This content from Berean Standard Bible (public domain)
(Mark 13:1–8; Luke 21:5–9)
As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, His disciples came up to Him to point out its buildings.
“Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”
Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
(Mark 13:9–13; Luke 21:10–19)
Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another, and many false prophets will arise and mislead many.
Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
(Mark 13:14–23; Luke 21:20–24)
So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ [See Daniel 9:27, Daniel 11:31, and Daniel 12:11. ]described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house. And let no one in the field return for his cloak.
How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath. For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again. If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.
At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible. See, I have told you in advance.
(Mark 13:24–27; Luke 21:25–28)
So if they tell you, ‘There He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days:
‘The sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [Or and the celestial bodies will be shaken; see Isaiah 13:10, Isaiah 34:4, and Joel 2:10. ]’
At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, [Or the sky; twice in this verse ]and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. [See Daniel 7:13–14. ] And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
(Mark 13:28–31; Luke 21:29–33)
Now learn this lesson [Or this parable ]from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you will know that He is near, [Or it is near ]right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
(Genesis 6:1–7; Mark 13:32–37; Luke 12:35–48)
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, [BYZ and TR do not include nor the Son. ]but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come. But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.
Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’ And he begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (BSB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South, heard that Israel came by the way of Atharim. He fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. Israel vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.” Yahweh listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. The name of the place was called Hormah. [“Hormah” means “destruction”. ]
They traveled from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. The soul of the people was very discouraged because of the journey. The people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, there is no water, and our soul loathes this disgusting food!”
Yahweh sent venomous snakes among the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Israel died. The people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh, that he take away the serpents from us.” Moses prayed for the people.
Yahweh said to Moses, “Make a venomous snake, and set it on a pole. It shall happen that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” Moses made a serpent of bronze, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of bronze, he lived.
The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in Oboth. They traveled from Oboth, and encamped at Iyeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrise. From there they traveled, and encamped in the valley of Zered. From there they traveled, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. Therefore it is said in \bk The Book of the Wars of Yahweh \bk*, “Vaheb in Suphah, the valleys of the Arnon, the slope of the valleys that incline toward the dwelling of Ar, leans on the border of Moab.”
From there they traveled to Beer; that is the well of which Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.”
Then Israel sang this song:
“Spring up, well! Sing to it,
the well, which the princes dug,
which the nobles of the people dug,
with the scepter, and with their poles.”
From the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah; and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down on the desert. Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, “Let me pass through your land. We will not turn away into field or vineyard. We will not drink of the water of the wells. We will go by the king’s highway, until we have passed your border.”
Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border, but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz. He fought against Israel. Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even to the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was fortified. Israel took all these cities. Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even to the Arnon. Therefore those who speak in proverbs say,
“Come to Heshbon.
Let the city of Sihon be built and established;
for a fire has gone out of Heshbon,
a flame from the city of Sihon.
It has devoured Ar of Moab,
The lords of the high places of the Arnon.
Woe to you, Moab!
You are undone, people of Chemosh!
He has given his sons as fugitives,
and his daughters into captivity,
to Sihon king of the Amorites.
We have shot at them.
Heshbon has perished even to Dibon.
We have laid waste even to Nophah,
Which reaches to Medeba.”
Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. Moses sent to spy out Jazer. They took its villages, and drove out the Amorites who were there. They turned and went up by the way of Bashan. Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.
Yahweh said to Moses, “Don’t fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, with all his people, and his land. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”
So they struck him, with his sons and all his people, until there were no survivors; and they possessed his land. (WEB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. The high priest can deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, because he himself is also surrounded with weakness. Because of this, he must offer sacrifices for sins for the people, as well as for himself. Nobody takes this honor on himself, but he is called by God, just like Aaron was. So also Christ didn’ t glorify himself to be made a high priest, but it was he who said to him,
“You are my Son.
Today I have become your father.” (Psalms 2:7 )
As he says also in another place,
“You are a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalms 110:4 )
He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear, though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered. Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation, named by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
About him we have many words to say, and hard to interpret, seeing you have become dull of hearing. For although by this time you should be teachers, you again need to have someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the revelations of God. You have come to need milk, and not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is not experienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby. But solid food is for those who are full grown, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil. (WEB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you. For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they will in no way escape. But you, brothers, aren’ t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief. You are all children of light and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness, so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep in the night; and those who are drunk are drunk in the night. But since we belong to the day, let’s be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God didn’ t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do.
But we beg you, brothers, to know those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to respect and honor them in love for their work’s sake.
Be at peace among yourselves. We exhort you, brothers: Admonish the disorderly; encourage the faint-hearted; support the weak; be patient toward all. See that no one returns evil for evil to anyone, but always follow after that which is good for one another and for all.
Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you. Don’ t quench the Spirit. Don’t despise prophecies. Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.
Brothers, pray for us.
Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the holy brothers.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. (WEB)
1 Thessalonians 5:11: B133. Encourage One Another
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
Behold, you are beautiful, my love.
Behold, you are beautiful.
Your eyes are like doves behind your veil.
Your hair is as a flock of goats,
that descend from Mount Gilead.
Your teeth are like a newly shorn flock,
which have come up from the washing,
where every one of them has twins.
None is bereaved among them.
Your lips are like scarlet thread.
Your mouth is lovely.
Your temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil.
Your neck is like David’s tower built for an armory,
on which a thousand shields hang,
all the shields of the mighty men.
Your two breasts are like two fawns
that are twins of a roe,
which feed among the lilies.
Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh,
to the hill of frankincense.
You are all beautiful, my love.
There is no spot in you.
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
with me from Lebanon.
Look from the top of Amana,
from the top of Senir and Hermon,
from the lions’ dens,
from the mountains of the leopards.
You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride.
You have ravished my heart with one of your eyes,
with one chain of your neck.
How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
the fragrance of your perfumes than all kinds of spices!
Your lips, my bride, drip like the honeycomb.
Honey and milk are under your tongue.
The smell of your garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
My sister, my bride, is a locked up garden;
a locked up spring,
a sealed fountain.
Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits,
henna with spikenard plants,
spikenard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree;
myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices,
a fountain of gardens,
a well of living waters,
flowing streams from Lebanon.
Awake, north wind, and come, you south!
Blow on my garden, that its spices may flow out.
Let my beloved come into his garden,
and taste his precious fruits. (WEB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
Why do you stand far off, Yahweh?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak.
They are caught in the schemes that they devise.
For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings.
He blesses the greedy and condemns Yahweh.
The wicked, in the pride of his face,
has no room in his thoughts for God.
His ways are prosperous at all times.
He is arrogant, and your laws are far from his sight.
As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them.
He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken.
For generations I shall have no trouble.”
His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression.
Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
He lies in wait near the villages.
From ambushes, he murders the innocent.
His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.
He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless.
He catches the helpless when he draws him in his net.
The helpless are crushed.
They collapse.
They fall under his strength.
He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.
He hides his face.
He will never see it.”
Arise, Yahweh!
God, lift up your hand!
Don’t forget the helpless.
Why does the wicked person condemn God,
and say in his heart, “God won’t call me into account ”?
But you do see trouble and grief.
You consider it to take it into your hand.
You help the victim and the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked.
As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none.
Yahweh is King forever and ever!
The nations will perish out of his land.
Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble.
You will prepare their heart.
You will cause your ear to hear,
to judge the fatherless and the oppressed,
that man who is of the earth may terrify no more. (WEB)
This content pulled from bible.org.
Do not boast about tomorrow; for you do not know what a day may bring forth. Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips. A stone is heavy and sand is weighty,but vexation by a fool is more burdensome than the two of them. Wrath is cruel and anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy? Better is open rebukethan hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend,but the kisses of an enemy are excessive. The one whose appetite is satisfied loathes honey,but to the hungry mouth every bitter thing is sweet. Like a bird that wanders from its nest,so is a person who wanders from his home. Ointment and incense make the heart rejoice, likewise the sweetness of one’s friend from sincere counsel. Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend,and do not enter your brother’s house in the day of your disaster;a neighbor nearby is better than a brother far away. Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,so that I may answer anyone who taunts me. A shrewd person saw danger—he hid himself;the naive passed right on by— they had to pay for it. Take a man’s garment when he has given security for a stranger,and hold him in pledge on behalf of a stranger. If someone blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted as a curse to him. A continual dripping on a rainy day—a contentious wife makes herself like that. Whoever contains her has contained the wind or can grasp oil with his right hand. As iron sharpens iron,so a person sharpens his friend. The one who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever takes care of his master will be honored. As in water the face is reflected as a face, so a person’s heart reflects the person. As Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so the eyes of a person are never satisfied. As the crucible is for silver and the furnace is for gold, so a person must put his praise to the test. If you should pound the fool in the mortaramong the grain with the pestle,his foolishness would not depart from him. Pay careful attention to the condition of your flocks, set your mind on your herds, for riches do not last forever,nor does a crown last from generation to generation. When the hay is removed and new grass appears,and the grass from the hills is gathered in, the lambs will be for your clothing,and the goats will be for the price of a field. And there will be enough goat’s milk for your food, for the food of your household,and for the sustenance of your servant girls.
(NET)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a prostitute, and went in to her. The Gazites were told, “Samson is here!” They surrounded him and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, “Wait until morning light; then we will kill him.” Samson lay until midnight, then arose at midnight and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city, with the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.
It came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see in which his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and what you might be bound to afflict you.”
Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.”
Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. Now she had an ambush waiting in the inner room. She said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He broke the cords as a flax thread is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.
Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies. Now please tell me how you might be bound.”
He said to her, “If they only bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.”
So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, then said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” The ambush was waiting in the inner room. He broke them off his arms like a thread.
Delilah said to Samson, “Until now, you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what you might be bound.”
He said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the fabric on the loom.”
She fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He awakened out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam and the fabric.
She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you ,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.”
When she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, his soul was troubled to death. He told her all his heart and said to her, “No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me and I will become weak, and be like any other man.”
When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up this once, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. She made him sleep on her knees; and she called for a man and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!”
He awoke out of his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.” But he didn’t know that Yahweh had departed from him. The Philistines laid hold on him and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of bronze; and he ground at the mill in the prison. However, the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved.
The lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.” When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, “Our god has delivered our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us, into our hand.”
When their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Samson, that he may entertain us.” They called for Samson out of the prison; and he performed before them. They set him between the pillars; and Samson said to the boy who held him by the hand, “Allow me to feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean on them.” Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were on the roof about three thousand men and women, who saw while Samson performed. Samson called to Yahweh, and said, “Lord Yahweh, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, only this once, God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” Samson took hold of the two middle pillars on which the house rested and leaned on them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than those who he killed in his life.
Then his brothers and all the house of his father came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burial site of Manoah his father. He judged Israel twenty years. (WEB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord [The word translated “Lord” is “Adonai.” ]Yahweh [“Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations. ]says about Edom. We have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, “Arise, and let’s rise up against her in battle. Behold, [“Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection. ]I have made you small among the nations. You are greatly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who says in his heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’ Though you mount on high as the eagle, and though your nest is set among the stars, I will bring you down from there,” says Yahweh. “If thieves came to you, if robbers by night —oh, what disaster awaits you —wouldn’t they only steal until they had enough? If grape pickers came to you, wouldn’t they leave some gleaning grapes? How Esau will be ransacked! How his hidden treasures are sought out! All the men of your alliance have brought you on your way, even to the border. The men who were at peace with you have deceived you, and prevailed against you. Friends who eat your bread lay a snare under you. There is no understanding in him.”
“Won’t I in that day ”, says Yahweh, “destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mountain of Esau? Your mighty men, Teman, will be dismayed, to the end that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter. For the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be cut off forever. In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance and foreigners entered into his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, even you were like one of them. But don’t look down on your brother in the day of his disaster, and don’t rejoice over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction. Don’t speak proudly in the day of distress. Don’t enter into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Don’t look down on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither seize their wealth on the day of their calamity. Don’t stand in the crossroads to cut off those of his who escape. Don’t deliver up those of his who remain in the day of distress. For the day of Yahweh is near all the nations! As you have done, it will be done to you. Your deeds will return upon your own head. For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. Yes, they will drink, swallow down, and will be as though they had not been. But in Mount Zion, there will be those who escape, and it will be holy. The house of Jacob will possess their possessions. The house of Jacob will be a fire, the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble. They will burn among them and devour them. There will not be any remaining to the house of Esau.” Indeed, Yahweh has spoken.
Those of the South will possess the mountain of Esau, and those of the lowland, the Philistines. They will possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria. Benjamin will possess Gilead. The captives of this army of the children of Israel, who are among the Canaanites, will possess even to Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, who are in Sepharad, will possess the cities of the Negev. Saviors will go up on Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom will be Yahweh ’s. (WEB)
This content from Berean Standard Bible (public domain)
Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a lawyer [Or an orator ]named Tertullus, who presented to the governor their case against Paul.
When Paul had been called in, Tertullus opened the prosecution: “Because of you, we have enjoyed a lasting peace, and your foresight has brought improvements to this nation. In every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with all gratitude. But in order not to burden you any further, I beg your indulgence to hear us briefly.
We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, and he even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him. [BYZ and TR include and we would have judged him according to our law. 7 But Lysias the commander came with great force and took him out of our hands, 8 ordering his accusers to come before you. ] By examining him yourself, you will be able to learn the truth about all our charges against him.”
The Jews concurred, asserting that these charges were true.
When the governor motioned for Paul to speak, he began his response: “Knowing that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, I gladly make my defense. You can verify for yourself that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. Yet my accusers did not find me debating with anyone in the temple or riling up a crowd in the synagogues or in the city. Nor can they prove to you any of their charges against me.
I do confess to you, however, that I worship the God of our fathers according to the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man.
After several years, then, I returned to Jerusalem to bring alms to my people and to present offerings. At the time they found me in the temple, I was ceremonially clean and was not inciting a crowd or an uproar. But there are some Jews from the province of Asia [Literally from Asia; Asia was a Roman province in what is now western Turkey. ] who ought to appear before you and bring charges, if they have anything against me. Otherwise, let these men state for themselves any crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin, [Or the Council ] unless it was this one thing I called out as I stood in their presence: ‘It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.’”
Then Felix, who was well informed about the Way, adjourned the hearing and said, “When Lysias the commander comes, I will decide your case.” He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard, but to allow him some freedom and permit his friends to minister to his needs.
After several days, Felix returned with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now. When I find the time, I will call for you.” At the same time, he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe. So he sent for Paul frequently and talked with him.
After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. (BSB)