Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹As Jesus passed by, He saw a man who had been blind from birth.

²And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”

³Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

⁴We must carry out the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

⁵While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”

⁶When He had said this, He spit on the ground, and made mud from the saliva, and applied the mud to his eyes,

⁷and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he left and washed, and came back seeing.

⁸So the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is this not the one who used to sit and beg?”

⁹Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” The man himself kept saying, “I am the one.”

¹⁰So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?”

¹¹He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made mud, and spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.”

¹²And they said to him, “Where is He?” He *said, “I do not know.”

¹³They *brought the man who was previously blind to the Pharisees.

¹⁴Now it was a Sabbath on the day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.

¹⁵Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied mud to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

¹⁶Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was dissension among them.

¹⁷So they *said again to the man who was blind, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸The Jews then did not believe it about him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight,

¹⁹and they questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?”

²⁰His parents then answered and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;

²¹but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.”

²²His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already reached the decision that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be excommunicated from the synagogue.

²³It was for this reason that his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴So for a second time they summoned the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.”

²⁵He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

²⁶So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”

²⁷He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?”

²⁸They spoke abusively to him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.”

³⁰The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is the amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes!

³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if someone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him.

³²Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.

³³If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

³⁴They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and yet you are teaching us?” So they put him out.

³⁵Jesus heard that they had put him out, and upon finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶He answered by saying, “And who is He, Sir, that I may believe in Him?”

³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.”

³⁸And he said, “I believe, Lord.” And he worshiped Him.

³⁹And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

⁴⁰Those who were with Him from the Pharisees heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?”

⁴¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now that you maintain, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

¹“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder,

²and the sign or the wonder comes true, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let’s follow other gods (whom you have not known) and let’s serve them,’

³you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

⁴You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.

⁵But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken falsely against the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to drive you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall eliminate the evil from among you.

⁶“If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is like your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let’s go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known,

⁷of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you, or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end),

⁸you shall not consent to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him.

⁹Instead, you shall most certainly kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people.

¹⁰So you shall stone him to death, because he has attempted to drive you away from the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

¹¹Then all Israel will hear about it and be afraid, and will not do such a wicked thing among you again.

¹²“If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that

¹³some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let’s go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known),

¹⁴then you shall investigate, search out, and inquire thoroughly. And if it is true and the matter is certain that this abomination has been committed among you,

¹⁵you shall most certainly strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. Utterly destroy it and all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword.

¹⁶Then you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of its public square, and burn the city and all its plunder with fire as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God; and it shall be a ruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt.

¹⁷Nothing at all from what is designated for destruction is to cling to your hand, in order that the LORD may turn from His burning anger and show mercy to you, and have compassion on you and make you increase, just as He has sworn to your fathers,

¹⁸if you will listen to the voice of the LORD your God, keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God.

¹Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.

²For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.

³For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

⁴For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

⁵For Moses writes of the righteousness that is based on the Law, that the person who performs them will live by them.

⁶But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL GO UP INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down),

⁷or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”

⁸But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,

⁹that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

¹⁰for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

¹¹For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.”

¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;

¹³for “EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

¹⁴How then are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?

¹⁵But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written: “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”

¹⁶However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?”

¹⁷So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

¹⁸But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? On the contrary: “THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.”

¹⁹But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, “I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS WITH those who are not a nation, WITH A FOOLISH NATION I WILL ANGER YOU.”

²⁰And Isaiah is very bold and says, “I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I REVEALED MYSELF TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.”

²¹But as for Israel, He says, “I HAVE SPREAD OUT MY HANDS ALL DAY LONG TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE.”

¹What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—

²and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us—

³what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

⁴These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

⁵This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

⁶If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;

⁷but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

⁸If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

¹Then Job answered the LORD and said,

²“I know that You can do all things, And that no plan is impossible for You.

³‘Who is this who conceals advice without knowledge?’ Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I do not know.

⁴‘Please listen, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’

⁵I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You;

⁶Therefore I retract, And I repent, sitting on dust and ashes.”

⁷It came about after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, as My servant Job has.

⁸Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so as not to do with you as your foolishness deserves, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, as My servant Job has.”

⁹So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job.

¹⁰The LORD also restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased double all that Job had.

¹¹Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they sympathized with him and comforted him for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him. And each one gave him a piece of money, and each a ring of gold.

¹²The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys.

¹³He also had seven sons and three daughters.

¹⁴He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.

¹⁵In all the land no women were found as beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritances among their brothers.

¹⁶After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations.

¹⁷And Job died, an old man and full of days.

¹Protect me, God, for I take refuge in You.

²I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have nothing good besides You.”

³As for the saints who are on the earth, They are the majestic ones; all my delight is in them.

⁴The pains of those who have acquired another god will be multiplied; I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips.

⁵The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot.

⁶The measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; Indeed, my inheritance is beautiful to me.

⁷I will bless the LORD who has advised me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.

⁸I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

⁹Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely.

¹⁰For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

¹¹You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

¹A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.

²When pride comes, then comes dishonor; But with the humble there is wisdom.

³The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the treacherous will destroy them.

⁴Riches do not benefit on the day of wrath, But righteousness rescues from death.

⁵The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.

⁶The righteousness of the upright will rescue them, But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.

⁷When a wicked person dies, his expectation will perish, And the hope of strong people perishes.

⁸The righteous is rescued from trouble, But the wicked takes his place.

⁹With his mouth the godless person destroys his neighbor, But through knowledge the righteous will be rescued.

¹⁰When things go well for the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.

¹¹By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, But by the mouth of the wicked, it is torn down.

¹²One who despises his neighbor lacks sense, But a person of understanding keeps silent.

¹³One who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, But one who is trustworthy conceals a matter.

¹⁴Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in an abundance of counselors there is victory.

¹⁵One who is a guarantor for a stranger will certainly suffer for it, But one who hates being a guarantor is secure.

¹⁶A gracious woman attains honor, And ruthless men attain riches.

¹⁷A merciful person does himself good, But the cruel person does himself harm.

¹⁸A wicked person earns deceptive wages, But one who sows righteousness gets a true reward.

¹⁹One who is steadfast in righteousness attains life, But one who pursues evil attains his own death.

²⁰The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, But the blameless in their walk are His delight.

²¹Be assured, the evil person will not go unpunished, But the descendants of the righteous will be rescued.

²²As a ring of gold in a pig’s snout So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

²³The desire of the righteous is only good, But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

²⁴There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in poverty.

²⁵A generous person will be prosperous, And one who gives others plenty of water will himself be given plenty.

²⁶One who withholds grain, the people will curse him, But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.

²⁷One who diligently seeks good seeks favor, But one who seeks evil, evil will come to him.

²⁸One who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.

²⁹One who troubles his own house will inherit wind, And the foolish will be servant to the wise-hearted.

³⁰The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And one who is wise gains souls.

³¹If the righteous will be repaid on the earth, How much more the wicked and the sinner!

¹Now David built houses for himself in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.

²Then David said, “No one is to carry the ark of God except the Levites; for the LORD chose them to carry the ark of the LORD and to serve Him forever.”

³And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to its place which he had prepared for it.

⁴David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites:

⁵of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and 120 of his relatives;

⁶of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and 220 of his relatives;

⁷of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and 130 of his relatives;

⁸of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and two hundred of his relatives;

⁹of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and eighty of his relatives;

¹⁰of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and 112 of his relatives.

¹¹Then David called for the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab;

¹²and he said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites; consecrate yourselves, you and your relatives, so that you may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel to the place that I have prepared for it.

¹³Because you did not carry it at the first, the LORD our God made an outburst against us, since we did not seek Him according to the ordinance.”

¹⁴So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel.

¹⁵The sons of the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles on them, just as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD.

¹⁶Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives as the singers, with musical instruments, harps, lyres, and cymbals, playing to raise sounds of joy.

¹⁷So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel, and from his relatives, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and from the sons of Merari their relatives, Ethan the son of Kushaiah,

¹⁸and with them their relatives of the second rank, Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers.

¹⁹So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound aloud cymbals of bronze;

²⁰and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with harps tuned to alamoth;

²¹and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to lead with lyres tuned to the sheminith.

²²Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing because he was skillful.

²³Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark.

²⁴Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah also were gatekeepers for the ark.

²⁵So it was David, with the elders of Israel and the captains of thousands, who went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom with joy.

²⁶Because God was helping the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

²⁷Now David was clothed with a robe of fine linen with all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the leader of the singing with the singers. David also wore an ephod of linen.

²⁸So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps, and lyres.

²⁹When the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating; and she despised him in her heart.

¹Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east;

²and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone from His glory.

³And it was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the vision which I saw when He came to destroy the city. And the visions were like the vision which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.

⁴And the glory of the LORD entered the house by way of the gate facing east.

⁵And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner courtyard; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.

⁶Then I heard Him speaking to me from the house, while a man was standing beside me.

⁷And He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their prostitution and by the corpses of their kings when they die,

⁸by putting their threshold by My threshold, and their door post beside My door post, with only the wall between Me and them. And they have defiled My holy name by their abominations which they have committed. So I have consumed them in My anger.

⁹Now let them remove their prostitution and the corpses of their kings far from Me, and I will dwell among them forever.

¹⁰“As for you, son of man, inform the house of Israel of the temple, so that they will be ashamed of their wrongdoings; and have them measure the plan.

¹¹And if they are ashamed of everything that they have done, make known to them the plan of the house, its layout, its exits, its entrances, all its plans, all its statutes, and all its laws. And write it in their sight, so that they may observe its entire plan and all its statutes and execute them.

¹²This is the law of the house: its entire area on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.

¹³“And these are the measurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a hand width): the base shall be a cubit and the width a cubit, and its border on its edge all around one span; and this shall be the height of the base of the altar.

¹⁴And from the base on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the width one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits, and the width one cubit.

¹⁵The altar hearth shall be four cubits; and from the altar hearth shall extend upward four horns.

¹⁶Now the altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve wide, square in its four sides.

¹⁷And the ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen wide in its four sides, the border around it shall be half a cubit, and its base shall be a cubit all around; and its steps shall face east.”

¹⁸And He said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is built, to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it.

¹⁹You shall give to the Levitical priests who are from the descendants of Zadok, who come near to Me to serve Me,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘a bull as a sin offering.

²⁰And you shall take some of its blood and put it on its four horns and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border all around; so you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it.

²¹You shall also take the bull as the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place of the house, outside the sanctuary.

²²‘And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish as a sin offering, and they shall cleanse the altar from sin as they cleansed it with the bull.

²³When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a bull without blemish and a ram without blemish from the flock.

²⁴You shall offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD.

²⁵For seven days you shall prepare a goat as a sin offering daily; also a bull and a ram from the flock, both without blemish, shall be prepared.

²⁶For seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they consecrate it.

²⁷When they have completed the days, it shall be that on the eighth day and onward, the priests shall offer your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

¹Now Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” Then Paul extended his hand and proceeded to make his defense:

²“Regarding all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today,

³especially because you are an expert in all customs and questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴“So then, all Jews know my way of life since my youth, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and in Jerusalem,

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

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

⁷the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. For this hope, O king, I am being accused by Jews.

⁸Why is it considered incredible among you people if God raises the dead?

⁹“So I thought to myself that I had to act in strong opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, after receiving authority from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being put to death.

¹¹And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was extremely enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities.

¹²“While so engaged, as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,

¹³at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who were journeying with me.

¹⁴And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

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

¹⁶But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you as a servant and a witness not only to the things in which you have seen Me, but also to the things in which I will appear to you,

¹⁷rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,

¹⁸to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from thepower of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’

¹⁹“For that reason, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision,

²⁰but continually proclaimed to those in Damascus first, and in Jerusalem, and then all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they are to repent and turn to God, performing deeds consistent with repentance.

²¹For these reasons some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to murder me.

²²So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place,

²³as to whether the Christ was to suffer, and whether, as first from the resurrection of the dead, He would proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴While Paul was stating these things in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you insane.”

²⁵But Paul *said, “I am not insane, most excellent Festus; on the contrary, I am speaking out with truthful and rational words.

²⁶For the king knows about these matters, and I also speak to him with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner.

²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you believe.”

²⁸Agrippa replied to Paul, “In a short time you are going to persuade me to make a Christian of myself.”

²⁹And Paul said, “I would wish to God that even in a short or long time not only you, but also all who hear me this day would become such as I myself am, except for these chains.”

³⁰The king stood up and the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them,

³¹and when they had gone out, they began talking to one another, saying, “This man is not doing anything deserving death or imprisonment.”

³²And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”