Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

²It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.

³So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

⁴But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

⁶So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

⁷Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

⁸The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?”

⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

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

¹¹After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”

¹²The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”

¹³Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.

¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,

¹⁵and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

¹⁶So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

¹⁷Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

¹⁸Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off,

¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.

²⁰So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.

²¹Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

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

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

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

²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

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

²⁷She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

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

²⁹And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.

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

³¹When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

³²Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

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

³⁴And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”

³⁵Jesus wept.

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

³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

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

³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”

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

⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

⁴³When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”

⁴⁴The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

⁴⁵Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen 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 gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs 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.”

⁴⁹But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all.

⁵⁰Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”

⁵¹He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,

⁵²and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

⁵³So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

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

⁵⁵Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.

⁵⁶They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?”

⁵⁷Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

¹“Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish,

²and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour.

³You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams.

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

⁵Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod.

⁶And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban.

⁷You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.

⁸Then you shall bring his sons and put coats on them,

⁹and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. And the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰“Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull.

¹¹Then you shall kill the bull before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting,

¹²and shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar.

¹³And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.

¹⁴But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

¹⁵“Then you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram,

¹⁶and you shall kill the ram and shall take its blood and throw it against the sides of the altar.

¹⁷Then you shall cut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head,

¹⁸and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD. It is a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

¹⁹“You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram,

²⁰and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar.

²¹Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons' garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons' garments with him.

²²“You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination),

²³and one loaf of bread and one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the LORD.

²⁴You shall put all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD.

²⁵Then you shall take 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 food offering to the LORD.

²⁶“You shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron's ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD, and it shall be your portion.

²⁷And you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the priests' portion that is contributed from the ram of ordination, from what was Aaron's and his sons'.

²⁸It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a perpetual due from the people of Israel, for it is a contribution. It shall be a contribution from the people of Israel from their peace offerings, their contribution to the LORD.

²⁹“The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them.

³⁰The son who succeeds him as priest, who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, shall wear them seven days.

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

³²And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket in the entrance of the tent of meeting.

³³They shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration, but an outsider shall not eat of them, because they are holy.

³⁴And if any of the flesh for the ordination or of the bread remain until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

³⁵“Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through seven days shall you ordain them,

³⁶and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it to consecrate it.

³⁷Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.

³⁸“Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly.

³⁹One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight.

⁴⁰And with the first lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering.

⁴¹The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

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

⁴³There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory.

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

⁴⁵I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God.

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

¹Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

²which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,

³concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh

⁴and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

⁵through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,

⁶including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

⁷To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be 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 your faith is proclaimed in all the world.

⁹For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you

¹⁰always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

¹¹For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you —

¹²that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.

¹³I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.

¹⁴I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to 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, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

¹⁷For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

¹⁹For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

²⁰For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

²¹For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

²²Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

²⁴Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,

²⁵because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

²⁶For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;

²⁷and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

²⁸And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

²⁹They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,

³⁰slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

³¹foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

³²Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

¹Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.

²Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. False Teachers and True Contentment Teach and urge these things.

³If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,

⁴he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions,

⁵and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

⁶But godliness with contentment is great gain,

⁷for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.

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

⁹But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

¹¹But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

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

¹³I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,

¹⁴to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁵which he will display at the proper time — he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

¹⁶who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

¹⁷As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

¹⁸They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

¹⁹thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

²⁰O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,”

²¹for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.

¹“My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me.

²Surely there are mockers about me, and my eye dwells on their provocation.

³“Lay down a pledge for me with you; who is there who will put up security for me?

⁴Since you have closed their hearts to understanding, therefore you will not let them triumph.

⁵He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property — the eyes of his children will fail.

⁶“He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men spit.

⁷My eye has grown dim from vexation, and all my members are like a shadow.

⁸The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.

⁹Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.

¹⁰But you, come on again, all of you, and I shall not find a wise man among you.

¹¹My days are past; my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart.

¹²They make night into day: ‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’

¹³If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness,

¹⁴if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

¹⁵where then is my hope? Who will see my hope?

¹⁶Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?”

¹O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

²They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.

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

⁴We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us.

⁵How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?

⁶Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name!

⁷For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation.

⁸Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.

⁹Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name's sake!

¹⁰Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes!

¹¹Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!

¹²Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!

¹³But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

¹Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.

²A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.

³The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.

⁴An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

⁵Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

⁶Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.

⁷Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; still less is false speech to a prince.

⁸A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it; wherever he turns he prospers.

⁹Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.

¹⁰A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.

¹¹An evil man seeks only rebellion, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

¹²Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly.

¹³If anyone returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house.

¹⁴The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.

¹⁵He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.

¹⁶Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense?

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

¹⁸One who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.

¹⁹Whoever loves transgression loves strife; he who makes his door high seeks destruction.

²⁰A man of crooked heart does not discover good, and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.

²¹He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow, and the father of a fool has no joy.

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

²³The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice.

²⁴The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.

²⁶To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good, nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

²⁷Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

²⁸Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

¹Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire

²and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way.

³And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.

⁴Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.

⁵David's two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

⁶And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

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

⁸And David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”

⁹So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.

¹⁰But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.

¹¹They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink,

¹²and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.

¹³And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago.

¹⁴We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.”

¹⁵And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.”

¹⁶And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

¹⁷And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled.

¹⁸David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives.

¹⁹Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all.

²⁰David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David's spoil.”

²¹Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them.

²²Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.”

²³But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us.

²⁴Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.”

²⁵And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.

²⁶When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD.”

²⁷It was for those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in Jattir,

²⁸in Aroer, in Siphmoth, in Eshtemoa,

²⁹in Racal, in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, in the cities of the Kenites,

³⁰in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach,

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

¹Thus says the LORD to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.”

²So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the LORD, and put it around my waist.

³And the word of the LORD came to me a second time,

⁴“Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.”

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

⁶And after many days the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.”

⁷Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing.

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to me:

⁹“Thus says the LORD: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

¹⁰This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing.

¹¹For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the LORD, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

¹²“You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine?’

¹³Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁴And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the LORD. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”

¹⁵Hear and give ear; be not proud, for the LORD has spoken.

¹⁶Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness.

¹⁷But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock has been taken captive.

¹⁸Say to the king and the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head.”

¹⁹The cities of the Negeb are shut up, with none to open them; all Judah is taken into exile, wholly taken into exile.

²⁰“Lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock?

²¹What will you say when they set as head over you those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you? Will not pangs take hold of you like those of a woman in labor?

²²And if you say in your heart, ‘Why have these things come upon me?’ it is for the greatness of your iniquity that your skirts are lifted up and you suffer violence.

²³Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.

²⁴I will scatter you like chaff driven by the wind from the desert.

²⁵This is your lot, the portion I have measured out to you, declares the LORD, because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies.

²⁶I myself will lift up your skirts over your face, and your shame will be seen.

²⁷I have seen your abominations, your adulteries and neighings, your lewd whorings, on the hills in the field. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will it be before you are made clean?”

¹And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.”

²And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.

³Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?”

⁴Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God's high priest?”

⁵And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

⁶Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”

⁷And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

⁸For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

⁹Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?”

¹⁰And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks.

¹¹The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”

¹²When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

¹³There were more than forty who made this conspiracy.

¹⁴They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul.

¹⁵Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

¹⁶Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.

¹⁷Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.”

¹⁸So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.”

¹⁹The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?”

²⁰And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him.

²¹But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.”

²²So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”

²³Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.

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

²⁵And he wrote a letter to this effect:

²⁶“Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings.

²⁷This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen.

²⁸And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council.

²⁹I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment.

³⁰And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”

³¹So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.

³²And on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him.

³³When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him.

³⁴On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia,

³⁵he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's praetorium.