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.

²When 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 and his companions were hungry?

⁴He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests.

⁵Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless?

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

⁷But 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 left that place and entered their synagogue;

¹⁰a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?” so that they might accuse him.

¹¹He said to them, “Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out?

¹²How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.”

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

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

¹⁵When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them,

¹⁶and he ordered them not to make him known.

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

¹⁸“Here is 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 wrangle or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

²⁰He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick until he brings justice to victory.

²¹And in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

²²Then they brought to him a demoniac who was blind and mute; and he cured him, so that the one who had been mute could speak and see.

²³All the crowds 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 ruler of the demons, that this fellow casts out the demons.”

²⁵He knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

²⁶If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?

²⁷If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own exorcists 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 to you.

²⁹Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property, without first tying up the strong man? Then indeed the house can be plundered.

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

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

³²Whoever 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.

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

³⁵The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure.

³⁶I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter;

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

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

³⁹But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks 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 sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth.

⁴¹The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!

⁴²The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!

⁴³“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none.

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

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

⁴⁶While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him.

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

⁴⁸But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”

⁴⁹And pointing 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.”

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.

²I 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 the one who curses 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.

⁵Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come 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 on 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 invoked the name of the LORD.

⁹And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.

¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there as an alien, for the famine was severe in the land.

¹¹When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know well 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, so that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account.”

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

¹⁵When the officials 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 and female slaves, 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 be gone.”

²⁰And Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, with his wife and all that he had.

¹I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, 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 renewing of your minds, so that 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 yourself more highly than you 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 not all the members have the same function,

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

⁶We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith;

⁷ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching;

⁸the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

⁹Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;

¹⁰love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.

¹¹Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.

¹²Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.

¹³Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

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; do not claim to be wiser than you are.

¹⁷Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.

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

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

²⁰No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.”

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

¹Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

²through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.

³They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods, which 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, provided it is received with thanksgiving;

⁵for it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.

⁶If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed.

⁷Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness,

⁸for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

⁹The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance.

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

¹¹These are the things you must insist on and teach.

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

¹³Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching.

¹⁴Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.

¹⁵Put these things into practice, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress.

¹⁶Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.

¹Then Job answered:

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 upon God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, I am a laughingstock.

⁵Those at ease have contempt for misfortune, but it is ready for those whose feet are unstable.

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

⁷“But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

⁸ask the plants 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 every human being.

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

¹²Is wisdom with the aged, and understanding in length of days?

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

¹⁴If he tears down, no one can rebuild; if he shuts someone in, no one can open up.

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

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

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

¹⁸He looses the sash of kings, and binds a waistcloth on their loins.

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 looses the belt of the strong.

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

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

²⁴He strips understanding from the leaders of the earth, and makes them wander in a pathless waste.

²⁵They grope in the dark without light; he makes them stagger like a drunkard.

¹Help, O LORD, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind.

²They utter lies to each other; 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 tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own — who is our master?”

⁵“Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now rise up,” says the LORD; “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”

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

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

⁸On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among humankind.

¹Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but those who hate to be rebuked are stupid.

²The good obtain favor from the LORD, but those who devise evil he condemns.

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

⁴A good 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 advice of the wicked is treacherous.

⁶The words of the wicked are a deadly ambush, but the speech of the upright delivers them.

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

⁸One is commended for good sense, but a perverse mind is despised.

⁹Better to be despised and have a servant, than to be self-important and lack food.

¹⁰The righteous know the needs of their animals, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

¹¹Those who till their land will have plenty of food, but those who follow worthless pursuits have no sense.

¹²The wicked covet the proceeds of wickedness, but the root of the righteous bears fruit.

¹³The evil are ensnared by the transgression of their lips, but the righteous escape from trouble.

¹⁴From the fruit of the mouth one is filled with good things, and manual labor has its reward.

¹⁵Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to advice.

¹⁶Fools show their anger at once, but the prudent ignore an insult.

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

¹⁸Rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

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

²⁰Deceit is in the mind of those who plan evil, but those who counsel 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 act faithfully are his delight.

²³One who is clever conceals knowledge, but the mind of a fool broadcasts folly.

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

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

²⁶The righteous gives good advice to friends, but the way of the wicked leads astray.

²⁷The lazy do not roast their game, but the diligent obtain precious wealth.

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

¹Now these are the kings of the land, whom the Israelites defeated, whose land they occupied beyond the Jordan toward the east, from the Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon, with all the Arabah eastward:

²King Sihon of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Wadi 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 Dead Sea, southward to the foot of the slopes of Pisgah;

⁴and King Og of Bashan, one of the last 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 King Sihon of Heshbon.

⁶Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the Israelites 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.

⁷The following are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the Israelites 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, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites):

⁹the king of Jerichoone the king of Ai, which is next to Bethelone

¹⁰the king of Jerusalemone the king of Hebronone

¹¹the king of Jarmuthone the king of Lachishone

¹²the king of Eglonone the king of Gezerone

¹³the king of Debirone the king of Gederone

¹⁴the king of Hormahone the king of Aradone

¹⁵the king of Libnahone the king of Adullamone

¹⁶the king of Makkedahone the king of Bethelone

¹⁷the king of Tappuahone the king of Hepherone

¹⁸the king of Aphekone the king of Lasharonone

¹⁹the king of Madonone the king of Hazorone

²⁰the king of Shimron-meronone the king of Achshaphone

²¹the king of Taanachone the king of Megiddoone

²²the king of Kedeshone the king of Jokneam in Carmelone

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

²⁴the king of Tirzahone thirty-one kings in all.

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, and you comforted me.

²Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might; 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 on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted.

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

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

¹About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church.

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

³After he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (This was during the festival of Unleavened Bread.)

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

⁵While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him.

⁶The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison.

⁷Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists.

⁸The angel said to him, “Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

⁹Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening with the angel’s help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.

¹⁰After they had passed the first and the second guard, they came before the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went outside and walked along a lane, when suddenly the angel left him.

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

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

¹³When he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer.

¹⁴On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate.

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

¹⁶Meanwhile Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed.

¹⁷He motioned to them with his hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he added, “Tell this to James and to the believers.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸When morning came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.

¹⁹When Herod had searched for him and could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

²⁰Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him in a body; and after winning over Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for a reconciliation, because their country depended on the king’s country for food.

²¹On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat on the platform, and delivered a public address to them.

²²The people kept shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a mortal!”

²³And immediately, because he had not given the glory 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 advance and gain adherents.

²⁵Then after completing their mission Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem and brought with them John, whose other name was Mark.