Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him.

²“Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”

³He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me:

⁴John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

⁵They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’

⁶But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”

⁷So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”

⁸Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

⁹He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time.

¹⁰At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

¹¹He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed.

¹²He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

¹³“Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’

¹⁴“But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

¹⁵So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

¹⁶He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”

¹⁷Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: “ ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’ ?

¹⁸Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

¹⁹The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.

²⁰Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.

²¹So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.

²²Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

²³He saw through their duplicity and said to them,

²⁴“Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied.

²⁵He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

²⁶They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.

²⁷Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question.

²⁸“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.

²⁹Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless.

³⁰The second

³¹and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children.

³²Finally, the woman died too.

³³Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

³⁴Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage.

³⁵But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage,

³⁶and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.

³⁷But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’

³⁸He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

³⁹Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!”

⁴⁰And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

⁴¹Then Jesus said to them, “Why is it said that the Messiah is the son of David?

⁴²David himself declares in the Book of Psalms: “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand

⁴³until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” ’

⁴⁴David calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”

⁴⁵While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples,

⁴⁶“Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.

⁴⁷They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

¹The daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah. They came forward

²and stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders and the whole assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said,

³“Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among Korah’s followers, who banded together against the LORD, but he died for his own sin and left no sons.

⁴Why should our father’s name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s relatives.”

⁵So Moses brought their case before the LORD,

⁶and the LORD said to him,

⁷“What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father’s relatives and give their father’s inheritance to them.

⁸“Say to the Israelites, ‘If a man dies and leaves no son, give his inheritance to his daughter.

⁹If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers.

¹⁰If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers.

¹¹If his father had no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan, that he may possess it. This is to have the force of law for the Israelites, as the LORD commanded Moses.’ ”

¹²Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim Range and see the land I have given the Israelites.

¹³After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was,

¹⁴for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.” (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)

¹⁵Moses said to the LORD,

¹⁶“May the LORD, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community

¹⁷to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the LORD’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

¹⁸So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him.

¹⁹Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence.

²⁰Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him.

²¹He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the LORD. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”

²²Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly.

²³Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD instructed through Moses.

¹Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.

²I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.

³You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?

⁴For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

⁵What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

⁶I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.

⁷So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

⁸The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

⁹For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.

¹¹For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

¹²If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,

¹³their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.

¹⁴If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.

¹⁵If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

¹⁶Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

¹⁸Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise.

¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”;

²⁰and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”

²¹So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours,

²²whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,

²³and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

¹Then Job replied:

²“Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me.

³Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.

⁴“Is my complaint directed to a human being? Why should I not be impatient?

⁵Look at me and be appalled; clap your hand over your mouth.

⁶When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body.

⁷Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?

⁸They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes.

⁹Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not on them.

¹⁰Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry.

¹¹They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about.

¹²They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre; they make merry to the sound of the pipe.

¹³They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace.

¹⁴Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways.

¹⁵Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?’

¹⁶But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

¹⁷“Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in his anger?

¹⁸How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale?

¹⁹It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’ Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!

²⁰Let their own eyes see their destruction; let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.

²¹For what do they care about the families they leave behind when their allotted months come to an end?

²²“Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest?

²³One person dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease,

²⁴well nourished in body, bones rich with marrow.

²⁵Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good.

²⁶Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both.

²⁷“I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me.

²⁸You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great, the tents where the wicked lived?’

²⁹Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts—

³⁰that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity, that they are delivered from the day of wrath?

³¹Who denounces their conduct to their face? Who repays them for what they have done?

³²They are carried to the grave, and watch is kept over their tombs.

³³The soil in the valley is sweet to them; everyone follows after them, and a countless throng goes before them.

³⁴“So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”

¹For the director of music. A psalm of David. In you, LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.

²Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.

³Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

⁴Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.

⁵Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, LORD, my faithful God.

⁶I hate those who cling to worthless idols; as for me, I trust in the LORD.

⁷I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.

⁸You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.

⁹Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief.

¹⁰My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.

¹¹Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors and an object of dread to my closest friends— those who see me on the street flee from me.

¹²I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.

¹³For I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side!” They conspire against me and plot to take my life.

¹⁴But I trust in you, LORD; I say, “You are my God.”

¹⁵My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.

¹⁶Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.

¹⁷Let me not be put to shame, LORD, for I have cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame and be silent in the realm of the dead.

¹⁸Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

¹⁹How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you.

²⁰In the shelter of your presence you hide them from all human intrigues; you keep them safe in your dwelling from accusing tongues.

²¹Praise be to the LORD, for he showed me the wonders of his love when I was in a city under siege.

²²In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from your sight!” Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.

²³Love the LORD, all his faithful people! The LORD preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full.

²⁴Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.

¹In the LORD’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him.

²A person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart.

³To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

⁴Haughty eyes and a proud heart— the unplowed field of the wicked—produce sin.

⁵The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

⁶A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.

⁷The violence of the wicked will drag them away, for they refuse to do what is right.

⁸The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright.

⁹Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

¹⁰The wicked crave evil; their neighbors get no mercy from them.

¹¹When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge.

¹²The Righteous One takes note of the house of the wicked and brings the wicked to ruin.

¹³Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.

¹⁴A gift given in secret soothes anger, and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.

¹⁵When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.

¹⁶Whoever strays from the path of prudence comes to rest in the company of the dead.

¹⁷Whoever loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich.

¹⁸The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for the upright.

¹⁹Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife.

²⁰The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.

²¹Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.

²²One who is wise can go up against the city of the mighty and pull down the stronghold in which they trust.

²³Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.

²⁴The proud and arrogant person—“Mocker” is his name— behaves with insolent fury.

²⁵The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.

²⁶All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.

²⁷The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable— how much more so when brought with evil intent!

²⁸A false witness will perish, but a careful listener will testify successfully.

²⁹The wicked put up a bold front, but the upright give thought to their ways.

³⁰There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.

³¹The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD.

¹In the course of time, David inquired of the LORD. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” he asked. The LORD said, “Go up.” David asked, “Where shall I go?” “To Hebron,” the LORD answered.

²So David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

³David also took the men who were with him, each with his family, and they settled in Hebron and its towns.

⁴Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the tribe of Judah. When David was told that it was the men from Jabesh Gilead who had buried Saul,

⁵he sent messengers to them to say to them, “The LORD bless you for showing this kindness to Saul your master by burying him.

⁶May the LORD now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favor because you have done this.

⁷Now then, be strong and brave, for Saul your master is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed me king over them.”

⁸Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-Bosheth son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim.

⁹He made him king over Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel, and also over Ephraim, Benjamin and all Israel.

¹⁰Ish-Bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned two years. The tribe of Judah, however, remained loyal to David.

¹¹The length of time David was king in Hebron over Judah was seven years and six months.

¹²Abner son of Ner, together with the men of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon.

¹³Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s men went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool and one group on the other side.

¹⁴Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight hand to hand in front of us.” “All right, let them do it,” Joab said.

¹⁵So they stood up and were counted off—twelve men for Benjamin and Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David.

¹⁶Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his dagger into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together. So that place in Gibeon was called Helkath Hazzurim.

¹⁷The battle that day was very fierce, and Abner and the Israelites were defeated by David’s men.

¹⁸The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai and Asahel. Now Asahel was as fleet-footed as a wild gazelle.

¹⁹He chased Abner, turning neither to the right nor to the left as he pursued him.

²⁰Abner looked behind him and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?” “It is,” he answered.

²¹Then Abner said to him, “Turn aside to the right or to the left; take on one of the young men and strip him of his weapons.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him.

²²Again Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me! Why should I strike you down? How could I look your brother Joab in the face?”

²³But Asahel refused to give up the pursuit; so Abner thrust the butt of his spear into Asahel’s stomach, and the spear came out through his back. He fell there and died on the spot. And every man stopped when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.

²⁴But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner, and as the sun was setting, they came to the hill of Ammah, near Giah on the way to the wasteland of Gibeon.

²⁵Then the men of Benjamin rallied behind Abner. They formed themselves into a group and took their stand on top of a hill.

²⁶Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their fellow Israelites?”

²⁷Joab answered, “As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken, the men would have continued pursuing them until morning.”

²⁸So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the troops came to a halt; they no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight anymore.

²⁹All that night Abner and his men marched through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, continued through the morning hours and came to Mahanaim.

³⁰Then Joab stopped pursuing Abner and assembled the whole army. Besides Asahel, nineteen of David’s men were found missing.

³¹But David’s men had killed three hundred and sixty Benjamites who were with Abner.

³²They took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night and arrived at Hebron by daybreak.

¹Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go!

²And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the LORD says: “ ‘Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.’

³“I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” declares the LORD, “the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds and the wild animals to devour and destroy.

⁴I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.

⁵“Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Who will mourn for you? Who will stop to ask how you are?

⁶You have rejected me,” declares the LORD. “You keep on backsliding. So I will reach out and destroy you; I am tired of holding back.

⁷I will winnow them with a winnowing fork at the city gates of the land. I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people, for they have not changed their ways.

⁸I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. At midday I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of their young men; suddenly I will bring down on them anguish and terror.

⁹The mother of seven will grow faint and breathe her last. Her sun will set while it is still day; she will be disgraced and humiliated. I will put the survivors to the sword before their enemies,” declares the LORD.

¹⁰Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth, a man with whom the whole land strives and contends! I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.

¹¹The LORD said, “Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress.

¹²“Can a man break iron— iron from the north—or bronze?

¹³“Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder, without charge, because of all your sins throughout your country.

¹⁴I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for my anger will kindle a fire that will burn against you.”

¹⁵LORD, you understand; remember me and care for me. Avenge me on my persecutors. You are long-suffering—do not take me away; think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.

¹⁶When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, LORD God Almighty.

¹⁷I never sat in the company of revelers, never made merry with them; I sat alone because your hand was on me and you had filled me with indignation.

¹⁸Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable? You are to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails.

¹⁹Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

²⁰I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you,” declares the LORD.

²¹“I will save you from the hands of the wicked and deliver you from the grasp of the cruel.”

¹Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.”

²At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.

³Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”

⁴Those who were standing near Paul said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest!”

⁵Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’”

⁶Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.”

⁷When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

⁸(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)

⁹There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

¹⁰The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.

¹¹The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

¹²The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³More than forty men were involved in this plot.

¹⁴They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.

¹⁵Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”

¹⁶But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.

¹⁷Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.”

¹⁸So he took him to the commander. The centurion said, “Paul, the prisoner, sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

¹⁹The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”

²⁰He said: “Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him.

²¹Don’t give in to them, because more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him. They have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request.”

²²The commander dismissed the young man with this warning: “Don’t tell anyone that you have reported this to me.”

²³Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight.

²⁴Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.”

²⁵He wrote a letter as follows:

²⁶Claudius Lysias, To His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings.

²⁷This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen.

²⁸I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin.

²⁹I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment.

³⁰When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him.

³¹So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris.

³²The next day they let the cavalry go on with him, while they returned to the barracks.

³³When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him.

³⁴The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia,

³⁵he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.