⁶It is certainly not good to fine an innocent person or to beat a noble for his honesty.

²⁷The one who has knowledge restrains his words, and one who keeps a cool head is a person of understanding.

²⁸Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps silent — discerning, when he seals his lips.

¹David and his men arrived in Ziklag on the third day. The Amalekites had raided the Negev and attacked and burned Ziklag.

²They also had kidnapped the women and everyone in it from youngest to oldest. They had killed no one but had carried them off as they went on their way.

³When David and his men arrived at the town, they found it burned. Their wives, sons, and daughters had been kidnapped.

⁴David and the troops with him wept loudly until they had no strength left to weep.

⁵David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had also been kidnapped.

⁶David was in an extremely difficult position because the troops talked about stoning him, for they were all very bitter over the loss of their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

⁷David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought it to him,

⁸and David asked the LORD: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” The LORD replied to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them and rescue the people.”

⁹So David and the six hundred men with him went. They came to the Wadi Besor, where some stayed behind.

¹⁰David and four hundred of the men continued the pursuit, while two hundred stopped because they were too exhausted to cross the Wadi Besor.

¹¹David’s men found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink.

¹²Then they gave him some pressed figs and two clusters of raisins. After he ate he revived, for he hadn’t eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights.

¹³Then David said to him, “Who do you belong to? Where are you from?” “I’m an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite man,” he said. “My master abandoned me when I got sick three days ago.

¹⁴We raided the south country of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the south country of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag.”

¹⁵David then asked him, “Will you lead me to these raiders?” He said, “Swear to me by God that you won’t kill me or turn me over to my master, and I will lead you to them.”

¹⁶So he led him, and there were the Amalekites, spread out over the entire area, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.

¹⁷David slaughtered them from twilight until the evening of the next day. None of them escaped, except four hundred young men who got on camels and fled.

¹⁸David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken; he also rescued his two wives.

¹⁹Nothing of theirs was missing from the youngest to the oldest, including the sons and daughters, and all the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David got everything back.

²⁰He took all the flocks and herds, which were driven ahead of the other livestock, and the people shouted, “This is David’s plunder!”

²¹When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to go with him and had been left at the Wadi Besor, they came out to meet him and to meet the troops with him. When David approached the men, he greeted them,

²²but all the corrupt and worthless men among those who had gone with David argued, “Because they didn’t go with us, we will not give any of the plunder we recovered to them except for each man’s wife and children. They may take them and go.”

²³But David said, “My brothers, you must not do this with what the LORD has given us. He protected us and handed over to us the raiders who came against us.

²⁴Who can agree to your proposal? The share of the one who goes into battle is to be the same as the share of the one who remains with the supplies. They will share equally.”

²⁵And it has been so from that day forward. David established this policy as a law and an ordinance for Israel and it still continues today.

²⁶When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”

²⁷He sent gifts to those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negev, and in Jattir;

²⁸to those in Aroer, in Siphmoth, and in Eshtemoa;

²⁹to those in Racal, in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, and in the towns of the Kenites;

³⁰to those in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, and in Athach;

³¹to those in Hebron, and to those in all the places where David and his men had roamed.

¹This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen undergarment and put it on. But do not put it in water.”

²So I bought underwear as the LORD instructed me and put it on.

³Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time:

⁴“Take the underwear that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to the Euphrates and hide it in a rocky crevice.”

⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.

⁶A long time later the LORD said to me, “Go at once to the Euphrates and get the underwear that I commanded you to hide there.”

⁷So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where I had hidden it, but it was ruined — of no use at all.

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to me:

⁹“This is what the LORD says: Just like this I will ruin the great pride of both Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁰These evil people, who refuse to listen to me, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who have followed other gods to serve and bow in worship — they will be like this underwear, of no use at all.

¹¹Just as underwear clings to one’s waist, so I fastened the whole house of Israel and of Judah to me”  — this is the LORD’s declaration — “so that they might be my people for my fame, praise, and glory, but they would not obey.

¹²“Say this to them: ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Every jar should be filled with wine.’ Then they will respond to you, ‘Don’t we know that every jar should be filled with wine?’

¹³And you will say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am about to fill all who live in this land — the kings who reign for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the residents of Jerusalem — with drunkenness.

¹⁴I will smash them against each other, fathers and sons alike — this is the LORD’s declaration. I will allow no mercy, pity, or compassion to keep me from destroying them.’”

¹⁵Listen and pay attention. Do not be proud, for the LORD has spoken.

¹⁶Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the mountains at dusk. You wait for light, but he brings darkest gloom and makes total darkness.

¹⁷But if you will not listen, my innermost being will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, for the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.

¹⁸Say to the king and the queen mother: Take a humble seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.

¹⁹The cities of the Negev are under siege; no one can help them. All of Judah has been taken into exile, taken completely into exile.

²⁰Look up and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep that were your pride?

²¹What will you say when he appoints close friends as leaders over you, ones you yourself trained? Won’t labor pains seize you, as they do a woman in labor?

²²And when you ask yourself, “Why have these things happened to me?” it is because of your great guilt that your skirts have been stripped off, your body exposed.

²³Can the Cushite change his skin, or a leopard his spots? If so, you might be able to do what is good, you who are instructed in evil.

²⁴I will scatter you like drifting chaff before the desert wind.

²⁵This is your lot, what I have decreed for you — this is the LORD’s declaration — because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies.

²⁶I will pull your skirts up over your face so that your shame might be seen.

²⁷Your adulteries and your lustful neighing, your depraved prostitution on the hills, in the fields — I have seen your abhorrent acts. Woe to you, Jerusalem! You are unclean — for how long yet?

¹Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience to this day.”

²The high priest Ananias ordered those who were standing next to him to strike him on the mouth.

³Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You are sitting there judging me according to the law, and yet in violation of the law are you ordering me to be struck?”

⁴Those standing nearby said, “Do you dare revile God’s high priest?”

⁵“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest,” replied Paul. “For it is written, You must not speak evil of a ruler of your people.”

⁶When Paul realized that one part of them were Sadducees and the other part were Pharisees, he cried out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am being judged because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead!”

⁷When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

⁸For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, and neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees affirm them all.

⁹The shouting grew loud, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party got up and argued vehemently: “We find nothing evil in this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

¹⁰When the dispute became violent, the commander feared that Paul might be torn apart by them and ordered the troops to go down, take him away from them, and bring him into the barracks.

¹¹The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Have courage! For as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary for you to testify in Rome.”

¹²When it was morning, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³There were more than forty who had formed this plot.

¹⁴These men went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under a solemn curse that we won’t eat anything until we have killed Paul.

¹⁵So now you, along with the Sanhedrin, make a request to the commander that he bring him down to you as if you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly. But, before he gets near, we are ready to kill him.”

¹⁶But the son of Paul’s sister, hearing about their ambush, came and entered the barracks and reported it to Paul.

¹⁷Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander, because he has something to report to him.”

¹⁸So he took him, brought him to the commander, and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you.”

¹⁹The commander took him by the hand, led him aside, and inquired privately, “What is it you have to report to me?”

²⁰“The Jews,” he said, “have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow, as though they are going to hold a somewhat more careful inquiry about him.

²¹Don’t let them persuade you, because there are more than forty of them lying in ambush — men who have bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Now they are ready, waiting for your consent.”

²²So the commander dismissed the young man and instructed him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have informed me about this.”

²³He summoned two of his centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready with seventy cavalry and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight.

²⁴Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.”

²⁵He wrote the following letter:

²⁶Claudius Lysias, To the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings.

²⁷When this man had been seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, I arrived with my troops and rescued him because I learned that he is a Roman citizen.

²⁸Wanting to know the charge they were accusing him of, I brought him down before their Sanhedrin.

²⁹I found out that the accusations were concerning questions of their law, and that there was no charge that merited death or imprisonment.

³⁰When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you right away. I also ordered his accusers to state their case against him in your presence.

³¹So the soldiers took Paul during the night and brought him to Antipatris as they were ordered.

³²The next day, they returned to the barracks, allowing the cavalry to go on with him.

³³When these men entered Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him.

³⁴After he read it, he asked what province he was from. When he learned he was from Cilicia,

³⁵he said, “I will give you a hearing whenever your accusers also get here.” He ordered that he be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.