Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

²But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

³He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him:

⁴how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

⁵Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?

⁶I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.

⁷And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.

⁸For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

⁹He went on from there and entered their synagogue.

¹⁰And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” — so that they might accuse him.

¹¹He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

¹² Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

¹³Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other.

¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

¹⁵Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all

¹⁶and ordered them not to make him known.

¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁸“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

¹⁹He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;

²⁰a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;

²¹and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

²²Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw.

²³And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?”

²⁴But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”

²⁵Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

²⁶And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

²⁷And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.

²⁸But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

²⁹Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.

³⁰ Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

³¹ Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

³²And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

³³ “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.

³⁴ You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

³⁵ The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

³⁶I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

³⁷for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”

³⁹But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

⁴⁰For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

⁴¹ The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

⁴² The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none.

⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order.

⁴⁵Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

⁴⁶While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him.

⁴⁷

⁴⁸But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”

⁴⁹And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!

⁵⁰For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

¹Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.

²And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

³I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

⁴So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

⁵And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

⁶Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.

⁷Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

⁸From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD.

⁹And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.

¹¹When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance,

¹²and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live.

¹³Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”

¹⁴When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

¹⁵And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

¹⁶And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.

¹⁸So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?

¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.”

²⁰And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

¹I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

²Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

³For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

⁴For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,

⁵so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

⁶Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;

⁷if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;

⁸the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

⁹Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

¹⁰Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

¹¹Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

¹²Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

¹³Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

¹⁷Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

¹⁹Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

²⁰To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

¹Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

²through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,

³who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

⁴For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

⁵for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

⁶If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.

⁷Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;

⁸for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

⁹The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.

¹⁰For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

¹¹Command and teach these things.

¹²Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

¹³Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.

¹⁴Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.

¹⁵Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.

¹⁶Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.

³But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?

⁴I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called to God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.

⁵In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose feet slip.

⁶The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand.

⁷“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;

⁸or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.

⁹Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?

¹⁰In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

¹¹Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?

¹²Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.

¹³“With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.

¹⁴If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open.

¹⁵If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.

¹⁶With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his.

¹⁷He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools.

¹⁸He looses the bonds of kings and binds a waistcloth on their hips.

¹⁹He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.

²⁰He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders.

²¹He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong.

²²He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light.

²³He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away.

²⁴He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a trackless waste.

²⁵They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.

¹Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

²Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

³May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,

⁴those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

⁵“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

⁶The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

⁷You, O LORD, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever.

⁸On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

¹Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

²A good man obtains favor from the LORD, but a man of evil devices he condemns.

³No one is established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved.

⁴An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just; the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand.

⁸A man is commended according to his good sense, but one of twisted mind is despised.

⁹Better to be lowly and have a servant than to play the great man and lack bread.

¹⁰Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

¹¹Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.

¹²Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers, but the root of the righteous bears fruit.

¹³An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous escapes from trouble.

¹⁴From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good, and the work of a man's hand comes back to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

¹⁶The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.

¹⁷Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.

¹⁸There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.

²¹No ill befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

²³A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.

²⁴The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

²⁶One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.

²⁸In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.

¹Now these are the kings of the land whom the people of Israel defeated and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon, with all the Arabah eastward:

²Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the middle of the valley as far as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites, that is, half of Gilead,

³and the Arabah to the Sea of Chinneroth eastward, and in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth, to the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, southward to the foot of the slopes of Pisgah;

⁴and Og king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived at Ashtaroth and at Edrei

⁵and ruled over Mount Hermon and Salecah and all Bashan to the boundary of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and over half of Gilead to the boundary of Sihon king of Heshbon.

⁶Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the people of Israel defeated them. And Moses the servant of the LORD gave their land for a possession to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁷And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir (and Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotments,

⁸in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites):

⁹the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;

¹⁰the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;

¹¹the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;

¹²the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;

¹³the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;

¹⁴the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;

¹⁵the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;

¹⁶the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;

¹⁷the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;

¹⁸the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one;

¹⁹the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;

²⁰the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;

²¹the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;

²²the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;

²³the king of Dor in Naphath-dor, one; the king of Goiim in Galilee, one;

²⁴the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings.

¹You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.

²“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

³With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

⁴And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.

⁵“Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.

⁶Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

¹About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.

²He killed James the brother of John with the sword,

³and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread.

⁴And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people.

⁵So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

⁶Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison.

⁷And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.

⁸And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

⁹And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

¹⁰When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him.

¹¹When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

¹²When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

¹³And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.

¹⁴Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.

¹⁵They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!”

¹⁶But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.

¹⁷But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he departed and went to another place.

¹⁸Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.

¹⁹And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

²⁰Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king's country for food.

²¹On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them.

²²And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!”

²³Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

²⁴But the word of God increased and multiplied.

²⁵And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.