Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

²Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.

³Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected,

⁵“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.”

⁶He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

⁷“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.

⁸You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

⁹Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.

¹⁰So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well,

¹¹for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.

¹²The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.

¹³They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!”

¹⁴Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

¹⁵“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

¹⁶At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

¹⁷Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.

¹⁸Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him.

¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

²⁰Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival.

²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”

²²Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

²³Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

²⁴Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

²⁵Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

²⁷“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

²⁸Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

²⁹The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

³⁰Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine.

³¹Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.

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

³³He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

³⁴The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

³⁵Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going.

³⁶Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

³⁷Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.

³⁸This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

³⁹For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

⁴⁰“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”

⁴¹Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

⁴²Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue;

⁴³for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

⁴⁴Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.

⁴⁵The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.

⁴⁶I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

⁴⁷“If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

⁴⁸There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.

⁴⁹For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.

⁵⁰I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

¹“Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense.

²It is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high—its horns of one piece with it.

³Overlay the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it.

⁴Make two gold rings for the altar below the molding—two on each of the opposite sides—to hold the poles used to carry it.

⁵Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

⁶Put the altar in front of the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law—before the atonement cover that is over the tablets of the covenant law—where I will meet with you.

⁷“Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps.

⁸He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the LORD for the generations to come.

⁹Do not offer on this altar any other incense or any burnt offering or grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it.

¹⁰Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering for the generations to come. It is most holy to the LORD.”

¹¹Then the LORD said to Moses,

¹²“When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them.

¹³Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.

¹⁴All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the LORD.

¹⁵The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives.

¹⁶Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD, making atonement for your lives.”

¹⁷Then the LORD said to Moses,

¹⁸“Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.

¹⁹Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it.

²⁰Whenever they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting a food offering to the LORD,

²¹they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.”

²²Then the LORD said to Moses,

²³“Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant calamus,

²⁴500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil.

²⁵Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil.

²⁶Then use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law,

²⁷the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense,

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

²⁹You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy.

³⁰“Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests.

³¹Say to the Israelites, ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come.

³²Do not pour it on anyone else’s body and do not make any other oil using the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred.

³³Whoever makes perfume like it and puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from their people.’ ”

³⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts,

³⁵and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred.

³⁶Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.

³⁷Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the LORD.

³⁸Whoever makes incense like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from their people.”

¹You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

²Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.

³So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?

⁴Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

⁵But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

⁶God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”

⁷To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.

⁸But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

⁹There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;

¹⁰but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

¹¹For God does not show favoritism.

¹²All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

¹³For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.

¹⁴(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law.

¹⁵They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.)

¹⁶This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

¹⁷Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;

¹⁸if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;

¹⁹if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark,

²⁰an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—

²¹you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?

²²You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

²³You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

²⁴As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

²⁵Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.

²⁶So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?

²⁷The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

²⁸A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.

²⁹No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

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

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

⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.

⁵I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

⁶For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

⁷For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

⁸So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.

⁹He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

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

¹¹And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.

¹²That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

¹³What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

¹⁵You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

¹⁶May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.

¹⁷On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me.

¹⁸May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²“When will you end these speeches? Be sensible, and then we can talk.

³Why are we regarded as cattle and considered stupid in your sight?

⁴You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger, is the earth to be abandoned for your sake? Or must the rocks be moved from their place?

⁵“The lamp of a wicked man is snuffed out; the flame of his fire stops burning.

⁶The light in his tent becomes dark; the lamp beside him goes out.

⁷The vigor of his step is weakened; his own schemes throw him down.

⁸His feet thrust him into a net; he wanders into its mesh.

⁹A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare holds him fast.

¹⁰A noose is hidden for him on the ground; a trap lies in his path.

¹¹Terrors startle him on every side and dog his every step.

¹²Calamity is hungry for him; disaster is ready for him when he falls.

¹³It eats away parts of his skin; death’s firstborn devours his limbs.

¹⁴He is torn from the security of his tent and marched off to the king of terrors.

¹⁵Fire resides in his tent; burning sulfur is scattered over his dwelling.

¹⁶His roots dry up below and his branches wither above.

¹⁷The memory of him perishes from the earth; he has no name in the land.

¹⁸He is driven from light into the realm of darkness and is banished from the world.

¹⁹He has no offspring or descendants among his people, no survivor where once he lived.

²⁰People of the west are appalled at his fate; those of the east are seized with horror.

²¹Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man; such is the place of one who does not know God.”

¹For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” Of Asaph. A psalm. Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

²before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us.

³Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

⁴How long, LORD God Almighty, will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people?

⁵You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.

⁶You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us.

⁷Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

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

⁹You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.

¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches.

¹¹Its branches reached as far as the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.

¹²Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes?

¹³Boars from the forest ravage it, and insects from the fields feed on it.

¹⁴Return to us, God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine,

¹⁵the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself.

¹⁶Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish.

¹⁷Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself.

¹⁸Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name.

¹⁹Restore us, LORD God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

¹An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends and against all sound judgment starts quarrels.

²Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.

³When wickedness comes, so does contempt, and with shame comes reproach.

⁴The words of the mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.

⁵It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice.

⁶The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating.

⁷The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives.

⁸The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.

⁹One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.

¹⁰The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

¹¹The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale.

¹²Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.

¹³To answer before listening— that is folly and shame.

¹⁴The human spirit can endure in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?

¹⁵The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.

¹⁶A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.

¹⁷In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right, until someone comes forward and cross-examines.

¹⁸Casting the lot settles disputes and keeps strong opponents apart.

¹⁹A brother wronged is more unyielding than a fortified city; disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.

²⁰From the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled; with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied.

²¹The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

²²He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.

²³The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly.

²⁴One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa.

²The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua.

³The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically.

⁴Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.” But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

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

⁶So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day.

⁷When the Israelites along the valley and those across the Jordan saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them.

⁸The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

⁹They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people.

¹⁰They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.

¹¹When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹²all their valiant men marched through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them.

¹³Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

¹This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

²“Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.

³The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads.

⁴The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads.

⁵Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.

⁶Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of food.”

⁷Although our sins testify against us, do something, LORD, for the sake of your name. For we have often rebelled; we have sinned against you.

⁸You who are the hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only a night?

⁹Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? You are among us, LORD, and we bear your name; do not forsake us!

¹⁰This is what the LORD says about this people: “They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”

¹¹Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.

¹²Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”

¹³But I said, “Alas, Sovereign LORD! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’ ”

¹⁴Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.

¹⁵Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine.

¹⁶And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.

¹⁷“Speak this word to them: “ ‘Let my eyes overflow with tears night and day without ceasing; for the Virgin Daughter, my people, has suffered a grievous wound, a crushing blow.

¹⁸If I go into the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I go into the city, I see the ravages of famine. Both prophet and priest have gone to a land they know not.’ ”

¹⁹Have you rejected Judah completely? Do you despise Zion? Why have you afflicted us so that we cannot be healed? We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror.

²⁰We acknowledge our wickedness, LORD, and the guilt of our ancestors; we have indeed sinned against you.

²¹For the sake of your name do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us and do not break it.

²²Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.

¹Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor.

²When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: “We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation.

³Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude.

⁴But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly.

⁵“We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect

⁶and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him.

⁷

⁸By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him.”

⁹The other Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true.

¹⁰When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: “I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense.

¹¹You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

¹²My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city.

¹³And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me.

¹⁴However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets,

¹⁵and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

¹⁶So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

¹⁷“After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings.

¹⁸I was ceremonially clean when they found me in the temple courts doing this. There was no crowd with me, nor was I involved in any disturbance.

¹⁹But there are some Jews from the province of Asia, who ought to be here before you and bring charges if they have anything against me.

²⁰Or these who are here should state what crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin—

²¹unless it was this one thing I shouted as I stood in their presence: ‘It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.’ ”

²²Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. “When Lysias the commander comes,” he said, “I will decide your case.”

²³He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.

²⁴Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁵As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.”

²⁶At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.

²⁷When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.