Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

²When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

³He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

⁴He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.

⁵Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?

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

⁷If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

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

⁹Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue,

¹⁰and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

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

¹²How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

¹³Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.

¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

¹⁵Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.

¹⁶He warned them not to tell others about him.

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

¹⁸“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

¹⁹He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets.

²⁰A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory.

²¹In his name the nations will put their hope.”

²²Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.

²³All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

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

²⁵Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

²⁶If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

²⁷And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.

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

²⁹“Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

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

³¹And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

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

³³“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.

³⁴You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

³⁵A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.

³⁶But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.

³⁷For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

³⁸Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

³⁹He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

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

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

⁴²The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.

⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.

⁴⁵Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

⁴⁶While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him.

⁴⁷Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

⁴⁸He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”

⁴⁹Pointing to 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.”

¹The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

²“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

³I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

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

⁵He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

⁶Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.

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

⁸From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

⁹Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

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

¹¹As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are.

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

¹³Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

¹⁴When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman.

¹⁵And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace.

¹⁶He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

¹⁷But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

¹⁸So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?

¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

²⁰Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

²Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

³For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

⁴For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,

⁵so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

⁶We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;

⁷if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;

⁸if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

⁹Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

¹⁰Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

¹¹Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

¹²Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

¹³Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

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

¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

¹⁷Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.

¹⁸If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

¹⁹Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

²⁰On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

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

¹The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

²Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

³They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.

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

⁵because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

⁶If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.

⁷Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.

⁸For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

⁹This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.

¹⁰That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.

¹¹Command and teach these things.

¹²Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

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

¹⁴Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.

¹⁵Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.

¹⁶Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

¹Then Job replied:

²“Doubtless you are the only people who matter, and wisdom will die with you!

³But I have a mind as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know all these things?

⁴“I have become a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God and he answered— a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!

⁵Those who are at ease have contempt for misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

⁶The tents of marauders are undisturbed, and those who provoke God are secure— those God has in his hand.

⁷“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;

⁸or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you.

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

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

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

¹²Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?

¹³“To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.

¹⁴What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; those he imprisons cannot be released.

¹⁵If he holds back the waters, there is drought; if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.

¹⁶To him belong strength and insight; both deceived and deceiver are his.

¹⁷He leads rulers away stripped and makes fools of judges.

¹⁸He takes off the shackles put on by kings and ties a loincloth around their waist.

¹⁹He leads priests away stripped and overthrows officials long established.

²⁰He silences the lips of trusted advisers and takes away the discernment of elders.

²¹He pours contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.

²²He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings utter darkness into the light.

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

²⁴He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason; he makes them wander in a trackless waste.

²⁵They grope in darkness with no light; he makes them stagger like drunkards.

¹For the director of music. According to sheminith. A psalm of David. Help, LORD, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.

²Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts.

³May the LORD silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue—

⁴those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”

⁵“Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.”

⁶And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.

⁷You, LORD, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked,

⁸who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race.

¹Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.

²Good people obtain favor from the LORD, but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes.

³No one can be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted.

⁴A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.

⁵The plans of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

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

⁷The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm.

⁸A person is praised according to their prudence, and one with a warped mind is despised.

⁹Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food.

¹⁰The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.

¹²The wicked desire the stronghold of evildoers, but the root of the righteous endures.

¹³Evildoers are trapped by their sinful talk, and so the innocent escape trouble.

¹⁴From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward.

¹⁵The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.

¹⁶Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult.

¹⁷An honest witness tells the truth, but a false witness tells lies.

¹⁸The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

²⁰Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy.

²¹No harm overtakes the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble.

²²The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.

²³The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool’s heart blurts out folly.

²⁴Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.

²⁵Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.

²⁶The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.

²⁸In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality.

¹These are the kings of the land whom the Israelites had defeated and whose territory they took over east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon, including all the eastern side of the Arabah:

²Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon. He ruled from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge—from the middle of the gorge—to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites. This included half of Gilead.

³He also ruled over the eastern Arabah from the Sea of Galilee to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea), to Beth Jeshimoth, and then southward below the slopes of Pisgah.

⁴And the territory of Og king of Bashan, one of the last of the Rephaites, who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei.

⁵He ruled over Mount Hermon, Salekah, all of Bashan to the border of the people of Geshur and Maakah, and half of Gilead to the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

⁶Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the Israelites conquered them. And Moses the servant of the LORD gave their land to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh to be their possession.

⁷Here is a list of the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir. Joshua gave their lands as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel according to their tribal divisions.

⁸The lands included the hill country, the western foothills, the Arabah, the mountain slopes, the wilderness and the Negev. These were the lands of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. These were the kings:

⁹the king of Jericho — one the king of Ai (near 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 Akshaph — 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 Naphoth Dor) — one the king of Goyim in Gilgal — one

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

¹In that day you will say: “I will praise you, LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me.

²Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.”

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

⁴In that day you will say: “Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.

⁵Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.

⁶Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

¹It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.

²He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.

³When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

⁴After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

⁵So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

⁶The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.

⁷Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

⁸Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him.

⁹Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.

¹⁰They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

¹¹Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

¹²When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.

¹³Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door.

¹⁴When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

¹⁵“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

¹⁶But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.

¹⁷Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.

¹⁸In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.

¹⁹After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

²⁰He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.

²¹On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people.

²²They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.”

²³Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.

²⁵When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.