Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

²He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.

³And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

⁴Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

⁵And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

⁶“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

⁷Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!

⁸If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.

⁹And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

¹⁰“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

¹¹

¹²“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?

¹³And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.

¹⁴In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

¹⁵“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.

¹⁶But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’

¹⁷If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

¹⁸“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

¹⁹“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

²⁰For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

²¹Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

²²Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

²³“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

²⁴As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him.

²⁵Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

²⁶“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’

²⁷The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

²⁸“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

²⁹“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

³⁰“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

³¹When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

³²“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.

³³Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’

³⁴In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

³⁵“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

¹The LORD said to Moses,

²“Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: ‘This is what the LORD has commanded:

³Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox, a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside of it

⁴instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD in front of the tabernacle of the LORD—that person shall be considered guilty of bloodshed; they have shed blood and must be cut off from their people.

⁵This is so the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they are now making in the open fields. They must bring them to the priest, that is, to the LORD, at the entrance to the tent of meeting and sacrifice them as fellowship offerings.

⁶The priest is to splash the blood against the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the tent of meeting and burn the fat as an aroma pleasing to the LORD.

⁷They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come.’

⁸“Say to them: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice

⁹and does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the LORD must be cut off from the people of Israel.

¹⁰“ ‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people.

¹¹For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.

¹²Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.”

¹³“ ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth,

¹⁴because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, “You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.”

¹⁵“ ‘Anyone, whether native-born or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or torn by wild animals must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be ceremonially unclean till evening; then they will be clean.

¹⁶But if they do not wash their clothes and bathe themselves, they will be held responsible.’ ”

¹If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

³If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

⁵It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

¹⁰but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

¹²For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

¹The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

²Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

³It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.

⁴I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

⁵Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you.

⁶They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God.

⁷It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans.

⁸We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.

⁹I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us.

¹⁰So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

¹¹Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.

¹²Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

¹³I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink.

¹⁴I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

¹There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

³a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,

⁴a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

⁶a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,

⁷a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

⁸a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹What do workers gain from their toil?

¹⁰I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.

¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.

¹³That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

¹⁴I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

¹⁵Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.

¹⁶And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment—wickedness was there, in the place of justice—wickedness was there.

¹⁷I said to myself, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”

¹⁸I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.

¹⁹Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless.

²⁰All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.

²¹Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

²²So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

¹Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

²Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,

³those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

⁴Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.

⁵They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.

⁶Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

⁷He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.

⁸Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

⁹for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

¹⁰Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains,

¹¹because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High.

¹²So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

¹³Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.

¹⁴He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains.

¹⁵Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

¹⁶for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.

¹⁷Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.

¹⁸They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.

¹⁹Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.

²⁰He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.

²¹Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

²²Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

²³Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters.

²⁴They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep.

²⁵For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves.

²⁶They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away.

²⁷They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits’ end.

²⁸Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.

²⁹He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.

³⁰They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.

³¹Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

³²Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.

³³He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground,

³⁴and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there.

³⁵He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs;

³⁶there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle.

³⁷They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest;

³⁸he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.

³⁹Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow;

⁴⁰he who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in a trackless waste.

⁴¹But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.

⁴²The upright see and rejoice, but all the wicked shut their mouths.

⁴³Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the LORD.

¹The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

²Whoever fears the LORD walks uprightly, but those who despise him are devious in their ways.

³A fool’s mouth lashes out with pride, but the lips of the wise protect them.

⁴Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox come abundant harvests.

⁵An honest witness does not deceive, but a false witness pours out lies.

⁶The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.

⁷Stay away from a fool, for you will not find knowledge on their lips.

⁸The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.

⁹Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright.

¹⁰Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy.

¹¹The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.

¹²There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.

¹³Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief.

¹⁴The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good rewarded for theirs.

¹⁵The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps.

¹⁶The wise fear the LORD and shun evil, but a fool is hotheaded and yet feels secure.

¹⁷A quick-tempered person does foolish things, and the one who devises evil schemes is hated.

¹⁸The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹Evildoers will bow down in the presence of the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.

²¹It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.

²²Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.

²³All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

²⁴The wealth of the wise is their crown, but the folly of fools yields folly.

²⁵A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is deceitful.

²⁶Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge.

²⁷The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.

²⁸A large population is a king’s glory, but without subjects a prince is ruined.

²⁹Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.

³⁰A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

³¹Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

³²When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous seek refuge in God.

³³Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning and even among fools she lets herself be known.

³⁴Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.

³⁵A king delights in a wise servant, but a shameful servant arouses his fury.

¹Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the LORD, and the wall around Jerusalem.

²The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the LORD.

³Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.

⁴The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

⁵At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

⁶Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

⁷“Now, LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.

⁸Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.

⁹So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

¹⁰The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.

¹¹So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,

¹²I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.

¹³Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.

¹⁴And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”

¹⁵Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.

¹⁶Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.

¹⁷One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me.

¹⁸The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.

¹⁹“During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him.

²⁰So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast.

²¹The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”

²²The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.” But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.

²³The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’ ”

²⁴Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king.

²⁵He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

²⁶The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”

²⁷Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”

²⁸When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.

¹In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the king’s officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating together there,

²Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.

³Ishmael also killed all the men of Judah who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Babylonian soldiers who were there.

⁴The day after Gedaliah’s assassination, before anyone knew about it,

⁵eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria, bringing grain offerings and incense with them to the house of the LORD.

⁶Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he met them, he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.”

⁷When they went into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.

⁸But ten of them said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have wheat and barley, olive oil and honey, hidden in a field.” So he let them alone and did not kill them with the others.

⁹Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa had made as part of his defense against Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.

¹⁰Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah—the king’s daughters along with all the others who were left there, over whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.

¹¹When Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the crimes Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed,

¹²they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the great pool in Gibeon.

¹³When all the people Ishmael had with him saw Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were with him, they were glad.

¹⁴All the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah.

¹⁵But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and fled to the Ammonites.

¹⁶Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led away all the people of Mizpah who had survived, whom Johanan had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had assassinated Gedaliah son of Ahikam—the soldiers, women, children and court officials he had recovered from Gibeon.

¹⁷And they went on, stopping at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt

¹⁸to escape the Babylonians. They were afraid of them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.

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.