Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

²He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’

³And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

⁴ An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.

⁵When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread.

⁶Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.”

⁸But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?

⁹ Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?

¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?

¹¹How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

¹²Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

¹⁶Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

¹⁸And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

²⁰Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

²¹From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

²²And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

²³But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

²⁴Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

²⁵For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

²⁶For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

²⁸Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

¹Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.

²And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

³So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.

⁴And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

⁵And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!”

⁶But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

⁷The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.

⁸And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.”

⁹The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.”

¹⁰The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”

¹¹And the angel of the LORD said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction.

¹²He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

¹³So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”

¹⁴Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

¹I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae,

²that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

³Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,

⁴who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.

⁵Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.

⁶Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.

⁷Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.

⁸Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.

⁹Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys.

¹⁰Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus.

¹¹Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus.

¹²Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.

¹³Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.

¹⁴Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them.

¹⁵Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.

¹⁶Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

¹⁷I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.

¹⁸For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

¹⁹For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.

²⁰The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

²¹Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

²²I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

²³Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.

²⁴

²⁵Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages

²⁶but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith —

²⁷to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

¹You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,

²and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

³Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

⁴No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

⁵An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

⁶It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.

⁷Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

⁸Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,

⁹for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!

¹⁰Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

¹¹The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

¹²if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;

¹³if we are faithless, he remains faithful — for he cannot deny himself.

¹⁴Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.

¹⁵Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

¹⁶But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,

¹⁷and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,

¹⁸who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

¹⁹But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

²⁰Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable.

²¹Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

²²So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

²³Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.

²⁴And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil,

²⁵correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

²⁶and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all.

³Shall windy words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?

⁴I also could speak as you do, if you were in my place; I could join words together against you and shake my head at you.

⁵I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.

⁶“If I speak, my pain is not assuaged, and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me?

⁷Surely now God has worn me out; he has made desolate all my company.

⁸And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me, and my leanness has risen up against me; it testifies to my face.

⁹He has torn me in his wrath and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.

¹⁰Men have gaped at me with their mouth; they have struck me insolently on the cheek; they mass themselves together against me.

¹¹God gives me up to the ungodly and casts me into the hands of the wicked.

¹²I was at ease, and he broke me apart; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he set me up as his target;

¹³his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground.

¹⁴He breaks me with breach upon breach; he runs upon me like a warrior.

¹⁵I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin and have laid my strength in the dust.

¹⁶My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is deep darkness,

¹⁷although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸“O earth, cover not my blood, and let my cry find no resting place.

¹⁹Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high.

²⁰My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God,

²¹that he would argue the case of a man with God, as a son of man does with his neighbor.

²²For when a few years have come I shall go the way from which I shall not return.

¹Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

²I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”

³As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.

⁴The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.

⁵The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.

⁶The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

⁷I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.

⁸I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.

¹⁰For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

¹¹You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

¹The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

²All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.

³Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

⁴The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

⁵Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished.

⁶By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.

⁷When a man's ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

⁸Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice.

⁹The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

¹⁰An oracle is on the lips of a king; his mouth does not sin in judgment.

¹¹A just balance and scales are the LORD's; all the weights in the bag are his work.

¹²It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness.

¹³Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves him who speaks what is right.

¹⁴A king's wrath is a messenger of death, and a wise man will appease it.

¹⁵In the light of a king's face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.

¹⁶How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

¹⁷The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life.

¹⁸Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

¹⁹It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.

²⁰Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.

²¹The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.

²²Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly.

²³The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips.

²⁴Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

²⁵There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

²⁶A worker's appetite works for him; his mouth urges him on.

²⁷A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.

²⁸A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.

²⁹A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good.

³⁰Whoever winks his eyes plans dishonest things; he who purses his lips brings evil to pass.

³¹Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.

³²Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

³³The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

¹The allotment of the people of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel.

²Then going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to Ataroth, the territory of the Archites.

³Then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ends at the sea.

⁴The people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance.

⁵The territory of the people of Ephraim by their clans was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon,

⁶and the boundary goes from there to the sea. On the north is Michmethath. Then on the east the boundary turns around toward Taanath-shiloh and passes along beyond it on the east to Janoah,

⁷then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan.

⁸From Tappuah the boundary goes westward to the brook Kanah and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Ephraim by their clans,

⁹together with the towns that were set apart for the people of Ephraim within the inheritance of the Manassites, all those towns with their villages.

¹⁰However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.

¹Send the lamb to the ruler of the land, from Sela, by way of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Zion.

²Like fleeing birds, like a scattered nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.

³“Give counsel; grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; shelter the outcasts; do not reveal the fugitive;

⁴let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a shelter to them from the destroyer. When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,

⁵then a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness.”

⁶We have heard of the pride of Moab — how proud he is! — of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; in his idle boasting he is not right.

⁷Therefore let Moab wail for Moab, let everyone wail. Mourn, utterly stricken, for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.

⁸For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah; the lords of the nations have struck down its branches, which reached to Jazer and strayed to the desert; its shoots spread abroad and passed over the sea.

⁹Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah; I drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; for over your summer fruit and your harvest the shout has ceased.

¹⁰And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field, and in the vineyards no songs are sung, no cheers are raised; no treader treads out wine in the presses; I have put an end to the shouting.

¹¹Therefore my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab, and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.

¹²And when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.

¹³This is the word that the LORD spoke concerning Moab in the past.

¹⁴But now the LORD has spoken, saying, “In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be very few and feeble.”

¹Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.

²He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.

³Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.

⁵So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

⁶And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

⁷And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

⁸So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

⁹And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

¹⁰And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis,

¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days.

¹³And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.

¹⁴One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

¹⁵And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

¹⁶As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.

¹⁷She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”

¹⁸And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

¹⁹But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

²⁰And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.

²¹They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.”

²²The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.

²³And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.

²⁴Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,

²⁶and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened.

²⁷When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”

²⁹And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.

³⁰Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

³²And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.

³³And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.

³⁴Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

³⁵But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.”

³⁶And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.”

³⁸The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens.

³⁹So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city.

⁴⁰So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.