Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When he had concluded saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum.

²A centurion’s servant, who was highly valued by him, was sick and about to die.

³When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, requesting him to come and save the life of his servant.

⁴When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy for you to grant this,

⁵because he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue.”

⁶Jesus went with them, and when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, since I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.

⁷That is why I didn’t even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁸For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

⁹Jesus heard this and was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found so great a faith even in Israel.”

¹⁰When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant in good health.

¹¹Afterward he was on his way to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd were traveling with him.

¹²Just as he neared the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was also with her.

¹³When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said, “Don’t weep.”

¹⁴Then he came up and touched the open coffin, and the pallbearers stopped. And he said, “Young man, I tell you, get up!”

¹⁵The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

¹⁶Then fear came over everyone, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people.”

¹⁷This report about him went throughout Judea and all the vicinity.

¹⁸Then John’s disciples told him about all these things. So John summoned two of his disciples

¹⁹and sent them to the Lord, asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

²⁰When the men reached him, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask you, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”

²¹At that time Jesus healed many people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits, and he granted sight to many blind people.

²²He replied to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news,

²³and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.”

²⁴After John’s messengers left, he began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?

²⁵What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? See, those who are splendidly dressed and live in luxury are in royal palaces.

²⁶What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

²⁷This is the one about whom it is written: See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you.

²⁸I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John, but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

²⁹(And when all the people, including the tax collectors, heard this, they acknowledged God’s way of righteousness, because they had been baptized with John’s baptism.

³⁰But since the Pharisees and experts in the law had not been baptized by him, they rejected the plan of God for themselves. )

³¹“To what then should I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?

³²They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to each other: We played the flute for you, but you didn’t dance; we sang a lament, but you didn’t weep!

³³For John the Baptist did not come eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’

³⁴The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

³⁵Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

³⁶Then one of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.

³⁷And a woman in the town who was a sinner found out that Jesus was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume

³⁸and stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to wash his feet with her tears. She wiped his feet with her hair, kissing them and anointing them with the perfume.

³⁹When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him — she’s a sinner!”

⁴⁰Jesus replied to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” He said, “Say it, teacher.”

⁴¹“A creditor had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

⁴²Since they could not pay it back, he graciously forgave them both. So, which of them will love him more?”

⁴³Simon answered, “I suppose the one he forgave more.” “You have judged correctly,” he told him.

⁴⁴Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she, with her tears, has washed my feet and wiped them with her hair.

⁴⁵You gave me no kiss, but she hasn’t stopped kissing my feet since I came in.

⁴⁶You didn’t anoint my head with olive oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume.

⁴⁷Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little.”

⁴⁸Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁹Those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

¹These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his family:

²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

⁴Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.

⁵The total number of Jacob’s descendants was seventy; Joseph was already in Egypt.

⁶Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation eventually died.

⁷But the Israelites were fruitful, increased rapidly, multiplied, and became extremely numerous so that the land was filled with them.

⁸A new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.

⁹He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than we are.

¹⁰Come, let’s deal shrewdly with them; otherwise they will multiply further, and when war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”

¹¹So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.

¹²But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

¹³They worked the Israelites ruthlessly

¹⁴and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them.

¹⁵The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives — the first whose name was Shiphrah and the second whose name was Puah —

¹⁶“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.”

¹⁷The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live.

¹⁸So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?”

¹⁹The midwives said to Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.”

²⁰So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very numerous.

²¹Since the midwives feared God, he gave them families.

²²Pharaoh then commanded all his people: “You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live.”

¹Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted.

²Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

³For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

⁴Let each person examine his own work, and then he can take pride in himself alone, and not compare himself with someone else.

⁵For each person will have to carry his own load.

⁶Let the one who is taught the word share all his good things with the teacher.

⁷Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap,

⁸because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

⁹Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.

¹⁰Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.

¹¹Look at what large letters I use as I write to you in my own handwriting.

¹²Those who want to make a good impression in the flesh are the ones who would compel you to be circumcised  — but only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.

¹³For even the circumcised don’t keep the law themselves, and yet they want you to be circumcised in order to boast about your flesh.

¹⁴But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world.

¹⁵For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters instead is a new creation.

¹⁶May peace come to all those who follow this standard, and mercy even to the Israel of God!

¹⁷From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

¹⁸Brothers and sisters, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

¹When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

²Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God; seven trumpets were given to them.

³Another angel, with a golden incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar in front of the throne.

⁴The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand.

⁵The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth; there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

⁶And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

⁷The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the earth. So a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

⁸The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea. So a third of the sea became blood,

⁹a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from heaven. It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water.

¹¹The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood. So, many of the people died from the waters, because they had been made bitter.

¹²The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day was without light and also a third of the night.

¹³I looked and heard an eagle flying high overhead, crying out in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to sound!”

¹Indeed, I took all this to heart and explained it all: The righteous, the wise, and their works are in God’s hands. People don’t know whether to expect love or hate. Everything lies ahead of them.

²Everything is the same for everyone: There is one fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. As it is for the good, so also it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who takes an oath, so also for the one who fears an oath.

³This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live; after that they go to the dead.

⁴But there is hope for whoever is joined with all the living, since a live dog is better than a dead lion.

⁵For the living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything. There is no longer a reward for them because the memory of them is forgotten.

⁶Their love, their hate, and their envy have already disappeared, and there is no longer a portion for them in all that is done under the sun.

⁷Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works.

⁸Let your clothes be white all the time, and never let oil be lacking on your head.

⁹Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting life, which has been given to you under the sun, all your fleeting days. For that is your portion in life and in your struggle under the sun.

¹⁰Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

¹¹Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them.

¹²For certainly no one knows his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, so people are trapped in an evil time as it suddenly falls on them.

¹³I have observed that this also is wisdom under the sun, and it is significant to me:

¹⁴There was a small city with few men in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege works against it.

¹⁵Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

¹⁶And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”

¹⁷The calm words of the wise are heeded more than the shouts of a ruler over fools.

¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much good.

¹For the choir director. A psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba. [1] Be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion.

²Completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin.

³For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me.

⁴Against you — you alone — I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence; you are blameless when you judge.

⁵Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

⁶Surely you desire integrity in the inner self, and you teach me wisdom deep within.

⁷Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

⁸Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

⁹Turn your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt.

¹⁰God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

¹¹Do not banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit.

¹³Then I will teach the rebellious your ways, and sinners will return to you.

¹⁴Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God — God of my salvation — and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

¹⁵Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

¹⁶You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; you are not pleased with a burnt offering.

¹⁷The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God.

¹⁸In your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

¹Wine is a mocker, beer is a brawler; whoever goes astray because of them is not wise.

²A king’s terrible wrath is like the roaring of a lion; anyone who provokes him endangers himself.

³Honor belongs to the person who ends a dispute, but any fool can get himself into a quarrel.

⁴The slacker does not plow during planting season; at harvest time he looks, and there is nothing.

⁵Counsel in a person’s heart is deep water; but a person of understanding draws it out.

⁶Many a person proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy person?

⁷A righteous person acts with integrity; his children who come after him will be happy.

⁸A king sitting on a throne to judge separates out all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?

¹⁰Differing weights and varying measures  — both are detestable to the LORD.

¹¹Even a young man is known by his actions — by whether his behavior is pure and upright.

¹²The hearing ear and the seeing eye — the LORD made them both.

¹³Don’t love sleep, or you will become poor; open your eyes, and you’ll have enough to eat.

¹⁴“It’s worthless, it’s worthless!” the buyer says, but after he is on his way, he gloats.

¹⁵There is gold and a multitude of jewels, but knowledgeable lips are a rare treasure.

¹⁶Take his garment, for he has put up security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for foreigners.

¹⁷Food gained by fraud is sweet to a person, but afterward his mouth is full of gravel.

¹⁸Finalize plans with counsel, and wage war with sound guidance.

¹⁹The one who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid someone with a big mouth.

²⁰Whoever curses his father or mother —  his lamp will go out in deep darkness.

²¹An inheritance gained prematurely will not be blessed ultimately.

²²Don’t say, “I will avenge this evil!” Wait on the LORD, and he will rescue you.

²³Differing weights are detestable to the LORD, and dishonest scales are unfair.

²⁴Even a courageous person’s steps are determined by the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way?

²⁵It is a trap for anyone to dedicate something rashly and later to reconsider his vows.

²⁶A wise king separates out the wicked and drives the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The LORD’s lamp sheds light on a person’s life, searching the innermost parts.

²⁸Loyalty and faithfulness guard a king; through loyalty he maintains his throne.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of old men is gray hair.

³⁰Lashes and wounds purge away evil, and beatings cleanse the innermost parts.

¹Hannah prayed: My heart rejoices in the LORD; my horn is lifted up by the LORD. My mouth boasts over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.

²There is no one holy like the LORD. There is no one besides you! And there is no rock like our God.

³Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogant words come out of your mouth, for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and actions are weighed by him.

⁴The bows of the warriors are broken, but the feeble are clothed with strength.

⁵Those who are full hire themselves out for food, but those who are starving hunger no more. The woman who is childless gives birth to seven, but the woman with many sons pines away.

⁶The LORD brings death and gives life; he sends some down to Sheol, and he raises others up.

⁷The LORD brings poverty and gives wealth; he humbles and he exalts.

⁸He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the trash heap. He seats them with noblemen and gives them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s; he has set the world on them.

⁹He guards the steps of his faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness, for a person does not prevail by his own strength.

¹⁰Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered; he will thunder in the heavens against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. He will give power to his king; he will lift up the horn of his anointed.

¹¹Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served the LORD in the presence of the priest Eli.

¹²Eli’s sons were wicked men; they did not respect the LORD

¹³or the priests’ share of the sacrifices from the people. When anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling

¹⁴and plunge it into the container, kettle, cauldron, or cooking pot. The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh.

¹⁵Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the one who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he won’t accept boiled meat from you — only raw.”

¹⁶If that person said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you can take whatever you want for yourself,” the servant would reply, “No, I insist that you hand it over right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it by force!”

¹⁷So the servants’ sin was very severe in the presence of the LORD, because the men treated the LORD’s offering with contempt.

¹⁸Samuel served in the LORD’s presence —this mere boy was dressed in the linen ephod.

¹⁹Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.

²⁰Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife: “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she has given to the LORD.” Then they would go home.

²¹The LORD paid attention to Hannah’s need, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

²²Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

²³He said to them, “Why are you doing these things? I have heard about your evil actions from all these people.

²⁴No, my sons, the news I hear the LORD’s people spreading is not good.

²⁵If one person sins against another, God can intercede for him, but if a person sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the LORD intended to kill them.

²⁶By contrast, the boy Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the LORD and with people.

²⁷A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Didn’t I reveal myself to your forefather’s family when they were in Egypt and belonged to Pharaoh’s palace?

²⁸Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your house to be my priests, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your forefather’s family all the Israelite fire offerings.

²⁹Why, then, do all of you despise my sacrifices and offerings that I require at the place of worship? You have honored your sons more than me, by making yourselves fat with the best part of all of the offerings of my people Israel.’

³⁰“Therefore, this is the declaration of the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘I did say that your family and your forefather’s family would walk before me forever. But now,’ this is the LORD’s declaration, ‘no longer! For those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disgraced.

³¹Look, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your forefather’s house, so that none in your family will reach old age.

³²You will see distress in the place of worship, in spite of all that is good in Israel, and no one in your family will ever again reach old age.

³³Any man from your family I do not cut off from my altar will bring grief and sadness to you. All your descendants will die violently.

³⁴This will be the sign that will come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: both of them will die on the same day.

³⁵“‘Then I will raise up a faithful priest for myself. He will do whatever is in my heart and mind. I will establish a lasting dynasty for him, and he will walk before my anointed one for all time.

³⁶Anyone who is left in your family will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread. He will say: Please appoint me to some priestly office so I can have a piece of bread to eat.’”

¹Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut, and to the quarry from which you were dug.

²Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave birth to you. When I called him, he was only one; I blessed him and made him many.

³For the LORD will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.

⁴Pay attention to me, my people, and listen to me, my nation; for instruction will come from me, and my justice for a light to the nations. I will bring it about quickly.

⁵My righteousness is near, my salvation appears, and my arms will bring justice to the nations. The coasts and islands will put their hope in me, and they will look to my strength.

⁶Look up to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its inhabitants will die like gnats. But my salvation will last forever, and my righteousness will never be shattered.

⁷Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my instruction: do not fear disgrace by men, and do not be shattered by their taunts.

⁸For moths will devour them like a garment, and worms will eat them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, and my salvation for all generations.

⁹Wake up, wake up! Arm of the LORD, clothe yourself with strength. Wake up as in days past, as in generations long ago. Wasn’t it you who hacked Rahab to pieces, who pierced the sea monster?

¹⁰Wasn’t it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the sea-bed into a road for the redeemed to pass over?

¹¹And the redeemed of the LORD will return and come to Zion with singing, crowned with unending joy. Joy and gladness will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.

¹²I — I am the one who comforts you. Who are you that you should fear humans who die, or a son of man who is given up like grass?

¹³But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You are in constant dread all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, who has set himself to destroy. But where is the fury of the oppressor?

¹⁴The prisoner is soon to be set free; he will not die and go to the Pit, and his food will not be lacking.

¹⁵For I am the LORD your God who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar  — his name is the LORD of Armies.

¹⁶I have put my words in your mouth, and covered you in the shadow of my hand, in order to plant the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, “You are my people.”

¹⁷Wake yourself, wake yourself up! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk the cup of his fury from the LORD’s hand; you who have drunk the goblet to the dregs — the cup that causes people to stagger.

¹⁸There is no one to guide her among all the children she has raised; there is no one to take hold of her hand among all the offspring she has brought up.

¹⁹These two things have happened to you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? How can I comfort you?

²⁰Your children have fainted; they lie at the head of every street like an antelope in a net. They are full of the LORD’s fury, the rebuke of your God.

²¹So listen to this, suffering and drunken one — but not with wine.

²²This is what your Lord says — the LORD, even your God, who defends his people  — “Look, I have removed from your hand the cup that causes staggering; that goblet, the cup of my fury. You will never drink it again.

²³I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, who said to you: Lie down, so we can walk over you. You made your back like the ground, and like a street for those who walk on it.

¹Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience to this day.”

²The high priest Ananias ordered those who were standing next to him to strike him on the mouth.

³Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You are sitting there judging me according to the law, and yet in violation of the law are you ordering me to be struck?”

⁴Those standing nearby said, “Do you dare revile God’s high priest?”

⁵“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest,” replied Paul. “For it is written, You must not speak evil of a ruler of your people.”

⁶When Paul realized that one part of them were Sadducees and the other part were Pharisees, he cried out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am being judged 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.

⁸For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, and neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees affirm them all.

⁹The shouting grew loud, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party got up and argued vehemently: “We find nothing evil in this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

¹⁰When the dispute became violent, the commander feared that Paul might be torn apart by them and ordered the troops to go down, take him away from them, and bring him into the barracks.

¹¹The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Have courage! For as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary for you to testify in Rome.”

¹²When it was morning, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³There were more than forty who had formed this plot.

¹⁴These men went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under a solemn curse that we won’t eat anything until we have killed Paul.

¹⁵So now you, along with the Sanhedrin, make a request to the commander that he bring him down to you as if you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly. But, before he gets near, we are ready to kill him.”

¹⁶But the son of Paul’s sister, hearing about their ambush, came and entered the barracks and reported it to Paul.

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

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

¹⁹The commander took him by the hand, led him aside, and inquired privately, “What is it you have to report to me?”

²⁰“The Jews,” he said, “have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow, as though they are going to hold a somewhat more careful inquiry about him.

²¹Don’t let them persuade you, because there are more than forty of them lying in ambush — men who have bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Now they are ready, waiting for your consent.”

²²So the commander dismissed the young man and instructed him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have informed me about this.”

²³He summoned two of his centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready with seventy cavalry and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight.

²⁴Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.”

²⁵He wrote the following letter:

²⁶Claudius Lysias, To the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings.

²⁷When this man had been seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, I arrived with my troops and rescued him because I learned that he is a Roman citizen.

²⁸Wanting to know the charge they were accusing him of, I brought him down before their Sanhedrin.

²⁹I found out that the accusations were concerning questions of their law, and that there was no charge that merited death or imprisonment.

³⁰When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you right away. I also ordered his accusers to state their case against him in your presence.

³¹So the soldiers took Paul during the night and brought him to Antipatris as they were ordered.

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

³³When these men entered Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him.

³⁴After he read it, he asked what province he was from. When he learned he was from Cilicia,

³⁵he said, “I will give you a hearing whenever your accusers also get here.” He ordered that he be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.