Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now it happened that while Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee), with the people crowding all around Him and listening to the word of God;

²that He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.

³He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little distance from the shore. And He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat.

⁴When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon [Peter], "Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch [of fish]."

⁵Simon replied, "Master, we worked hard all night [to the point of exhaustion] and caught nothing [in our nets], but at Your word I will [do as you say and] lower the nets [again]."

⁶When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets were [at the point of] breaking;

⁷so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats [with fish], so that they began to sink.

⁸But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"

⁹For he and all his companions were completely astounded at the catch of fish which they had taken;

¹⁰and so were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon [Peter]. Jesus said to Simon, "Have no fear; from now on you will be catching men!"

¹¹After they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].

¹²While Jesus was in one of the cities, there came a man covered with [an advanced case of] leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean and well."

¹³And Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." And immediately the leprosy left him.

¹⁴Jesus ordered him to tell no one [that he might happen to meet], "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your purification, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony (witness) to them [that this is a work of Messiah]."

¹⁵But the news about Him was spreading farther, and large crowds kept gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their illnesses.

¹⁶But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray [in seclusion].

¹⁷One day as He was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present with Him to heal.

¹⁸Some men came carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed, and they tried to bring him in and lay him down in front of Jesus.

¹⁹But finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof [and removed some tiles to make an opening] and lowered him through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.

²⁰When Jesus saw their [active] faith [springing from confidence in Him], He said, "Man, your sins are forgiven."

²¹The scribes and the Pharisees began to consider and question [the implications of what He had said], saying, "Who is this man who speaks blasphemies [by claiming the rights and prerogatives of God]? Who can forgive sins [that is, remove guilt, nullify sin's penalty, and assign righteousness] except God alone?"

²²But Jesus, knowing their [hostile] thoughts, answered them, "Why are you questioning [these things] in your hearts?

²³Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?

²⁴But, in order that you may know that the Son of Man (the Messiah) has authority and power on earth to forgive sins"—He said to the paralyzed man, "I say to you, get up, pick up your stretcher and go home."

²⁵He immediately stood up before them, picked up his stretcher, and went home glorifying and praising God.

²⁶They were all astonished, and they began glorifying God; and they were filled with [reverential] fear and kept saying, "We have seen wonderful and incredible things today!"

²⁷After this Jesus went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi (Matthew) sitting at the tax booth; and He said to him, "Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk]."

²⁸And he left everything behind and got up and began to follow Jesus [as His disciple].

²⁹Levi (Matthew) gave a great banquet for Him at his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining at the table with them.

³⁰The Pharisees and their scribes [seeing those with whom He was associating] began murmuring in discontent to His disciples, asking, "Why are you eating and drinking with the tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews]?"

³¹And Jesus replied to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but [only] those who are sick.

³²I did not come to call the [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see no need to repent], but sinners to repentance [to change their old way of thinking, to turn from sin and to seek God and His righteousness]."

³³Then they said to Him, "The disciples of John [the Baptist] often practice fasting and offer prayers [of special petition], and so do the disciples of the Pharisees; but Yours eat and drink."

³⁴Jesus said to them, "Can you make the wedding guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?

³⁵But days [for mourning] will come when the bridegroom is [forcefully] taken away from them. They will fast in those days."

³⁶He also told them a parable: "No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old one; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.

³⁷And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.

³⁸But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.

³⁹And no one, after drinking old wine, wishes for new; for he says, 'The old is fine.'"

¹When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev (the South country) heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim [the route traveled by the spies sent out by Moses], he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.

²So Israel made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If You will indeed hand over these people to me, then I will utterly destroy their cities."

³The LORD heard the voice of Israel and handed over the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called Hormah (dedicate to destruction).

⁴Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the [branch of the] Red Sea [called the Gulf of Aqabah], to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient, because [of the challenges] of the journey.

⁵So the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, nor is there any water, and we loathe this miserable food."

⁶Then the LORD sent fiery (burning) serpents among the people; and they bit the people, and many Israelites died.

⁷So the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD, so that He will remove the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent [of bronze] and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten will live when he looks at it."

⁹So Moses made a serpent of bronze and put it on the pole, and it happened that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

¹⁰Now the sons of Israel moved out and camped at Oboth.

¹¹They journeyed on from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness facing Moab, toward the sunrise.

¹²From there they set out and camped in the Wadi Zered.

¹³From there they journeyed on and camped on the other side of [the river] Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the boundary of the Amorites; for [the river] Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

¹⁴That is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: " Waheb in Suphah, And the wadis of the Arnon [River],

¹⁵And the slope of the wadis That stretches toward the site of Ar And leans to the border of Moab."

¹⁶From there the Israelites went on to Beer, that is the well where the LORD said to Moses, "Gather the people together and I will give them water."

¹⁷Then Israel sang this song, "Spring up, O well! Sing to it,

¹⁸The well which the leaders dug, Which the nobles of the people hollowed out With the scepter and with their staffs." And from the wilderness Israel journeyed to Mattanah,

¹⁹and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

²⁰and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah which looks down on the wasteland.

²¹Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying,

²²"Let me pass through your land; we will not turn away [from the road] into field or vineyard; we will not drink the water of the wells. We will go by the king's highway until we have crossed your border."

²³But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border. Instead Sihon gathered all his people together and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz, and he fought against Israel.

²⁴Then Israel struck the king of the Amorites with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the boundary of the Ammonites was strong.

²⁵Israel took all these cities, and settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its towns.

²⁶For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon.

²⁷That is why those who use proverbs say, "Come to Heshbon, Let the city of Sihon be built and established.

²⁸"For fire has gone out of Heshbon, A flame from the city of Sihon; It devoured Ar of Moab And the lords of the heights of the Arnon.

²⁹"Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Moab! You are destroyed, O people of [the god] Chemosh! Moab has given his sons as fugitives [that is, survivors of battle], And his daughters into captivity To Sihon king of the Amorites.

³⁰"We have shot them down [with arrows]; Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon, And we have laid them waste as far as Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba."

³¹Thus Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.

³²Now Moses sent men to spy out Jazer, and they overthrew its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

³³Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

³⁴But the LORD said to Moses, "Do not fear him, for I have handed over him and all his people and his land to you; and you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon."

³⁵So the sons of Israel killed Og and his sons and all his people, until there was no survivor left to him; and they took possession of his land.

¹Finally, my fellow believers, continue to rejoice and delight in the LORD. To write the same things again is no trouble for me, and it is a safeguard for you.

²Look out for the dogs [the Judaizers, the legalists], look out for the troublemakers, look out for the false circumcision [those who claim circumcision is necessary for salvation];

³for we [who are born-again have been reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, set apart for His purpose and] are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory and take pride and exult in Christ Jesus and place no confidence [in what we have or who we are] in the flesh—

⁴though I myself might have [some grounds for] confidence in the flesh [if I were pursuing salvation by works]. If anyone else thinks that he has reason to be confident in the flesh [that is, in his own efforts to achieve salvation], I have far more:

⁵circumcised when I was eight days old, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews [an exemplary Hebrew]; as to the [observance of the] Law, a Pharisee;

⁶as to my zeal [for Jewish tradition], a persecutor of the church; and as to righteousness [supposed right living] which [my fellow Jews believe] is in the Law, I proved myself blameless.

⁷But whatever former things were gains to me [as I thought then], these things [once regarded as advancements in merit] I have come to consider as loss [absolutely worthless] for the sake of Christ [and the purpose which He has given my life].

⁸But more than that, I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him—a joy unequaled]. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ,

⁹and may be found in Him [believing and relying on Him], not having any righteousness of my own derived from [my obedience to] the Law and its rituals, but [possessing] that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.

¹⁰And this, so that I may know Him [experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His Person more completely] and [in that same way experience] the power of His resurrection [which overflows and is active in believers], and [that I may share] the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed [inwardly into His likeness even] to His death [dying as He did];

¹¹so that I may attain to the resurrection [that will raise me] from the dead.

¹²Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own.

¹³Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

¹⁴I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵All of us who are mature [pursuing spiritual perfection] should have this attitude. And if in any respect you have a different attitude, that too God will make clear to you.

¹⁶Only let us stay true to what we have already attained.

¹⁷Brothers and sisters, together follow my example and observe those who live by the pattern we gave you.

¹⁸For there are many, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, who live as enemies of the cross of Christ [rejecting and opposing His way of salvation],

¹⁹whose fate is destruction, whose god is their belly [their worldly appetite, their sensuality, their vanity], and whose glory is in their shame—who focus their mind on earthly and temporal things.

²⁰But [we are different, because] our citizenship is in heaven. And from there we eagerly await [the coming of] the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;

²¹who, by exerting that power which enables Him even to subject everything to Himself, will [not only] transform [but completely refashion] our earthly bodies so that they will be like His glorious resurrected body.

¹"Man, who is born of a woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil.

²"Like a flower he comes forth and withers; He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.

³"You also open Your eyes upon him And bring him into judgment with Yourself.

⁴"Who can make a clean thing out of the unclean? No one!

⁵"Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You [in Your control], And You have made his limits so he cannot pass [his allotted time].

⁶"[O God] turn your gaze from him so that he may rest, Until he fulfills his day [on earth] like a hired man.

⁷"For there is hope for a tree, If it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And that the shoots of it will not cease nor fail, [but there is no such hope for man].

⁸"Though its roots grow old in the earth And its stump dies in the dry soil,

⁹Yet at the scent of water [the stump of the tree] will flourish And bring forth sprigs and shoots like a seedling.

¹⁰"But [the brave, strong] man must die and lie face down; Man breathes his last, and where is he?

¹¹"As water evaporates from the sea, And a river drains and dries up,

¹²So man lies down and does not rise [again]. Until the heavens are no longer, The dead will not awake nor be raised from their sleep.

¹³"Oh, that You would hide me in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, That You would set a definite time and then remember me [and in Your lovingkindness imprint me on your heart]!

¹⁴"If a man dies, will he live again? I will wait all the days of my struggle Until my change and release will come.

¹⁵"[Then] You will call, and I will answer You; You will long for [me] the work of Your hands.

¹⁶"But now You number [each of] my steps; You do not observe nor take note of my sin.

¹⁷"My transgression is sealed up in a bag, And You cover my wickedness [from Your view].

¹⁸"But as a mountain, if it falls, crumbles into nothing, And as the rock is moved from its place,

¹⁹Water wears away the stones, Its floods and torrents wash away the soil of the earth, So You [O Lord] destroy the hope of man.

²⁰"You prevail forever against him and overpower him, and he passes on; You change his appearance and send him away [from the presence of the living].

²¹"His sons achieve honor, and he does not know it; They become insignificant, and he is not aware of it.

²²"But his body [lamenting its decay] grieves in pain over it, And his soul mourns over [the loss of] himself."

¹A Psalm of David. I will give You thanks with all my heart; I sing praises to You before the [pagan] gods.

²I will bow down [in worship] toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word together with Your name.

³On the day I called, You answered me; And You made me bold and confident with [renewed] strength in my life.

⁴All the kings of the land will give thanks and praise You, O LORD, When they have heard of the promises of Your mouth [which were fulfilled].

⁵Yes, they will sing of the ways of the LORD [joyfully celebrating His wonderful acts], For great is the glory and majesty of the LORD.

⁶Though the LORD is exalted, He regards the lowly [and invites them into His fellowship]; But the proud and haughty He knows from a distance.

⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.

⁸The LORD will accomplish that which concerns me; Your [unwavering] lovingkindness, O LORD, endures forever— Do not abandon the works of Your own hands.

¹The wise woman builds her house [on a foundation of godly precepts, and her household thrives], But the foolish one [who lacks spiritual insight] tears it down with her own hands [by ignoring godly principles].

²He who walks in uprightness [reverently] fears the LORD [and obeys and worships Him with profound respect], But he who is devious in his ways despises Him.

³In the mouth of the [arrogant] fool [who rejects God] is a rod for his back, But the lips of the wise [when they speak with godly wisdom] will protect them.

⁴Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, But much revenue [because of good crops] comes by the strength of the ox.

⁵A faithful and trustworthy witness will not lie, But a false witness speaks lies.

⁶A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none [for his ears are closed to wisdom], But knowledge is easy for one who understands [because he is willing to learn].

⁷Leave the presence of a [shortsighted] fool, For you will not find knowledge or hear godly wisdom from his lips.

⁸The wisdom of the sensible is to understand his way, But the foolishness of [shortsighted] fools is deceit.

⁹Fools mock sin [but sin mocks the fools], But among the upright there is good will and the favor and blessing of God.

¹⁰The heart knows its own bitterness, And no stranger shares its joy.

¹¹The house of the wicked will be overthrown, But the tent of the upright will thrive.

¹²There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, But its end is the way of death.

¹³Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, And the end of joy may be grief.

¹⁴The backslider in heart will have his fill with his own [rotten] ways, But a good man will be satisfied with his ways [the godly thought and action which his heart pursues and in which he delights].

¹⁵The naive or inexperienced person [is easily misled and] believes every word he hears, But the prudent man [is discreet and astute and] considers well where he is going.

¹⁶A wise man suspects danger and cautiously avoids evil, But the fool is arrogant and careless.

¹⁷A quick-tempered man acts foolishly and without self-control, And a man of wicked schemes is hated.

¹⁸The naive [are unsophisticated and easy to exploit and] inherit foolishness, But the sensible [are thoughtful and far-sighted and] are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹The evil will bow down before the good, And the wicked [will bow down] at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰The poor man is hated even by his neighbor, But those who love the rich are many.

²¹He who despises his neighbor sins [against God and his fellow man], But happy [blessed and favored by God] is he who is gracious and merciful to the poor.

²²Do they not go astray who devise evil and wander from the way of righteousness? But kindness and truth will be to those who devise good.

²³In all labor there is profit, But mere talk leads only to poverty.

²⁴The crown of the wise is their wealth [of wisdom], But the foolishness of [closed-minded] fools is [nothing but] folly.

²⁵A truthful witness saves lives, But he who speaks lies is treacherous.

²⁶In the [reverent] fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And His children will [always] have a place of refuge.

²⁷The [reverent] fear of the LORD [that leads to obedience and worship] is a fountain of life, So that one may avoid the snares of death.

²⁸In a multitude of people is a king's glory, But in a lack of people is a [pretentious] prince's ruin.

²⁹He who is slow to anger has great understanding [and profits from his self-control], But he who is quick-tempered exposes and exalts his foolishness [for all to see].

³⁰A calm and peaceful and tranquil heart is life and health to the body, But passion and envy are like rottenness to the bones.

³¹He who oppresses the poor taunts and insults his Maker, But he who is kind and merciful and gracious to the needy honors Him.

³²The wicked is overthrown through his wrongdoing, But the righteous has hope and confidence and a refuge [with God] even in death.

³³Wisdom rests [silently] in the heart of one who has understanding, But what is in the heart of [shortsighted] fools is made known.

³⁴Righteousness [moral and spiritual integrity and virtuous character] exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.

³⁵The king's favor and good will are toward a servant who acts wisely and discreetly, But his anger and wrath are toward him who acts shamefully.

¹In the seventh year of Jehu [king of Israel], Jehoash became king [over Judah], and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.

²Jehoash did right in the sight of the LORD all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

³Only the high places were not removed; the people were still sacrificing and burning incense [to the LORD] on the high places [rather than at the temple].

⁴Jehoash said to the priests, "All the money for the dedicated things which is brought into the house of the LORD, in current money, both the money of each man's assessment [for all those bound by vows], and all the money which any man's heart prompts him to bring into the house (temple) of the LORD,

⁵let the priests receive such contributions for themselves, each from his acquaintance; and they shall repair any breach in the house of the Lord, wherever a breach is found."

⁶But it came about in the twenty-third year of [the reign of] King Jehoash, that the priests still had not repaired the damages of the Lord's house.

⁷Then King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest and the [other] priests and said to them, "Why are you not repairing the damage of the house (temple)? Now then, do not take any more money from your acquaintances, but turn it all over for [the repair of] the damages of the house." [You are no longer responsible for this work. I will take it into my own hands.]

⁸So the priests agreed that they would receive no [more] money from the people, nor [be responsible to] repair the damages of the house.

⁹Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one enters the house of the LORD; and the priests who guarded the door put in the chest all the money that was brought [by the people] into the house of the LORD.

¹⁰And whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the king's scribe and the high priest came up and tied it in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of the LORD.

¹¹Then they gave the money, which was weighed out into the hands of those who were doing the work, who had the oversight of the house of the LORD; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house (temple) of the LORD,

¹²and to the masons and stonecutters, and to buy timber and hewn (cut) stone to repair any breach in the house of the LORD, and for all that was laid out for repairing the house.

¹³However, there were not made for the house of the LORD basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, any gold containers or [other] silver containers, from the money that was brought into the house of the LORD;

¹⁴but they gave that to those who did the work, and with it they repaired the house of the LORD.

¹⁵Moreover, they did not require an accounting from the men into whose hands they placed the money to be paid to those who did the work, for they acted in good faith.

¹⁶Money from the guilt offerings and money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the LORD [for repairs]; it was for the priests.

¹⁷Then Hazael king of Aram (Syria) went up, fought against Gath [in Philistia], and captured it. And Hazael resolved to go up to Jerusalem.

¹⁸So Jehoash the king of Judah took all the sacred things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house (temple) of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram; and Hazael departed from Jerusalem.

¹⁹Now the rest of the acts of Joash and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

²⁰His servants arose and formed a conspiracy [against him] and struck down Joash [in revenge] at the house of Millo, [on the way] that goes down to Silla.

²¹For Jozacar (Jozachar) the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him and he died; and they buried Joash with his fathers in the City of David. Amaziah his son became king in his place.

¹And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, how is the wood of the grapevine (Israel) better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest?

³Can wood be taken from it to make any object? Or can men take a peg from it on which to hang any vessel?

⁴If it has been thrown into the fire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends and the middle section has been charred, is it suitable or useful for anything?

⁵Notice this, even when it was complete, it was not useful and was not made into anything. How much less, after the fire has burned [part of] it and [the remainder of] it is charred, can it still be made into anything?

⁶Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Like the wood of the grapevine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the people of Jerusalem;

⁷and I set My face against them. Though they have come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD, when I set My face against them.

⁸'I will make the land desolate (ruined, deserted), because they have acted unfaithfully [through their idolatry],' says the Lord GOD."

¹Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You are [now] permitted to speak on your own behalf." At that, Paul stretched out his hand [as an orator] and made his defense [as follows]:

²"I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, since it is before you that I am to make my defense today regarding all the charges brought against me by the Jews,

³especially because you are an expert [fully knowledgeable, experienced and unusually conversant] in all the Jewish customs and controversial issues; therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴"So then, all the Jews know my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation [the Jewish people], and in Jerusalem.

⁵They have known me for a long time, if they are willing to testify to it, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I have lived as a Pharisee.

⁶And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.

⁷Which hope [of the Messiah and the resurrection] our twelve tribes [confidently] expect to realize as they serve and worship God in earnest night and day. And for this hope, O King, I am being accused by Jews!

⁸Why is it thought incredible by [any of] you that God raises the dead?

⁹"So then, I [once] thought to myself that it was my duty to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; I not only locked up many of the saints (God's people) in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.

¹¹And I often punished them [making them suffer] in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme; and in my extreme rage at them, I kept hunting them even to foreign cities [harassing and persecuting them].

¹²"While so engaged, as I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission and full power of the chief priests,

¹³at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven surpassing the brightness of the sun, shining all around me and those who were traveling with me.

¹⁴And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice in the Hebrew dialect (Jewish Aramaic) saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick [repeatedly] against the goads [offering pointless resistance].'

¹⁵And I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

¹⁶Get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you [to serve] as a minister and as a witness [to testify, with authority,] not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you,

¹⁷[choosing you for Myself and] rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,

¹⁸to open their [spiritual] eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness and release from their sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified (set apart, made holy) by faith in Me.'

¹⁹"So, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

²⁰but I openly proclaimed first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent [change their inner self—their old way of thinking] and turn to God, doing deeds and living lives which are consistent with repentance.

²¹Because of this some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

²²But I have had help from God to this day, and I stand [before people] testifying to small and great alike, stating nothing except what the Prophets and Moses said would come to pass—

²³that the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) was to suffer, and that He by being the first to rise from the dead [with an incorruptible body] would proclaim light (salvation) both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."

²⁴While Paul was making this defense, Festus said loudly, "Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great education is turning you toward madness."

²⁵But Paul replied, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent and noble Festus, but [with a sound mind] I am uttering rational words of truth and reason.

²⁶For [your majesty] the king understands these things, and [therefore] I am also speaking to him with confidence and boldness, since I am convinced that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner [hidden from view, in secret].

²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the [writings of the] Prophets [their messages and words]? I know that you do."

²⁸Then Agrippa said to Paul, "In a short time [and with so little effort] you [almost] persuade me to become a Christian."

²⁹And Paul replied, "Whether in a short time or long, I wish to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become such as I am, except for these chains."

³⁰Then the king stood up, and [with him] the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them;

³¹and after they had gone out, they began saying to one another, "This man is not doing anything worthy of death or [even] of imprisonment."

³²And Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar (Emperor Nero)."