Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”

²After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves to be alone. He was transfigured in front of them,

³and his clothes became dazzling — extremely white as no launderer on earth could whiten them.

⁴Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.

⁵Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good for us to be here. Let us set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” —

⁶because he did not know what to say, since they were terrified.

⁷A cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him!”

⁸Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

⁹As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

¹⁰They kept this word to themselves, questioning what “rising from the dead” meant.

¹¹Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

¹²“Elijah does come first and restores all things,” he replied. “Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?

¹³But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did whatever they pleased to him, just as it is written about him.”

¹⁴When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing with them.

¹⁵When the whole crowd saw him, they were amazed and ran to greet him.

¹⁶He asked them, “What are you arguing with them about?”

¹⁷Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak.

¹⁸Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

¹⁹He replied to them, “You unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.”

²⁰So they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, it immediately threw the boy into convulsions. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

²¹“How long has this been happening to him?” Jesus asked his father. “From childhood,” he said.

²²“And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

²³Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’? Everything is possible for the one who believes.”

²⁴Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”

²⁵When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you: Come out of him and never enter him again.”

²⁶Then it came out, shrieking and throwing him into terrible convulsions. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He’s dead.”

²⁷But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.

²⁸After he had gone into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁹And he told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.”

³⁰Then they left that place and made their way through Galilee, but he did not want anyone to know it.

³¹For he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise three days later.”

³²But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask him.

³³They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”

³⁴But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest.

³⁵Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.”

³⁶He took a child, had him stand among them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them,

³⁷“Whoever welcomes one little child such as this in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent me.”

³⁸John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”

³⁹“Don’t stop him,” said Jesus, “because there is no one who will perform a miracle in my name who can soon afterward speak evil of me.

⁴⁰For whoever is not against us is for us.

⁴¹And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ — truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.

⁴²“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away  — it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

⁴³“And if your hand causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell, the unquenchable fire.

⁴⁴

⁴⁵And if your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.

⁴⁶

⁴⁷And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,

⁴⁸wheretheir worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

⁴⁹For everyone will be salted with fire.

⁵⁰Salt is good, but if the salt should lose its flavor, how can you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

¹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When someone makes a special vow to the LORD that involves the assessment of people,

³if the assessment concerns a male from twenty to sixty years old, your assessment is fifty silver shekels measured by the standard sanctuary shekel.

⁴If the person is a female, your assessment is thirty shekels.

⁵If the person is from five to twenty years old, your assessment for a male is twenty shekels and for a female ten shekels.

⁶If the person is from one month to five years old, your assessment for a male is five silver shekels, and for a female your assessment is three shekels of silver.

⁷If the person is sixty years or more, your assessment is fifteen shekels for a male and ten shekels for a female.

⁸But if one is too poor to pay the assessment, he is to present the person before the priest and the priest will set a value for him. The priest will set a value for him according to what the one making the vow can afford.

⁹“If the vow involves one of the animals that may be brought as an offering to the LORD, any of these he gives to the LORD will be holy.

¹⁰He may not replace it or make a substitution for it, either good for bad, or bad for good. But if he does substitute one animal for another, both that animal and its substitute will be holy.

¹¹“If the vow involves any of the unclean animals that may not be brought as an offering to the LORD, the animal must be presented before the priest.

¹²The priest will set its value, whether high or low; the price will be set as the priest makes the assessment for you.

¹³If the one who brought it decides to redeem it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value.

¹⁴“When a man consecrates his house as holy to the LORD, the priest will assess its value, whether high or low. The price will stand just as the priest assesses it.

¹⁵But if the one who consecrated his house redeems it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it will be his.

¹⁶“If a man consecrates to the LORD any part of a field that he possesses, your assessment of value will be proportional to the seed needed to sow it, at the rate of fifty silver shekels for every five bushels of barley seed.

¹⁷If he consecrates his field during the Year of Jubilee, the price will stand according to your assessment.

¹⁸But if he consecrates his field after the Jubilee, the priest will calculate the price for him in proportion to the years left until the next Year of Jubilee, so that your assessment will be reduced.

¹⁹If the one who consecrated the field decides to redeem it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and the field will transfer back to him.

²⁰But if he does not redeem the field or if he has sold it to another man, it is no longer redeemable.

²¹When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will be holy to the LORD like a field permanently set apart; it becomes the priest’s property.

²²“If a person consecrates to the LORD a field he has purchased that is not part of his inherited landholding,

²³then the priest will calculate for him the amount of the assessment up to the Year of Jubilee, and the person will pay the assessed value on that day as a holy offering to the LORD.

²⁴In the Year of Jubilee the field will return to the one he bought it from, the original owner.

²⁵All your assessed values will be measured by the standard sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.

²⁶“But no one can consecrate a firstborn of the livestock, whether an animal from the herd or flock, to the LORD, because a firstborn already belongs to the LORD.

²⁷If it is one of the unclean livestock, it can be ransomed according to your assessment by adding a fifth of its value to it. If it is not redeemed, it can be sold according to your assessment.

²⁸“Nothing that a man permanently sets apart to the LORD from all he owns, whether a person, an animal, or his inherited landholding, can be sold or redeemed; everything set apart is especially holy to the LORD.

²⁹No person who has been set apart for destruction is to be ransomed; he must be put to death.

³⁰“Every tenth of the land’s produce, grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.

³¹If a man decides to redeem any part of this tenth, he must add a fifth to its value.

³²Every tenth animal from the herd or flock, which passes under the shepherd’s rod, will be holy to the LORD.

³³He is not to inspect whether it is good or bad, and he is not to make a substitution for it. But if he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute will be holy; they cannot be redeemed.”

³⁴These are the commands the LORD gave Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.

¹For every high priest taken from among men is appointed in matters pertaining to God for the people, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

²He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he is also clothed with weakness.

³Because of this, he must make an offering for his own sins as well as for the people.

⁴No one takes this honor on himself; instead, a person is called by God, just as Aaron was.

⁵In the same way, Christ did not exalt himself to become a high priest, but God who said to him, You are my Son; today I have become your Father,

⁶also says in another place, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

⁷During his earthly life, he offered prayers and appeals with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.

⁸Although he was the Son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.

⁹After he was perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

¹⁰and he was declared by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

¹¹We have a great deal to say about this, and it is difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand.

¹²Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food.

¹³Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness, because he is an infant.

¹⁴But solid food is for the mature — for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.

¹The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

²who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatever he saw.

³Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near.

⁴John: To the seven churches in Asia. Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne,

⁵and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by his blood,

⁶and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father — to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

⁷Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen.

⁸“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

⁹I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

¹⁰I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet

¹¹saying, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹²Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,

¹³and among the lampstands was one like the Son of Man, dressed in a robe and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest.

¹⁴The hair of his head was white as wool — white as snow  — and his eyes like a fiery flame.

¹⁵His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace, and his voice like the sound of cascading waters.

¹⁶He had seven stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth, and his face was shining like the sun at full strength.

¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last,

¹⁸and the Living One. I was dead, but look — I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.

¹⁹Therefore write what you have seen, what is, and what will take place after this.

²⁰The mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

¹I am a wildflower of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

²Like a lily among thorns, so is my darling among the young women.

³Like an apricot tree among the trees of the forest, so is my love among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

⁴He brought me to the banquet hall, and he looked on me with love.

⁵Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apricots, for I am lovesick.

⁶May his left hand be under my head, and his right arm embrace me.

⁷Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and the wild does of the field, do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time.

⁸Listen! My love is approaching. Look! Here he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills.

⁹My love is like a gazelle or a young stag. See, he is standing behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.

¹⁰My love calls to me: Arise, my darling. Come away, my beautiful one.

¹¹For now the winter is past; the rain has ended and gone away.

¹²The blossoms appear in the countryside. The time of singing has come, and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land.

¹³The fig tree ripens its figs; the blossoming vines give off their fragrance. Arise, my darling. Come away, my beautiful one.

¹⁴My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

¹⁵Catch the foxes for us  — the little foxes that ruin the vineyards — for our vineyards are in bloom.

¹⁶My love is mine and I am his; he feeds among the lilies.

¹⁷Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn around, my love, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the divided mountains.

¹For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A psalm of David. [1] Answer me when I call, God, who vindicates me. You freed me from affliction; be gracious to me and hear my prayer.

²How long, exalted ones, will my honor be insulted? How long will you love what is worthless and pursue a lie? Selah

³Know that the LORD has set apart the faithful for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him.

⁴Be angry and do not sin; on your bed, reflect in your heart and be still. Selah

⁵Offer sacrifices in righteousness and trust in the LORD.

⁶Many are asking, “Who can show us anything good?” Let the light of your face shine on us, LORD.

⁷You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and new wine abound.

⁸I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, LORD, make me live in safety.

¹These too are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of King Hezekiah of Judah, copied.

²It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to investigate a matter.

³As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be investigated.

⁴Remove impurities from silver, and material will be produced for a silversmith.

⁵Remove the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Don’t boast about yourself before the king, and don’t stand in the place of the great;

⁷for it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here!” than to demote you in plain view of a noble.

⁸Don’t take a matter to court hastily. Otherwise, what will you do afterward if your opponent humiliates you?

⁹Make your case with your opponent without revealing another’s secret;

¹⁰otherwise, the one who hears will disgrace you, and you’ll never live it down.

¹¹A word spoken at the right time is like gold apples in silver settings.

¹²A wise correction to a receptive ear is like a gold ring or an ornament of gold.

¹³To those who send him, a trustworthy envoy is like the coolness of snow on a harvest day; he refreshes the life of his masters.

¹⁴The one who boasts about a gift that does not exist is like clouds and wind without rain.

¹⁵A ruler can be persuaded through patience, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.

¹⁶If you find honey, eat only what you need; otherwise, you’ll get sick from it and vomit.

¹⁷Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house; otherwise, he’ll get sick of you and hate you.

¹⁸A person giving false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Trusting an unreliable person in a difficult time is like a rotten tooth or a faltering foot.

²⁰Singing songs to a troubled heart is like taking off clothing on a cold day or like pouring vinegar on soda.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;

²²for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

²³The north wind produces rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.

²⁴Better to live on the corner of a roof than to share a house with a nagging wife.

²⁵Good news from a distant land is like cold water to a parched throat.

²⁶A righteous person who yields to the wicked is like a muddied spring or a polluted well.

²⁷It is not good to eat too much honey or to seek glory after glory.

²⁸A person who does not control his temper is like a city whose wall is broken down.

¹When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory for seven months,

²the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners and pleaded, “What should we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we can send it back to its place.”

³They replied, “If you send the ark of Israel’s God away, do not send it without an offering. Send back a guilt offering to him, and you will be healed. Then the reason his hand hasn’t been removed from you will be revealed.”

⁴They asked, “What guilt offering should we send back to him?” And they answered, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice corresponding to the number of Philistine rulers, since there was one plague for both you and your rulers.

⁵Make images of your tumors and of your mice that are destroying the land. Give glory to Israel’s God, and perhaps he will stop oppressing you, your gods, and your land.

⁶Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When he afflicted them, didn’t they send Israel away, and Israel left?

⁷“Now then, prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up.

⁸Take the ark of the LORD, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you’re sending him as a guilt offering in a box beside the ark. Send it off and let it go its way.

⁹Then watch: If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh, it is the LORD who has made this terrible trouble for us. However, if it doesn’t, we will know that it was not his hand that punished us — it was just something that happened to us by chance.”

¹⁰The men did this: They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and confined their calves in the pen.

¹¹Then they put the ark of the LORD on the cart, along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors.

¹²The cows went straight up the road to Beth-shemesh. They stayed on that one highway, lowing as they went; they never strayed to the right or to the left. The Philistine rulers were walking behind them to the territory of Beth-shemesh.

¹³The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed to see it.

¹⁴The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.

¹⁵The Levites removed the ark of the LORD, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the people of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD.

¹⁶When the five Philistine rulers observed this, they returned to Ekron that same day.

¹⁷As a guilt offering to the LORD, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.

¹⁸The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers, the fortified cities and the outlying villages. The large rock on which the ark of the LORD was placed is still in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh today.

¹⁹God struck down the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD. He struck down seventy persons. The people mourned because the LORD struck them with a great slaughter.

²⁰The people of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand in the presence of the LORD this holy God? To whom should the ark go from here?”

²¹They sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and get it.”

¹“Rejoice, childless one, who did not give birth; burst into song and shout, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of the married woman,” says the LORD.

²“Enlarge the site of your tent, and let your tent curtains be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your ropes, and drive your pegs deep.

³For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will dispossess nations and inhabit the desolate cities.

⁴“Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; don’t be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced. For you will forget the shame of your youth, and you will no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood.

⁵Indeed, your husband is your Maker  — his name is the LORD of Armies — and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of the whole earth.

⁶For the LORD has called you, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” says your God.

⁷“I deserted you for a brief moment, but I will take you back with abundant compassion.

⁸In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but I will have compassion on you with everlasting love,” says the LORD your Redeemer.

⁹“For this is like the days of Noah to me: when I swore that the water of Noah would never flood the earth again, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you.

¹⁰Though the mountains move and the hills shake, my love will not be removed from you and my covenant of peace will not be shaken,” says your compassionate LORD.

¹¹“Poor Jerusalem, storm-tossed, and not comforted, I will set your stones in black mortar, and lay your foundations in lapis lazuli.

¹²I will make your fortifications out of rubies, your gates out of sparkling stones, and all your walls out of precious stones.

¹³Then all your children will be taught by the LORD, their prosperity will be great,

¹⁴and you will be established on a foundation of righteousness. You will be far from oppression, you will certainly not be afraid; you will be far from terror, it will certainly not come near you.

¹⁵If anyone attacks you, it is not from me; whoever attacks you will fall before you.

¹⁶Look, I have created the craftsman who blows on the charcoal fire and produces a weapon suitable for its task; and I have created the destroyer to cause havoc.

¹⁷No weapon formed against you will succeed, and you will refute any accusation raised against you in court. This is the heritage of the LORD’s servants, and their vindication is from me.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹Five days later Ananias the high priest came down with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus. These men presented their case against Paul to the governor.

²When Paul was called in, Tertullus began to accuse him and said: “We enjoy great peace because of you, and reforms are taking place for the benefit of this nation because of your foresight.

³We acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with utmost gratitude.

⁴But, so that I will not burden you any further, I request that you would be kind enough to give us a brief hearing.

⁵For we have found this man to be a plague, an agitator among all the Jews throughout the Roman world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

⁶He even tried to desecrate the temple, and so we apprehended him. By examining him yourself you will be able to discern the truth about these charges we are bringing against him.”

⁷

⁸

⁹The Jews also joined in the attack, alleging that these things were true.

¹⁰When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: “Because I know you have been a judge of this nation for many years, I am glad to offer my defense in what concerns me.

¹¹You can verify for yourself that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem.

¹²They didn’t find me arguing with anyone or causing a disturbance among the crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or anywhere in the city.

¹³Neither can they prove the charges they are now making against me.

¹⁴But I admit this to you: I worship the God of my ancestors according to the Way, which they call a sect, believing everything that is in accordance with the law and written in the prophets.

¹⁵I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection, both of the righteous and the unrighteous.

¹⁶I always strive to have a clear conscience toward God and men.

¹⁷After many years, I came to bring charitable gifts and offerings to my people.

¹⁸While I was doing this, some Jews from Asia found me ritually purified in the temple, without a crowd and without any uproar.

¹⁹It is they who ought to be here before you to bring charges, if they have anything against me.

²⁰Or let these men here state what wrongdoing they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin,

²¹other than this one statement I shouted while standing among them, ‘Today I am on trial before you concerning the resurrection of the dead.’”

²²Since Felix was well informed about the Way, he adjourned the hearing, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.”

²³He ordered that the centurion keep Paul under guard, though he could have some freedom, and that he should not prevent any of his friends from meeting his needs.

²⁴Several days later, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and listened to him on the subject of faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁵Now as he spoke about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became afraid and replied, “Leave for now, but when I have an opportunity I’ll call for you.”

²⁶At the same time he was also hoping that Paul would offer him money. So he sent for him quite often and conversed with him.

²⁷After two years had passed, Porcius Festus succeeded Felix, and because Felix wanted to do the Jews a favor, he left Paul in prison.