Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

²(This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)

³So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

⁴When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

⁵Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

⁶So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days,

⁷and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

⁸“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light.

¹⁰It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

¹¹After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

¹²His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”

¹³Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

¹⁴So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead,

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

¹⁶Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

¹⁷On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

¹⁸Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem,

¹⁹and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.

²⁰When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

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

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

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

²⁴Martha answered, “I know 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 will live, even though they die;

²⁶and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

²⁸After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.”

²⁹When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.

³⁰Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.

³¹When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

³²When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

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

³⁴“Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

³⁵Jesus wept.

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

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

³⁸Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.

³⁹“Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

⁴⁰Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

⁴¹So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

⁴³When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

⁴⁴The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

⁴⁵Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

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

⁴⁷Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs.

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

⁴⁹Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all!

⁵⁰You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

⁵¹He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation,

⁵²and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.

⁵³So from that day on they plotted to take his life.

⁵⁴Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

⁵⁵When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover.

⁵⁶They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?”

⁵⁷But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.

¹“This is what you are to do to consecrate them, so they may serve me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without defect.

²And from the finest wheat flour make round loaves without yeast, thick loaves without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves without yeast and brushed with olive oil.

³Put them in a basket and present them along with the bull and the two rams.

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

⁵Take the garments and dress Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself and the breastpiece. Fasten the ephod on him by its skillfully woven waistband.

⁶Put the turban on his head and attach the sacred emblem to the turban.

⁷Take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head.

⁸Bring his sons and dress them in tunics

⁹and fasten caps on them. Then tie sashes on Aaron and his sons. The priesthood is theirs by a lasting ordinance. “Then you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰“Bring the bull to the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.

¹¹Slaughter it in the LORD’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

¹²Take some of the bull’s blood and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar.

¹³Then take all the fat on the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar.

¹⁴But burn the bull’s flesh and its hide and its intestines outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

¹⁵“Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.

¹⁶Slaughter it and take the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar.

¹⁷Cut the ram into pieces and wash the internal organs and the legs, putting them with the head and the other pieces.

¹⁸Then burn the entire ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the LORD.

¹⁹“Take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.

²⁰Slaughter it, take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Then splash blood against the sides of the altar.

²¹And take some blood from the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. Then he and his sons and their garments will be consecrated.

²²“Take from this ram the fat, the fat tail, the fat on the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, both kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh. (This is the ram for the ordination.)

²³From the basket of bread made without yeast, which is before the LORD, take one round loaf, one thick loaf with olive oil mixed in, and one thin loaf.

²⁴Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and have them wave them before the LORD as a wave offering.

²⁵Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar along with the burnt offering for a pleasing aroma to the LORD, a food offering presented to the LORD.

²⁶After you take the breast of the ram for Aaron’s ordination, wave it before the LORD as a wave offering, and it will be your share.

²⁷“Consecrate those parts of the ordination ram that belong to Aaron and his sons: the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented.

²⁸This is always to be the perpetual share from the Israelites for Aaron and his sons. It is the contribution the Israelites are to make to the LORD from their fellowship offerings.

²⁹“Aaron’s sacred garments will belong to his descendants so that they can be anointed and ordained in them.

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

³¹“Take the ram for the ordination and cook the meat in a sacred place.

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

³³They are to eat these offerings by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration. But no one else may eat them, because they are sacred.

³⁴And if any of the meat of the ordination ram or any bread is left over till morning, burn it up. It must not be eaten, because it is sacred.

³⁵“Do for Aaron and his sons everything I have commanded you, taking seven days to ordain them.

³⁶Sacrifice a bull each day as a sin offering to make atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.

³⁷For seven days make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it will be holy.

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

³⁹Offer one in the morning and the other at twilight.

⁴⁰With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering.

⁴¹Sacrifice the other lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and its drink offering as in the morning—a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the LORD.

⁴²“For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the LORD. There I will meet you and speak to you;

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

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

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

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

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

²the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures

³regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David,

⁴and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

⁵Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.

⁶And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

⁷To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

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

⁹God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you

¹⁰in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.

¹¹I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—

¹²that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.

¹³I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

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

¹⁵That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

¹⁷For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

¹⁸The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

¹⁹since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

²⁰For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

²²Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools

²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

²⁴Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

²⁵They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

²⁶Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.

²⁷In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

²⁸Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.

²⁹They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,

³⁰slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;

³¹they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.

³²Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

¹All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered.

²Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare of their slaves. These are the things you are to teach and insist on.

³If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching,

⁴they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions

⁵and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

⁶But godliness with contentment is great gain.

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

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

⁹Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

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

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

¹³In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you

¹⁴to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁵which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and 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 might forever. Amen.

¹⁷Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

¹⁸Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

¹⁹In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

²⁰Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge,

²¹which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.

¹My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me.

²Surely mockers surround me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility.

³“Give me, O God, the pledge you demand. Who else will put up security for me?

⁴You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph.

⁵If anyone denounces their friends for reward, the eyes of their children will fail.

⁶“God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit.

⁷My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.

⁸The upright are appalled at this; the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.

⁹Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger.

¹⁰“But come on, all of you, try again! I will not find a wise man among you.

¹¹My days have passed, my plans are shattered. Yet the desires of my heart

¹²turn night into day; in the face of the darkness light is near.

¹³If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness,

¹⁴if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘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 death? Will we descend together into the dust?”

¹A psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

²They have left the dead bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.

³They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.

⁴We are objects of contempt to our neighbors, of scorn and derision to those around us.

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

⁶Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the kingdoms that do not call on your name;

⁷for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland.

⁸Do not hold against us the sins of past generations; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need.

⁹Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.

¹⁰Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, make known among the nations that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.

¹¹May the groans of the prisoners come before you; with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.

¹²Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.

¹³Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise.

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

²A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son and will share the inheritance as one of the family.

³The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.

⁴A wicked person listens to deceitful lips; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

⁵Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

⁶Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.

⁷Eloquent lips are unsuited to a godless fool— how much worse lying lips to a ruler!

⁸A bribe is seen as a charm by the one who gives it; they think success will come at every turn.

⁹Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

¹⁰A rebuke impresses a discerning person more than a hundred lashes a fool.

¹¹Evildoers foster rebellion against God; the messenger of death will be sent against them.

¹²Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly.

¹³Evil will never leave the house of one who pays back evil for good.

¹⁴Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

¹⁵Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent— the LORD detests them both.

¹⁶Why should fools have money in hand to buy wisdom, when they are not able to understand it?

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

¹⁸One who has no sense shakes hands in pledge and puts up security for a neighbor.

¹⁹Whoever loves a quarrel loves sin; whoever builds a high gate invites destruction.

²⁰One whose heart is corrupt does not prosper; one whose tongue is perverse falls into trouble.

²¹To have a fool for a child brings grief; there is no joy for the parent of a godless fool.

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

²³The wicked accept bribes in secret to pervert the course of justice.

²⁴A discerning person keeps wisdom in view, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to the mother who bore him.

²⁶If imposing a fine on the innocent is not good, surely to flog honest officials is not right.

²⁷The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.

²⁸Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.

¹David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it,

²and had taken captive the women and everyone else in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.

³When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.

⁴So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.

⁵David’s two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

⁶David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

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

⁸and David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”

⁹David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Valley, where some stayed behind.

¹⁰Two hundred of them were too exhausted to cross the valley, but David and the other four hundred continued the pursuit.

¹¹They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat—

¹²part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.

¹³David asked him, “Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?” He said, “I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago.

¹⁴We raided the Negev of the Kerethites, some territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.”

¹⁵David asked him, “Can you lead me down to this raiding party?” He answered, “Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them.”

¹⁶He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah.

¹⁷David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled.

¹⁸David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.

¹⁹Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.

²⁰He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, “This is David’s plunder.”

²¹Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Besor Valley. They came out to meet David and the men with him. As David and his men approached, he asked them how they were.

²²But all the evil men and troublemakers among David’s followers said, “Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go.”

²³David replied, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us.

²⁴Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.”

²⁵David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this.

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

²⁷David sent it to those who were in Bethel, Ramoth Negev and Jattir;

²⁸to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa

²⁹and Rakal; to those in the towns of the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites;

³⁰to those in Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athak

³¹and Hebron; and to those in all the other places where he and his men had roamed.

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

²So I bought a belt, as the LORD directed, and put it around my waist.

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

⁴“Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.”

⁵So I went and hid it at Perath, as the LORD told me.

⁶Many days later the LORD said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.”

⁷So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to me:

⁹“This is what the LORD says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

¹⁰These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless!

¹¹For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the LORD, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’

¹²“Say to them: ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And if they say to you, ‘Don’t we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’

¹³then tell them, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem.

¹⁴I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them.’ ”

¹⁵Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken.

¹⁶Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it to utter darkness and change it to deep gloom.

¹⁷If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the LORD’s flock will be taken captive.

¹⁸Say to the king and to the queen mother, “Come down from your thrones, for your glorious crowns will fall from your heads.”

¹⁹The cities in the Negev will be shut up, and there will be no one to open them. All Judah will be carried into exile, carried completely away.

²⁰Look up and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock that was entrusted to you, the sheep of which you boasted?

²¹What will you say when the LORD sets over you those you cultivated as your special allies? Will not pain grip you like that of a woman in labor?

²²And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?”— it is because of your many sins that your skirts have been torn off and your body mistreated.

²³Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.

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

²⁵This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods.

²⁶I will pull up your skirts over your face that your shame may be seen—

²⁷your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution! I have seen your detestable acts on the hills and in the fields. Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long will you be unclean?”

¹Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.”

²At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.

³Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”

⁴Those who were standing near Paul said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest!”

⁵Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’”

⁶Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial 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.

⁸(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)

⁹There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

¹⁰The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.

¹¹The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

¹²The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³More than forty men were involved in this plot.

¹⁴They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.

¹⁵Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”

¹⁶But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.

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

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

¹⁹The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”

²⁰He said: “Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him.

²¹Don’t give in to them, because more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him. They have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request.”

²²The commander dismissed the young man with this warning: “Don’t tell anyone that you have reported this to me.”

²³Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight.

²⁴Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.”

²⁵He wrote a letter as follows:

²⁶Claudius Lysias, To His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings.

²⁷This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen.

²⁸I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin.

²⁹I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment.

³⁰When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him.

³¹So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris.

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

³³When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him.

³⁴The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia,

³⁵he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.