Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

²Now when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath!”

³But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions—

⁴how he entered the house of God, and they ate theconsecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone?

⁵Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the templeviolate the Sabbath, and yet are innocent?

⁶But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here.

⁷But if you had known what thismeans: ‘I DESIRECOMPASSION,RATHER THAN SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemnedthe innocent.

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

⁹Departing from there, He went into their synagogue.

¹⁰And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might bring charges against Him.

¹¹But He said to them, “What manis there among you whohas a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?

¹²How much more valuable then is a person than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to dogood on the Sabbath.”

¹³Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.

¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

¹⁵But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all,

¹⁶and warned them not to tell who He was.

¹⁷This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled:

¹⁸“BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL DELIGHTS; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE WILL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES.

¹⁹HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS.

²⁰A BENT REED HE WILL NOT BREAK off, AND A DIMLY BURNING WICK HE WILL NOT EXTINGUISH, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY.

²¹AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.”

²²Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to Jesus, and He healed him so that the man who was unable to speak talked and could see.

²³And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?”

²⁴But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

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

²⁶And if Satan is casting out Satan, hehas become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?

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

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

²⁹Or, how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

³⁰The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.

³¹“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.

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

³³“Either assume the tree to be good as well as its fruit good, or assume the tree to be bad as well as its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.

³⁴Youoffspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, express any good things? For the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart.

³⁵The good person brings out of his good treasure good things; and the evil person brings out of his evil treasure evil things.

³⁶But I tell you that for everycareless word that peoplespeak, they will give an account of it on the day of judgment.

³⁷Forby your words you will be justified, andby your words you will be condemned.”

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

³⁹But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves asign; and so nosign will be given to it except thesign of Jonah the prophet;

⁴⁰for just as JONAH WAS IN THE STOMACH OF THE SEA MONSTER FOR THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

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

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

⁴³“Now when the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.

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

⁴⁵Then it goes and brings along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they come in and live there; and the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

⁴⁶While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.

⁴⁷[Someone said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.”]

⁴⁸But Jesus replied to the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?”

⁴⁹And extending His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold: My mother and My brothers!

⁵⁰For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother.”

¹Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;

²And I will make you into a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing;

³And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

⁴So Abram went away as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

⁵Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the people which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; so they came to the land of Canaan.

⁶Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time.

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

⁸Then he proceeded from there to the mountain 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.

⁹Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev.

¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a time, because the famine was severe in the land.

¹¹It came about, when he was approaching Egypt, that he said to his wife Sarai, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman;

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

¹³Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well for me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”

¹⁴Now it came about, when Abram entered Egypt, that the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

¹⁵Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.

¹⁶Therefore he treated Abram well for her sake; and he gave him sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

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

¹⁸Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that 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 myself as a wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her and go!”

²⁰And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.

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

²And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

³For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

⁴For just as we have many parts in one body and all the body’s parts do not have the same function,

⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another.

⁶However, since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if prophecy, in proportion to one’s faith;

⁷if service, in the act of serving; or the one who teaches, in the act of teaching;

⁸or the one who exhorts, in the work of exhortation; the one who gives, with generosity; the one who is in leadership, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

⁹Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.

¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor,

¹¹not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

¹²rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

¹³contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

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

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

¹⁶Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

¹⁷Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people.

¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people.

¹⁹Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.

²⁰“BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM; IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”

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

¹But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

²by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,

³who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in 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 gratitude;

⁵for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.

⁶In pointing out these things to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the good doctrine which you have been following.

⁷But stay away from worthless stories that are typical of old women. Rather, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;

⁸for bodily training is just slightly beneficial, but godliness is beneficial for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

⁹It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance.

¹⁰For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all mankind, especially of believers.

¹¹Prescribe and teach these things.

¹²Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.

¹³Until I come, give your attention to the public reading, to exhortation, and teaching.

¹⁴Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was granted to you through words of prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.

¹⁵Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.

¹⁶Pay close attention to yourself and to the teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

¹Then Job responded,

²“Truly then you are the people, And with you wisdom will die!

³But I have intelligence as well as you; I am not inferior to you. And who does not know such things as these?

⁴I am a joke to my friends, The one who called on God and He answered him; The just and blameless man is a joke.

⁵He who is at ease holds disaster in contempt, As prepared for those whose feet slip.

⁶The tents of the destroyers prosper, And those who provoke God are secure, Whom God brings into their power.

⁷“But just ask the animals, and have them teach you; And the birds of the sky, and have them tell you.

⁸Or speak to the earth, and have it teach you; And have the fish of the sea tell you.

⁹Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this,

¹⁰In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?

¹¹Does the ear not put words to the test, As the palate tastes its food?

¹²Wisdom is with the aged, And with long life comes understanding.

¹³“Wisdom and might are with Him; Advice and understanding belong to Him.

¹⁴Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt; He imprisons a person, and there is no release.

¹⁵Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up; And He sends them out, and they inundate the earth.

¹⁶Strength and sound wisdom are with Him. One who goes astray and one who leads astray belong to Him.

¹⁷He makes advisers walk barefoot And makes fools of judges.

¹⁸He undoes the binding of kings, And ties a loincloth around their waist.

¹⁹He makes priests walk barefoot, And overthrows the secure ones.

²⁰He deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders.

²¹He pours contempt on nobles, And loosens the belt of the strong.

²²He reveals mysteries from the darkness, And brings the deep darkness into light.

²³He makes the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away.

²⁴He deprives the leaders of the earth’s people of intelligence And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.

²⁵They grope in darkness with no light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken person.

¹Help, LORD, for the godly person has come to an end, For the faithful have disappeared from the sons of mankind.

²They speak lies to one another; They speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

³May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, The tongue that speaks great things;

⁴Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”

⁵“Because of the devastation of the poor, because of the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise,” says the LORD; “I will put 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, filtered seven times.

⁷You, LORD, will keep them; You will protect him from this generation forever.

⁸The wicked strut about on every side When vileness is exalted among the sons of mankind.

¹One who loves discipline loves knowledge, But one who hates rebuke is stupid.

²A good person will obtain favor from the LORD, But He will condemn a person who devises evil.

³A person will not be established by wickedness, But the root of the righteous will not be moved.

⁴An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, But she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones.

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

⁶The words of the wicked wait in ambush for blood, But the mouth of the upright will rescue them.

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

⁸A person will be praised according to his insight, But one of perverse mind will be despised.

⁹Better is one who is lightly esteemed and has a servant, Than one who honors himself and lacks bread.

¹⁰A righteous person has regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.

¹¹One who works his land will have plenty of bread, But one who pursues worthless things lacks sense.

¹²The wicked person desires the plunder of evil people, But the root of the righteous yields fruit.

¹³An evil person is ensnared by the offense of his lips, But the righteous will escape from trouble.

¹⁴A person will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, And the deeds of a person’s hands will return to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a person who listens to advice is wise.

¹⁶A fool’s anger is known at once, But a prudent person conceals dishonor.

¹⁷One who declares truth tells what is right, But a false witness, deceit.

¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹Truthful lips will endure forever, But a lying tongue is only for a moment.

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

²¹No harm happens to the righteous, But the wicked are filled with trouble.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal faithfully are His delight.

²³A prudent person conceals knowledge, But the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.

²⁴The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy hand will be put to forced labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a person’s heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad.

²⁶The righteous person is a guide to his neighbor, But the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷A lazy person does not roast his prey, But the precious possession of a person is diligence.

²⁸In the way of righteousness there is life, And in its pathway there is no death.

¹Now these are the kings of the land whom the sons of Israel defeated, and they took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, from the Valley of the Arnon as far as Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah to the east:

²Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, both the middle of the valley and half of Gilead, even as far as the brook Jabbok, the border of the sons of Ammon;

³and the Arabah as far as the Sea of Chinneroth toward the east, and as far as the Sea of the Arabah, that is, the Salt Sea, eastward toward Beth-jeshimoth, and on the south, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah;

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

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

⁶Moses the servant of the LORD and the sons of Israel defeated them; and Moses the servant of the LORD gave it to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh as a possession.

⁷Now these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the sons of Israel defeated beyond the Jordan toward the west, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon even as far as Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir; and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions,

⁸in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, on the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negev; the Hittite, the Amorite and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:

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 the heights of Dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one;

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

¹Then you will say on that day, “I will give thanks to You, LORD; For although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me.

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

³Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation.

⁴And on that day you will say, “Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted.”

⁵Praise the LORD in song, for He has done glorious things; Let this be known throughout the earth.

⁶Rejoice and shout for joy, you inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

¹Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, to do them harm.

²And he had James the brother of John executed with a sword.

³When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter as well. (Now these were the days of Unleavened Bread.)

⁴When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, turning him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending only after the Passover to bring him before the people.

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

⁶On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.

⁷And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near Peter, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands.

⁸And the angel said to him, “Put on your belt and strap 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 continued to follow, and yet he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

¹⁰Now when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

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

¹²And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

¹³When he knocked at the door of the gate, a slave woman named Rhoda came to answer.

¹⁴When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.

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

¹⁶But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.

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

¹⁸Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter.

¹⁹When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.

²⁰Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one mind they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was supported with grain from the king’s country.

²¹On an appointed day, after putting on his royal apparel, Herod took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them.

²²The people repeatedly cried out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!”

²³And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

²⁵And Barnabas and Saul returned when they had fulfilled their mission to Jerusalem, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.