Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Therefore, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

²So they made Him a dinner there, and Martha was serving; and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.

³Mary then took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, the one who intended to betray Him, *said,

⁵“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the proceeds given to poor people?”

⁶Now he said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he kept the money box, he used to steal from what was put into it.

⁷Therefore Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep itfor the day of My burial.

⁸For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”

⁹The large crowd of the Jews then learned that He was there; and they came, not on account of Jesus only, but so that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead.

¹⁰But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also,

¹¹because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus.

¹²On the next day, when the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

¹³they took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began shouting, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, indeed, the King of Israel!”

¹⁴Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

¹⁵“DO NOT FEAR, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY’S COLT.”

¹⁶These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things for Him.

¹⁷So the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about Him.

¹⁸For this reason also the people went to meet Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign.

¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are not accomplishing anything; look, the world has gone after Him!”

²⁰Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast;

²¹these people then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and were making a request of him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

²²Philip *came and *told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip *came and *told Jesus.

²³But Jesus *answered them by saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

²⁴Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

²⁵The one who loves hislife loses it, and the one who hates hislife in this world will keep itto eternal life.

²⁶If anyoneserves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyoneserves Me, the Father will honor him.

²⁷“Now My soul has become troubled; and what am I to say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

²⁸Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

²⁹So the crowd who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him!”

³⁰Jesus responded and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for yours.

³¹Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

³²And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.”

³³Now He was saying this to indicate what kind of death He was going to die.

³⁴The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how is it that You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

³⁵So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; also, the one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

³⁶While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus proclaimed, and He went away and hid Himself from them.

³⁷But though He had performed so many signs in their sight, they still were not believing in Him.

³⁸This happened so that the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke would be fulfilled: “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?”

³⁹For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,

⁴⁰“HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WILL NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED, AND so I WILL not heal them.”

⁴¹These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke about Him.

⁴²Nevertheless many, even of the rulers, believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, so that they would not be excommunicated from the synagogue;

⁴³for they loved the approval of people rather than the approval of God.

⁴⁴Now Jesus cried out and said, “The one who believes in Me, does not believe only in Me, but also in Him who sent Me.

⁴⁵And the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.

⁴⁶I have come as Light into the world, so that no one who believes in Me will remain in darkness.

⁴⁷If anyone hears Myteachings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

⁴⁸The one who rejects Me and does notaccept Myteachings has one who judges him: the word which I spoke. That will judge him on the last day.

⁴⁹For I did not speakon My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.

⁵⁰And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

¹“Now you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.

²Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit; it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of one piece with it.

³You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it.

⁴You shall also make two gold rings for it under its molding; you shall make them on its two sides—on opposite sides—and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it.

⁵And you shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

⁶You shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front of the atoning cover that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you.

⁷Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps.

⁸And when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.

⁹You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar, or burnt offering, or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it.

¹⁰However, Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD.”

¹¹The LORD also spoke to Moses, saying,

¹²“When you take a census of the sons of Israel to count them, then each one of them shall give a ransom for himself to the LORD, when you count them, so that there will be no plague among them when you count them.

¹³This is what everyone who is counted shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a contribution to the LORD.

¹⁴Everyone who is counted, from twenty years old and over, shall give the contribution to the LORD.

¹⁵The rich shall not pay more, and the poor shall not pay less, than the half shekel, when you give the contribution to the LORD to make atonement for yourselves.

¹⁶And you shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and give it for the service of the tent of meeting, so that it may be a memorial for the sons of Israel before the LORD, to make atonement for yourselves.”

¹⁷Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁸“You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it.

¹⁹Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it;

²⁰when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they do not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to the LORD.

²¹So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they do not die; and it shall be a permanent statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations.”

²²Moreover, the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²³“Take also for yourself the finest of spices: of liquid myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, 250, and of fragrant cane 250,

²⁴and of cassia 500, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin.

²⁵You shall make from these a holy anointing oil, a fragrant mixture of ointments, the work of a perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil.

²⁶And you shall anoint the tent of meeting with it, and the ark of the testimony,

²⁷and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense,

²⁸and the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand.

²⁹You shall also consecrate them, so that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy.

³⁰And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, so that they may serve as priests to Me.

³¹Furthermore, you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations.

³²It shall not be poured on anyone’s body, nor shall you make any like it in the same proportions; it is holy, and it shall be holy to you.

³³Whoever mixes any like it or whoever puts any of it on a layman shall be cut off from his people.’ ”

³⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take for yourself spices—stacte, onycha, and galbanum, spices and pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each.

³⁵You shall make incense from it all, a skillful mixture, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy.

³⁶And you shall crush some of it very fine, and put part of it in front of the testimony in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you.

³⁷And the incense which you shall make, you shall not make in the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the LORD.

³⁸Whoever makes any like it, to use as perfume, shall be cut off from his people.”

¹Therefore you have no excuse, you foolish person, everyone of you who passes judgment; for in that matter in which you judge someone else, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

²And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.

³But do you suppose this, you foolish person who passes judgment on those who practice such things, and yet does them as well, that you will escape the judgment of God?

⁴Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and restraint and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

⁵But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

⁶who WILL REPAY EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS:

⁷to those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life;

⁸but to those who are self-serving and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He will give wrath and indignation.

⁹There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of mankind who does evil, for the Jew first and also for the Greek,

¹⁰but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who does what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

¹¹For there is no partiality with God.

¹²For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;

¹³for it is not the hearers of the Law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the Law who will be justified.

¹⁴For when Gentiles who do not have the Law instinctively perform the requirements of the Law, these, though not having the Law, are a law to themselves,

¹⁵in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,

¹⁶on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of mankind through Christ Jesus.

¹⁷But if you call yourself a Jew and rely upon the Law and boast in God,

¹⁸and know His will and distinguish the things that matter, being instructed from the Law,

¹⁹and are confident that you yourself are a guide to people who are blind, a light to those in darkness,

²⁰a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, possessing in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth—

²¹you, therefore, who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one is not to steal, do you steal?

²²You who say that one is not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who loathe idols, do you rob temples?

²³You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?

²⁴For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,” just as it is written.

²⁵For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a violator of the Law, your circumcision has turned into uncircumcision.

²⁶So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will his uncircumcision not be regarded as circumcision?

²⁷And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a violator of the Law?

²⁸For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.

²⁹But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from people, but from God.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus,

²To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day,

⁴longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.

⁵For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelled in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.

⁶For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

⁷For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

⁸Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,

⁹who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,

¹⁰but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

¹¹for which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher.

¹²For this reason I also suffer these things; but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to protect what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

¹³Hold on to the example of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴Protect, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

¹⁵You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.

¹⁶The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains;

¹⁷but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me—

¹⁸the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,

²“How long will you hunt for words? Show understanding, and then we can talk.

³Why are we regarded as animals, As stupid in your eyes?

⁴You who tear yourself in your anger— Should the earth be abandoned for your sake, Or the rock moved from its place?

⁵“Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out, And the spark from his fire does not shine.

⁶The light in his tent is darkened, And his lamp goes out above him.

⁷His vigorous stride is shortened, And his own plan brings him down.

⁸For he is thrown into the net by his own feet, And he steps on the webbing.

⁹A snare seizes him by the heel, And a trap snaps shut on him.

¹⁰A noose for him is hidden in the ground, And a trap for him on the pathway.

¹¹All around sudden terrors frighten him, And harass him at every step.

¹²His strength is famished, And disaster is ready at his side.

¹³It devours parts of his skin, The firstborn of death devours his limbs.

¹⁴He is torn from the security of his tent, And they march him before the king of terrors.

¹⁵Nothing of his dwells in his tent; Brimstone is scattered on his home.

¹⁶His roots are dried below, And his branch withers above.

¹⁷The memory of him perishes from the earth, And he has no name abroad.

¹⁸He is driven from light into darkness, And chased from the inhabited world.

¹⁹He has no offspring or descendants among his people, Nor any survivor where he resided.

²⁰Those in the west are appalled at his fate, And those in the east are seized with horror.

²¹Certainly these are the dwellings of the wicked, And this is the place of him who does not know God.”

¹Listen, Shepherd of Israel, Who leads Joseph like a flock; You who are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!

²Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, awaken Your power, And come to save us!

³God, restore us And make Your face shine upon us, and we will be saved.

⁴LORD God of armies, How long will You be angry with the prayer of Your people?

⁵You have fed them with the bread of tears, And You have made them drink tears in large measure.

⁶You make us an object of contention to our neighbors, And our enemies laugh among themselves.

⁷God of armies, restore us And make Your face shine upon us, and we will be saved.

⁸You removed a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and planted it.

⁹You cleared the ground before it, And it took deep root and filled the land.

¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shadow, And the cedars of God with its branches.

¹¹It was sending out its branches to the sea And its shoots to the Euphrates River.

¹²Why have You broken down its hedges, So that all who pass that way pick its fruit?

¹³A boar from the forest eats it away, And whatever moves in the field feeds on it.

¹⁴God of armies, do turn back; Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,

¹⁵The shoot which Your right hand has planted, And of the son whom You have strengthened for Yourself.

¹⁶It is burned with fire, it is cut down; They perish from the rebuke of Your face.

¹⁷Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.

¹⁸Then we will not turn back from You; Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.

¹⁹LORD God of armies, restore us; Make Your face shine upon us, and we will be saved.

¹One who separates himself seeks his own desire; He quarrels against all sound wisdom.

²A fool does not delight in understanding, But in revealing his own mind.

³When a wicked person comes, contempt also comes, And with dishonor comes taunting.

⁴The words of a person’s mouth are deep waters; The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

⁵To show partiality to the wicked is not good, Nor to suppress the righteous in judgment.

⁶A fool’s lips bring strife, And his mouth invites beatings.

⁷A fool’s mouth is his ruin, And his lips are the snare of his soul.

⁸The words of a gossiper are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

⁹He also who is lax in his work Is a brother to him who destroys.

¹⁰The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.

¹¹A rich person’s wealth is his strong city, And like a high wall in his own imagination.

¹²Before destruction the heart of a person is haughty, But humility goes before honor.

¹³One who gives an answer before he hears, It is foolishness and shame to him.

¹⁴The spirit of a person can endure his sickness, But as for a broken spirit, who can endure it?

¹⁵The mind of the discerning acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

¹⁶A person’s gift makes room for him And brings him before great people.

¹⁷The first to plead his case seems right, Until another comes and examines him.

¹⁸The cast lot puts an end to quarrels, And decides between the mighty ones.

¹⁹A brother who is offended is harder to be won than a strong city, And quarrels are like the bars of a citadel.

²⁰With the fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips.

²¹Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

²²He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the LORD.

²³A poor person utters pleadings, But a rich person answers defiantly.

²⁴A person of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

¹Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines but fell fatally wounded on Mount Gilboa.

²And the Philistines also overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.

³The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers found him; and he was gravely wounded by the archers.

⁴Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised Philistines will come and pierce me through, and abuse me.” But his armor bearer was unwilling, because he was very fearful. So Saul took his sword and fell on it.

⁵When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him.

⁶So Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.

⁷Now when the people of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and settled in them.

⁸It came about on the next day, when the Philistines came to strip those killed, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

⁹They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them throughout the land of the Philistines, to bring the good news to the house of their idols and to the people.

¹⁰They put his weapons in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they nailed his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

¹¹Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹²all the valiant men got up and walked all night, and they took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.

¹³And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.

¹That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah regarding the drought:

²“Judah mourns And her gates languish; Her people sit on the ground in mourning garments, And the cry of Jerusalem has ascended.

³Their nobles have sent their servants for water; They have come to the cisterns and found no water. They have returned with their containers empty; They have been put to shame and humiliated, And they cover their heads,

⁴Because the ground is cracked, For there has been no rain on the land. The farmers have been put to shame, They have covered their heads.

⁵For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young, Because there is no grass.

⁶The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; They pant for air like jackals, Their eyes fail Because there is no vegetation.

⁷Though our wrongdoings testify against us, LORD, act for the sake of Your name! Our apostasies have indeed been many, We have sinned against You.

⁸Hope of Israel, Its Savior in time of distress, Why are You like a stranger in the land, Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?

⁹Why are You like a confused person, Like a warrior who cannot save? Yet You are in our midst, LORD, And we are called by Your name; Do not leave us!”

¹⁰This is what the LORD says to this people: “So much they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; now He will remember their wrongdoing and call their sins to account.”

¹¹So the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for a good outcome on behalf of this people.

¹²When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather, I am going to put an end to them by the sword, famine, and plague.”

¹³But I said, “Oh, Lord GOD! Behold, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see a sword, nor will you have famine; on the contrary, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’ ”

¹⁴Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them, nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility, and the deception of their own minds.

¹⁵Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying: ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’—by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end!

¹⁶And the people to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour out their own wickedness upon them.

¹⁷You will say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes stream down tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely infected wound.

¹⁸If I go out to the country, There are those killed by the sword! Or if I enter the city, There are diseases from famine! For both prophet and priest Have wandered around in the land that they do not know.’ ”

¹⁹Have You completely rejected Judah? Or have You loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing? We waited for peace, but nothing good came; And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

²⁰We know our wickedness, LORD, The wrongdoing of our fathers, for we have sinned against You.

²¹Do not despise us, for the sake of Your own name; Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory. Remember and do not annul Your covenant with us.

²²Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, LORD our God? Therefore we wait for You, For You are the one who has done all these things.

¹Now after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and an attorney named Tertullus, and they brought charges against Paul to the governor.

²After Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began accusing him, saying to the governor, “Since we have attained great peace through you, and since reforms are being carried out for this nation by your foresight,

³we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness.

⁴But, that I may not weary you further, I beg you to grant us a brief hearing, by your kindness.

⁵For we have found this man a public menace and one who stirs up dissensions among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

⁶And he even tried to desecrate the temple, so indeed we arrested him.

⁷

⁸By interrogating him yourself concerning all these matters, you will be able to ascertain the things of which we are accusing him.”

⁹The Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.

¹⁰And when the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul responded: “Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense,

¹¹since you can take note of the fact that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

¹²And neither in the temple did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city itself.

¹³Nor can they prove to you the things of which they now accuse me.

¹⁴But I confess this to you, that in accordance with the Way, which they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and is written in the Prophets;

¹⁵having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

¹⁶In view of this I also do my best to maintain a blameless conscience both before God and before other people, always.

¹⁷Now after several years I came to bring charitable gifts to my nation and to present offerings,

¹⁸in which they found me occupied in the temple, having been purified, without any crowd or uproar. But there were some Jews from Asia—

¹⁹who ought to have been present before you and to have been bringing charges, if they should have anything against me.

²⁰Or else have these men themselves declare what violation they discovered when I stood before the Council,

²¹other than in regard to this one declaration which I shouted while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today!’ ”

²²But Felix, having quite accurate knowledge about the Way, adjourned them, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.”

²³He gave orders to the centurion for Paul to be kept in custody and yet have some freedom, and not to prevent any of his friends from providing for his needs.

²⁴Now some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla his wife, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁵But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and responded, “Go away for now, and when I have an opportunity, I will summon you.”

²⁶At the same time he was also hoping that money would be given to him by Paul; therefore he also used to send for him quite often and talk with him.

²⁷But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul imprisoned.