Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹"I have told you these things so that you will not stumble or be caught off guard and fall away.

²They will put you out of the synagogues and make you outcasts. And a time is coming when whoever kills you will think that he is offering service to God.

³And they will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me.

⁴I have told you these things [now], so that when their time comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not say these things to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

⁵"But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'

⁶But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts [and taken complete possession of them].

⁷But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you].

⁸And He, when He comes, will convict the world about [the guilt of] sin [and the need for a Savior], and about righteousness, and about judgment:

⁹about sin [and the true nature of it], because they do not believe in Me [and My message];

¹⁰about righteousness [personal integrity and godly character], because I am going to My Father and you will no longer see Me;

¹¹about judgment [the certainty of it], because the ruler of this world (Satan) has been judged and condemned.

¹²"I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear [to hear] them now.

¹³But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [full and complete truth]. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future].

¹⁴He will glorify and honor Me, because He (the Holy Spirit) will take from what is Mine and will disclose it to you.

¹⁵All things that the Father has are Mine. Because of this I said that He [the Spirit] will take from what is Mine and will reveal it to you.

¹⁶"A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me."

¹⁷Some of His disciples said to one another, "What does He mean when He tells us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, 'because I am going to My Father'?"

¹⁸So they were saying, "What does He mean when He says, 'A little while'? We do not know what He is talking about."

¹⁹Jesus knew that they wanted to ask Him, so He said to them, "Are you wondering among yourselves about what I meant when I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me'?

²⁰I assure you and most solemnly say to you, that you will weep and grieve [in great mourning], but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

²¹A woman, when she is in labor, has pain because her time [to give birth] has come; but when she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of her joy that a child has come into the world.

²²So for now you are in grief; but I will see you again, and [then] your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away from you your [great] joy.

²³In that day you will not [need to] ask Me about anything. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name [as My representative], He will give you.

²⁴Until now you have not asked [the Father] for anything in My name; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy may be full and complete.

²⁵"I have told you these things in figurative language (veiled language, proverbs); the hour is now coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.

²⁶In that day you will ask in My name, and I am not saying to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf [because it will be unnecessary];

²⁷for the Father Himself [tenderly] loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from the Father.

²⁸I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father."

²⁹His disciples said, "Ah, now You are speaking plainly to us and not in figures of speech!

³⁰Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; because of this we believe [without any doubt] that you came from God."

³¹Jesus answered them, "Do you now [at last] believe?

³²Take careful notice: an hour is coming, and has arrived, when you will all be scattered, each to his own home, leaving Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.

³³I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world." [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, "Cut two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you smashed [when you learned of Israel's idolatry].

²So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain.

³No man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen anywhere on the mountain; nor let flocks or herds feed in front of that mountain."

⁴So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and he got up early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took the two tablets of stone in his hand.

⁵Then the LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with Moses as he proclaimed the Name of the LORD.

⁶Then the LORD passed by in front of him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth (faithfulness);

⁷keeping mercy and lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; but He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers upon the children and the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers]."

⁸Moses bowed to the earth immediately and worshiped [the Lord].

⁹And he said, "If now I have found favor and lovingkindness in Your sight, O Lord, let the Lord, please, go in our midst, though it is a stiff-necked (stubborn, rebellious) people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your possession."

¹⁰Then God said, "Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will do wondrous works (miracles) such as have not been created or produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live shall see the working of the LORD, for it is a fearful and awesome thing that I am going to do with you.

¹¹"Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

¹²Watch yourself so that you do not make a covenant (solemn agreement, treaty) with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a [dangerous] trap among you.

¹³But you shall tear down and destroy their [pagan] altars, smash in pieces their [sacred] pillars (obelisks, images) and cut down their Asherim

¹⁴—for you shall not worship any other god; for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]—

¹⁵otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the prostitute with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat his sacrifice (meal),

¹⁶and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters would play the prostitute with their gods and cause your sons also to play the prostitute (commit apostasy) with their gods [that is, abandon the true God for man-made idols].

¹⁷You shall make for yourselves no molten gods.

¹⁸"You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover). For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I have commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.

¹⁹"All the firstborn males among your livestock belong to Me, whether cattle or sheep.

²⁰You shall redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb; but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. None of you are to appear before Me empty-handed.

²¹"You shall work for six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; [even] in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest [on the Sabbath].

²²You shall observe and celebrate the Feast of Weeks (Harvest, First Fruits, or Pentecost), the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the year's end.

²³Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.

²⁴For I will drive out and dispossess nations before you and enlarge your borders; nor shall any man covet (actively seek for himself) your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times a year.

²⁵"You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover (Unleavened Bread) be left over until morning.

²⁶"You shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of the LORD your God. "You shall not boil a young goat in his mother's milk [as some pagans do]."

²⁷Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel."

²⁸Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

²⁹When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face was shining [with a unique radiance] because he had been speaking with God.

³⁰When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to approach him.

³¹But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him; and he spoke to them.

³²Afterward all the Israelites approached him, and he commanded them to do everything that the LORD had said to him on Mount Sinai.

³³When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

³⁴But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out. When he came out and he told the Israelites what he had been commanded [by God],

³⁵the Israelites would see the face of Moses, how his skin shone [with a unique radiance]. So Moses put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with God.

¹What shall we say [to all this]? Should we continue in sin and practice sin as a habit so that [God's gift of] grace may increase and overflow?

²Certainly not! How can we, the very ones who died to sin, continue to live in it any longer?

³Or are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

⁴We have therefore been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory and power of the Father, we too might walk habitually in newness of life [abandoning our old ways].

⁵For if we have become one with Him [permanently united] in the likeness of His death, we will also certainly be [one with Him and share fully] in the likeness of His resurrection.

⁶We know that our old self [our human nature without the Holy Spirit] was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.

⁷For the person who has died [with Christ] has been freed from [the power of] sin.

⁸Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live [together] with Him,

⁹because we know [the self-evident truth] that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him.

¹⁰For the death that He died, He died to sin [ending its power and paying the sinner's debt] once and for all; and the life that He lives, He lives to [glorify] God [in unbroken fellowship with Him].

¹¹Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin [and your relationship to it broken], but alive to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.

¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts and passions.

¹³Do not go on offering members of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness. But offer yourselves to God [in a decisive act] as those alive [raised] from the dead [to a new life], and your members [all of your abilities—sanctified, set apart] as instruments of righteousness [yielded] to God.

¹⁴For sin will no longer be a master over you, since you are not under Law [as slaves], but under [unmerited] grace [as recipients of God's favor and mercy].

¹⁵What then [are we to conclude]? Shall we sin because we are not under Law, but under [God's] grace? Certainly not!

¹⁶Do you not know that when you continually offer yourselves to someone to do his will, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey, either [slaves] of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness (right standing with God)?

¹⁷But thank God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching in which you were instructed and to which you were committed.

¹⁸And having been set free from sin, you have become the slaves of righteousness [of conformity to God's will and purpose].

¹⁹I am speaking in [familiar] human terms because of your natural limitations [your spiritual immaturity]. For just as you presented your bodily members as slaves to impurity and to [moral] lawlessness, leading to further lawlessness, so now offer your members [your abilities, your talents] as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification [that is, being set apart for God's purpose].

²⁰When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness [you had no desire to conform to God's will].

²¹So what benefit did you get at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? [None!] For the outcome of those things is death!

²²But now since you have been set free from sin and have become [willing] slaves to God, you have your benefit, resulting in sanctification [being made holy and set apart for God's purpose], and the outcome [of this] is eternal life.

²³For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God's chosen ones and [to lead and encourage them to recognize and pursue] the knowledge of the truth which leads to godliness,

²based on the hope and divine guarantee of eternal life, [the life] which God, who is ever truthful and without deceit, promised before the ages of time began,

³and at the appointed time has made known His word and revealed it as His message, through preaching, which was entrusted to me according to the command of God our Savior—

⁴To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

⁵For this reason I left you behind in Crete, so that you would set right what remains unfinished, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,

⁶namely, a man of unquestionable integrity, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of being immoral or rebellious.

⁷For the overseer, as God's steward, must be blameless, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain [but financially ethical].

⁸And he must be hospitable [to believers, as well as strangers], a lover of what is good, sensible (upright), fair, devout, self-disciplined [above reproach—whether in public or in private].

⁹He must hold firmly to the trustworthy word [of God] as it was taught to him, so that he will be able both to give accurate instruction in sound [reliable, error-free] doctrine and to refute those who contradict [it by explaining their error].

¹⁰For there are many rebellious men who are empty talkers [just windbags] and deceivers; especially those of the circumcision [those Jews who insist that Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the Law in order to be saved].

¹¹They must be silenced, because they are upsetting whole families by teaching things they should not teach for the purpose of dishonest financial gain.

¹²One of them [Epimenides, a Cretan], a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons."

¹³This description is true. So rebuke them sharply so that they will be sound in the faith and free from doctrinal error,

¹⁴not paying attention to Jewish myths and the commandments and rules of men who turn their backs on the truth.

¹⁵To the pure, all things are pure; but to the corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure; both their mind and their conscience are corrupted.

¹⁶They profess to know God [to recognize and be acquainted with Him], but by their actions they deny and disown Him. They are detestable and disobedient and worthless for good work of any kind.

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

²"Can a vigorous man be of use to God, Or a wise man be useful to himself?

³"Is it any pleasure or joy to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or is it of benefit to Him that you make your ways perfect?

⁴"Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you, That He enters into judgment against you?

⁵"Is not your wickedness great, And your sins without end?

⁶"For you have taken pledges of your brothers without cause, And stripped men naked.

⁷"You have not given water to the weary to drink, And you have withheld bread from the hungry.

⁸"But the land is possessed by the man with power, And the favored and honorable man dwells in it.

⁹"You have sent widows away empty-handed, And the arms (strength) of the fatherless have been broken.

¹⁰"Therefore snares surround you, And sudden dread terrifies and overwhelms you;

¹¹Or darkness, so that you cannot see, And a flood of water covers you.

¹²"Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the distant stars, how high they are!

¹³"You say, 'What does God know [about me]? Can He judge through the thick darkness?

¹⁴'Thick clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see, And He walks on the vault (circle) of the heavens.'

¹⁵"Will you keep to the ancient path That wicked men walked [in the time of Noah],

¹⁶Men who were snatched away before their time, Whose foundations were poured out like a river?

¹⁷"They said to God, 'Depart from us! What can the Almighty do for us or to us?'

¹⁸"Yet He filled their houses with good things; But the counsel of the wicked and ungodly is far from me.

¹⁹"The righteous see it and are glad; And the innocent mock and laugh at them, saying,

²⁰'Surely our adversaries are cut off and destroyed, And fire has consumed their abundance.'

²¹"Now yield and submit yourself to Him [agree with God and be conformed to His will] and be at peace; In this way [you will prosper and great] good will come to you.

²²"Please receive the law and instruction from His mouth And establish His words in your heart and keep them.

²³"If you return to the Almighty [and submit and humble yourself before Him], you will be built up [and restored]; If you remove unrighteousness far from your tents,

²⁴And place your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks [considering it of little value],

²⁵And make the Almighty your gold And your precious silver,

²⁶Then you will have delight in the Almighty, And you will lift up your face to God.

²⁷"You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, And you will pay your vows.

²⁸"You will also decide and decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And the light [of God's favor] will shine upon your ways.

²⁹"When you are cast down and humbled, you will speak with confidence, And the humble person He will lift up and save.

³⁰"He will even rescue the one [for whom you intercede] who is not innocent; And he will be rescued through the cleanness of your hands."

¹To the Chief Musician; set to a Philistine lute. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts!

²My soul (my life, my inner self) longs for and greatly desires the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

³The bird has found a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young— Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God.

⁴Blessed and greatly favored are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence; They will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah.

⁵Blessed and greatly favored is the man whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the highways to Zion.

⁶Passing through the Valley of Weeping ( Baca), they make it a place of springs; The early rain also covers it with blessings.

⁷They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power]; Each of them appears before God in Zion.

⁸O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; Listen, O God of Jacob! Selah.

⁹See our shield, O God, And look at the face of Your anointed [the king as Your representative].

¹⁰For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else]; I would rather stand [as a doorkeeper] at the threshold of the house of my God Than to live [at ease] in the tents of wickedness.

¹¹For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD bestows grace and favor and honor; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

¹²O LORD of hosts, How blessed and greatly favored is the man who trusts in You [believing in You, relying on You, and committing himself to You with confident hope and expectation].

¹A good name [earned by honorable behavior, godly wisdom, moral courage, and personal integrity] is more desirable than great riches; And favor is better than silver and gold.

²The rich and poor have a common bond; The LORD is the Maker of them all.

³A prudent and far-sighted person sees the evil [of sin] and hides himself [from it], But the naive continue on and are punished [by suffering the consequences of sin].

⁴The reward of humility [that is, having a realistic view of one's importance] and the [reverent, worshipful] fear of the LORD Is riches, honor, and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the obstinate [for their lack of honor and their wrong-doing traps them]; He who guards himself [with godly wisdom] will be far from them and avoid the consequences they suffer.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God's wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁷The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.

⁸He who sows injustice will reap [a harvest of] trouble, And the rod of his wrath [with which he oppresses others] will fail.

⁹He who is generous will be blessed, For he gives some of his food to the poor.

¹⁰Drive out the scoffer, and contention will go away; Even strife and dishonor will cease.

¹¹He who loves purity of heart And whose speech is gracious will have the king as his friend.

¹²The eyes of the LORD keep guard over knowledge and the one who has it, But He overthrows the words of the treacherous.

¹³The lazy one [manufactures excuses and] says, "There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets [if I go out to work]!"

¹⁴The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit [deep and inescapable]; He who is cursed by the LORD [because of his adulterous sin] will fall into it.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline [correction administered with godly wisdom and lovingkindness] will remove it far from him.

¹⁶He who oppresses or exploits the poor to get more for himself Or who gives to the rich [to gain influence and favor], will only come to poverty.

¹⁷Listen carefully and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge;

¹⁸For it will be pleasant if you keep them in mind [incorporating them as guiding principles]; Let them be ready on your lips [to guide and strengthen yourself and others].

¹⁹So that your trust and reliance and confidence may be in the LORD, I have taught these things to you today, even to you.

²⁰Have I not written to you excellent things In counsels and knowledge,

²¹To let you know the certainty of the words of truth, That you may give a correct answer to him who sent you?

²²Do not rob the poor because he is poor [and defenseless], Nor crush the afflicted [by legal proceedings] at the gate [where the city court is held],

²³For the LORD will plead their case And take the life of those who rob them.

²⁴Do not even associate with a man given to angry outbursts; Or go [along] with a hot-tempered man,

²⁵Or you will learn his [undisciplined] ways And get yourself trapped [in a situation from which it is hard to escape].

²⁶Do not be among those who give pledges [involving themselves in others' finances], Or among those who become guarantors for others' debts.

²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay [another's debt when he defaults], Why should his creditor take your bed from under you?

²⁸Do not move the ancient landmark [at the boundary of the property] Which your fathers have set.

²⁹Do you see a man skillful and experienced in his work? He will stand [in honor] before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.

¹When Saul's son Ish-bosheth [king of Israel], heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was horrified.

²Saul's son had two men who were commanders of [raiding] bands [of soldiers]. One was named Baanah and the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite of the sons (tribe) of Benjamin (for Beeroth is also considered part of [the tribe of] Benjamin,

³and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and have been resident aliens there to this day).

⁴Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the news [of the deaths] of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. And the boy's nurse picked him up and fled; but it happened that while she was hurrying to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

⁵So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, left and came to the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day while he was taking his midday rest.

⁶They came into the interior of the house as if to get wheat [for the soldiers], and they struck him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped [unnoticed].

⁷Now when they entered the house he was lying on his bed in his bedroom. They [not only] struck and killed him, [but] they also beheaded him. Then they took his head and traveled all night by way of the Arabah.

⁸They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, "Look, the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus the LORD has granted my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and on his descendants."

⁹David replied to Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from every adversity,

¹⁰when a man told me, 'Behold, Saul is dead,' thinking that he was bringing good news, I seized and killed him in Ziklag, to reward him for his news.

¹¹How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous and just man in his own house on his bed, shall I not require his blood from your hand and remove you from the earth?"

¹²So David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them beside the pool in Hebron. But they took Ish-bosheth's head and buried it in Hebron in the tomb of Abner [his relative].

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

²"Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will make you hear My words."

³Then I went down to the potter's house, and saw that he was working at the wheel.

⁴But the vessel that he was making from clay was spoiled by the potter's hand; so he made it over, reworking it and making it into another pot that seemed good to him.

⁵Then the word of the LORD came to me:

⁶"O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" says the LORD. "Look carefully, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.

⁷At one moment I might [suddenly] speak concerning a nation or kingdom, that I will uproot and break down and destroy;

⁸if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent and reverse My decision concerning the devastation that I intended to do.

⁹Or at another time I might [suddenly] speak about a nation or kingdom that I will build up or establish;

¹⁰and if they do evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will reverse My decision concerning the good with which I had promised to bless them.

¹¹Now then, say to the men of Judah and to the citizens of Jerusalem, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am shaping a disaster and working out a plan against you. Turn back, each of you from his evil way; correct your habits and change your actions for the better."'

¹²But they will say, 'That is hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act in accordance with the stubbornness of his evil heart.'

¹³"Therefore thus says the LORD, 'Ask now among the nations, Who has heard of such things? The virgin Israel Has done a very vile and horrible thing.

¹⁴'Will the snow of [Mount] Lebanon melt and vanish from its rocks [which tower above Israel]? Will the cold, rushing waters of foreign lands [that flow down from the distant land] be dried up?

¹⁵'Yet My people have forgotten Me; They burn incense to worthless gods, They have stumbled from their ways From the ancient roads, To walk in pathways, Not on a highway,

¹⁶Making their land a desolation and a horror, A thing to be hissed at perpetually; Everyone who passes by will be astounded And shake his head [in scorn].

¹⁷'I will scatter them like an east wind Before the enemy; I will show them My back and not My face In the day of their disaster [says the LORD].'"

¹⁸Then [my enemies] said, "Come and let us work out schemes against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest [as Jeremiah predicts], nor the counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us strike him with our tongue [by making charges against him before the king], and let us ignore anything he says."

¹⁹Pay attention to me, O LORD [and intercede]; Listen to what my adversaries are saying [and are plotting against me]—

²⁰Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember [with compassion] that I stood before You To speak good on their behalf, To turn Your anger away from them.

²¹Therefore, give their children over to the famine; Give them over to the power of the sword. And let their wives become childless and widowed; Let their men meet death [by virulent disease], Their young men be struck down by the sword in battle.

²²Let an outcry be heard from their houses When You suddenly bring [a troop of] raiders upon them, For they have dug a pit to capture me And have hidden snares for my feet.

²³Yet You, O LORD, know All their deadly plotting against me; Do not forgive their wickedness Or blot out their sin from Your sight. But let them be overthrown before You; Deal with them in the time of Your anger.

¹After we were safe [on land], we found out that the island was called Malta.

²And the natives showed us extraordinary kindness and hospitality; for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, since it had begun to rain and was cold.

³But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper crawled out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

⁴When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, "Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, Justice [the avenging goddess] has not permitted him to live."

⁵Then Paul [simply] shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.

⁶But they stood watching and expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began saying that he was a god.

⁷In the vicinity of that place there were estates belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed and entertained us hospitably for three days.

⁸And it happened that the father of Publius was sick [in bed] with recurring attacks of fever and dysentery; and Paul went to him, and after he had prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him.

⁹After this occurred, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being healed.

¹⁰They also gave us many honors [gifts and courtesies expressing respect]; and when we were setting sail, they supplied us with all the things we needed.

¹¹At the end of three months we set sail on a ship which had wintered at the island, an Alexandrian ship with the Twin Brothers [Castor and Pollux] as its figurehead.

¹²We landed at Syracuse [on Sicily] and stayed there three days.

¹³From there we sailed around and arrived at Rhegium [on Italy's southern tip]; and a day later a south wind came up, and on the second day we arrived at Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found some believers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵And the brothers and sisters, having heard news about us, came from as far away as the Forum of Appius and Three Inns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and was encouraged.

¹⁶When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself [in rented quarters] with the soldier who was guarding him.

¹⁷Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews; and when they had gathered, he said to them, "Kinsmen, though I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our fathers, yet I was turned over as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

¹⁸After they had interrogated me, they were ready to release me because I was not guilty of any offense deserving death.

¹⁹But when the Jews objected [to my release], I was forced to appeal to Caesar (Emperor Nero), not because I had any charge to make against my nation.

²⁰For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you, since it is for the sake of the hope of Israel (the Messiah, the resurrection) that I am bound with this chain."

²¹They said to him, "We have not received [any] letters about you from Judea, nor have any of the [Jewish] brothers come here and reported or said anything bad about you.

²²But we would like to hear from you what your views are [that is, exactly what you believe]; for in regard to this sect (Christianity), we are fully aware that it is denounced everywhere."

²³When they had set a day for Paul, they came to his lodging in large numbers. And he carefully explained [Christianity] to them from morning until evening, solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, both from the Law of Moses and from the [writings of the] Prophets.

²⁴Some were persuaded by what he said, but others would not believe.

²⁵They disagreed among themselves and they began to leave after Paul had made one last statement: "The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying,

²⁶'Go to this people and say, "You will keep on hearing, but will not understand, You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

²⁷"For the heart (the understanding, the soul) of this people has become dull (calloused), And with their ears they scarcely hear, And they have shut their eyes [to the truth]; Otherwise they might see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return [to Me], And I would heal them."'

²⁸Therefore let it be known to you that [this message of] the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they indeed will listen!"

²⁹[And when he had said these things, the Jews left, arguing among themselves.]

³⁰And Paul lived there for two full years [at his own expense] in his own rented lodging and welcomed all who came to him,

³¹preaching and proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness and boldness, unhindered and unrestrained.