This Bible reading plan takes you through most of the Holy Scriptures each weekday of the year. Each day has three Bible readings:
You're welcome to read one, two, or all three of the readings every weekday. And if you fall behind, don't worry! You can either use the weekends to catch up or you can simply dive in to the reading for that day, even if you've missed a few days, weeks, or even months!
26:1 So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:
2 “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4 “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, 7 to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! 8 Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?
9 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
12 “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language,1 ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”
24 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. 26 For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”2 29 And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”
30 Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. 31 And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
[1] 26:14
[2] 26:28
(ESV)
"What would it take for us to close this deal... today?" the Toyota salesperson asked me with a clear edge of determination in his voice. I, however, was just as determined to stand my ground as he was. I fired back: "If you want to close this deal today, then don't try to convince me to close this deal today."
I have never been affable to high-pressure sales tactics. Especially in an auto showroom, I live by the moniker, "If they push me hard, I'll just push them back harder." More than once, I have defiantly walked out of a salesperson's office, even after hours of negotiations and paperwork, announcing that I was not happy with the deal. Indeed, I am quite cynical toward vehicle shopping and dealers and salespeople. Such was the case when I was shopping for a new car for my wife. At first, the Toyota salesman was genial, easy going, and helpful. He almost had me persuaded. But as time went on, he began to turn up the pressure and I began to grow suspicious. He finally tried to pressure me into buying then and there. I bought Melody a Honda the next week.
In our reading for today from Acts 26, Paul is once again making his case for following Christ. In Acts 24, he makes it before Felix. In Acts 25, he stands before Festus. Now it is King Agrippa II's turn to hear Paul's presentation of the gospel. As in Acts 22, when Paul stands before an angry mob of Jews, Paul once again shares his personal testimony - how he encountered Christ on the road to Damascus (cf. verse 15-23). But Paul knows that this will not be enough to convince Agrippa of the centrality and supremacy of Christ. He needs something more.
The Talmud tells us that King Agrippa's mother, Cypros, who was the wife of King Agrippa I, took a keen interest in Jewish theology and learning: "The king is guided by the queen, and the queen is guided by Gamaliel" (b Pesahim 88b). Gamaliel, of course, was a preeminent Jewish rabbi of the first century, teaching none other than Paul himself (cf. Acts 22:3). Thus, Agrippa's mother was influenced by Gamaliel and, in turn, influenced Agrippa himself and made him sympathetic to Jewish theology and learning. Agrippa too, it seems, was at least curious about the God of Israel. Thus, when Paul is making his case for Christ as God's Messiah, he ends by asking Agrippa: "King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do" (verse 27). Paul's line of reasoning is this: If he can just get Agrippa to confess his belief in the Scriptures, then he can convince Agrippa from the Scriptures that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Scriptures! Paul is turning up the heat on Agrippa. "What would it take for you trust in Jesus... today?" This is what Paul is essentially asking Agrippa.
Agrippa, somewhat taken aback by Paul's high-pressure evangelistic tactics, pushes back and threatens to walk off the lot. "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to become a Christian?" he asks (verse 28). Agrippa's statement here is notoriously difficult to translate from its original Greek. It may be either a question, as in the NIV, or a statement: "In a moment, you will persuade me to become a Christian." The King James Version translates Agrippa's words tendentially: "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." Whatever the translation, it seems as though Agrippa has come very close to believing the gospel, but is not there yet. Agrippa is having second thoughts. Agrippa is not quite ready to trust Christ. "Almost thou persuadest me to become a Christian," he says.
In the late 1800's a Baptist preacher named Pastor Brundage preached what is perhaps the most famous sermon ever given on Agrippa's words. He warned his congregation, "He who is almost persuaded is almost saved, and to be almost saved is to be entirely lost." "Almost" is never enough to enter into the Kingdom of God. Faith in Christ as God's Son and your Savior must be had. To almost believe in Christ is to be entirely lost. And unlike buying a vehicle, you can't go find a savior somewhere else, for Christ, and Christ alone, is the Savior of all.
"Almost thou persuadest me to become a Christian," says Agrippa to Paul. And Paul responds with the heart of a pastor: "Short time or long - I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains" (verse 29). Paul does not want Agrippa to be lost. He does not want anyone to be lost. And neither should we. We should never be content with an "almost."
So today, with whom can you share Christ? For whom do you need to pray that the Holy Spirit would move them from the "almost" which leads to hell to the faith which leads to salvation? May we never be "almost persuaded" to Christ. Instead, as Paul writes in Romans, may we be "fully persuaded that God has power to do what he had promised." For such faith is "credited to us as righteousness" (Romans 4:21-22).
2 “And now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them. And when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. 3 Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and do as he wills. 4 And as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the authority with which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these.
5 “Then the king of the south shall be strong, but one of his princes shall be stronger than he and shall rule, and his authority shall be a great authority. 6 After some years they shall make an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement. But she shall not retain the strength of her arm, and he and his arm shall not endure, but she shall be given up, and her attendants, he who fathered her, and he who supported1 her in those times.
7 “And from a branch from her roots one shall arise in his place. He shall come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the north, and he shall deal with them and shall prevail. 8 He shall also carry off to Egypt their gods with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, and for some years he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north. 9 Then the latter shall come into the realm of the king of the south but shall return to his own land.
10 “His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall keep coming and overflow and pass through, and again shall carry the war as far as his fortress. 11 Then the king of the south, moved with rage, shall come out and fight against the king of the north. And he shall raise a great multitude, but it shall be given into his hand. 12 And when the multitude is taken away, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail. 13 For the king of the north shall again raise a multitude, greater than the first. And after some years2 he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies.
14 “In those times many shall rise against the king of the south, and the violent among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they shall fail. 15 Then the king of the north shall come and throw up siegeworks and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, or even his best troops, for there shall be no strength to stand. 16 But he who comes against him shall do as he wills, and none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in the glorious land, with destruction in his hand. 17 He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of an agreement and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom,3 but it shall not stand or be to his advantage. 18 Afterward he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture many of them, but a commander shall put an end to his insolence. Indeed,4 he shall turn his insolence back upon him. 19 Then he shall turn his face back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found.
[1] 11:6
[2] 11:13
[3] 11:17
[4] 11:18
(ESV)
The divine messenger went on to explain to Daniel that there would be four kings of the Persian empire, the fourth being Xerxes, also called Ahasuerus in the book of Esther. Persia would attempt to extend its empire to Greece, but "a mighty king," namely Alexander the Great, would "rule with great dominion and do as he wills." However, Alexander's empire would come to a sudden halt with his death in 323 BC. That empire would be divided among four of Alexander's generals, and among those four the Ptolemies who ruled as "king of the south" in Egypt, and the Seleucids who ruled as "king of the north" in Syria, would have the major impact on the restored nation of Israel and the future of God's chosen people, from whom the Messiah would come. One of the Ptolemies tried to establish himself with "a great authority" (verse 5) in the north. An attempt was made to arrange peace through marriage, but the effort failed with the death of Ptolemy II. Ptolemy III then raided the Syrian "fortress" (verse 7) of Antiochus II, carrying their "gods" back to Egypt. In reprisal, Seleucus II of Syria tried to attack Egypt but was forced to return home unsuccessful. His sons, Seleucus III and Antiochus III would continue to wage war with Ptolemy IV in Egypt. Caught in the middle of this ongoing war was the nation of Israel. Some of Daniel's own people would become involved in this conflict, fighting with Antiochus against the king of the south. Antiochus III would take "a well-fortified city," (verse 15) the port of Sidon, in 203 BC. Seeking to reestablish Alexander's empire he extended his power to "the glorious land," that is, Israel. He gave his daughter to Ptolemy V of Egypt, attempting again to ensure peace through marriage, but it did not prove to "be to his advantage" (verse 17). Antiochus III continued to try to expand his kingdom to "the coastlands" of Asia Minor but Rome sent "a commander," name Cornelius Scipio to thwart his assault. When his efforts failed, Antiochus III returned to Syria and died in 187 BC. This detailed account conflict between Gentile rulers is unique in all of Scripture, and demonstrates the prophetic reliability of God's Word. Daniel was being told that difficult times lay ahead for the restored people of God, as rulers on either side of them fought to establish their dominion.
13 The woman Folly is loud;
she is seductive1 and knows nothing.
14 She sits at the door of her house;
she takes a seat on the highest places of the town,
15 calling to those who pass by,
who are going straight on their way,
16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
And to him who lacks sense she says,
17 “Stolen water is sweet,
and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
18 But he does not know that the dead2 are there,
that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
10:1 The proverbs of Solomon.
A wise son makes a glad father,
but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.
2 Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit,
but righteousness delivers from death.
3 The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry,
but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.
4 A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5 He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.
6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.3
7 The memory of the righteous is a blessing,
but the name of the wicked will rot.
[1] 9:13
[2] 9:18
[3] 10:6
(ESV)