Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now the Passover and Festival of Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Him covertly and kill Him;

²for they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there will be a riot of the people.”

³While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the Leper, He was reclining at the table, and a woman came with an alabaster vial of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the vial and poured the perfume over His head.

⁴But there were some indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted?

⁵For this perfume could have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her.

⁶But Jesus said, “Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a good deed for Me.

⁷For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me.

⁸She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.

⁹Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the entire world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”

¹⁰Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them.

¹¹They were delighted when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.

¹²On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples *said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?”

¹³And He *sent two of His disciples and *said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you; follow him;

¹⁴and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’

¹⁵And he himself will show you a large upstairs room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.”

¹⁶The disciples left and came to the city, and found everything just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

¹⁷When it was evening He *came with the twelve.

¹⁸And as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you willbetray Me—one who is eating with Me.”

¹⁹They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?”

²⁰But He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, the one who dips bread with Me in the bowl.

²¹For the Son of Man is going away just as it is written about Him; but woe to that manby whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been goodfor that man if he had not been born.”

²²While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.”

²³And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

²⁴And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many.

²⁵Truly I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine again, until that day when I drink it, new, in the kingdom of God.”

²⁶And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

²⁷And Jesus *said to them, “You will allfall away, because it is written: ‘I WILL STRIKE THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP WILL BE SCATTERED.’

²⁸But after I am raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

²⁹But Peter said to Him, “Even if they all fall away, yet I will not!”

³⁰And Jesus *said to him, “Truly I say to you, thatthis very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.”

³¹But Peter repeatedly said insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing as well.

³²They *came to a place named Gethsemane; and He *said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.”

³³And He *took with Him Peter, James, and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled.

³⁴And He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here andkeep watch.”

³⁵And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began praying that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.

³⁶And He was saying, “Abba!Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.”

³⁷And He *came and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you notkeep watch for one hour?

³⁸Keep watching and praying, so that you will not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

³⁹And again He went away and prayed, saying the same words.

⁴⁰And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to say in reply to Him.

⁴¹And He *came the third time, and *said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? That is enough. The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is beingbetrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴²Get up, let’s go; behold, the one who is betraying Me is near!”

⁴³And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, *came up, accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs who were from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders.

⁴⁴Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; arrest Him and lead Him away under guard.”

⁴⁵And after coming, Judas immediately went to Him and *said, “Rabbi!” and kissed Him.

⁴⁶And they laid hands on Him and arrested Him.

⁴⁷But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.

⁴⁸And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would against a man inciting a revolt?

⁴⁹Every day I was with you within the temple grounds teaching, and you did not arrest Me; but this has taken place so that the Scriptures will be fulfilled.”

⁵⁰And His disciples all left Him and fled.

⁵¹A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they *seized him.

⁵²But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.

⁵³They led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes *gathered together.

⁵⁴And Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire.

⁵⁵Now the chief priests and the entire Council were trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any.

⁵⁶For many people were giving false testimony against Him, and so their testimonies were not consistent.

⁵⁷And then some stood up and began giving false testimony against Him, saying,

⁵⁸“We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that was made by hands, and in three days I will build another, made without hands.’ ”

⁵⁹And not even in this respect was their testimony consistent.

⁶⁰And then the high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, “Do You not offer any answer for what these men are testifying against You?”

⁶¹But He kept silent and did not offer any answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and *said to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”

⁶²And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

⁶³Tearing his clothes, the high priest *said, “What further need do we have of witnesses?

⁶⁴You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him as deserving of death.

⁶⁵And some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists and say to Him, “Prophesy!” Then the officers took custody of Him and slapped Him in the face.

⁶⁶And while Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the slave women of the high priest *came,

⁶⁷and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and *said, “You were with Jesus the Nazarene as well.”

⁶⁸But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he went out onto the porch.

⁶⁹The slave woman saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them!”

⁷⁰But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, “You really are one of them, for you are a Galilean as well.”

⁷¹But he began to curse himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak!”

⁷²And immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And he hurried on and began to weep.

¹Then Jacob raised his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel, and the two slave women.

²He put the slave women and their children in front, and Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last.

³But he himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

⁵He raised his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, “Who are these with you?” So he said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”

⁶Then the slave women came forward with their children, and they bowed down.

⁷And Leah likewise came forward with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came forward with Rachel, and they bowed down.

⁸And he said, “What do you mean by all this company which I have met?” And he said, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.”

⁹But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be your own.”

¹⁰Jacob said, “No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then accept my gift from my hand, for I see your face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably.

¹¹Please accept my gift which has been brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have plenty.” So he urged him, and he accepted it.

¹²Then Esau said, “Let’s journey on and go, and I will go ahead of you.”

¹³But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds that are nursing are a matter of concern to me. And if they are driven hard just one day, all the flocks will die.

¹⁴Please let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will proceed at my leisure, at the pace of the cattle that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”

¹⁵Then Esau said, “Please let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”

¹⁶So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.

¹⁷But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock; therefore the place is named Succoth.

¹⁸Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped before the city.

¹⁹He bought the plot of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money.

²⁰Then he erected there an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

¹Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

²Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.

³For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

⁴When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

⁵Therefore, treat the parts of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

⁶For it is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,

⁷and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.

⁸But now you also, rid yourselves of all of them: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene speech from your mouth.

⁹Do not lie to one another, since you stripped off the old self with its evil practices,

¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created it—

¹¹a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and free, but Christ is all, and in all.

¹²So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience;

¹³bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so must you do also.

¹⁴In addition to all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

¹⁵Let the peace of Christ, to which you were indeed called in one body, rule in your hearts; and be thankful.

¹⁶Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

¹⁷Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

¹⁸Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

¹⁹Husbands, love your wives and do not become bitter against them.

²⁰Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

²¹Fathers, do not antagonize your children, so that they will not become discouraged.

²²Slaves, obey those who are your human masters in everything, not with eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.

²³Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people,

²⁴knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

²⁵For the one who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

¹Do not become teachers in large numbers, my brothers, since you know that we who are teachers will incur a stricter judgment.

²For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to rein in the whole body as well.

³Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their whole body as well.

⁴Look at the ships too: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are nevertheless directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot determines.

⁵So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!

⁶And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our body’s parts as that which defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.

⁷For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.

⁸But no one among mankind can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people, who have been made in the likeness of God;

¹⁰from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.

¹¹Does a spring send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?

¹²Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, bear olives, or a vine bear figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.

¹³Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.

¹⁴But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.

¹⁵This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.

¹⁶For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.

¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, free of hypocrisy.

¹⁸And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

¹Then Elihu continued and said,

²“Hear my words, you wise men, And listen to me, you who understand.

³For the ear tests words As the palate tastes food.

⁴Let us choose for ourselves what is right; Let us understand among ourselves what is good.

⁵For Job has said, ‘I am righteous, But God has taken away my right;

⁶Should I lie about my right? My wound is incurable, though I am without wrongdoing.’

⁷What man is like Job, Who drinks up derision like water,

⁸Who goes in company with the workers of injustice, And walks with wicked people?

⁹For he has said, ‘It is of no use to a man When he becomes friends with God.’

¹⁰“Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do evil, And from the Almighty to do wrong.

¹¹For He repays a person for his work, And lets things happen in correspondence to a man’s behavior.

¹²God certainly will not act wickedly, And the Almighty will not pervert justice.

¹³Who gave Him authority over the earth? And who has placed the whole world on Him?

¹⁴If He were to determine to do so, If He were to gather His spirit and His breath to Himself,

¹⁵Humanity would perish together, And mankind would return to dust.

¹⁶“But if you have understanding, hear this; Listen to the sound of my words.

¹⁷Shall one who hates justice rule? And will you condemn the righteous mighty One,

¹⁸Who says to a king, ‘You worthless one,’ To nobles, ‘You wicked one’;

¹⁹Who shows no partiality to the prominent, Nor regards the rich as above the poor, Since they are all the work of His hands?

²⁰In a moment they die, and at midnight People are shaken and pass away, And the powerful are taken away without a hand.

²¹“For His eyes are upon the ways of a person, And He sees all his steps.

²²There is no darkness or deep shadow Where the workers of injustice can hide themselves.

²³For He does not need to consider a person further, That he should go before God in judgment.

²⁴He breaks in pieces the mighty without investigation, And sets others in their place.

²⁵Therefore He knows their deeds, And He overthrows them in the night, And they are crushed.

²⁶He strikes them like the wicked In a public place,

²⁷Because they turned aside from following Him, And had no regard for any of His ways,

²⁸So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him, And that He would hear the cry of the afflicted—

²⁹When He keeps quiet, who can condemn? And when He hides His face, who then can look at Him, That is, regarding both nation and a person?—

³⁰So that godless people would not rule, Nor be snares for the people.

³¹“For has anyone said to God, ‘I have endured punishment; I will not offend anymore;

³²Teach me what I do not see; If I have done wrong, I will not do it again’?

³³Shall God repay on your terms, because you have rejected His? For you must choose, and not I; Therefore declare what you know.

³⁴Men of understanding will say to me, And a wise man who hears me,

³⁵‘Job speaks without knowledge, And his words are without wisdom.

³⁶Oh that Job were tested to the limit, Because he answers like sinners.

³⁷For he adds rebellion to his sin; He claps his hands among us, And multiplies his words against God.’ ”

¹God, hurry to save me; LORD, hurry to help me!

²May those who seek my life Be put to shame and humiliated; May those who delight in my harm Be turned back and dishonored.

³May those who say, “Aha, aha!” be turned back Because of their shame.

⁴May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And may those who love Your salvation say continually, “May God be exalted!”

⁵But I am afflicted and needy; Hurry to me, God! You are my help and my savior; LORD, do not delay.

¹My son, do not forget my teaching, But have your heart comply with my commandments;

²For length of days and years of life And peace they will add to you.

³Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴So you will find favor and a good reputation In the sight of God and man.

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.

⁶In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

⁷Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

⁸It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.

⁹Honor the LORD from your wealth, And from the first of all your produce;

¹⁰Then your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.

¹¹My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD Or loathe His rebuke,

¹²For whom the LORD loves He disciplines, Just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.

¹³Blessed is a person who finds wisdom, And one who obtains understanding.

¹⁴For her profit is better than the profit of silver, And her produce better than gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than jewels, And nothing you desire compares with her.

¹⁶Long life is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honor.

¹⁷Her ways are pleasant ways, And all her paths are peace.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are those who hold on to her.

¹⁹The LORD founded the earth by wisdom, He established the heavens by understanding.

²⁰By His knowledge the ocean depths were burst open, And the clouds drip with dew.

²¹My son, see that they do not escape from your sight; Comply with sound wisdom and discretion,

²²And they will be life to your soul And adornment to your neck.

²³Then you will walk in your way securely, And your foot will not stumble.

²⁴When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

²⁵Do not be afraid of sudden danger, Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;

²⁶For the LORD will be your confidence, And will keep your foot from being caught.

²⁷Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in your power to do it.

²⁸Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it to you,” When you have it with you.

²⁹Do not devise harm against your neighbor, While he lives securely beside you.

³⁰Do not contend with a person for no reason, If he has done you no harm.

³¹Do not envy a violent person, And do not choose any of his ways.

³²For the devious are an abomination to the LORD; But He is intimate with the upright.

³³The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the home of the righteous.

³⁴Though He scoffs at the scoffers, Yet He gives grace to the needy.

³⁵The wise will inherit honor, But fools increase dishonor.

¹Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the LORD God of Israel,

²they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for like you, we seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.”

³But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build for the LORD God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”

⁴Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building,

⁵and bribed advisers against them to frustrate their advice all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

⁶Now in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

⁷And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated from Aramaic.

⁸Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, as follows—

⁹Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues, the judges and the lesser governors, the officials, the secretaries, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites,

¹⁰and the rest of the nations which the great and honorable Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the region beyond the Euphrates River. And now

¹¹this is a copy of the letter which they sent to him: “To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the men of the region beyond the Euphrates River; and now

¹²let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem; they are rebuilding the rebellious and evil city and are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations.

¹³Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, they will not pay tribute, custom tax, or toll, and it will be detrimental to the revenue of the kings.

¹⁴Now because we are in the service of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to see the king’s shame, for this reason we have sent word and informed the king,

¹⁵so that a search may be conducted in the record books of your fathers. And you will discover in the record books and learn that that city is a rebellious city and detrimental to kings and provinces, and that they have revolted within it in past days; for this reason that city was laid waste.

¹⁶We are informing the king that if that city is rebuilt and the walls finished, then as a result of this you will have no possession in the province beyond the Euphrates River.”

¹⁷Then the king sent a response to Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces beyond the Euphrates River: “Peace. And now,

¹⁸the document which you sent to us has been translated and read before me.

¹⁹And a decree has been issued by me, and a search has been conducted and it has been discovered that that city has risen up against the kings in past days, and that rebellion and revolt have been perpetrated in it,

²⁰that mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem, governing all the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, and that tribute, custom tax, and toll were paid to them.

²¹Now issue a decree to make those men stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me.

²²And beware of being negligent in carrying out this matter; why should there be great damage, to the detriment of the kings?”

²³Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ decree was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they went in a hurry to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by military force.

²⁴Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem was discontinued, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

¹Hear now what the LORD is saying, “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, And let the hills hear your voice.

²Listen, you mountains, to the indictment by the LORD, And you enduring foundations of the earth, Because the LORD has a case against His people; And He will dispute with Israel.

³My people, what have I done to you, And how have I wearied you? Answer Me.

⁴Indeed, I brought you up from the land of Egypt, I redeemed you from the house of slavery, And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

⁵My people, remember now What Balak king of Moab planned And what Balaam son of Beor answered him, And what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, So that you might know the righteous acts of the LORD.”

⁶With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves?

⁷Does the LORD take pleasure in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give Him my firstborn for my wrongdoings, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁸He has told you, mortal one, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

⁹The voice of the LORD will call to the city— And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name: “Hear, you tribe. Who has designated its time?

¹⁰Is there still a person in the wicked house, Along with treasures of wickedness, And a short measure that is cursed?

¹¹Can I justify dishonest balances, And a bag of fraudulent weights?

¹²For the rich people of the city are full of violence, Her residents speak lies, And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

¹³So also I will make you sick, striking you down, Making you desolate because of your sins.

¹⁴You will eat, but you will not be satisfied, And your filth will be in your midst. You will try to remove valuables for safekeeping, But you will not save it all, And what you do save I will turn over to the sword.

¹⁵You will sow but you will not harvest. You will tread the olive press but will not anoint yourself with oil; And tread out sweet wine, but you will not drink any wine.

¹⁶The statutes of Omri And every work of the house of Ahab are maintained, And you walk by their plans. Therefore I will give you up for destruction, And your inhabitants for derision, And you will suffer the taunting of My people.”

¹Now after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and an attorney named Tertullus, and they brought charges against Paul to the governor.

²After Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began accusing him, saying to the governor, “Since we have attained great peace through you, and since reforms are being carried out for this nation by your foresight,

³we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness.

⁴But, that I may not weary you further, I beg you to grant us a brief hearing, by your kindness.

⁵For we have found this man a public menace and one who stirs up dissensions among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

⁶And he even tried to desecrate the temple, so indeed we arrested him.

⁷

⁸By interrogating him yourself concerning all these matters, you will be able to ascertain the things of which we are accusing him.”

⁹The Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.

¹⁰And when the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul responded: “Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense,

¹¹since you can take note of the fact that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

¹²And neither in the temple did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city itself.

¹³Nor can they prove to you the things of which they now accuse me.

¹⁴But I confess this to you, that in accordance with the Way, which they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and is written in the Prophets;

¹⁵having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

¹⁶In view of this I also do my best to maintain a blameless conscience both before God and before other people, always.

¹⁷Now after several years I came to bring charitable gifts to my nation and to present offerings,

¹⁸in which they found me occupied in the temple, having been purified, without any crowd or uproar. But there were some Jews from Asia—

¹⁹who ought to have been present before you and to have been bringing charges, if they should have anything against me.

²⁰Or else have these men themselves declare what violation they discovered when I stood before the Council,

²¹other than in regard to this one declaration which I shouted while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today!’ ”

²²But Felix, having quite accurate knowledge about the Way, adjourned them, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.”

²³He gave orders to the centurion for Paul to be kept in custody and yet have some freedom, and not to prevent any of his friends from providing for his needs.

²⁴Now some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla his wife, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁵But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and responded, “Go away for now, and when I have an opportunity, I will summon you.”

²⁶At the same time he was also hoping that money would be given to him by Paul; therefore he also used to send for him quite often and talk with him.

²⁷But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul imprisoned.