Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us.

²They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples.

³Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write an accurate account for you, most honorable Theophilus,

⁴so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.

⁵When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron.

⁶Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations.

⁷They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.

⁸One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week.

⁹As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.

¹⁰While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying.

¹¹While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar.

¹²Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him.

¹³But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John.

¹⁴You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,

¹⁵for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.

¹⁶And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God.

¹⁷He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”

¹⁸Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”

¹⁹Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news!

²⁰But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.”

²¹Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah to come out of the sanctuary, wondering why he was taking so long.

²²When he finally did come out, he couldn’t speak to them. Then they realized from his gestures and his silence that he must have seen a vision in the sanctuary.

²³When Zechariah’s week of service in the Temple was over, he returned home.

²⁴Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months.

²⁵“How kind the Lord is!” she exclaimed. “He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.”

²⁶In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee,

²⁷to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.

²⁸Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! ”

²⁹Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.

³⁰“Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God!

³¹You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.

³²He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.

³³And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

³⁴Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

³⁵The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

³⁶What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month.

³⁷For the word of God will never fail. ”

³⁸Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

³⁹A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town

⁴⁰where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

⁴²Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed.

⁴³Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me?

⁴⁴When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy.

⁴⁵You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”

⁴⁶Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.

⁴⁷How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

⁴⁸For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed.

⁴⁹For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me.

⁵⁰He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him.

⁵¹His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.

⁵²He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble.

⁵³He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands.

⁵⁴He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful.

⁵⁵For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.”

⁵⁶Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.

⁵⁷When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son.

⁵⁸And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her.

⁵⁹When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father.

⁶⁰But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!”

⁶¹“What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.”

⁶²So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him.

⁶³He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.”

⁶⁴Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.

⁶⁵Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills.

⁶⁶Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.

⁶⁷Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:

⁶⁸“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people.

⁶⁹He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David,

⁷⁰just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago.

⁷¹Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us.

⁷²He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant —

⁷³the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham.

⁷⁴We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear,

⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.

⁷⁶“And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord.

⁷⁷You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins.

⁷⁸Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,

⁷⁹to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”

⁸⁰John grew up and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.

¹Then the LORD said to Moses,

²“Tell the people of Israel to bring you twelve wooden staffs, one from each leader of Israel’s ancestral tribes, and inscribe each leader’s name on his staff.

³Inscribe Aaron’s name on the staff of the tribe of Levi, for there must be one staff for the leader of each ancestral tribe.

⁴Place these staffs in the Tabernacle in front of the Ark containing the tablets of the Covenant, where I meet with you.

⁵Buds will sprout on the staff belonging to the man I choose. Then I will finally put an end to the people’s murmuring and complaining against you.”

⁶So Moses gave the instructions to the people of Israel, and each of the twelve tribal leaders, including Aaron, brought Moses a staff.

⁷Moses placed the staffs in the LORD’s presence in the Tabernacle of the Covenant.

⁸When he went into the Tabernacle of the Covenant the next day, he found that Aaron’s staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds!

⁹When Moses brought all the staffs out from the LORD’s presence, he showed them to the people. Each man claimed his own staff.

¹⁰And the LORD said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant to serve as a warning to rebels. This should put an end to their complaints against me and prevent any further deaths.”

¹¹So Moses did as the LORD commanded him.

¹²Then the people of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we are doomed! We are dead! We are ruined!

¹³Everyone who even comes close to the Tabernacle of the LORD dies. Are we all doomed to die?”

¹Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

²Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

³Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.

⁴Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes — these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.

⁵You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

⁶Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.

⁷Don’t participate in the things these people do.

⁸For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!

⁹For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

¹⁰Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.

¹¹Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

¹²It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.

¹³But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them,

¹⁴for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

¹⁵So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.

¹⁶Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.

¹⁷Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

¹⁸Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,

¹⁹singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.

²⁰And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²¹And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²²For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

²³For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.

²⁴As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

²⁵For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her

²⁶to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.

²⁷He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

²⁸In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.

²⁹No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.

³⁰And we are members of his body.

³¹As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”

³²This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.

³³So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

¹“I am disgusted with my life. Let me complain freely. My bitter soul must complain.

²I will say to God, ‘Don’t simply condemn me — tell me the charge you are bringing against me.

³What do you gain by oppressing me? Why do you reject me, the work of your own hands, while smiling on the schemes of the wicked?

⁴Are your eyes like those of a human? Do you see things only as people see them?

⁵Is your lifetime only as long as ours? Is your life so short

⁶that you must quickly probe for my guilt and search for my sin?

⁷Although you know I am not guilty, no one can rescue me from your hands.

⁸“‘You formed me with your hands; you made me, yet now you completely destroy me.

⁹Remember that you made me from dust — will you turn me back to dust so soon?

¹⁰You guided my conception and formed me in the womb.

¹¹You clothed me with skin and flesh, and you knit my bones and sinews together.

¹²You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care.

¹³“‘Yet your real motive — your true intent —

¹⁴was to watch me, and if I sinned, you would not forgive my guilt.

¹⁵If I am guilty, too bad for me; and even if I’m innocent, I can’t hold my head high, because I am filled with shame and misery.

¹⁶And if I hold my head high, you hunt me like a lion and display your awesome power against me.

¹⁷Again and again you witness against me. You pour out your growing anger on me and bring fresh armies against me.

¹⁸“‘Why, then, did you deliver me from my mother’s womb? Why didn’t you let me die at birth?

¹⁹It would be as though I had never existed, going directly from the womb to the grave.

²⁰I have only a few days left, so leave me alone, that I may have a moment of comfort

²¹before I leave — never to return — for the land of darkness and utter gloom.

²²It is a land as dark as midnight, a land of gloom and confusion, where even the light is dark as midnight.’”

¹Oh, praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, you who serve at night in the house of the LORD.

²Lift your hands toward the sanctuary, and praise the LORD.

³May the LORD, who made heaven and earth, bless you from Jerusalem.

¹The proverbs of Solomon: A wise child brings joy to a father; a foolish child brings grief to a mother.

²Tainted wealth has no lasting value, but right living can save your life.

³The LORD will not let the godly go hungry, but he refuses to satisfy the craving of the wicked.

⁴Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.

⁵A wise youth harvests in the summer, but one who sleeps during harvest is a disgrace.

⁶The godly are showered with blessings; the words of the wicked conceal violent intentions.

⁷We have happy memories of the godly, but the name of a wicked person rots away.

⁸The wise are glad to be instructed, but babbling fools fall flat on their faces.

⁹People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed.

¹⁰People who wink at wrong cause trouble, but a bold reproof promotes peace.

¹¹The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain; the words of the wicked conceal violent intentions.

¹²Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses.

¹³Wise words come from the lips of people with understanding, but those lacking sense will be beaten with a rod.

¹⁴Wise people treasure knowledge, but the babbling of a fool invites disaster.

¹⁵The wealth of the rich is their fortress; the poverty of the poor is their destruction.

¹⁶The earnings of the godly enhance their lives, but evil people squander their money on sin.

¹⁷People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life, but those who ignore correction will go astray.

¹⁸Hiding hatred makes you a liar; slandering others makes you a fool.

¹⁹Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

²⁰The words of the godly are like sterling silver; the heart of a fool is worthless.

²¹The words of the godly encourage many, but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense.

²²The blessing of the LORD makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.

²³Doing wrong is fun for a fool, but living wisely brings pleasure to the sensible.

²⁴The fears of the wicked will be fulfilled; the hopes of the godly will be granted.

²⁵When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation.

²⁶Lazy people irritate their employers, like vinegar to the teeth or smoke in the eyes.

²⁷Fear of the LORD lengthens one’s life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.

²⁸The hopes of the godly result in happiness, but the expectations of the wicked come to nothing.

²⁹The way of the LORD is a stronghold to those with integrity, but it destroys the wicked.

³⁰The godly will never be disturbed, but the wicked will be removed from the land.

³¹The mouth of the godly person gives wise advice, but the tongue that deceives will be cut off.

³²The lips of the godly speak helpful words, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perverse words.

¹Elisha had told the woman whose son he had brought back to life, “Take your family and move to some other place, for the LORD has called for a famine on Israel that will last for seven years.”

²So the woman did as the man of God instructed. She took her family and settled in the land of the Philistines for seven years.

³After the famine ended she returned from the land of the Philistines, and she went to see the king about getting back her house and land.

⁴As she came in, the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God. The king had just said, “Tell me some stories about the great things Elisha has done.”

⁵And Gehazi was telling the king about the time Elisha had brought a boy back to life. At that very moment, the mother of the boy walked in to make her appeal to the king about her house and land. “Look, my lord the king!” Gehazi exclaimed. “Here is the woman now, and this is her son — the very one Elisha brought back to life!”

⁶“Is this true?” the king asked her. And she told him the story. So he directed one of his officials to see that everything she had lost was restored to her, including the value of any crops that had been harvested during her absence.

⁷Elisha went to Damascus, the capital of Aram, where King Ben-hadad lay sick. When someone told the king that the man of God had come,

⁸the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift to the man of God. Then tell him to ask the LORD, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

⁹So Hazael loaded down forty camels with the finest products of Damascus as a gift for Elisha. He went to him and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

¹⁰And Elisha replied, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover.’ But actually the LORD has shown me that he will surely die!”

¹¹Elisha stared at Hazael with a fixed gaze until Hazael became uneasy. Then the man of God started weeping.

¹²“What’s the matter, my lord?” Hazael asked him. Elisha replied, “I know the terrible things you will do to the people of Israel. You will burn their fortified cities, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women!”

¹³Hazael responded, “How could a nobody like me ever accomplish such great things?” Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you are going to be the king of Aram.”

¹⁴When Hazael left Elisha and went back, the king asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?” And Hazael replied, “He told me that you will surely recover.”

¹⁵But the next day Hazael took a blanket, soaked it in water, and held it over the king’s face until he died. Then Hazael became the next king of Aram.

¹⁶Jehoram son of King Jehoshaphat of Judah began to rule over Judah in the fifth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab, king of Israel.

¹⁷Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.

¹⁸But Jehoram followed the example of the kings of Israel and was as wicked as King Ahab, for he had married one of Ahab’s daughters. So Jehoram did what was evil in the LORD’s sight.

¹⁹But the LORD did not want to destroy Judah, for he had promised his servant David that his descendants would continue to rule, shining like a lamp forever.

²⁰During Jehoram’s reign, the Edomites revolted against Judah and crowned their own king.

²¹So Jehoram went with all his chariots to attack the town of Zair. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he went out at night and attacked them under cover of darkness. But Jehoram’s army deserted him and fled to their homes.

²²So Edom has been independent from Judah to this day. The town of Libnah also revolted about that same time.

²³The rest of the events in Jehoram’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.

²⁴When Jehoram died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Ahaziah became the next king.

²⁵Ahaziah son of Jehoram began to rule over Judah in the twelfth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab, king of Israel.

²⁶Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother was Athaliah, a granddaughter of King Omri of Israel.

²⁷Ahaziah followed the evil example of King Ahab’s family. He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, just as Ahab’s family had done, for he was related by marriage to the family of Ahab.

²⁸Ahaziah joined Joram son of Ahab in his war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. When the Arameans wounded King Joram in the battle,

²⁹he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he had received at Ramoth. Because Joram was wounded, King Ahaziah of Judah went to Jezreel to visit him.

¹Then the Spirit lifted me and brought me to the east gateway of the LORD’s Temple, where I saw twenty-five prominent men of the city. Among them were Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, who were leaders among the people.

²The Spirit said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who are planning evil and giving wicked counsel in this city.

³They say to the people, ‘Is it not a good time to build houses? This city is like an iron pot. We are safe inside it like meat in a pot. ’

⁴Therefore, son of man, prophesy against them loudly and clearly.”

⁵Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon me, and he told me to say, “This is what the LORD says to the people of Israel: I know what you are saying, for I know every thought that comes into your minds.

⁶You have murdered many in this city and filled its streets with the dead.

⁷“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: This city is an iron pot all right, but the pieces of meat are the victims of your injustice. As for you, I will soon drag you from this pot.

⁸I will bring on you the sword of war you so greatly fear, says the Sovereign LORD.

⁹I will drive you out of Jerusalem and hand you over to foreigners, who will carry out my judgments against you.

¹⁰You will be slaughtered all the way to the borders of Israel. I will execute judgment on you, and you will know that I am the LORD.

¹¹No, this city will not be an iron pot for you, and you will not be like meat safe inside it. I will judge you even to the borders of Israel,

¹²and you will know that I am the LORD. For you have refused to obey my decrees and regulations; instead, you have copied the standards of the nations around you.”

¹³While I was still prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah suddenly died. Then I fell face down on the ground and cried out, “O Sovereign LORD, are you going to kill everyone in Israel?”

¹⁴Then this message came to me from the LORD:

¹⁵“Son of man, the people still left in Jerusalem are talking about you and your relatives and all the people of Israel who are in exile. They are saying, ‘Those people are far away from the LORD, so now he has given their land to us!’

¹⁶“Therefore, tell the exiles, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Although I have scattered you in the countries of the world, I will be a sanctuary to you during your time in exile.

¹⁷I, the Sovereign LORD, will gather you back from the nations where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel once again.’

¹⁸“When the people return to their homeland, they will remove every trace of their vile images and detestable idols.

¹⁹And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart,

²⁰so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.

²¹But as for those who long for vile images and detestable idols, I will repay them fully for their sins. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

²²Then the cherubim lifted their wings and rose into the air with their wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them.

²³Then the glory of the LORD went up from the city and stopped above the mountain to the east.

²⁴Afterward the Spirit of God carried me back again to Babylonia, to the people in exile there. And so ended the vision of my visit to Jerusalem.

²⁵And I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.

¹“Brothers and esteemed fathers,” Paul said, “listen to me as I offer my defense.”

²When they heard him speaking in their own language, the silence was even greater.

³Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today.

⁴And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison.

⁵The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the followers of the Way from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished.

⁶“As I was on the road, approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me.

⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

⁸“‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting.’

⁹The people with me saw the light but didn’t understand the voice speaking to me.

¹⁰“I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ “And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are to do.’

¹¹“I was blinded by the intense light and had to be led by the hand to Damascus by my companions.

¹²A man named Ananias lived there. He was a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all the Jews of Damascus.

¹³He came and stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And that very moment I could see him!

¹⁴“Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak.

¹⁵For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’

¹⁷“After I returned to Jerusalem, I was praying in the Temple and fell into a trance.

¹⁸I saw a vision of Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹“‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.

²⁰And I was in complete agreement when your witness Stephen was killed. I stood by and kept the coats they took off when they stoned him.’

²¹“But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”

²²The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, “Away with such a fellow! He isn’t fit to live!”

²³They yelled, threw off their coats, and tossed handfuls of dust into the air.

²⁴The commander brought Paul inside and ordered him lashed with whips to make him confess his crime. He wanted to find out why the crowd had become so furious.

²⁵When they tied Paul down to lash him, Paul said to the officer standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried?”

²⁶When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”

²⁷So the commander went over and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I certainly am,” Paul replied.

²⁸“I am, too,” the commander muttered, “and it cost me plenty!” Paul answered, “But I am a citizen by birth!”

²⁹The soldiers who were about to interrogate Paul quickly withdrew when they heard he was a Roman citizen, and the commander was frightened because he had ordered him bound and whipped.

³⁰The next day the commander ordered the leading priests into session with the Jewish high council. He wanted to find out what the trouble was all about, so he released Paul to have him stand before them.