Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

²Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers,

³Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Aram,

⁴Aram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon,

⁵Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse,

⁶and Jesse fathered King David. David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife,

⁷Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, Abijah fathered Asa,

⁸Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, Joram fathered Uzziah,

⁹Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, Ahaz fathered Hezekiah,

¹⁰Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, Amon fathered Josiah,

¹¹and Josiah fathered Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

¹²After the exile to Babylon Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel, Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel,

¹³Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, Abiud fathered Eliakim, Eliakim fathered Azor,

¹⁴Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, Achim fathered Eliud,

¹⁵Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, Matthan fathered Jacob,

¹⁶and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Christ.

¹⁷So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Christ, fourteen generations.

¹⁸The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.

²⁰But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

²²Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

²³See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”

²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her

²⁵but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.

¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

²Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

³Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

⁴God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.

⁵God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day.

⁶Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.”

⁷So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so.

⁸God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.

⁹Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.

¹⁰God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of the water he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

¹¹Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so.

¹²The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

¹³Evening came and then morning: the third day.

¹⁴Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for seasons and for days and years.

¹⁵They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so.

¹⁶God made the two great lights — the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night — as well as the stars.

¹⁷God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth,

¹⁸to rule the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.

¹⁹Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.

²⁰Then God said, “Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”

²¹So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged creature according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²²God blessed them: “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”

²³Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.

²⁴Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.

²⁵So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”

²⁷So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.

²⁸God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”

²⁹God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you,

³⁰for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth — everything having the breath of life in it — I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

³¹God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

¹Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God  —

²which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures —

³concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh

⁴and was appointed to be the powerful Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead.

⁵Through him we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the Gentiles,

⁶including you who are also called by Jesus Christ.

⁷To all who are in Rome, loved by God, called as saints. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because the news of your faith is being reported in all the world.

⁹God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in telling the good news about his Son — that I constantly mention you,

¹⁰always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God’s will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

¹¹For I want very much to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,

¹²that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

¹³Now I don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now ) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles.

¹⁴I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish.

¹⁵So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

¹⁷For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.

¹⁸For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,

¹⁹since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them.

²⁰For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

²¹For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.

²²Claiming to be wise, they became fools

²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.

²⁴Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves.

²⁵They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.

²⁶For this reason God delivered them over to disgraceful passions. Their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.

²⁷The men in the same way also left natural relations with women and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error.

²⁸And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right.

²⁹They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,

³⁰slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

³¹senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.

³²Although they know God’s just sentence — that those who practice such things deserve to die  — they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.

¹Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy: To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace.

²We always thank God for all of you, making mention of you constantly in our prayers.

³We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you,

⁵because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full assurance. You know how we lived among you for your benefit,

⁶and you yourselves became imitators of us and of the Lord when, in spite of severe persecution, you welcomed the message with joy from the Holy Spirit.

⁷As a result, you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

⁸For the word of the Lord rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place that your faith in God has gone out. Therefore, we don’t need to say anything,

⁹for they themselves report what kind of reception we had from you: how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

¹⁰and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead  — Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

¹There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of complete integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil.

²He had seven sons and three daughters.

³His estate included seven thousand sheep and goats, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.

⁴His sons used to take turns having banquets at their homes. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

⁵Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

⁶One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.

⁷The LORD asked Satan, “Where have you come from?” “From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered him, “and walking around on it.”

⁸Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.”

⁹Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing?

¹⁰Haven’t you placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

¹¹But stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

¹²“Very well,” the LORD told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, do not lay a hand on Job himself.” So Satan left the LORD’s presence.

¹³One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

¹⁴a messenger came to Job and reported: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby,

¹⁵the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: “God’s fire fell from heaven. It burned the sheep and the servants and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁷That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁸He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house.

¹⁹Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

²⁰Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped,

²¹saying: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.

²²Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.

¹How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers!

²Instead, his delight is in the LORD’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.

³He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

⁴The wicked are not like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away.

⁵Therefore the wicked will not stand up in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

⁶For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.

¹The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

²For learning wisdom and discipline; for understanding insightful sayings;

³for receiving prudent instruction in righteousness, justice, and integrity;

⁴for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced, knowledge and discretion to a young man —

⁵let a wise person listen and increase learning, and let a discerning person obtain guidance —

⁶for understanding a proverb or a parable, the words of the wise, and their riddles.

⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.

⁸Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and don’t reject your mother’s teaching,

⁹for they will be a garland of favor on your head and pendants around your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, don’t be persuaded.

¹¹If they say — “Come with us! Let’s set an ambush and kill someone. Let’s attack some innocent person just for fun!

¹²Let’s swallow them alive, like Sheol, whole, like those who go down to the Pit.

¹³We’ll find all kinds of valuable property and fill our houses with plunder.

¹⁴Throw in your lot with us, and we’ll all share the loot”  —

¹⁵my son, don’t travel that road with them or set foot on their path,

¹⁶because their feet run toward evil and they hurry to shed blood.

¹⁷It is useless to spread a net where any bird can see it,

¹⁸but they set an ambush to kill themselves; they attack their own lives.

¹⁹Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly; it takes the lives of those who receive it.

²⁰Wisdom calls out in the street; she makes her voice heard in the public squares.

²¹She cries out above the commotion; she speaks at the entrance of the city gates:

²²“How long, inexperienced ones, will you love ignorance? How long will you mockers enjoy mocking and you fools hate knowledge?

²³If you respond to my warning, then I will pour out my spirit on you and teach you my words.

²⁴Since I called out and you refused, extended my hand and no one paid attention,

²⁵since you neglected all my counsel and did not accept my correction,

²⁶I, in turn, will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when terror strikes you,

²⁷when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when trouble and stress overcome you.

²⁸Then they will call me, but I won’t answer; they will search for me, but won’t find me.

²⁹Because they hated knowledge, didn’t choose to fear the LORD,

³⁰were not interested in my counsel, and rejected all my correction,

³¹they will eat the fruit of their way and be glutted with their own schemes.

³²For the apostasy of the inexperienced will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

³³But whoever listens to me will live securely and be undisturbed by the dread of danger.”

¹After the death of Moses the LORD’s servant, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’s assistant:

²“Moses my servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites.

³I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses.

⁴Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great river, the Euphrates River — all the land of the Hittites  — and west to the Mediterranean Sea.

⁵No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you.

⁶“Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance.

⁷Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go.

⁸This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.

⁹Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

¹⁰Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people:

¹¹“Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get provisions ready for yourselves, for within three days you will be crossing the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you to inherit.’”

¹²Joshua said to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh:

¹³“Remember what Moses the LORD’s servant commanded you when he said, ‘The LORD your God will give you rest, and he will give you this land.’

¹⁴Your wives, dependents, and livestock may remain in the land Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But your best soldiers must cross over in battle formation ahead of your brothers and help them

¹⁵until the LORD gives your brothers rest, as he has given you, and they too possess the land the LORD your God is giving them. You may then return to the land of your inheritance and take possession of what Moses the LORD’s servant gave you on the east side of the Jordan.”

¹⁶They answered Joshua, “Everything you have commanded us we will do, and everywhere you send us we will go.

¹⁷We will obey you, just as we obeyed Moses in everything. Certainly the LORD your God will be with you, as he was with Moses.

¹⁸Anyone who rebels against your order and does not obey your words in all that you command him, will be put to death. Above all, be strong and courageous!”

¹The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah.

²Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.

³The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s feeding trough, but Israel does not know; my people do not understand.”

⁴Oh sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, brood of evildoers, depraved children! They have abandoned the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they have turned their backs on him.

⁵Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep on rebelling? The whole head is hurt, and the whole heart is sick.

⁶From the sole of the foot even to the head, no spot is uninjured  — wounds, welts, and festering sores not cleansed, bandaged, or soothed with oil.

⁷Your land is desolate, your cities burned down; foreigners devour your fields right in front of you — a desolation, like a place demolished by foreigners.

⁸Daughter Zion is abandoned like a shelter in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

⁹If the LORD of Armies had not left us a few survivors, we would be like Sodom, we would resemble Gomorrah.

¹⁰Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

¹¹“What are all your sacrifices to me?” asks the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I have no desire for the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats.

¹²When you come to appear before me, who requires this from you — this trampling of my courts?

¹³Stop bringing useless offerings. Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons and Sabbaths, and the calling of solemn assemblies  — I cannot stand iniquity with a festival.

¹⁴I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals. They have become a burden to me; I am tired of putting up with them.

¹⁵When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will refuse to look at you; even if you offer countless prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

¹⁶“Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from my sight. Stop doing evil.

¹⁷Learn to do what is good. Pursue justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.

¹⁸“Come, let us settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool.

¹⁹If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land.

²⁰But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

²¹The faithful town — what an adulteress she has become! She was once full of justice. Righteousness once dwelt in her, but now, murderers!

²²Your silver has become dross to be discarded, your beer is diluted with water.

²³Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love graft and chase after bribes. They do not defend the rights of the fatherless, and the widow’s case never comes before them.

²⁴Therefore the Lord GOD of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah, I will get even with my foes; I will take revenge against my enemies.

²⁵I will turn my hand against you and will burn away your dross completely; I will remove all your impurities.

²⁶I will restore your judges to what they were at first, and your advisers to what they were at the start. Afterward you will be called the Righteous City, a Faithful Town.”

²⁷Zion will be redeemed by justice, those who repent, by righteousness.

²⁸At the same time both rebels and sinners will be broken, and those who abandon the LORD will perish.

²⁹Indeed, they will be ashamed of the sacred trees you desired, and you will be embarrassed because of the garden shrines you have chosen.

³⁰For you will become like an oak whose leaves are withered, and like a garden without water.

³¹The strong one will become tinder, and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to extinguish the flames.

¹I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach

²until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

³After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

⁴While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about;

⁵for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.”

⁶So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”

⁷He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.

⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

⁹After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

¹⁰While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them.

¹¹They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”

¹²Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem — a Sabbath day’s journey away.

¹³When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

¹⁴They all were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

¹⁵In those days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters  — the number of people who were together was about a hundred and twenty — and said:

¹⁶“Brothers and sisters, it was necessary that the Scripture be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David foretold about Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

¹⁷For he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”

¹⁸Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst, his body burst open and his intestines spilled out.

¹⁹This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field is called Hakeldama (that is, Field of Blood).

²⁰“For it is written in the Book of Psalms: Let his dwelling become desolate; let no one live in it; and Let someone else take his position.

²¹“Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us —

²²beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us — from among these, it is necessary that one become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

²³So they proposed two: Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.

²⁴Then they prayed, “You, Lord, know everyone’s hearts; show which of these two you have chosen

²⁵to take the place in this apostolic ministry that Judas left to go where he belongs.”

²⁶Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias and he was added to the eleven apostles.