Bible Reading Plan

Peaceful Latter Days

¹ And it will come about in the ^(C1)last days
That the ^(C2)mountain of the house of the LORD
Will be established ^(F1)as the chief of the mountains.
It will be raised above the hills,
And the ^(C3)peoples will stream to it.

^2 (C1)Many nations will come and say,
"^(C2)Come and let's go up to the mountain of the LORD
And to the house of the God of Jacob,
So that ^(C3)He may teach us about His ways,
And that we may walk in His paths."
For ^(C4)from Zion will go forth the law,
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

³ And He will ^(C1)judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, ^(F1)distant nations.
Then they will beat their swords ^(C2)into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift a sword against nation,
And never again will they ^(F2)train for war.

⁴ Instead, each of them will ^(C1)sit under his vine
And under his fig tree,
With ^(C2)no one to make them afraid,
Because the ^(C3)mouth of the LORD of armies has spoken.

⁵ Though all the peoples walk,
Each in the ^(C1)name of his god,
As for us, ^(C2)we will walk
In the name of the ^(C3)LORD our God forever and ever.

⁶ "On that day," declares the LORD,
"I will assemble those who ^(C1)limp
And ^(C2)gather the scattered,
Those whom I have afflicted.

⁷ "I will make those who limp a ^(C1)remnant,
And those who ^(F1)have strayed a mighty nation,
And the ^(C2)LORD will reign over them on Mount Zion
From now on and forever.

⁸ "As for you, ^(F1)(C1)tower of the flock,
^(F2)Hill of the daughter of Zion,
To you it will come—
Yes, the ^(C2)former dominion will come,
The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.

⁹ "Now, why do you ^(C1)cry out loudly?
Is there no king among you,
Or has your ^(C2)counselor perished,
That agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth?

¹⁰ "^(C1)Writhe and scream,
Daughter of Zion,
Like a woman in childbirth;
For now you will ^(C2)go out of the city,
Live in the field,
And go to Babylon.
^(C3)There you will be rescued,
^(C4)There the LORD will redeem you
From the hand of your enemies.

¹¹ "And now ^(C1)many nations have been assembled against you
Who say, 'Let her be defiled,
And let our eyes ^(F1)gloat over Zion!'

¹² "But they do not ^(C1)know the thoughts of the LORD,
And they do not understand His plan;
For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

¹³ "Arise and ^(C1)thresh, daughter of Zion,
For I will make your horn iron,
And I will make your hoofs bronze,
So that you may ^(C2)pulverize many peoples,
And ^(C3)dedicate to the LORD their unjust profit,
And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

Chapter 21

¹⁸ And the following day Paul went in with us to ^(F1)(C1)James, and all ^(C2)the elders were present.¹⁹ After he had greeted them, he ^(C1)began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ^(C2)ministry.²⁰ And when they heard about them, they began ^(C1)glorifying God; and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many ^(F1)thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all ^(C2)zealous for the Law;²¹ and they have been told about you, that you are ^(C1)teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them ^(C2)not to circumcise their children nor to ^(F1)walk according to ^(C3)the customs.²² "So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.²³ "Therefore, do ^(F1)as we tell you: we have four men who ^(C1)have a ^(F2)vow upon themselves;²⁴ take them along and ^(C1)purify yourself together with them, and ^(F1)pay their expenses so that they may ^(C2)shave their ^(F2)heads; and then everyone will know that there is nothing to what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also conform, keeping the Law.²⁵ "But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we sent a letter, ^(C1)having decided that they should abstain from ^(F1)meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and what is ^(F2)strangled, and from sexual immorality."²⁶ Then Paul ^(F1)took along the men, and the next day, after ^(C1)purifying himself together with them, he ^(C2)went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

Paul Seized in the Temple

²⁷ When ^(C1)the seven days were almost over, ^(C2)the Jews from ^(F1)(C3)Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him,²⁸ crying out, "Men of Israel, help! ^(C1)This is the man who instructs everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has ^(C2)defiled this holy place!"²⁹ For they had previously seen ^(C1)Trophimus the ^(C2)Ephesian in the city with him, and they thought that Paul had brought him into the temple.³⁰ Then the whole city was provoked and ^(F1)the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they ^(C1)dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.³¹ While they were intent on killing him, a report came up to the commander of the ^(C1)Roman ^(F1)cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion.³² He immediately ^(C1)took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to ^(F1)the crowd; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.³³ Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered that he be ^(C1)bound with ^(C2)two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done.³⁴ But among the crowd, ^(C1)some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the ^(F1)facts because of the uproar, he ordered that ^(F2)Paul be brought into ^(C2)the barracks.³⁵ When Paul got to ^(C1)the stairs, it came about that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the ^(F1)mob;³⁶ for the multitude of people kept following them, shouting, "^(C1)Away with him!"

³⁷ As Paul was about to be brought into ^(C1)the barracks, he ^(*)said to the commander, "May I say something to you?" And he said, "Do you know Greek?³⁸ "Then you are not ^(C1)the Egyptian who some ^(F1)time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out ^(C2)into the wilderness?"³⁹ But Paul said, "^(C1)I am a Jew of Tarsus in ^(C2)Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people."⁴⁰ When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on ^(C1)the stairs, ^(C2)motioned to the people with his hand; and when there ^(F1)was a great silence, he spoke to them in the ^(F2)(C3)Hebrew dialect, saying,