Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

²After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

³And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

⁴and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’

⁵So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.

⁶And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’

⁷They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

⁸And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’

⁹And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.

¹⁰Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius.

¹¹And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house,

¹²saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’

¹³But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

¹⁴Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.

¹⁵ Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’

¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first last.”

¹⁷And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them,

¹⁸“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death

¹⁹and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

²⁰Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something.

²¹And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”

²²Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.”

²³He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

²⁴And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers.

²⁵But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.

²⁶ It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,

²⁷and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,

²⁸even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

²⁹And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him.

³⁰And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

³¹The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

³²And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³³They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.”

³⁴And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

¹And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.

³Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.

⁴Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God.

⁵“When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.

⁶It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire.

⁷If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is tainted; it will not be accepted,

⁸and everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned what is holy to the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from his people.

⁹“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest.

¹⁰And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.

¹¹“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.

¹²You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.

¹³“You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning.

¹⁴You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.

¹⁵“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

¹⁶You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.

¹⁷“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.

¹⁸You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

¹⁹“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.

²⁰“If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free;

²¹but he shall bring his compensation to the LORD, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering.

²²And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the LORD for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed.

²³“When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten.

²⁴And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD.

²⁵But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the LORD your God.

²⁶“You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes.

²⁷You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.

²⁸You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the LORD.

²⁹“Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity.

³⁰You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.

³¹“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.

³²“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.

³³“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.

³⁴You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

³⁵“You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity.

³⁶You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

³⁷And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the LORD.”

¹Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,

²and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.

³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

⁶Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

⁸Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

⁹For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

¹¹Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

¹²Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

¹³But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

¹⁵We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

¹⁹If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

²¹For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

²²For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

²³But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

²⁴Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

²⁵For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

²⁷For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.

²⁸When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

²⁹Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?

³⁰Why are we in danger every hour?

³¹I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!

³²What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

³⁴Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

³⁵But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”

³⁶You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

³⁷And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

³⁸But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

³⁹For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

⁴⁰There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.

⁴¹There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

⁴²So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.

⁴³It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

⁴⁴It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

⁴⁵Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

⁴⁶But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.

⁴⁷The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

⁴⁸As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.

⁴⁹Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

⁵⁰I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

⁵¹Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

⁵³For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

⁵⁴When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

¹The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

²who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

³Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

⁴John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,

⁵and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

⁶and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

⁷Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

⁸“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

⁹I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

¹⁰I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet

¹¹saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

¹²Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,

¹³and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

¹⁴The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,

¹⁵his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

¹⁶In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,

¹⁸and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

¹⁹ Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.

²⁰As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

¹Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.

²Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

³For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words.

⁴When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow.

⁵It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.

⁶Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?

⁷For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.

⁸If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.

⁹But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.

¹⁰He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.

¹¹When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?

¹²Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.

¹³There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt,

¹⁴and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand.

¹⁵As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.

¹⁶This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind?

¹⁷Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.

¹⁸Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.

¹⁹Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil — this is the gift of God.

²⁰For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

¹Be not silent, O God of my praise!

²For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues.

³They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.

⁴In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer.

⁵So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

⁶Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand at his right hand.

⁷When he is tried, let him come forth guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin!

⁸May his days be few; may another take his office!

⁹May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow!

¹⁰May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!

¹¹May the creditor seize all that he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!

¹²Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children!

¹³May his posterity be cut off; may his name be blotted out in the second generation!

¹⁴May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!

¹⁵Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!

¹⁶For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.

¹⁷He loved to curse; let curses come upon him! He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him!

¹⁸He clothed himself with cursing as his coat; may it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones!

¹⁹May it be like a garment that he wraps around him, like a belt that he puts on every day!

²⁰May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD, of those who speak evil against my life!

²¹But you, O GOD my Lord, deal on my behalf for your name's sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!

²²For I am poor and needy, and my heart is stricken within me.

²³I am gone like a shadow at evening; I am shaken off like a locust.

²⁴My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt, with no fat.

²⁵I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they wag their heads.

²⁶Help me, O LORD my God! Save me according to your steadfast love!

²⁷Let them know that this is your hand; you, O LORD, have done it!

²⁸Let them curse, but you will bless! They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!

²⁹May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!

³⁰With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD; I will praise him in the midst of the throng.

³¹For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.

¹The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

²All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.

³Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

⁴The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

⁵Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished.

⁶By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.

⁷When a man's ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

⁸Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice.

⁹The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

¹⁰An oracle is on the lips of a king; his mouth does not sin in judgment.

¹¹A just balance and scales are the LORD's; all the weights in the bag are his work.

¹²It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness.

¹³Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves him who speaks what is right.

¹⁴A king's wrath is a messenger of death, and a wise man will appease it.

¹⁵In the light of a king's face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.

¹⁶How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

¹⁷The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life.

¹⁸Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

¹⁹It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.

²⁰Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.

²¹The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.

²²Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly.

²³The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips.

²⁴Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

²⁵There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

²⁶A worker's appetite works for him; his mouth urges him on.

²⁷A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.

²⁸A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.

²⁹A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good.

³⁰Whoever winks his eyes plans dishonest things; he who purses his lips brings evil to pass.

³¹Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.

³²Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

³³The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

¹Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram always loved David.

²And Solomon sent word to Hiram,

³“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet.

⁴But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune.

⁵And so I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’

⁶Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

⁷As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the LORD this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.”

⁸And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I am ready to do all you desire in the matter of cedar and cypress timber.

⁹My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct. And I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it. And you shall meet my wishes by providing food for my household.”

¹⁰So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired,

¹¹while Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, and 20,000 cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year.

¹²And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

¹³King Solomon drafted forced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men.

¹⁴And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the draft.

¹⁵Solomon also had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country,

¹⁶besides Solomon's 3,300 chief officers who were over the work, who had charge of the people who carried on the work.

¹⁷At the king's command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones.

¹⁸So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.

¹When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the LORD their God, with which the LORD their God had sent him to them,

²Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The LORD our God did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’

³but Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.”

⁴So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the LORD, to remain in the land of Judah.

⁵But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven —

⁶the men, the women, the children, the princesses, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah.

⁷And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the LORD. And they arrived at Tahpanhes.

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes:

⁹“Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah,

¹⁰and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them.

¹¹He shall come and strike the land of Egypt, giving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword.

¹²I shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace.

¹³He shall break the obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.’”

¹Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.

²And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him,

³asking as a favor against Paul that he summon him to Jerusalem — because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way.

⁴Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly.

⁵“So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.”

⁶After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.

⁷When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove.

⁸Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.”

⁹But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?”

¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar's tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well.

¹¹If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.”

¹²Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.”

¹³Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus.

¹⁴And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, “There is a man left prisoner by Felix,

¹⁵and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.

¹⁶I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone before the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him.

¹⁷So when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought.

¹⁸When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed.

¹⁹Rather they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.

²⁰Being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them.

²¹But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.”

²²Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” said he, “you will hear him.”

²³So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

²⁴And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.

²⁵But I found that he had done nothing deserving death. And as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him.

²⁶But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write.

²⁷For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.”