Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders, scribes, and the entire Council immediately held a consultation; and they bound Jesus and led Him away, and turned Him over to Pilate.

²Pilate questioned Him: “So You are the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is as you say.”

³And the chief priests started accusing Him of many things.

⁴But Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You offer nothing in answer? See how many charges they are bringing against You!”

⁵But Jesus said nothing further in answer, so Pilate was amazed.

⁶Now at the Passover Feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested.

⁷And the one named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the rebels who had committed murder in the revolt.

⁸And the crowd went up and began asking Pilate to do as he had been accustomed to do for them.

⁹Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”

¹⁰For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.

¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead.

¹²And responding again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”

¹³They shouted back, “Crucify Him!”

¹⁴But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!”

¹⁵Intent on satisfying the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus flogged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

¹⁶Now the soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman cohort.

¹⁷And they *dressed Him in purple, and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on Him;

¹⁸and they began saluting Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!”

¹⁹And they repeatedly beat His head with a reed and spit on Him, and kneeling, they bowed down before Him.

²⁰And after they had mocked Him, they took the purple cloak off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they *led Him out to crucify Him.

²¹And they *compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross.

²²Then they *brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.

²³And they tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it.

²⁴And they *crucified Him, and *divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man would take.

²⁵Now it was the third hour when they crucified Him.

²⁶The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

²⁷And they *crucified two rebels with Him, one on His right and one on His left.

²⁸

²⁹Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,

³⁰save Yourself by coming down from the cross!”

³¹In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself!

³²Let this Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

³³When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.

³⁴At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “ELOI, ELOI, LEMA SABAKTANEI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”

³⁵And when some of the bystanders heard Him, they began saying, “Look! He is calling for Elijah!”

³⁶And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.”

³⁷But Jesus let out a loud cry, and died.

³⁸And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

³⁹And when the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw that He died in this way, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

⁴⁰Now there were also some women watching from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome.

⁴¹When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and serve Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

⁴²When evening had already come, since it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

⁴³Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself also waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.

⁴⁴Now Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead.

⁴⁵And after learning this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.

⁴⁶Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been cut out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching to see where He was laid.

¹Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land.

²When Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her and raped her.

³But he was deeply attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her.

⁴So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”

⁵Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob said nothing until they came in.

⁶Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.

⁷Now the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard about it; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.

⁸But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him in marriage.

⁹And intermarry with us; give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves.

¹⁰So you will live with us, and the land shall be open to you; live and trade in it and acquire property in it.”

¹¹Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and I will give whatever you tell me.

¹²Demand of me ever so much bridal payment and gift, and I will give whatever you tell me; but give me the girl in marriage.”

¹³But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor with deceit, because he had defiled their sister Dinah.

¹⁴They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, that is, give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.

¹⁵Only on this condition will we consent to you: if you will become like us, in that every male of you will be circumcised,

¹⁶then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live with you and become one people.

¹⁷But if you do not listen to us to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”

¹⁸Now their words seemed reasonable to Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son.

¹⁹The young man did not delay to do this, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more respected than all the household of his father.

²⁰So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the people of their city, saying,

²¹“These men are friendly to us; therefore let them live in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. We will take their daughters in marriage, and give our daughters to them.

²²Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised.

²³Will their livestock and their property and all their animals not be ours? Let’s just consent to them, and they will live with us.”

²⁴All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵Now it came about on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of Jacob’s sons—Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers—each took his sword and came upon the city undetected, and killed every male.

²⁶They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left.

²⁷Jacob’s sons came upon those killed and looted the city, because they had defiled their sister.

²⁸They took their flocks, their herds, and their donkeys, and that which was in the city and that which was in the field;

²⁹and they captured and looted all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives, even everything that was in the houses.

³⁰Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me repulsive among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since my men are few in number, they will band together against me and attack me, and I will be destroyed, I and my household!”

³¹But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

¹Masters, grant your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

²Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;

³praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned;

⁴that I may make it clear in the way that I ought to proclaim it.

⁵Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.

⁶Your speech must always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

⁷As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information.

⁸For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts;

⁹and with him is Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your own. They will inform you about the whole situation here.

¹⁰Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also Barnabas’ cousin Mark (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him);

¹¹and also Jesus who is called Justus; these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me.

¹²Epaphras, who is one of your own, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings, always striving earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

¹³For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

¹⁴Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and Demas does also.

¹⁵Greet the brothers and sisters who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house.

¹⁶When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part, read my letter that is coming from Laodicea.

¹⁷Tell Archippus, “See to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, so that you may fulfill it.”

¹⁸I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my imprisonment. Grace be with you.

¹What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is the source not your pleasures that wage war in your body’s parts?

²You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.

³You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures.

⁴You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

⁵Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose, “He jealously desires the Spirit whom He has made to dwell in us”?

⁶But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

⁷Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸Come close to God and He will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

⁹Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom.

¹⁰Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

¹¹Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. The one who speaks against a brother or sister, or judges his brother or sister, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.

¹²There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you, judging your neighbor?

¹³Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.”

¹⁴Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away.

¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”

¹⁶But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

¹⁷So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin.

¹Then Elihu continued and said,

²“Do you think this is in accordance with justice? Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?

³For you say, ‘What advantage will it be to You? What benefit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’

⁴I will answer you, And your friends with you.

⁵Look at the heavens and see; And look at the clouds—they are higher than you.

⁶If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him? And if your wrongdoings are many, what do you do to Him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give to Him, Or what does He receive from your hand?

⁸Your wickedness is for a man like yourself, And your righteousness is for a son of man.

⁹“Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; They cry for help because of the arm of the mighty.

¹⁰But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night,

¹¹Who teaches us more than the animals of the earth And makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’

¹²There they cry out, but He does not answer Because of the pride of evil people.

¹³God certainly will not listen to an empty cry, Nor will the Almighty regard it.

¹⁴How much less when you say you do not look at Him, The case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

¹⁵And now, because He has not avenged His anger, Nor has He acknowledged wrongdoing well,

¹⁶So Job opens his mouth with empty words; He multiplies words without knowledge.”

¹In You, LORD, I have taken refuge; Let me never be put to shame.

²In Your righteousness rescue me and save me; Extend Your ear to me and help me.

³Be to me a rock of dwelling to which I may continually come; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.

⁴Save me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, From the grasp of the wrongdoer and the ruthless,

⁵For You are my hope; Lord GOD, You are my confidence from my youth.

⁶I have leaned on you since my birth; You are He who took me from my mother’s womb; My praise is continually of You.

⁷I have become a marvel to many, For You are my strong refuge.

⁸My mouth is filled with Your praise And with Your glory all day long.

⁹Do not cast me away at the time of my old age; Do not abandon me when my strength fails.

¹⁰For my enemies have spoken against me; And those who watch for my life have consulted together,

¹¹Saying, “God has abandoned him; Pursue and seize him, for there is no one to save him.”

¹²God, do not be far from me; My God, hurry to my aid!

¹³May those who are enemies of my soul be put to shame and consumed; May they be covered with disgrace and dishonor, who seek to injure me.

¹⁴But as for me, I will wait continually, And will praise You yet more and more.

¹⁵My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And of Your salvation all day long; For I do not know the art of writing.

¹⁶I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.

¹⁷God, You have taught me from my youth, And I still declare Your wondrous deeds.

¹⁸And even when I am old and gray, God, do not abandon me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come.

¹⁹For Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens, You who have done great things; God, who is like You?

²⁰You who have shown me many troubles and distresses Will revive me again, And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

²¹May You increase my greatness And turn to comfort me.

²²I will also praise You with a harp, And Your truth, my God; I will sing praises to You with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.

²³My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You; And my soul, which You have redeemed.

²⁴My tongue also will tell of Your righteousness all day long; For they are put to shame, for they are humiliated who seek my harm.

¹Listen, my sons, to the instruction of a father, And pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

²For I give you good teaching; Do not abandon my instruction.

³When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

⁴He taught me and said to me, “Let your heart take hold of my words; Keep my commandments and live;

⁵Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

⁶Do not abandon her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you.

⁷The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your possessions, acquire understanding.

⁸Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her.

⁹She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

¹⁰Listen, my son, and accept my sayings, And the years of your life will be many.

¹¹I have instructed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; And if you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.

¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil people.

¹⁵Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on.

¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

²¹They are not to escape from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, And healing to all their body.

²³Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

²⁴Rid yourself of a deceitful mouth And keep devious speech far from you.

²⁵Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

²⁶Watch the path of your feet, And all your ways will be established.

²⁷Do not turn to the right or to the left; Turn your foot from evil.

¹When the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them,

²then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

³At that time Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and spoke to them as follows: “Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?”

⁴Then we told them accordingly what the names of the men were who were reconstructing this building.

⁵But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report could reach Darius, and then the decree concerning it could be sent back.

⁶This is the copy of the letter that Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai and his colleagues the officials, who were beyond the River, sent to Darius the king.

⁷They sent the report to him in which it was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace.

⁸May it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God which is being built with large stones, and beams are being laid in the walls; and this work is being performed with great care and is succeeding in their hands.

⁹Then we asked those elders and said to them as follows: ‘Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?’

¹⁰We also asked them their names so as to inform you, in order that we might write down the names of the men who were in charge.

¹¹So they answered us as follows, saying, ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.

¹²But because our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He handed them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.

¹³However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.

¹⁴Also the gold and silver utensils of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought them to the temple of Babylon, King Cyrus took them from the temple of Babylon and they were given to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor.

¹⁵And he said to him, “Take these utensils, go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and have the house of God rebuilt in its place.”

¹⁶Then that Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from then until now it has been under construction and it is not yet completed.’

¹⁷And now, if it pleases the king, let a search be conducted in the king’s treasure house, which is there in Babylon, as to whether a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem; and let the king send to us his decision concerning this matter.”

¹Woe to me! For I am Like harvests of summer fruit, like gleanings of grapes. There is not a cluster of grapes left to eat, Nor an early fig, which I crave.

²The godly person has perished from the land, And there is no upright person among mankind. All of them lie in wait for bloodshed; Each of them hunts the other with a net.

³As for evil, both hands do it well. The leader asks for a bribe, also the judge, And the great one speaks the capricious desire of his soul; So they plot it together.

⁴The best of them is like a thorn bush, The most upright like a thorn hedge. The day when you post your watchmen, Your punishment is coming. Then their confusion will occur.

⁵Do not trust in a neighbor; Do not have confidence in a close friend. Guard your lips From her who lies in your arms.

⁶For son disavows father, Daughter rises up against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A person’s enemies are the people of his own household.

⁷But as for me, I will be on the watch for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

⁸Do not rejoice over me, enemy of mine. Though I fall I will rise; Though I live in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.

⁹I will endure the rage of the LORD Because I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, And I will look at His righteousness.

¹⁰Then my enemy will see, And shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will look at her; At that time she will be trampled down Like mud of the streets.

¹¹It will be a day for building your walls. On that day your boundary will be extended.

¹²It will be a day when they will come to you From Assyria and the cities of Egypt, From Egypt even to the Euphrates River, Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

¹³And the earth will become a wasteland because of her inhabitants, On account of the fruit of their deeds.

¹⁴Shepherd Your people with Your scepter, The flock of Your possession Which lives by itself in the woodland, In the midst of a fruitful field. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead As in the days of old.

¹⁵“As in the days when you went out from the land of Egypt, I will show you miracles.”

¹⁶Nations will see and be ashamed Of all their might. They will put their hand on their mouth, Their ears will be deaf.

¹⁷They will lick up dust like a snake, Like reptiles of the earth. They will come trembling out of their fortresses; To the LORD our God they will come in trepidation, And they will be afraid of You.

¹⁸Who is a God like You, who pardons wrongdoing And passes over a rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy.

¹⁹He will again take pity on us; He will trample on our wrongdoings. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.

²⁰You will give truth to Jacob And favor to Abraham, Which You swore to our forefathers From the days of old.

¹Festus, then, after arriving in the province, went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea three days later.

²And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul, and they were pleading with Festus,

³requesting a concession against Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time, setting an ambush to kill him on the way).

⁴Festus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody in Caesarea, and that he himself was about to leave shortly.

⁵“Therefore,” he *said, “have the influential men among you go there with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, have them bring charges against him.”

⁶After Festus had spent no more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered that Paul be brought.

⁷After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many, and serious, charges against him which they could not prove,

⁸while Paul said in his own defense, “I have not done anything wrong either against the Law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against Caesar.”

⁹But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, replied to Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?”

¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know.

¹¹If, therefore, I am in the wrong and have committed something deserving death, I am not trying to avoid execution; but if there is nothing to the accusations which these men are bringing against me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.”

¹²Then when Festus had conferred with his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go.”

¹³Now when several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea, paying their respects to Festus.

¹⁴And while they were spending many days there, Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix;

¹⁵and when I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.

¹⁶I replied to them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any person before the accused meets his accusers face to face, and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges.

¹⁷So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered that the man be brought.

¹⁸When the accusers stood up, they did not begin bringing any charges against him of crimes that I suspected,

¹⁹but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive.

²⁰And being at a loss how to investigate such matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these matters.

²¹But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered that he be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.”

²²Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he *said, “you shall hear him.”

²³So, on the next day when Agrippa and Bernice came amid great pomp and entered the auditorium, accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought before them.

²⁴And Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.

²⁵But I found that he had committed nothing deserving death; and since he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him.

²⁶Yet, I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore, I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write.

²⁷For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him as well.”