Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover.

²And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.

³Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.

⁴He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them.

⁵And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.

⁶So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.

⁷Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.

⁸So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.”

⁹They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?”

¹⁰He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters

¹¹and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’

¹²And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.”

¹³And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

¹⁴And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.

¹⁵And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

¹⁶For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁷And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.

¹⁸ For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

¹⁹And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁰And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

²¹ But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.

²²For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”

²³And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

²⁴A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.

²⁵And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors.

²⁶ But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.

²⁷For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

²⁸“You are those who have stayed with me in my trials,

²⁹and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom,

³⁰ that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

³¹“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,

³²but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

³³Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”

³⁴Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

³⁵And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.”

³⁶He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.

³⁷For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.”

³⁸And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.”

³⁹And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.

⁴⁰And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

⁴¹And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed,

⁴²saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

⁴³And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.

⁴⁴And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

⁴⁵And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow,

⁴⁶and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

⁴⁷While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him,

⁴⁸but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

⁴⁹And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”

⁵⁰And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.

⁵¹But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.

⁵²Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?

⁵³When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

⁵⁴Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance.

⁵⁵And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them.

⁵⁶Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.”

⁵⁷But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.”

⁵⁸And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.”

⁵⁹And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.”

⁶⁰But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.

⁶¹And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.”

⁶²And he went out and wept bitterly.

⁶³Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him.

⁶⁴They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?”

⁶⁵And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him.

⁶⁶When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council, and they said,

⁶⁷“If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe,

⁶⁸and if I ask you, you will not answer.

⁶⁹But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”

⁷⁰So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.”

⁷¹Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.”

¹“On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets,

²and you shall offer a burnt offering, for a pleasing aroma to the LORD: one bull from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish;

³also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the ram,

⁴and one tenth for each of the seven lambs;

⁵with one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you;

⁶besides the burnt offering of the new moon, and its grain offering, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offering, according to the rule for them, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

⁷“On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation and afflict yourselves. You shall do no work,

⁸but you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma: one bull from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old: see that they are without blemish.

⁹And their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the one ram,

¹⁰a tenth for each of the seven lambs:

¹¹also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

¹²“On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall keep a feast to the LORD seven days.

¹³And you shall offer a burnt offering, a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD, thirteen bulls from the herd, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old; they shall be without blemish;

¹⁴and their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each of the two rams,

¹⁵and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs;

¹⁶also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.

¹⁷“On the second day twelve bulls from the herd, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish,

¹⁸with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities;

¹⁹also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

²⁰“On the third day eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish,

²¹with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities;

²²also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.

²³“On the fourth day ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish,

²⁴with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities;

²⁵also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.

²⁶“On the fifth day nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish,

²⁷with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities;

²⁸also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.

²⁹“On the sixth day eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish,

³⁰with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities;

³¹also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offerings.

³²“On the seventh day seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish,

³³with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities;

³⁴also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

³⁵“On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly. You shall not do any ordinary work,

³⁶but you shall offer a burnt offering, a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish,

³⁷and the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities;

³⁸also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.

³⁹“These you shall offer to the LORD at your appointed feasts, in addition to your vow offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.”

⁴⁰So Moses told the people of Israel everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife.

²And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

³For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing.

⁴When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus,

⁵you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

⁶Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

⁷Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

⁸Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people —

¹⁰not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.

¹¹But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler — not even to eat with such a one.

¹²For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?

¹³God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Today also my complaint is bitter; my hand is heavy on account of my groaning.

³Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!

⁴I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵I would know what he would answer me and understand what he would say to me.

⁶Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; he would pay attention to me.

⁷There an upright man could argue with him, and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

⁸“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him;

⁹on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.

¹⁰But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.

¹¹My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside.

¹²I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

¹³But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does.

¹⁴For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind.

¹⁵Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him.

¹⁶God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me;

¹⁷yet I am not silenced because of the darkness, nor because thick darkness covers my face.

¹Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.

²Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!

³Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

⁴For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.

⁵He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.

⁶By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

⁷He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses.

⁸Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!

⁹For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.

¹¹The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.

¹²Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

¹³The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man;

¹⁴from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,

¹⁵he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.

¹⁶The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

¹⁷The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.

¹⁸Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,

¹⁹that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.

²⁰Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.

²¹For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.

²²Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.

¹When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you,

²and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.

³Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.

⁴Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.

⁵When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

⁶Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies,

⁷for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

⁸You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words.

⁹Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.

¹⁰Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless,

¹¹for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.

¹²Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

¹⁴If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.

¹⁶My inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.

¹⁸Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way.

²⁰Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat,

²¹for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.

²²Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

²⁵Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.

²⁶My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well.

²⁸She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

³⁰Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine.

³¹Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.

³²In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.

³³Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things.

³⁴You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast.

³⁵“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink.”

¹When Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed.

²Now Saul's son had two men who were captains of raiding bands; the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon a man of Benjamin from Beeroth (for Beeroth also is counted part of Benjamin;

³the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been sojourners there to this day).

⁴Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.

⁵Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out, and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Ish-bosheth as he was taking his noonday rest.

⁶And they came into the midst of the house as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.

⁷When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of the Arabah all night,

⁸and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron. And they said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. The LORD has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.”

⁹But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity,

¹⁰when one told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.

¹¹How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?”

¹²And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.

¹“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars,

²while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills,

³on the mountains in the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory.

⁴You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

⁵Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.

⁶He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

⁷“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.

⁸He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

⁹The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

¹⁰“I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

¹¹Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch, so is he who gets riches but not by justice; in the midst of his days they will leave him, and at his end he will be a fool.

¹²A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.

¹³O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.

¹⁴Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.

¹⁵Behold, they say to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come!”

¹⁶I have not run away from being your shepherd, nor have I desired the day of sickness. You know what came out of my lips; it was before your face.

¹⁷Be not a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster.

¹⁸Let those be put to shame who persecute me, but let me not be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed; bring upon them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction!

¹⁹Thus said the LORD to me: “Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem,

²⁰and say: ‘Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates.

²¹Thus says the LORD: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.

²²And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.

²³Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction.

²⁴“‘But if you listen to me, declares the LORD, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it,

²⁵then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever.

²⁶And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the LORD.

²⁷But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.’”

¹Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.

²And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him,

³asking as a favor against Paul that he summon him to Jerusalem — because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way.

⁴Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly.

⁵“So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.”

⁶After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.

⁷When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove.

⁸Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.”

⁹But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?”

¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar's tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well.

¹¹If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.”

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

¹³Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus.

¹⁴And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, “There is a man left prisoner by Felix,

¹⁵and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.

¹⁶I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone before the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him.

¹⁷So when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought.

¹⁸When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed.

¹⁹Rather they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.

²⁰Being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them.

²¹But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.”

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

²³So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

²⁴And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.

²⁵But I found that he had done nothing deserving death. And as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him.

²⁶But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write.

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