Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.

²When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples

³and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

⁴Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:

⁵the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.

⁶And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

⁷As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?

⁸What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces.

⁹What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

¹⁰This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’

¹¹Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

¹²From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.

¹³For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came;

¹⁴and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.

¹⁵Let anyone with ears listen!

¹⁶“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

¹⁷‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’

¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’;

¹⁹the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

²⁰Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent.

²¹“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

²²But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

²³And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

²⁴But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.”

²⁵At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;

²⁶yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

²⁷All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

²⁸“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

¹The LORD summoned Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying:

²Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When any of you bring an offering of livestock to the LORD, you shall bring your offering from the herd or from the flock.

³If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you shall offer a male without blemish; you shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, for acceptance in your behalf before the LORD.

⁴You shall lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be acceptable in your behalf as atonement for you.

⁵The bull shall be slaughtered before the LORD; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall offer the blood, dashing the blood against all sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

⁶The burnt offering shall be flayed and cut up into its parts.

⁷The sons of the priest Aaron shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire.

⁸Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the parts, with the head and the suet, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar;

⁹but its entrails and its legs shall be washed with water. Then the priest shall turn the whole into smoke on the altar as a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the LORD.

¹⁰If your gift for a burnt offering is from the flock, from the sheep or goats, your offering shall be a male without blemish.

¹¹It shall be slaughtered on the north side of the altar before the LORD, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall dash its blood against all sides of the altar.

¹²It shall be cut up into its parts, with its head and its suet, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood that is on the fire on the altar;

¹³but the entrails and the legs shall be washed with water. Then the priest shall offer the whole and turn it into smoke on the altar; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the LORD.

¹⁴If your offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, you shall choose your offering from turtledoves or pigeons.

¹⁵The priest shall bring it to the altar and wring off its head, and turn it into smoke on the altar; and its blood shall be drained out against the side of the altar.

¹⁶He shall remove its crop with its contents and throw it at the east side of the altar, in the place for ashes.

¹⁷He shall tear it open by its wings without severing it. Then the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the LORD.

¹It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.

²I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven — whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows.

³And I know that such a person — whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows —

⁴was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.

⁵On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses.

⁶But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me,

⁷even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.

⁸Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me,

⁹but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

¹⁰Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

¹¹I have been a fool! You forced me to it. Indeed you should have been the ones commending me, for I am not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.

¹²The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, signs and wonders and mighty works.

¹³How have you been worse off than the other churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

¹⁴Here I am, ready to come to you this third time. And I will not be a burden, because I do not want what is yours but you; for children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for their children.

¹⁵I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?

¹⁶Let it be assumed that I did not burden you. Nevertheless (you say) since I was crafty, I took you in by deceit.

¹⁷Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you?

¹⁸I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. Titus did not take advantage of you, did he? Did we not conduct ourselves with the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

¹⁹Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves before you? We are speaking in Christ before God. Everything we do, beloved, is for the sake of building you up.

²⁰For I fear that when I come, I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish; I fear that there may perhaps be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.

²¹I fear that when I come again, my God may humble me before you, and that I may have to mourn over many who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and licentiousness that they have practiced.

¹In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you:

²proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.

³For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires,

⁴and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.

⁵As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.

⁶As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come.

⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

⁸From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

⁹Do your best to come to me soon,

¹⁰for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

¹¹Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry.

¹²I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

¹³When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

¹⁴Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will pay him back for his deeds.

¹⁵You also must beware of him, for he strongly opposed our message.

¹⁶At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them!

¹⁷But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.

¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁹Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.

²⁰Erastus remained in Corinth; Trophimus I left ill in Miletus.

²¹Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers and sisters.

²²The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

¹“But now they make sport of me, those who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.

²What could I gain from the strength of their hands? All their vigor is gone.

³Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry and desolate ground,

⁴they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes, and to warm themselves the roots of broom.

⁵They are driven out from society; people shout after them as after a thief.

⁶In the gullies of wadis they must live, in holes in the ground, and in the rocks.

⁷Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together.

⁸A senseless, disreputable brood, they have been whipped out of the land.

⁹“And now they mock me in song; I am a byword to them.

¹⁰They abhor me, they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.

¹¹Because God has loosed my bowstring and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.

¹²On my right hand the rabble rise up; they send me sprawling, and build roads for my ruin.

¹³They break up my path, they promote my calamity; no one restrains them.

¹⁴As through a wide breach they come; amid the crash they roll on.

¹⁵Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

¹⁶“And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me.

¹⁷The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.

¹⁸With violence he seizes my garment; he grasps me by the collar of my tunic.

¹⁹He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.

²⁰I cry to you and you do not answer me; I stand, and you merely look at me.

²¹You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me.

²²You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.

²³I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

²⁴“Surely one does not turn against the needy, when in disaster they cry for help.

²⁵Did I not weep for those whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

²⁶But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, darkness came.

²⁷My inward parts are in turmoil, and are never still; days of affliction come to meet me.

²⁸I go about in sunless gloom; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

²⁹I am a brother of jackals, and a companion of ostriches.

³⁰My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat.

³¹My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.

¹Happy is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways.

²You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.

³Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.

⁴Thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD.

⁵The LORD bless you from Zion. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.

⁶May you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!

¹The words of Agur son of Jakeh. An oracle. Thus says the man: I am weary, O God, I am weary, O God. How can I prevail?

²Surely I am too stupid to be human; I do not have human understanding.

³I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the holy ones.

⁴Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of the hand? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is the person’s name? And what is the name of the person’s child? Surely you know!

⁵Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

⁶Do not add to his words, or else he will rebuke you, and you will be found a liar.

⁷Two things I ask of you; do not deny them to me before I die:

⁸Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need,

⁹or I shall be full, and deny you, and say, “Who is the LORD?” or I shall be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God.

¹⁰Do not slander a servant to a master, or the servant will curse you, and you will be held guilty.

¹¹There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.

¹²There are those who are pure in their own eyes yet are not cleansed of their filthiness.

¹³There are those — how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift! —

¹⁴there are those whose teeth are swords, whose teeth are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among mortals.

¹⁵The leech has two daughters; “Give, give,” they cry. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough”:

¹⁶Sheol, the barren womb, the earth ever thirsty for water, and the fire that never says, “Enough.”

¹⁷The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.

¹⁸Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand:

¹⁹the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a girl.

²⁰This is the way of an adulteress: she eats, and wipes her mouth, and says, “I have done no wrong.”

²¹Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up:

²²a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when glutted with food;

²³an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maid when she succeeds her mistress.

²⁴Four things on earth are small, yet they are exceedingly wise:

²⁵the ants are a people without strength, yet they provide their food in the summer;

²⁶the badgers are a people without power, yet they make their homes in the rocks;

²⁷the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank;

²⁸the lizard can be grasped in the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

²⁹Three things are stately in their stride; four are stately in their gait:

³⁰the lion, which is mightiest among wild animals and does not turn back before any;

³¹the strutting rooster, the he-goat, and a king striding before his people.

³²If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth.

³³For as pressing milk produces curds, and pressing the nose produces blood, so pressing anger produces strife.

¹Then Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying:

²“When locks are long in Israel, when the people offer themselves willingly — bless the LORD!

³“Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to the LORD I will sing, I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel.

⁴“LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens poured, the clouds indeed poured water.

⁵The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel.

⁶“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, caravans ceased and travelers kept to the byways.

⁷The peasantry prospered in Israel, they grew fat on plunder, because you arose, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.

⁸When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?

⁹My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the LORD.

¹⁰“Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets and you who walk by the way.

¹¹To the sound of musicians at the watering places, there they repeat the triumphs of the LORD, the triumphs of his peasantry in Israel. “Then down to the gates marched the people of the LORD.

¹²“Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, lead away your captives, O son of Abinoam.

¹³Then down marched the remnant of the noble; the people of the LORD marched down for him against the mighty.

¹⁴From Ephraim they set out into the valley, following you, Benjamin, with your kin; from Machir marched down the commanders, and from Zebulun those who bear the marshal’s staff;

¹⁵the chiefs of Issachar came with Deborah, and Issachar faithful to Barak; into the valley they rushed out at his heels. Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.

¹⁶Why did you tarry among the sheepfolds, to hear the piping for the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.

¹⁷Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan; and Dan, why did he abide with the ships? Asher sat still at the coast of the sea, settling down by his landings.

¹⁸Zebulun is a people that scorned death; Naphtali too, on the heights of the field.

¹⁹“The kings came, they fought; then fought the kings of Canaan, at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; they got no spoils of silver.

²⁰The stars fought from heaven, from their courses they fought against Sisera.

²¹The torrent Kishon swept them away, the onrushing torrent, the torrent Kishon. March on, my soul, with might!

²²“Then loud beat the horses’ hoofs with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.

²³“Curse Meroz, says the angel of the LORD, curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they did not come to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.

²⁴“Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, of tent-dwelling women most blessed.

²⁵He asked water and she gave him milk, she brought him curds in a lordly bowl.

²⁶She put her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet; she struck Sisera a blow, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple.

²⁷He sank, he fell, he lay still at her feet; at her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell dead.

²⁸“Out of the window she peered, the mother of Sisera gazed through the lattice: ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’

²⁹Her wisest ladies make answer, indeed, she answers the question herself:

³⁰‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil? — A girl or two for every man; spoil of dyed stuffs for Sisera, spoil of dyed stuffs embroidered, two pieces of dyed work embroidered for my neck as spoil?’

³¹“So perish all your enemies, O LORD! But may your friends be like the sun as it rises in its might.” And the land had rest forty years.

¹Ah, the proud garland of the drunkards of Ephraim, and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of those bloated with rich food, of those overcome with wine!

²See, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong; like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters; with his hand he will hurl them down to the earth.

³Trampled under foot will be the proud garland of the drunkards of Ephraim.

⁴And the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of those bloated with rich food, will be like a first-ripe fig before the summer; whoever sees it, eats it up as soon as it comes to hand.

⁵In that day the LORD of hosts will be a garland of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people;

⁶and a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

⁷These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are confused with wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in giving judgment.

⁸All tables are covered with filthy vomit; no place is clean.

⁹“Whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from milk, those taken from the breast?

¹⁰For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.”

¹¹Truly, with stammering lip and with alien tongue he will speak to this people,

¹²to whom he has said, “This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose”; yet they would not hear.

¹³Therefore the word of the LORD will be to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little;” in order that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.

¹⁵Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement; when the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;

¹⁶therefore thus says the Lord GOD, See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: “One who trusts will not panic.”

¹⁷And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter.

¹⁸Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through you will be beaten down by it.

¹⁹As often as it passes through, it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.

²⁰For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it.

²¹For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim, he will rage as in the valley of Gibeon to do his deed — strange is his deed! — and to work his work — alien is his work!

²²Now therefore do not scoff, or your bonds will be made stronger; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord GOD of hosts upon the whole land.

²³Listen, and hear my voice; Pay attention, and hear my speech.

²⁴Do those who plow for sowing plow continually? Do they continually open and harrow their ground?

²⁵When they have leveled its surface, do they not scatter dill, sow cummin, and plant wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and spelt as the border?

²⁶For they are well instructed; their God teaches them.

²⁷Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cummin; but dill is beaten out with a stick, and cummin with a rod.

²⁸Grain is crushed for bread, but one does not thresh it forever; one drives the cart wheel and horses over it, but does not pulverize it.

²⁹This also comes from the LORD of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.

¹Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began to defend himself:

²“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews,

³because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews; therefore I beg of you to listen to me patiently.

⁴“All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.

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

⁶And now I stand here on trial on account of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors,

⁷a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship day and night. It is for this hope, your Excellency, that I am accused by Jews!

⁸Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

⁹“Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death.

¹¹By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.

¹²“With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,

¹³when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions.

¹⁴When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

¹⁶But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you.

¹⁷I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles — to whom I am sending you

¹⁸to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from 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“After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

²⁰but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance.

²¹For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

²²To this day I have had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place:

²³that the Messiah must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴While he was making this defense, Festus exclaimed, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane!”

²⁵But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth.

²⁶Indeed the king knows about these things, and to him I speak freely; for I am certain that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner.

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

²⁸Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you so quickly persuading me to become a Christian?”

²⁹Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today might become such as I am — except for these chains.”

³⁰Then the king got up, and with him the governor and Bernice and those who had been seated with them;

³¹and as they were leaving, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.”

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