Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching.

²And the chief priests and the scribes were trying to find a way to put Him to death, since they were afraid of the people.

³And Satan entered Judas, the one called Iscariot, who belonged to the number of the twelve.

⁴And he left and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he was to betray Him to them.

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

⁶And so he consented, and began looking for a good opportunity to betray Him to them away from the crowd.

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

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

⁹They said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare it?”

¹⁰And He said to them, “When you have entered the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you; follow him into the house that he enters.

¹¹And you shall say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’

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

¹³And they left and found everything just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

¹⁴When the hour came, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him.

¹⁵And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;

¹⁶for I say to you, I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁷And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves;

¹⁸for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”

¹⁹And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

²⁰And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood.

²¹But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is withMine on the table.

²²For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”

²³And they began to debate among themselves which one of them it was who was going to do this.

²⁴And a dispute also developed among them as to which one of them was regarded as being the greatest.

²⁵And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles domineer over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’

²⁶But it is not this way for you; rather, the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.

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

²⁸“You are the ones who have stood by Me in My trials;

²⁹and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you

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

³¹“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you men like wheat;

³²but I have prayed foryou, thatyour faith will not fail; andyou, when you haveturned back, strengthen your brothers.”

³³But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death!”

³⁴But He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”

³⁵And He said to them, “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” They said, “No, nothing.”

³⁶And He said to them, “But now,whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, andwhoever has no sword is to sell hiscloak and buy one.

³⁷For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me: ‘AND HE WAS COUNTED WITH WRONGDOERS’; for that which refers to Me has itsfulfillment.”

³⁸They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”

³⁹And He came out and went, as was His habit, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him.

⁴⁰Now when He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you do not come into temptation.”

⁴¹And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray,

⁴²saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

⁴³[Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.

⁴⁴And being in agony, He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground].

⁴⁵When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow,

⁴⁶and He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you do not come into temptation.”

⁴⁷While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading the way for them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him.

⁴⁸But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

⁴⁹When those who were around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”

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

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

⁵²And Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a man inciting a revolt?

⁵³While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; butthis hour and the power of darkness are yours.”

⁵⁴Now they arrested Him and led Him away, and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance.

⁵⁵After they kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter was sitting among them.

⁵⁶And a slave woman, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, and staring at him, said, “This man was with Him as well.”

⁵⁷But he denied it, saying, “I do not know Him, woman!”

⁵⁸And a little later, another person saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”

⁵⁹And after about an hour had passed, some other man began to insist, 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, a rooster crowed.

⁶¹And then the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.”

⁶²And he went out and wept bitterly.

⁶³The men who were holding Jesus in custody began mocking Him and beating Him,

⁶⁴and they blindfolded Him and repeatedly asked Him, saying, “Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?”

⁶⁵And they were saying many other things against Him, blaspheming.

⁶⁶When it was day, the Council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him away to their council chamber, saying,

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 a question, you will not answer.

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

⁷⁰And they all said, “So You are the Son of God?” And He said to them, “You say correctly that I am.”

⁷¹And then they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth!”

¹‘Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy assembly; you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets.

²And you shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without defect;

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

⁴and a tenth for each of the seven lambs,

⁵and one male goat as a sin offering, to make atonement for you,

⁶besides the burnt offering of the new moon and its grain offering, and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD.

⁷‘Then on the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy assembly, and you shall humble yourselves; you shall not do any work.

⁸You shall present a burnt offering to the LORD as a soothing aroma: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old, that you have without defect;

⁹and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram,

¹⁰and a tenth for each of the seven lambs;

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

¹²‘Then on the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy assembly; you shall do no laborious work, and you shall celebrate with a feast to the LORD for seven days.

¹³You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the LORD: thirteen bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old, which are without defect;

¹⁴and their grain offering, 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;

¹⁶and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

¹⁷‘Then on the second day: twelve bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;

¹⁸and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;

¹⁹and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

²⁰‘Then on the third day: eleven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;

²¹and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;

²²and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and its drink offering.

²³‘Then on the fourth day: ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;

²⁴their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;

²⁵and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

²⁶‘Then on the fifth day: nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;

²⁷and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;

²⁸and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and its drink offering.

²⁹‘Then on the sixth day: eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;

³⁰and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;

³¹and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offerings.

³²‘Then on the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;

³³and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;

³⁴and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

³⁵‘On the eighth day you shall have a sacred assembly; you shall do no laborious work.

³⁶But you shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without defect;

³⁷their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;

³⁸and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and its drink offering.

³⁹‘You shall present these to the LORD at your appointed times, besides your vowed offerings and your voluntary offerings, for your burnt offerings, your grain offerings, your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.’ ”

⁴⁰And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel in accordance with everything that the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, namely, that someone has his father’s wife.

²You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.

³For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.

⁴In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,

⁵I have decided to turn such a person over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

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

⁷Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.

⁸Therefore let’s celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

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

¹⁰I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world.

¹¹But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person, or an idolater, or is verbally abusive, or habitually drunk, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a person.

¹²For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?

¹³But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE EVIL PERSON FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.

¹Then Job responded,

²“Even today my complaint is rebellion; His hand is heavy despite my groaning.

³Oh that I knew how to find Him, That I might come to His home!

⁴I would present my case before Him And fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵I would learn the words which He would answer, And perceive what He would tell me.

⁶Would He contend with me by the greatness of His power? No, surely He would pay attention to me.

⁷There the upright would argue with Him; And I would be free of my Judge forever.

⁸“Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;

⁹When He acts on the left, I cannot see Him; He turns to the right, but I cannot see Him.

¹⁰But He knows the way I take; When He has put me to the test, I will come out as gold.

¹¹My foot has held on to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside.

¹²I have not failed the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

¹³But He is unique, and who can make Him turn? Whatever His soul desires, He does it.

¹⁴For He carries out what is destined for me, And many such destinies are with Him.

¹⁵Therefore, I would be terrified at His presence; When I consider this, I am frightened of Him.

¹⁶It is God who has made my heart faint, And the Almighty who has terrified me,

¹⁷But I am not destroyed by darkness, Nor by deep gloom which covers me.

¹Sing for joy in the LORD, you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright.

²Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.

³Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

⁴For the word of the LORD is right, And all His work is done in faithfulness.

⁵He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

⁶By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their lights.

⁷He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He puts the depths 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 was done; He commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰The LORD nullifies the plan of nations; He frustrates the plans of peoples.

¹¹The plan of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.

¹²Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen for His own inheritance.

¹³The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of mankind;

¹⁴From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth,

¹⁵He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works.

¹⁶The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not rescued by great strength.

¹⁷A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it rescue anyone by its great strength.

¹⁸Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who wait for His faithfulness,

¹⁹To rescue their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine.

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

²¹For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name.

²²Let Your favor, LORD, be upon us, Just as we have waited for You.

¹When you sit down to dine with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you,

²And put a knife to your throat If you are a person of great appetite.

³Do not desire his delicacies, For it is deceptive food.

⁴Do not weary yourself to gain wealth; Stop dwelling on it.

⁵When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

⁶Do not eat the bread of a selfish person; Or desire his delicacies;

⁷For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, “Eat and drink!” But his heart is not with you.

⁸You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten And waste your compliments.

⁹Do not speak to be heard by a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not move the ancient boundary Or go into the fields of the fatherless,

¹¹For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their case against you.

¹²Apply your heart to discipline, And your ears to words of knowledge.

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

¹⁴You shall strike him with the rod And rescue his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, My own heart also will be glad,

¹⁶And my innermost being will rejoice When your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the LORD always.

¹⁸Certainly there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off.

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

²⁰Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;

²¹For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe one with rags.

²²Listen to your father, who fathered you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.

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

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

²⁵Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

²⁶Give me your heart, my son, And let your eyes delight in my ways.

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit, And a strange woman is a narrow well.

²⁸Certainly she lurks as a robber, And increases the treacherous among mankind.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has red eyes?

³⁰Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine.

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

³²In the end it bites like a snake And stings like a viper.

³³Your eyes will see strange things And your mind will say perverse things.

³⁴And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.

³⁵“They struck me, but I did not become ill; They beat me, but I did not know it. When will I awake? I will seek another drink.”

¹Now when Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was horrified.

²And Saul’s son had two men who were commanders of troops: the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin (for Beeroth is also considered part of Benjamin,

³and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have lived there as strangers until this day).

⁴Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was disabled in both feet. He was five years old when the news of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse picked him up and fled. But it happened that in her hurry to flee, he fell and could no longer walk. And his name was Mephibosheth.

⁵So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, departed and came to the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day, while he was taking his midday rest.

⁶And they came to the interior of the house as if to get wheat, and they struck him in the belly; and Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped.

⁷Now when they had come into the house, as he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and killed him, and they beheaded him. And they took his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all night.

⁸Then they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; so the LORD has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his descendants.”

⁹But David replied to Rechab and his brother Baanah, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress,

¹⁰when the one who informed me, saying, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ also viewed himself as the bearer of good news, I seized him and killed him in 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 from your hands and eliminate you both from the earth?”

¹²Then David commanded the young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet, and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.

¹The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus; With a diamond point it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts And on the horns of their altars,

²As they remember their children, So they remember their altars and their Asherim By green trees on the high hills.

³Mountain of Mine in the countryside, I will turn over your wealth and all your treasures as plunder, Your high places for sin throughout your borders.

⁴And you will, even of yourself, let go of your inheritance That I gave you; And I will make you serve your enemies In the land which you do not know; For you have kindled a fire in My anger Which will burn forever.

⁵This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the LORD.

⁶For he will be like a bush in the desert, And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt that is not inhabited.

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

⁸For he will be like a tree planted by the water That extends its roots by a stream, And does not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought, Nor cease to yield fruit.

⁹“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

¹⁰I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, To give to each person according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.

¹¹As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid, So is a person who makes a fortune, but unjustly; In the middle of his days it will abandon him, And in the end he will be a fool.”

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

¹³LORD, the hope of Israel, All who abandon You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, that is the LORD.

¹⁴Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; Save me and I will be saved, For You are my praise.

¹⁵Look, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!”

¹⁶But as for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd following after You, Nor have I longed for the disastrous day; You Yourself know that the utterance of my lips Was in Your presence.

¹⁷Do not be a terror to me; You are my refuge in a day of disaster.

¹⁸Let those who persecute me be put to shame, but as for me, let me not be put to shame; Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed. Bring on them a day of disaster, And crush them with double destruction!

¹⁹This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and stand at the public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as at all the gates of Jerusalem;

²⁰and say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates.

²¹This is what the LORD says: “Take care for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the Sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem.

²²You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I commanded your forefathers.

²³Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks so as not to listen or accept discipline.

²⁴“But it will come about, if you give your attention to Me,” declares the LORD, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to keep the Sabbath day holy by doing no work on it,

²⁵then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and officials sitting 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 will be inhabited forever.

²⁶They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the areas surrounding Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the LORD.

²⁷But if you do not listen to Me, to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will set fire to its gates, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not go out.” ’ ”

¹Festus, then, after arriving in the province, went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea three days later.

²And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul, and they were pleading with Festus,

³requesting a concession against Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time, setting an ambush to kill him on the way).

⁴Festus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody in Caesarea, and that he himself was about to leave shortly.

⁵“Therefore,” he *said, “have the influential men among you go there with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, have them bring charges against him.”

⁶After Festus had spent no more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered that Paul be brought.

⁷After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many, and serious, charges against him which they could not prove,

⁸while Paul said in his own defense, “I have not done anything wrong either against the Law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against Caesar.”

⁹But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, replied to Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?”

¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know.

¹¹If, therefore, I am in the wrong and have committed something deserving death, I am not trying to avoid execution; but if there is nothing to the accusations which these men are bringing against me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.”

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

¹³Now when several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea, paying their respects to Festus.

¹⁴And while they were spending many days there, Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix;

¹⁵and when I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.

¹⁶I replied to them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any person before the accused meets his accusers face to face, and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges.

¹⁷So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered that the man be brought.

¹⁸When the accusers stood up, they did not begin bringing any charges against him of crimes that I suspected,

¹⁹but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive.

²⁰And being at a loss how to investigate such matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these matters.

²¹But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered that he be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.”

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

²³So, on the next day when Agrippa and Bernice came amid great pomp and entered the auditorium, accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought before them.

²⁴And Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.

²⁵But I found that he had committed nothing deserving death; and since he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him.

²⁶Yet, I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore, I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write.

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