Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem,

²saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”

³When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

⁴So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Christ would be born.

⁵“In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:

⁶And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: Because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”

⁷Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared.

⁸He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him.”

⁹After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was — the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was.

¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy.

¹¹Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹²And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

¹³After they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him.”

¹⁴So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt.

¹⁵He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called my Son.

¹⁶Then Herod, when he realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men.

¹⁷Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁸A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.

¹⁹After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

²⁰saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, because those who intended to kill the child are dead.”

²¹So he got up, took the child and his mother, and entered the land of Israel.

²²But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee.

²³Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

¹Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, “Keep every command I am giving you today.

²When you cross the Jordan into the land the LORD your God is giving you, set up large stones and cover them with plaster.

³Write all the words of this law on the stones after you cross to enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.

⁴When you have crossed the Jordan, you are to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am commanding you today, and you are to cover them with plaster.

⁵Build an altar of stones there to the LORD your God — do not use any iron tool on them.

⁶Use uncut stones to build the altar of the LORD your God and offer burnt offerings to the LORD your God on it.

⁷There you are to sacrifice fellowship offerings, eat, and rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God.

⁸Write clearly all the words of this law on the plastered stones.”

⁹Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, “Be silent, Israel, and listen! This day you have become the people of the LORD your God.

¹⁰Obey the LORD your God and follow his commands and statutes I am giving you today.”

¹¹On that day Moses commanded the people,

¹²“When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes will stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

¹³And these tribes will stand on Mount Ebal to deliver the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

¹⁴The Levites will proclaim in a loud voice to every Israelite:

¹⁵‘The person who makes a carved idol or cast image, which is detestable to the LORD, the work of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret is cursed.’ And all the people will reply, ‘Amen!’

¹⁶‘The one who dishonors his father or mother is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

¹⁷‘The one who moves his neighbor’s boundary marker is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

¹⁸‘The one who leads a blind person astray on the road is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

¹⁹‘The one who denies justice to a resident alien, a fatherless child, or a widow is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

²⁰‘The one who sleeps with his father’s wife is cursed, for he has violated his father’s marriage bed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

²¹‘The one who has sexual intercourse with any animal is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

²²‘The one who sleeps with his sister, whether his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

²³‘The one who sleeps with his mother-in-law is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

²⁴‘The one who secretly kills his neighbor is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

²⁵‘The one who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

²⁶‘Anyone who does not put the words of this law into practice is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

¹Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

²If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it.

³But if anyone loves God, he is known by him.

⁴About eating food sacrificed to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,” and that “there is no God but one.”

⁵For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth — as there are many “gods” and many “lords” —

⁶yet for us there is one God, the Father. All things are from him, and we exist for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through him, and we exist through him.

⁷However, not everyone has this knowledge. Some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food sacrificed to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

⁸Food will not bring us close to God. We are not worse off if we don’t eat, and we are not better if we do eat.

⁹But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak.

¹⁰For if someone sees you, the one who has knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, won’t his weak conscience be encouraged to eat food offered to idols?

¹¹So the weak person, the brother or sister for whom Christ died, is ruined by your knowledge.

¹²Now when you sin like this against brothers and sisters and wound their weak conscience, you are sinning against Christ.

¹³Therefore, if food causes my brother or sister to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother or sister to fall.

¹After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.

²Then I saw another angel rising up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were allowed to harm the earth and the sea:

³“Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

⁴And I heard the number of the sealed: 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites:

⁵12,000 sealed from the tribe of Judah, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad,

⁶12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,

⁷12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,

⁸12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin.

⁹After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands.

¹⁰And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!

¹¹All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God,

¹²saying, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

¹³Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴I said to him, “Sir, you know.” Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁵For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. The one seated on the throne will shelter them:

¹⁶They will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst; the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any scorching heat.

¹⁷For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; he will guide them to springs of the waters of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

¹I am a wildflower of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

²Like a lily among thorns, so is my darling among the young women.

³Like an apricot tree among the trees of the forest, so is my love among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

⁴He brought me to the banquet hall, and he looked on me with love.

⁵Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apricots, for I am lovesick.

⁶May his left hand be under my head, and his right arm embrace me.

⁷Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and the wild does of the field, do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time.

⁸Listen! My love is approaching. Look! Here he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills.

⁹My love is like a gazelle or a young stag. See, he is standing behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.

¹⁰My love calls to me: Arise, my darling. Come away, my beautiful one.

¹¹For now the winter is past; the rain has ended and gone away.

¹²The blossoms appear in the countryside. The time of singing has come, and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land.

¹³The fig tree ripens its figs; the blossoming vines give off their fragrance. Arise, my darling. Come away, my beautiful one.

¹⁴My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

¹⁵Catch the foxes for us  — the little foxes that ruin the vineyards — for our vineyards are in bloom.

¹⁶My love is mine and I am his; he feeds among the lilies.

¹⁷Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn around, my love, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the divided mountains.

¹A psalm; a dedication song for the house. Of David. [1] I will exalt you, LORD, because you have lifted me up and have not allowed my enemies to triumph over me.

²LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you healed me.

³LORD, you brought me up from Sheol; you spared me from among those going down to the Pit.

⁴Sing to the LORD, you his faithful ones, and praise his holy name.

⁵For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor, a lifetime. Weeping may stay overnight, but there is joy in the morning.

⁶When I was secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.”

⁷LORD, when you showed your favor, you made me stand like a strong mountain; when you hid your face, I was terrified.

⁸LORD, I called to you; I sought favor from my Lord:

⁹“What gain is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your truth?

¹⁰LORD, listen and be gracious to me; LORD, be my helper.”

¹¹You turned my lament into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

¹²so that I can sing to you and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise you forever.

¹These too are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of King Hezekiah of Judah, copied.

²It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to investigate a matter.

³As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be investigated.

⁴Remove impurities from silver, and material will be produced for a silversmith.

⁵Remove the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Don’t boast about yourself before the king, and don’t stand in the place of the great;

⁷for it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here!” than to demote you in plain view of a noble.

⁸Don’t take a matter to court hastily. Otherwise, what will you do afterward if your opponent humiliates you?

⁹Make your case with your opponent without revealing another’s secret;

¹⁰otherwise, the one who hears will disgrace you, and you’ll never live it down.

¹¹A word spoken at the right time is like gold apples in silver settings.

¹²A wise correction to a receptive ear is like a gold ring or an ornament of gold.

¹³To those who send him, a trustworthy envoy is like the coolness of snow on a harvest day; he refreshes the life of his masters.

¹⁴The one who boasts about a gift that does not exist is like clouds and wind without rain.

¹⁵A ruler can be persuaded through patience, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.

¹⁶If you find honey, eat only what you need; otherwise, you’ll get sick from it and vomit.

¹⁷Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house; otherwise, he’ll get sick of you and hate you.

¹⁸A person giving false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Trusting an unreliable person in a difficult time is like a rotten tooth or a faltering foot.

²⁰Singing songs to a troubled heart is like taking off clothing on a cold day or like pouring vinegar on soda.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;

²²for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

²³The north wind produces rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.

²⁴Better to live on the corner of a roof than to share a house with a nagging wife.

²⁵Good news from a distant land is like cold water to a parched throat.

²⁶A righteous person who yields to the wicked is like a muddied spring or a polluted well.

²⁷It is not good to eat too much honey or to seek glory after glory.

²⁸A person who does not control his temper is like a city whose wall is broken down.

¹Then King David said to all the assembly, “My son Solomon — God has chosen him alone — is young and inexperienced. The task is great because the building will not be built for a human but for the LORD God.

²So to the best of my ability I’ve made provision for the house of my God: gold for the gold articles, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, and wood for the wood, as well as onyx, stones for mounting, antimony, stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and a great quantity of marble.

³Moreover, because of my delight in the house of my God, I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the house of my God over and above all that I’ve provided for the holy house:

⁴100 tons of gold (gold of Ophir ) and 250 tons of refined silver for overlaying the walls of the buildings,

⁵the gold for the gold work and the silver for the silver, for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now who will volunteer to consecrate himself to the LORD today?”

⁶Then the leaders of the households, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly.

⁷For the service of God’s house they gave 185 tons of gold and 10,000 gold coins, 375 tons of silver, 675 tons of bronze, and 4,000 tons of iron.

⁸Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the LORD’s house under the care of Jehiel the Gershonite.

⁹Then the people rejoiced because of their leaders’ willingness to give, for they had given to the LORD wholeheartedly. King David also rejoiced greatly.

¹⁰Then David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly. David said, May you be blessed, LORD God of our father Israel, from eternity to eternity.

¹¹Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to you. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom, and you are exalted as head over all.

¹²Riches and honor come from you, and you are the ruler of everything. Power and might are in your hand, and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all.

¹³Now therefore, our God, we give you thanks and praise your glorious name.

¹⁴But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your own hand.

¹⁵For we are aliens and temporary residents in your presence as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.

¹⁶LORD our God, all this wealth that we’ve provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand; everything belongs to you.

¹⁷I know, my God, that you test the heart and that you are pleased with what is right. I have willingly given all these things with an upright heart, and now I have seen your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to you.

¹⁸LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our ancestors, keep this desire forever in the thoughts of the hearts of your people, and confirm their hearts toward you.

¹⁹Give my son Solomon an undivided heart to keep and to carry out all your commands, your decrees, and your statutes, and to build the building for which I have made provision.

²⁰Then David said to the whole assembly, “Blessed be the LORD your God.” So the whole assembly praised the LORD God of their ancestors. They knelt low and paid homage to the LORD and the king.

²¹The following day they offered sacrifices to the LORD and burnt offerings to the LORD: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, along with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel.

²²They ate and drank with great joy in the LORD’s presence that day. Then, for a second time, they made David’s son Solomon king; they anointed him as the LORD’s ruler, and Zadok as the priest.

²³Solomon sat on the LORD’s throne as king in place of his father David. He prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.

²⁴All the leaders and the mighty men, and all of King David’s sons as well, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon.

²⁵The LORD highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been bestowed on any king over Israel before him.

²⁶David son of Jesse was king over all Israel.

²⁷The length of his reign over Israel was forty years; he reigned in Hebron for seven years and in Jerusalem for thirty-three.

²⁸He died at a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor, and his son Solomon became king in his place.

²⁹As for the events of King David’s reign, from beginning to end, note that they are written in the Events of the Seer Samuel, the Events of the Prophet Nathan, and the Events of the Seer Gad,

³⁰along with all his reign, his might, and the incidents that affected him and Israel and all the kingdoms of the surrounding lands.

¹In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, a Mede by birth, who was made king over the Chaldean kingdom —

²in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books according to the word of the LORD to the prophet Jeremiah that the number of years for the desolation of Jerusalem would be seventy.

³So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

⁴I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: Ah, Lord — the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands  —

⁵we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from your commands and ordinances.

⁶We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, leaders, fathers, and all the people of the land.

⁷Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel — those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where you have banished them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward you.

⁸LORD, public shame belongs to us, our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, because we have sinned against you.

⁹Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against him

¹⁰and have not obeyed the LORD our God by following his instructions that he set before us through his servants the prophets.

¹¹All Israel has broken your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. The promised curse written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against him.

¹²He has carried out his words that he spoke against us and against our rulers by bringing on us a disaster that is so great that nothing like what has been done to Jerusalem has ever been done under all of heaven.

¹³Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and paying attention to your truth.

¹⁴So the LORD kept the disaster in mind and brought it on us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all he has done. But we have not obeyed him.

¹⁵Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and made your name renowned as it is this day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly.

¹⁶Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, may your anger and wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become an object of ridicule to all those around us.

¹⁷Therefore, our God, hear the prayer and the petitions of your servant. Make your face shine on your desolate sanctuary for the Lord’s sake.

¹⁸Listen closely, my God, and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations and the city that bears your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before you based on our righteous acts, but based on your abundant compassion.

¹⁹Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! My God, for your own sake, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your name.

²⁰While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning the holy mountain of my God —

²¹while I was praying, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the first vision, reached me in my extreme weariness, about the time of the evening offering.

²²He gave me this explanation: “Daniel, I’ve come now to give you understanding.

²³At the beginning of your petitions an answer went out, and I have come to give it, for you are treasured by God. So consider the message and understand the vision:

²⁴Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city — to bring the rebellion to an end, to put a stop to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place.

²⁵Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an Anointed One, the ruler, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat, but in difficult times.

²⁶After those sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the coming ruler will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come with a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations are decreed.

²⁷He will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering. And the abomination of desolation will be on a wing of the temple until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.”

¹About that time King Herod violently attacked some who belonged to the church,

²and he executed James, John’s brother, with the sword.

³When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

⁴After the arrest, he put him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.

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

⁶When Herod was about to bring him out for trial, that very night Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison.

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

⁸“Get dressed,” the angel told him, “and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Wrap your cloak around you,” he told him, “and follow me.”

⁹So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what the angel did was really happening, but he thought he was seeing a vision.

¹⁰After they passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and suddenly the angel left him.

¹¹When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.”

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

¹³He knocked at the door of the outer gate, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer.

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

¹⁵“You’re out of your mind!” they told her. But she kept insisting that it was true, and they said, “It’s his angel.”

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

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

¹⁸At daylight, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.

¹⁹After Herod had searched and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered their execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

²⁰Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. Together they presented themselves before him. After winning over Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bedroom, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king’s country.

²¹On an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a speech to them.

²²The assembled people began to shout, “It’s the voice of a god and not of a man!”

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

²⁴But the word of God flourished and multiplied.

²⁵After they had completed their relief mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem, taking along John who was called Mark.