Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹As Jesus was leaving the Temple that day, one of his disciples said, “Teacher, look at these magnificent buildings! Look at the impressive stones in the walls.”

²Jesus replied, “Yes, look at these great buildings. But they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”

³Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives across the valley from the Temple. Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to him privately and asked him,

⁴“Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will show us that these things are about to be fulfilled?”

⁵Jesus replied, “Don’t let anyone mislead you,

⁶for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many.

⁷And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately.

⁸Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in many parts of the world, as well as famines. But this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.

⁹“When these things begin to happen, watch out! You will be handed over to the local councils and beaten in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me.

¹⁰For the Good News must first be preached to all nations.

¹¹But when you are arrested and stand trial, don’t worry in advance about what to say. Just say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

¹²“A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed.

¹³And everyone will hate you because you are my followers. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

¹⁴“The day is coming when you will see the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing where he should not be.” (Reader, pay attention!) “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills.

¹⁵A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack.

¹⁶A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat.

¹⁷How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days.

¹⁸And pray that your flight will not be in winter.

¹⁹For there will be greater anguish in those days than at any time since God created the world. And it will never be so great again.

²⁰In fact, unless the Lord shortens that time of calamity, not a single person will survive. But for the sake of his chosen ones he has shortened those days.

²¹“Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it.

²²For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.

²³Watch out! I have warned you about this ahead of time!

²⁴“At that time, after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light,

²⁵the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

²⁶Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory.

²⁷And he will send out his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the world — from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

²⁸“Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near.

²⁹In the same way, when you see all these things taking place, you can know that his return is very near, right at the door.

³⁰I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene before all these things take place.

³¹Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.

³²“However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.

³³And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert !

³⁴“The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his slaves instructions about the work they were to do, and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return.

³⁵You, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know when the master of the household will return — in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak.

³⁶Don’t let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning.

³⁷I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for him!”

¹As Jacob started on his way again, angels of God came to meet him.

²When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, “This is God’s camp!” So he named the place Mahanaim.

³Then Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother, Esau, who was living in the region of Seir in the land of Edom.

⁴He told them, “Give this message to my master Esau: ‘Humble greetings from your servant Jacob. Until now I have been living with Uncle Laban,

⁵and now I own cattle, donkeys, flocks of sheep and goats, and many servants, both men and women. I have sent these messengers to inform my lord of my coming, hoping that you will be friendly to me.’”

⁶After delivering the message, the messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “We met your brother, Esau, and he is already on his way to meet you — with an army of 400 men!”

⁷Jacob was terrified at the news. He divided his household, along with the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups.

⁸He thought, “If Esau meets one group and attacks it, perhaps the other group can escape.”

⁹Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my grandfather Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac — O LORD, you told me, ‘Return to your own land and to your relatives.’ And you promised me, ‘I will treat you kindly.’

¹⁰I am not worthy of all the unfailing love and faithfulness you have shown to me, your servant. When I left home and crossed the Jordan River, I owned nothing except a walking stick. Now my household fills two large camps!

¹¹O LORD, please rescue me from the hand of my brother, Esau. I am afraid that he is coming to attack me, along with my wives and children.

¹²But you promised me, ‘I will surely treat you kindly, and I will multiply your descendants until they become as numerous as the sands along the seashore — too many to count.’”

¹³Jacob stayed where he was for the night. Then he selected these gifts from his possessions to present to his brother, Esau:

¹⁴200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,

¹⁵30 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys.

¹⁶He divided these animals into herds and assigned each to different servants. Then he told his servants, “Go ahead of me with the animals, but keep some distance between the herds.”

¹⁷He gave these instructions to the men leading the first group: “When my brother, Esau, meets you, he will ask, ‘Whose servants are you? Where are you going? Who owns these animals?’

¹⁸You must reply, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob, but they are a gift for his master Esau. Look, he is coming right behind us.’”

¹⁹Jacob gave the same instructions to the second and third herdsmen and to all who followed behind the herds: “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him.

²⁰And be sure to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” Jacob thought, “I will try to appease him by sending gifts ahead of me. When I see him in person, perhaps he will be friendly to me.”

²¹So the gifts were sent on ahead, while Jacob himself spent that night in the camp.

²²During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two servant wives, and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River with them.

²³After taking them to the other side, he sent over all his possessions.

²⁴This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break.

²⁵When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket.

²⁶Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷“What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.”

²⁸“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”

²⁹“Please tell me your name,” Jacob said. “Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.

³⁰Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.”

³¹The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel, and he was limping because of the injury to his hip.

³²(Even today the people of Israel don’t eat the tendon near the hip socket because of what happened that night when the man strained the tendon of Jacob’s hip.)

¹I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally.

²I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.

³In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁴I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments.

⁵For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.

⁶And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.

⁷Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

⁸Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.

⁹For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.

¹⁰So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

¹¹When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision — the cutting away of your sinful nature.

¹²For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

¹³You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.

¹⁴He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

¹⁵In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

¹⁶So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.

¹⁷For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.

¹⁸Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud,

¹⁹and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.

²⁰You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as,

²¹“Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”?

²²Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.

²³These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.

¹My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?

²For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes.

³If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor” — well,

⁴doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?

⁵Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him?

⁶But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?

⁷Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?

⁸Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

⁹But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.

¹⁰For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.

¹¹For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.

¹²So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free.

¹³There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.

¹⁴What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?

¹⁵Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing,

¹⁶and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well” — but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

¹⁷So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

¹⁸Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

¹⁹You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.

²⁰How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

²¹Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

²²You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete.

²³And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.

²⁴So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

²⁵Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.

²⁶Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.

¹“Listen to my words, Job; pay attention to what I have to say.

²Now that I have begun to speak, let me continue.

³I speak with all sincerity; I speak the truth.

⁴For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

⁵Answer me, if you can; make your case and take your stand.

⁶Look, you and I both belong to God. I, too, was formed from clay.

⁷So you don’t need to be afraid of me. I won’t come down hard on you.

⁸“You have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard your very words.

⁹You said, ‘I am pure; I am without sin; I am innocent; I have no guilt.

¹⁰God is picking a quarrel with me, and he considers me his enemy.

¹¹He puts my feet in the stocks and watches my every move.’

¹²“But you are wrong, and I will show you why. For God is greater than any human being.

¹³So why are you bringing a charge against him? Why say he does not respond to people’s complaints?

¹⁴For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it.

¹⁵He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds.

¹⁶He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings.

¹⁷He makes them turn from doing wrong; he keeps them from pride.

¹⁸He protects them from the grave, from crossing over the river of death.

¹⁹“Or God disciplines people with pain on their sickbeds, with ceaseless aching in their bones.

²⁰They lose their appetite for even the most delicious food.

²¹Their flesh wastes away, and their bones stick out.

²²They are at death’s door; the angels of death wait for them.

²³“But if an angel from heaven appears — a special messenger to intercede for a person and declare that he is upright —

²⁴he will be gracious and say, ‘Rescue him from the grave, for I have found a ransom for his life.’

²⁵Then his body will become as healthy as a child’s, firm and youthful again.

²⁶When he prays to God, he will be accepted. And God will receive him with joy and restore him to good standing.

²⁷He will declare to his friends, ‘I sinned and twisted the truth, but it was not worth it.

²⁸God rescued me from the grave, and now my life is filled with light.’

²⁹“Yes, God does these things again and again for people.

³⁰He rescues them from the grave so they may enjoy the light of life.

³¹Mark this well, Job. Listen to me, for I have more to say.

³²But if you have anything to say, go ahead. Speak, for I am anxious to see you justified.

³³But if not, then listen to me. Keep silent and I will teach you wisdom!”

¹Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to my neck.

²Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can’t find a foothold. I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me.

³I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me.

⁴Those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs on my head. Many enemies try to destroy me with lies, demanding that I give back what I didn’t steal.

⁵O God, you know how foolish I am; my sins cannot be hidden from you.

⁶Don’t let those who trust in you be ashamed because of me, O Sovereign LORD of Heaven’s Armies. Don’t let me cause them to be humiliated, O God of Israel.

⁷For I endure insults for your sake; humiliation is written all over my face.

⁸Even my own brothers pretend they don’t know me; they treat me like a stranger.

⁹Passion for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.

¹⁰When I weep and fast, they scoff at me.

¹¹When I dress in burlap to show sorrow, they make fun of me.

¹²I am the favorite topic of town gossip, and all the drunks sing about me.

¹³But I keep praying to you, LORD, hoping this time you will show me favor. In your unfailing love, O God, answer my prayer with your sure salvation.

¹⁴Rescue me from the mud; don’t let me sink any deeper! Save me from those who hate me, and pull me from these deep waters.

¹⁵Don’t let the floods overwhelm me, or the deep waters swallow me, or the pit of death devour me.

¹⁶Answer my prayers, O LORD, for your unfailing love is wonderful. Take care of me, for your mercy is so plentiful.

¹⁷Don’t hide from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in deep trouble!

¹⁸Come and redeem me; free me from my enemies.

¹⁹You know of my shame, scorn, and disgrace. You see all that my enemies are doing.

²⁰Their insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. If only one person would show some pity; if only one would turn and comfort me.

²¹But instead, they give me poison for food; they offer me sour wine for my thirst.

²²Let the bountiful table set before them become a snare and their prosperity become a trap.

²³Let their eyes go blind so they cannot see, and make their bodies shake continually.

²⁴Pour out your fury on them; consume them with your burning anger.

²⁵Let their homes become desolate and their tents be deserted.

²⁶To the one you have punished, they add insult to injury; they add to the pain of those you have hurt.

²⁷Pile their sins up high, and don’t let them go free.

²⁸Erase their names from the Book of Life; don’t let them be counted among the righteous.

²⁹I am suffering and in pain. Rescue me, O God, by your saving power.

³⁰Then I will praise God’s name with singing, and I will honor him with thanksgiving.

³¹For this will please the LORD more than sacrificing cattle, more than presenting a bull with its horns and hooves.

³²The humble will see their God at work and be glad. Let all who seek God’s help be encouraged.

³³For the LORD hears the cries of the needy; he does not despise his imprisoned people.

³⁴Praise him, O heaven and earth, the seas and all that move in them.

³⁵For God will save Jerusalem and rebuild the towns of Judah. His people will live there and settle in their own land.

³⁶The descendants of those who obey him will inherit the land, and those who love him will live there in safety.

¹My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.

²Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.

³Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.

⁴Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.

⁵Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God.

⁶For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁷He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.

⁸He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.

⁹Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.

¹¹Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.

¹²Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted.

¹³These men turn from the right way to walk down dark paths.

¹⁴They take pleasure in doing wrong, and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.

¹⁵Their actions are crooked, and their ways are wrong.

¹⁶Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman, from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.

¹⁷She has abandoned her husband and ignores the covenant she made before God.

¹⁸Entering her house leads to death; it is the road to the grave.

¹⁹The man who visits her is doomed. He will never reach the paths of life.

²⁰So follow the steps of the good, and stay on the paths of the righteous.

²¹For only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it.

²²But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted.

¹In early autumn, when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose.

²Then Jeshua son of Jehozadak joined his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his family in rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel. They wanted to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as instructed in the Law of Moses, the man of God.

³Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the LORD each morning and evening.

⁴They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed in the Law, sacrificing the number of burnt offerings specified for each day of the festival.

⁵They also offered the regular burnt offerings and the offerings required for the new moon celebrations and the annual festivals as prescribed by the LORD. The people also gave voluntary offerings to the LORD.

⁶Fifteen days before the Festival of Shelters began, the priests had begun to sacrifice burnt offerings to the LORD. This was even before they had started to lay the foundation of the LORD’s Temple.

⁷Then the people hired masons and carpenters and bought cedar logs from the people of Tyre and Sidon, paying them with food, wine, and olive oil. The logs were brought down from the Lebanon mountains and floated along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Joppa, for King Cyrus had given permission for this.

⁸The construction of the Temple of God began in midspring, during the second year after they arrived in Jerusalem. The work force was made up of everyone who had returned from exile, including Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jehozadak and his fellow priests, and all the Levites. The Levites who were twenty years old or older were put in charge of rebuilding the LORD’s Temple.

⁹The workers at the Temple of God were supervised by Jeshua with his sons and relatives, and Kadmiel and his sons, all descendants of Hodaviah. They were helped in this task by the Levites of the family of Henadad.

¹⁰When the builders completed the foundation of the LORD’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the LORD, just as King David had prescribed.

¹¹With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the LORD: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!” Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the LORD because the foundation of the LORD’s Temple had been laid.

¹²But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy.

¹³The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance.

¹Mobilize! Marshal your troops! The enemy is laying siege to Jerusalem. They will strike Israel’s leader in the face with a rod.

²But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.

³The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies until the woman in labor gives birth. Then at last his fellow countrymen will return from exile to their own land.

⁴And he will stand to lead his flock with the LORD’s strength, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. Then his people will live there undisturbed, for he will be highly honored around the world.

⁵And he will be the source of peace. When the Assyrians invade our land and break through our defenses, we will appoint seven rulers to watch over us, eight princes to lead us.

⁶They will rule Assyria with drawn swords and enter the gates of the land of Nimrod. He will rescue us from the Assyrians when they pour over the borders to invade our land.

⁷Then the remnant left in Israel will take their place among the nations. They will be like dew sent by the LORD or like rain falling on the grass, which no one can hold back and no one can restrain.

⁸The remnant left in Israel will take their place among the nations. They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a strong young lion among flocks of sheep and goats, pouncing and tearing as they go with no rescuer in sight.

⁹The people of Israel will stand up to their foes, and all their enemies will be wiped out.

¹⁰“In that day,” says the LORD, “I will slaughter your horses and destroy your chariots.

¹¹I will tear down your walls and demolish your defenses.

¹²I will put an end to all witchcraft, and there will be no more fortune-tellers.

¹³I will destroy all your idols and sacred pillars, so you will never again worship the work of your own hands.

¹⁴I will abolish your idol shrines with their Asherah poles and destroy your pagan cities.

¹⁵I will pour out my vengeance on all the nations that refuse to obey me.”

¹Gazing intently at the high council, Paul began: “Brothers, I have always lived before God with a clear conscience!”

²Instantly Ananias the high priest commanded those close to Paul to slap him on the mouth.

³But Paul said to him, “God will slap you, you corrupt hypocrite! What kind of judge are you to break the law yourself by ordering me struck like that?”

⁴Those standing near Paul said to him, “Do you dare to insult God’s high priest?”

⁵“I’m sorry, brothers. I didn’t realize he was the high priest,” Paul replied, “for the Scriptures say, ‘You must not speak evil of any of your rulers.’ ”

⁶Paul realized that some members of the high council were Sadducees and some were Pharisees, so he shouted, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, as were my ancestors! And I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead!”

⁷This divided the council — the Pharisees against the Sadducees —

⁸for the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, but the Pharisees believe in all of these.

⁹So there was a great uproar. Some of the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees jumped up and began to argue forcefully. “We see nothing wrong with him,” they shouted. “Perhaps a spirit or an angel spoke to him.”

¹⁰As the conflict grew more violent, the commander was afraid they would tear Paul apart. So he ordered his soldiers to go and rescue him by force and take him back to the fortress.

¹¹That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.”

¹²The next morning a group of Jews got together and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³There were more than forty of them in the conspiracy.

¹⁴They went to the leading priests and elders and told them, “We have bound ourselves with an oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul.

¹⁵So you and the high council should ask the commander to bring Paul back to the council again. Pretend you want to examine his case more fully. We will kill him on the way.”

¹⁶But Paul’s nephew — his sister’s son — heard of their plan and went to the fortress and told Paul.

¹⁷Paul called for one of the Roman officers and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has something important to tell him.”

¹⁸So the officer did, explaining, “Paul, the prisoner, called me over and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

¹⁹The commander took his hand, led him aside, and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”

²⁰Paul’s nephew told him, “Some Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the high council tomorrow, pretending they want to get some more information.

²¹But don’t do it! There are more than forty men hiding along the way ready to ambush him. They have vowed not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent.”

²²“Don’t let anyone know you told me this,” the commander warned the young man.

²³Then the commander called two of his officers and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. Also take 200 spearmen and 70 mounted troops.

²⁴Provide horses for Paul to ride, and get him safely to Governor Felix.”

²⁵Then he wrote this letter to the governor:

²⁶“From Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings!

²⁷“This man was seized by some Jews, and they were about to kill him when I arrived with the troops. When I learned that he was a Roman citizen, I removed him to safety.

²⁸Then I took him to their high council to try to learn the basis of the accusations against him.

²⁹I soon discovered the charge was something regarding their religious law — certainly nothing worthy of imprisonment or death.

³⁰But when I was informed of a plot to kill him, I immediately sent him on to you. I have told his accusers to bring their charges before you.”

³¹So that night, as ordered, the soldiers took Paul as far as Antipatris.

³²They returned to the fortress the next morning, while the mounted troops took him on to Caesarea.

³³When they arrived in Caesarea, they presented Paul and the letter to Governor Felix.

³⁴He read it and then asked Paul what province he was from. “Cilicia,” Paul answered.

³⁵“I will hear your case myself when your accusers arrive,” the governor told him. Then the governor ordered him kept in the prison at Herod’s headquarters.