Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples,

²“As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

³Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,

⁴and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.

⁵“But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

⁶While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper,

⁷a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

⁸When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked.

⁹“This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

¹⁰Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.

¹¹The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.

¹²When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.

¹³Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

¹⁴Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests

¹⁵and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver.

¹⁶From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

¹⁷On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

¹⁸He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ ”

¹⁹So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.

²⁰When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve.

²¹And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

²²They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”

²³Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.

²⁴The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

²⁵Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?” Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

²⁶While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

²⁷Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.

²⁸This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

²⁹I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

³⁰When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

³¹Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: “ ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

³²But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

³³Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

³⁴“Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

³⁵But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

³⁶Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

³⁷He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.

³⁸Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

³⁹Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

⁴⁰Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.

⁴¹“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴²He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

⁴³When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy.

⁴⁴So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

⁴⁵Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.

⁴⁶Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

⁴⁷While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people.

⁴⁸Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.”

⁴⁹Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.

⁵⁰Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.” Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him.

⁵¹With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

⁵²“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.

⁵³Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

⁵⁴But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

⁵⁵In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me.

⁵⁶But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

⁵⁷Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled.

⁵⁸But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.

⁵⁹The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death.

⁶⁰But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward

⁶¹and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’ ”

⁶²Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?”

⁶³But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

⁶⁴“You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

⁶⁵Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.

⁶⁶What do you think?” “He is worthy of death,” they answered.

⁶⁷Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him

⁶⁸and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”

⁶⁹Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.

⁷⁰But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

⁷¹Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁷²He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

⁷³After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”

⁷⁴Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed.

⁷⁵Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

¹Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar.

²The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.

³Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.

⁴I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,

⁵because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.”

⁶So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

⁷When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”

⁸When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

⁹So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”

¹⁰Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

¹¹So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

¹²Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him.

¹³The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.

¹⁴He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.

¹⁵So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.

¹⁶Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”

¹⁷So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled.

¹⁸Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.

¹⁹Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.

²⁰But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him.

²¹Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.

²²He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”

²³From there he went up to Beersheba.

²⁴That night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

²⁵Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.

²⁶Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces.

²⁷Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”

²⁸They answered, “We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you

²⁹that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the LORD.”

³⁰Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

³¹Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.

³²That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!”

³³He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.

³⁴When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.

³⁵They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

¹For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.

²They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

³They all ate the same spiritual food

⁴and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

⁵Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

⁶Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

⁷Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”

⁸We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

⁹We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes.

¹⁰And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

¹¹These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.

¹²So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

¹³No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

¹⁴Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

¹⁵I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.

¹⁶Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?

¹⁷Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.

¹⁸Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?

¹⁹Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?

²⁰No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.

²¹You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.

²²Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

²³“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.

²⁴No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.

²⁵Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,

²⁶for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”

²⁷If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.

²⁸But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience.

²⁹I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience?

³⁰If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?

³¹So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

³²Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—

³³even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

¹What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?

²You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.

³When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

⁴You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

⁵Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?

⁶But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

¹¹Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.

¹²There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

¹³Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”

¹⁴Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

¹⁶As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.

¹⁷If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

¹Then Job replied:

²“How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble!

³What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed!

⁴Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?

⁵“The dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

⁶The realm of the dead is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered.

⁷He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.

⁸He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.

⁹He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it.

¹⁰He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness.

¹¹The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke.

¹²By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.

¹³By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent.

¹⁴And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”

¹Of David. Vindicate me, LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD and have not faltered.

²Test me, LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;

³for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.

⁴I do not sit with the deceitful, nor do I associate with hypocrites.

⁵I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked.

⁶I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, LORD,

⁷proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds.

⁸LORD, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory dwells.

⁹Do not take away my soul along with sinners, my life with those who are bloodthirsty,

¹⁰in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes.

¹¹I lead a blameless life; deliver me and be merciful to me.

¹²My feet stand on level ground; in the great congregation I will praise the LORD.

¹Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool.

²Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.

³A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!

⁴Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.

⁵Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.

⁶Sending a message by the hands of a fool is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison.

⁷Like the useless legs of one who is lame is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

⁸Like tying a stone in a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.

⁹Like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

¹⁰Like an archer who wounds at random is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.

¹¹As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.

¹²Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them.

¹³A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!”

¹⁴As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed.

¹⁵A sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.

¹⁶A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven people who answer discreetly.

¹⁷Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.

¹⁸Like a maniac shooting flaming arrows of death

¹⁹is one who deceives their neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”

²⁰Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down.

²¹As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.

²²The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.

²³Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart.

²⁴Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit.

²⁵Though their speech is charming, do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts.

²⁶Their malice may be concealed by deception, but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

²⁷Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.

²⁸A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

¹The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you,

²and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?

³And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; they will become traps for you, and their gods will become snares to you.’ ”

⁴When the angel of the LORD had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud,

⁵and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the LORD.

⁶After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance.

⁷The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.

⁸Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten.

⁹And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

¹⁰After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.

¹¹Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals.

¹²They forsook the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the LORD’s anger

¹³because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

¹⁴In his anger against Israel the LORD gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.

¹⁵Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the LORD was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

¹⁶Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.

¹⁷Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the LORD’s commands.

¹⁸Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them.

¹⁹But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

²⁰Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me,

²¹I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died.

²²I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their ancestors did.”

²³The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

¹In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts.

²Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith.

³You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

⁴Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.

⁵He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust.

⁶Feet trample it down— the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor.

⁷The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.

⁸Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.

⁹My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.

¹⁰But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the LORD.

¹¹LORD, your hand is lifted high, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame; let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them.

¹²LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.

¹³LORD our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honor.

¹⁴They are now dead, they live no more; their spirits do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin; you wiped out all memory of them.

¹⁵You have enlarged the nation, LORD; you have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for yourself; you have extended all the borders of the land.

¹⁶LORD, they came to you in their distress; when you disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer.

¹⁷As a pregnant woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, LORD.

¹⁸We were with child, we writhed in labor, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the people of the world have not come to life.

¹⁹But your dead will live, LORD; their bodies will rise— let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy— your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.

²⁰Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by.

²¹See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed on it; the earth will conceal its slain no longer.

¹Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense:

²“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews,

³and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴“The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem.

⁵They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee.

⁶And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today.

⁷This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me.

⁸Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

⁹“I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

¹¹Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

¹²“On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.

¹³About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions.

¹⁴We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵“Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.

¹⁶‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.

¹⁷I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them

¹⁸to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

¹⁹“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.

²⁰First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.

²¹That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.

²²But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—

²³that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”

²⁵“I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable.

²⁶The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.

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

²⁸Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”

²⁹Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

³⁰The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them.

³¹After they left the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”

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