Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

²The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper

³Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God,

⁴got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.

⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.

⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

⁸Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”

⁹Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”

¹⁰Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.”

¹¹For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹²After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?

¹³You call me Teacher and Lord — and you are right, for that is what I am.

¹⁴So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

¹⁵For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

¹⁶Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.

¹⁷If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

¹⁸I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’

¹⁹I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he.

²⁰Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”

²¹After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

²²The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking.

²³One of his disciples — the one whom Jesus loved — was reclining next to him;

²⁴Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking.

²⁵So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

²⁶Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot.

²⁷After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.”

²⁸Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him.

²⁹Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival”; or, that he should give something to the poor.

³⁰So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

³¹When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.

³²If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.

³³Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

³⁶Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward.”

³⁷Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

³⁸Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:

³and I have filled him with divine spirit, with ability, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft,

⁴to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze,

⁵in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, in every kind of craft.

⁶Moreover, I have appointed with him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have given skill to all the skillful, so that they may make all that I have commanded you:

⁷the tent of meeting, and the ark of the covenant, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent,

⁸the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense,

⁹and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand,

¹⁰and the finely worked vestments, the holy vestments for the priest Aaron and the vestments of his sons, for their service as priests,

¹¹and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the holy place. They shall do just as I have commanded you.

¹²The LORD said to Moses:

¹³You yourself are to speak to the Israelites: “You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you.

¹⁴You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people.

¹⁵Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death.

¹⁶Therefore the Israelites shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant.

¹⁷It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”

¹⁸When God finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

¹Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?

²Much, in every way. For in the first place the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.

³What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?

⁴By no means! Although everyone is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written, “So that you may be justified in your words, and prevail in your judging.”

⁵But if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.)

⁶By no means! For then how could God judge the world?

⁷But if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?

⁸And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), “Let us do evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved!

⁹What then? Are we any better off? No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin,

¹⁰as it is written: “There is no one who is righteous, not even one;

¹¹there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God.

¹²All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, there is not even one.”

¹³“Their throats are opened graves; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of vipers is under their lips.”

¹⁴“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶ruin and misery are in their paths,

¹⁷and the way of peace they have not known.”

¹⁸“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

²⁰For “no human being will be justified in his sight” by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

²¹But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets,

²²the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction,

²³since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;

²⁴they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

²⁵whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed;

²⁶it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith.

²⁸For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.

²⁹Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,

³⁰since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

³¹Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

¹You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus;

²and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.

³Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

⁴No one serving in the army gets entangled in everyday affairs; the soldier’s aim is to please the enlisting officer.

⁵And in the case of an athlete, no one is crowned without competing according to the rules.

⁶It is the farmer who does the work who ought to have the first share of the crops.

⁷Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in all things.

⁸Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David — that is my gospel,

⁹for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained.

¹⁰Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

¹¹The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

¹²if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us;

¹³if we are faithless, he remains faithful — for he cannot deny himself.

¹⁴Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening.

¹⁵Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.

¹⁶Avoid profane chatter, for it will lead people into more and more impiety,

¹⁷and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,

¹⁸who have swerved from the truth by claiming that the resurrection has already taken place. They are upsetting the faith of some.

¹⁹But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who calls on the name of the Lord turn away from wickedness.”

²⁰In a large house there are utensils not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for special use, some for ordinary.

²¹All who cleanse themselves of the things I have mentioned will become special utensils, dedicated and useful to the owner of the house, ready for every good work.

²²Shun youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

²³Have nothing to do with stupid and senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.

²⁴And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, an apt teacher, patient,

²⁵correcting opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth,

²⁶and that they may escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

¹Then Job answered:

²“How long will you torment me, and break me in pieces with words?

³These ten times you have cast reproach upon me; are you not ashamed to wrong me?

⁴And even if it is true that I have erred, my error remains with me.

⁵If indeed you magnify yourselves against me, and make my humiliation an argument against me,

⁶know then that God has put me in the wrong, and closed his net around me.

⁷Even when I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I am not answered; I call aloud, but there is no justice.

⁸He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths.

⁹He has stripped my glory from me, and taken the crown from my head.

¹⁰He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, he has uprooted my hope like a tree.

¹¹He has kindled his wrath against me, and counts me as his adversary.

¹²His troops come on together; they have thrown up siegeworks against me, and encamp around my tent.

¹³“He has put my family far from me, and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.

¹⁴My relatives and my close friends have failed me;

¹⁵the guests in my house have forgotten me; my serving girls count me as a stranger; I have become an alien in their eyes.

¹⁶I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; I must myself plead with him.

¹⁷My breath is repulsive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family.

¹⁸Even young children despise me; when I rise, they talk against me.

¹⁹All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me.

²⁰My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

²¹Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!

²²Why do you, like God, pursue me, never satisfied with my flesh?

²³“O that my words were written down! O that they were inscribed in a book!

²⁴O that with an iron pen and with lead they were engraved on a rock forever!

²⁵For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;

²⁶and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God,

²⁷whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

²⁸If you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’ and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him’;

²⁹be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”

¹Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob.

²Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.

³Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day.

⁴For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

⁵He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a voice I had not known:

⁶“I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket.

⁷In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

⁸Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

⁹There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.

¹⁰I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

¹¹“But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.

¹²So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.

¹³O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!

¹⁴Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes.

¹⁵Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever.

¹⁶I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

¹Better the poor walking in integrity than one perverse of speech who is a fool.

²Desire without knowledge is not good, and one who moves too hurriedly misses the way.

³One’s own folly leads to ruin, yet the heart rages against the LORD.

⁴Wealth brings many friends, but the poor are left friendless.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, and a liar will not escape.

⁶Many seek the favor of the generous, and everyone is a friend to a giver of gifts.

⁷If the poor are hated even by their kin, how much more are they shunned by their friends! When they call after them, they are not there.

⁸To get wisdom is to love oneself; to keep understanding is to prosper.

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished, and the liar will perish.

¹⁰It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury, much less for a slave to rule over princes.

¹¹Those with good sense are slow to anger, and it is their glory to overlook an offense.

¹²A king’s anger is like the growling of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹³A stupid child is ruin to a father, and a wife’s quarreling is a continual dripping of rain.

¹⁴House and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.

¹⁵Laziness brings on deep sleep; an idle person will suffer hunger.

¹⁶Those who keep the commandment will live; those who are heedless of their ways will die.

¹⁷Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and will be repaid in full.

¹⁸Discipline your children while there is hope; do not set your heart on their destruction.

¹⁹A violent tempered person will pay the penalty; if you effect a rescue, you will only have to do it again.

²⁰Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom for the future.

²¹The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be established.

²²What is desirable in a person is loyalty, and it is better to be poor than a liar.

²³The fear of the LORD is life indeed; filled with it one rests secure and suffers no harm.

²⁴The lazy person buries a hand in the dish, and will not even bring it back to the mouth.

²⁵Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; reprove the intelligent, and they will gain knowledge.

²⁶Those who do violence to their father and chase away their mother are children who cause shame and bring reproach.

²⁷Cease straying, my child, from the words of knowledge, in order that you may hear instruction.

²⁸A worthless witness mocks at justice, and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.

²⁹Condemnation is ready for scoffers, and flogging for the backs of fools.

¹After the death of Saul, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag.

²On the third day, a man came from Saul’s camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and did obeisance.

³David said to him, “Where have you come from?” He said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”

⁴David said to him, “How did things go? Tell me!” He answered, “The army fled from the battle, but also many of the army fell and died; and Saul and his son Jonathan also died.”

⁵Then David asked the young man who was reporting to him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan died?”

⁶The young man reporting to him said, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa; and there was Saul leaning on his spear, while the chariots and the horsemen drew close to him.

⁷When he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. I answered, ‘Here sir.’

⁸And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’

⁹He said to me, ‘Come, stand over me and kill me; for convulsions have seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’

¹⁰So I stood over him, and killed him, for I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them; and all the men who were with him did the same.

¹²They mourned and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul and for his son Jonathan, and for the army of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

¹³David said to the young man who had reported to him, “Where do you come from?” He answered, “I am the son of a resident alien, an Amalekite.”

¹⁴David said to him, “Were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”

¹⁵Then David called one of the young men and said, “Come here and strike him down.” So he struck him down and he died.

¹⁶David said to him, “Your blood be on your head; for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the LORD’s anointed.’”

¹⁷David intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan.

¹⁸(He ordered that The Song of the Bow be taught to the people of Judah; it is written in the Book of Jashar.) He said:

¹⁹Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places! How the mighty have fallen!

²⁰Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon; or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult.

²¹You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor bounteous fields! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, anointed with oil no more.

²²From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, nor the sword of Saul return empty.

²³Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

²⁴O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with crimson, in luxury, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.

²⁵How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan lies slain upon your high places.

²⁶I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; greatly beloved were you to me; your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.

²⁷How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!

¹Then the LORD said to me: Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!

²And when they say to you, “Where shall we go?” you shall say to them: Thus says the LORD: Those destined for pestilence, to pestilence, and those destined for the sword, to the sword; those destined for famine, to famine, and those destined for captivity, to captivity.

³And I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, says the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth to devour and destroy.

⁴I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what King Manasseh son of Hezekiah of Judah did in Jerusalem.

⁵Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, or who will bemoan you? Who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?

⁶You have rejected me, says the LORD, you are going backward; so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you — I am weary of relenting.

⁷I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork in the gates of the land; I have bereaved them, I have destroyed my people; they did not turn from their ways.

⁸Their widows became more numerous than the sand of the seas; I have brought against the mothers of youths a destroyer at noonday; I have made anguish and terror fall upon her suddenly.

⁹She who bore seven has languished; she has swooned away; her sun went down while it was yet day; she has been shamed and disgraced. And the rest of them I will give to the sword before their enemies, — says the LORD.

¹⁰Woe is me, my mother, that you ever bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.

¹¹The LORD said: Surely I have intervened in your life for good, surely I have imposed enemies on you in a time of trouble and in a time of distress.

¹²Can iron and bronze break iron from the north?

¹³Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory.

¹⁴I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.

¹⁵O LORD, you know; remember me and visit me, and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors. In your forbearance do not take me away; know that on your account I suffer insult.

¹⁶Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.

¹⁷I did not sit in the company of merrymakers, nor did I rejoice; under the weight of your hand I sat alone, for you had filled me with indignation.

¹⁸Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail.

¹⁹Therefore thus says the LORD: If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth. It is they who will turn to you, not you who will turn to them.

²⁰And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, — says the LORD.

²¹I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.

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

²where the chief priests and the leaders of the Jews gave him a report against Paul. They appealed to him

³and requested, as a favor to them against Paul, to have him transferred to Jerusalem. They were, in fact, planning an ambush to kill him along the way.

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

⁵“So,” he said, “let those of you who have the authority come down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them accuse him.”

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

⁷When he arrived, the Jews who had gone down from Jerusalem surrounded him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove.

⁸Paul said in his defense, “I have in no way committed an offense against the law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against the emperor.”

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

¹⁰Paul said, “I am appealing to the emperor’s tribunal; this is where I should be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you very well know.

¹¹Now if I am in the wrong and have committed something for which I deserve to die, I am not trying to escape death; but if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can turn me over to them. I appeal to the emperor.”

¹²Then Festus, after he had conferred with his council, replied, “You have appealed to the emperor; to the emperor you will go.”

¹³After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to welcome Festus.

¹⁴Since they were staying there several days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man here who was left in prison by Felix.

¹⁵When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me about him and asked for a sentence against him.

¹⁶I told them that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone before the accused had met the accusers face to face and had been given an opportunity to make a defense against the charge.

¹⁷So when they met here, I lost no time, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought.

¹⁸When the accusers stood up, they did not charge him with any of the crimes that I was expecting.

¹⁹Instead they had certain points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.

²⁰Since I was at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wished to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges.

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

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

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

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

²⁵But I found that he had done nothing deserving death; and when he appealed to his Imperial Majesty, I decided to send him.

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

²⁷for it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner without indicating the charges against him.”