Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

²And it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.

³So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

⁴But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is notmeant for death, but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”

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

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

⁷Then after this He *said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again.”

⁸The disciples *said to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and yet You are going there again?”

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

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

¹¹This He said, and after this He *said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going so that I may awaken him from sleep.”

¹²The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will come out of it.”

¹³Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about actual sleep.

¹⁴So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus died,

¹⁵and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let’s go to him.”

¹⁶Therefore Thomas, who was called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s also go, so that we may die with Him!”

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

¹⁸Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away;

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

²⁰So then Martha, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed in the house.

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

²²Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

²³Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will rise from the dead.”

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

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

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

²⁷She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have come to believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, and He who comes into the world.”

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

²⁹And when she heard this, she *got up quickly and came to Him.

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

³¹Then the Jews who were with her in the house and were consoling her, when they saw that Mary had gotten up quickly and left, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

³²So when Mary came to the place where Jesus was, she saw Him and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³Therefore when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,

³⁴and He said, “Where have you laid him?” They *said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

³⁵Jesus wept.

³⁶So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!”

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

³⁸So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.

³⁹Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

⁴⁰Jesus *said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

⁴¹So they removed the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

⁴²But I knew that You always hear Me; nevertheless, because of thepeople standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”

⁴³And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

⁴⁴Out came the man who had died, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

⁴⁵Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him.

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

⁴⁷Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council meeting, and they were saying, “What are we doing in regard to the fact that this man is performing many signs?

⁴⁸If we let Him go on like this, all the people will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take over 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 are you taking into account that it is in your best interest that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish instead.”

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

⁵²and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

⁵³So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.

⁵⁴Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.

⁵⁵Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country prior to the Passover, in order to purify themselves.

⁵⁶So they were looking for Jesus, and saying to one another as they stood in the temple area, “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 was to report it, so that they might arrest Him.

¹“Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them to serve as priests to Me: take one bull and two rams without blemish,

²and unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour.

³And you shall put them in one basket, and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams.

⁴Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.

⁵And you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod and the breastpiece, and wrap his waist 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.

⁷Then you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head, and anoint him.

⁸You shall also bring his sons and put tunics on them.

⁹And you shall wrap their waists with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and fit caps on them, and they shall have the priesthood by a permanent statute. So you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

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

¹¹And you shall slaughter the bull before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

¹²Then you shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

¹³And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar.

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

¹⁵“You shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram;

¹⁶and you shall slaughter the ram and take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar.

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

¹⁸And you shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD: it is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD.

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

²⁰And you shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears, and on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar.

²¹Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him; so he and his garments shall be consecrated, as well as 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 lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and 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 mixed with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before the LORD;

²⁴and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.

²⁵Then you shall take them from their hands, and offer them up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before the LORD; it is an offering by fire to the LORD.

²⁶“Then you shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of ordination, and wave it as a wave offering before the LORD; and it shall be your portion.

²⁷You shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution which was waved and which was offered from the ram of ordination, from the one which was for Aaron and from the one which was for his sons.

²⁸It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the sons of Israel, for it is a contribution; and it shall be a contribution from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, their contribution to the LORD.

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

³⁰For seven days the one of his sons who is priest in his place shall put them on when he enters the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place.

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

³²Then Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

³³So they shall eat those things by which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration; but a layman shall not eat them, because they are holy.

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

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

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

³⁷For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy.

³⁸“Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one-year-old lambs each day, continuously.

³⁹The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight;

⁴⁰and there shall be a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering with one lamb.

⁴¹The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD.

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

⁴³I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall 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 as priests to Me.

⁴⁵And I will dwell among the sons 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, so that I might dwell among them; I am the LORD their God.

¹Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as 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 born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,

⁴who was declared the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

⁵through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles in behalf of His name,

⁶among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

⁷to all who are beloved of God in Rome, 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 you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the world.

⁹For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,

¹⁰always in my prayers requesting if perhaps now, at last by the will of God, I will succeed in coming to you.

¹¹For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;

¹²that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.

¹³I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also just as among the rest of the Gentiles.

¹⁴I am under obligation both to Greeks and to the uncultured, both to the wise and to the foolish.

¹⁵So, for my part, 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 to faith; as it is written: “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS one will live by faith.”

¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

¹⁹because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

²⁰For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

²¹For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened.

²²Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

²³and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures.

²⁴Therefore God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.

²⁵For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

²⁶For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged natural relations for that which is contrary to nature,

²⁷and likewise the men, too, abandoned natural relations with women and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing shameful acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

²⁸And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper,

²⁹people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are gossips,

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

³¹without understanding, untrustworthy, unfeeling, and unmerciful;

³²and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.

¹All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against.

²Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brothers or sisters, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.

³If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness,

⁴he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a sick craving for controversial questions and disputes about words, from which come envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions,

⁵and constant friction between people of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.

⁶But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.

⁷For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it, either.

⁸If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

⁹But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and 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 sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

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

¹²Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

¹³I direct you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,

¹⁴that you keep the commandment without fault or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

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

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

¹⁷Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.

¹⁸Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

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

²⁰Timothy, protect what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly, empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”—

²¹which some have professed and thereby have gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.

¹“My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me.

²Mockers are certainly with me, And my eye gazes on their provocation.

³“Make a pledge for me with Yourself; Who is there that will be my guarantor?

⁴For You have kept their hearts away from understanding; Therefore You will not exalt them.

⁵He who informs against friends for a share of the spoils, The eyes of his children also will perish.

⁶“But He has made me a proverb among the people, And I am one at whom people spit.

⁷My eye has also become inexpressive because of grief, And all my body parts are like a shadow.

⁸The upright will be appalled at this, And the innocent will stir himself up against the godless.

⁹Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way, And the one who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.

¹⁰But come again all of you now, For I do not find a wise man among you.

¹¹My days are past, my plans are torn apart, The wishes of my heart.

¹²They make night into day, saying, ‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.

¹³If I hope for Sheol as my home, I make my bed in the darkness;

¹⁴If I call to the grave, ‘You are my father’; To the maggot, ‘my mother and my sister’;

¹⁵Where then is my hope? And who looks at my hope?

¹⁶Will it go down with me to Sheol? Shall we together go down into the dust?”

¹God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance; They have defiled Your holy temple; They have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

²They have given the dead bodies of Your servants to the birds of the sky as food, The flesh of Your godly ones to the animals 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 disgrace before our neighbors, An object of derision and ridicule to those around us.

⁵How long, LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?

⁶Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which do not know You, And upon the kingdoms which do not call upon Your name.

⁷For they have devoured Jacob And laid waste his settlement.

⁸Do not hold us responsible for the guilty deeds of our forefathers; Let Your compassion come quickly to meet us, For we have become very low.

⁹Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; And save us and forgive our sins for the sake of Your name.

¹⁰Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let vengeance for the blood of Your servants which has been shed Be known among the nations in our sight.

¹¹Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You; According to the greatness of Your power, let those who are doomed to die remain.

¹²And return to our neighbors seven times as much into their lap Their taunts with which they have taunted You, Lord.

¹³So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture Will give thanks to You forever; To all generations we will tell of Your praise.

¹Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it Than a house full of feasting with strife.

²A servant who acts wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully, And will share in the inheritance among brothers.

³The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the LORD tests hearts.

⁴An evildoer listens to wicked lips; A liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

⁵One who mocks the poor taunts his Maker; One who rejoices at disaster will not go unpunished.

⁶Grandchildren are the crown of the old, And the glory of sons is their fathers.

⁷Excellent speech is not fitting for a fool, Much less are lying lips to a prince.

⁸A bribe is a charm in the sight of its owner; Wherever he turns, he prospers.

⁹One who conceals an offense seeks love, But one who repeats a matter separates close friends.

¹⁰A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding Than a hundred blows into a fool.

¹¹A rebellious person seeks only evil, So a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

¹²Let a person meet a bear robbed of her cubs, Rather than a fool in his foolishness.

¹³One who returns evil for good, Evil will not depart from his house.

¹⁴The beginning of strife is like letting out water, So abandon the quarrel before it breaks out.

¹⁵One who justifies the wicked and one who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.

¹⁶Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, When he has no sense?

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

¹⁸A person lacking in sense shakes hands And becomes guarantor in the presence of his neighbor.

¹⁹One who loves wrongdoing loves strife; One who makes his doorway high seeks destruction.

²⁰One who has a crooked mind finds nothing good, And one who is corrupted in his language falls into evil.

²¹He who fathers a fool does so to his sorrow, And 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 accepts a bribe from an inside pocket To pervert the ways of justice.

²⁴Wisdom is in the presence of one who has understanding, 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 gave birth to him.

²⁶It is also not good to fine the righteous, Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

²⁷One who withholds his words has knowledge, And one who has a cool spirit is a person of understanding.

²⁸Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; When he closes his lips, he is considered prudent.

¹Then it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had carried out an attack on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire;

²and they took captive the women and all who were in it, from the small to the great, without killing anyone, and drove them off and went their way.

³When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.

⁴Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.

⁵Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.

⁶Also, David was in great distress because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David felt strengthened in the LORD his God.

⁷Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

⁸And David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this band of raiders? Will I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will certainly overtake them, and you will certainly rescue everyone.”

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

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

¹¹Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink.

¹²They also gave him a slice of fig cake and two cakes of raisins, and he ate; then his spirit revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.

¹³Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master abandoned me when I became sick three days ago.

¹⁴We carried out an attack on the Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.”

¹⁵Then David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this band of raiders?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will bring you down to this band.”

¹⁶Now when he had brought him down, behold, they were dispersed over all the land, eating and drinking and celebrating because of all the great plunder that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

¹⁷And David slaughtered them from the twilight until the evening of the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.

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

¹⁹And nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, plunder, or anything that they had taken for themselves; David brought it all back.

²⁰So David had captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of the other livestock, and they said, “This is David’s plunder.”

²¹When David came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow David and had been left behind at the brook Besor, and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him, then David approached the people and greeted them.

²²Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, “Since they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoils that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, so that they may lead them away and leave.”

²³But David said, “You must not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us, for He has protected us and handed over to us the band of raiders that came against us.

²⁴And who will listen to you in this matter? For as is the share of the one who goes down into the battle, so shall be the share of the one who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike.”

²⁵So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

²⁶Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoils to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Behold, a gift for you from the spoils of the enemies of the LORD:

²⁷to those who were in Bethel, to those who were in Ramoth of the Negev, to those who were in Jattir,

²⁸to those who were in Aroer, to those who were in Siphmoth, to those who were in Eshtemoa,

²⁹to those who were in Racal, to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, to those who were in the cities of the Kenites,

³⁰to those who were in Hormah, to those who were in Bor-ashan, to those who were in Athach,

³¹to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men walked.”

¹This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen undergarment and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.”

²So I bought the undergarment in accordance with the word of the LORD, and put it around my waist.

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

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

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

⁶After many days the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the undergarment which I commanded you to hide there.”

⁷Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the undergarment from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the undergarment was ruined, it was completely useless.

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁹“This is what the LORD says: ‘To the same extent I will destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

¹⁰This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have followed other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this undergarment which is completely useless.

¹¹For as the undergarment clings to the waist of a man, so I made the entire household of Israel and the entire household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘so that they might be My people, for renown, for praise, and for glory; but they did not listen.’

¹²“Therefore you are to speak this word to them. ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: “Every jug is to be filled with wine.” ’ And when they say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’

¹³then say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am going to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings who sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness!

¹⁴Then I will smash them against each other, both the fathers and the sons together,” declares the LORD. “I will not have compassion nor be troubled nor take pity so as to keep from destroying them.” ’ ”

¹⁵Listen and pay attention, do not be haughty; For the LORD has spoken.

¹⁶Give glory to the LORD your God Before He brings darkness And before your feet stumble On the mountains in the dark, And while you are hoping for light He makes it into gloom, And turns it into thick darkness.

¹⁷But if you do not listen to it, My soul will weep in secret for such pride; And my eyes will shed And stream down tears, Because the flock of the LORD 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 Negev have been locked up, And there is no one to open them; All Judah has been taken into exile, Wholly taken into exile.

²⁰“Raise your eyes and see Those coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given you, Your beautiful sheep?

²¹What will you say when He appoints over you— And you yourself had taught them— Former companions to be head over you? Will sharp pains not take hold of you Like a woman in childbirth?

²²If you say in your heart, ‘Why have these things happened to me?’ Because of the magnitude of your wrongdoing Your skirts have been removed And your heels have suffered violence.

²³Can the Ethiopian change his skin, Or the leopard his spots? Then you as well can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil.

²⁴Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw To the desert wind.

²⁵This is your lot, the portion measured to you From Me,” declares the LORD, “Because you have forgotten Me And trusted in falsehood.

²⁶So I Myself have stripped your skirts off over your face, So that your shame will be seen.

²⁷As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings, The outrageous sin of your prostitution On the hills in the field, I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?”

¹Now looking intently at the Council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with an entirely good conscience before God up to this day.”

²But the high priest Ananias commanded those standing beside him to strike him on the mouth.

³Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law, order me to be struck?”

⁴But those present said, “Are you insulting God’s high priest?”

⁵And Paul said, “I was not aware, brothers, that he is high priest; for it is written: ‘YOU SHALL NOT SPEAK EVIL OF A RULER OF YOUR PEOPLE.’ ”

⁶But Paul, perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, began crying out in the Council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!”

⁷When he said this, a dissension occurred between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

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

⁹And a great uproar occurred; and some of the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and started arguing heatedly, saying, “We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

¹⁰And when a great dissension occurred, the commander was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, and he ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.

¹¹But on the following night, the Lord stood near him and said, “Be courageous! For as you have testified to the truth about Me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome also.”

¹²When it was day, the Jews formed a conspiracy and put themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³There were more than forty who formed this plot.

¹⁴They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have put ourselves under an oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul.

¹⁵Now therefore, you and the Council notify the commander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly; and as for us, we are ready to kill him before he comes near the place.”

¹⁶But the son of Paul’s sister heard about their ambush, and he came and entered the barracks and told Paul.

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

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

¹⁹The commander took him by the hand, and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?”

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

²¹So do not listen to them, for more than forty of them are in hiding to ambush him, and these men have put themselves under an oath not to eat or drink until they kill him; and now they are ready and waiting for assurance from you.”

²²Then the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”

²³And he called to him two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by the third hour of the night to proceed to Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen.”

²⁴They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to Felix the governor.

²⁵And he wrote a letter with the following content:

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

²⁷When this man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, I came up to them with the troops and rescued him, after learning that he was a Roman.

²⁸And wanting to ascertain the basis for the charges they were bringing against him, I brought him down to their Council;

²⁹and I found that he was being accused regarding questions in their Law, but was not charged with anything deserving death or imprisonment.

³⁰When I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing his accusers to bring charges against him before you.”

³¹So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.

³²But on the next day they let the horsemen go on with him, and they returned to the barracks.

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

³⁴Now when he had read it, he also asked from what province Paul was, and when he learned that he was from Cilicia,

³⁵he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive as well,” giving orders for Paul to be kept in Herod’s Praetorium.