Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness.

²Here are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (also called Peter), then Andrew (Peter’s brother), James (son of Zebedee), John (James’s brother),

³Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew (the tax collector), James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus,

⁴Simon (the zealot ), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).

⁵Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans,

⁶but only to the people of Israel — God’s lost sheep.

⁷Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.

⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!

⁹“Don’t take any money in your money belts — no gold, silver, or even copper coins.

¹⁰Don’t carry a traveler’s bag with a change of clothes and sandals or even a walking stick. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve to be fed.

¹¹“Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a worthy person and stay in his home until you leave town.

¹²When you enter the home, give it your blessing.

¹³If it turns out to be a worthy home, let your blessing stand; if it is not, take back the blessing.

¹⁴If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave.

¹⁵I tell you the truth, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off than such a town on the judgment day.

¹⁶“Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.

¹⁷But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues.

¹⁸You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me.

¹⁹When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time.

²⁰For it is not you who will be speaking — it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

²¹“A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed.

²²And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved.

²³When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.

²⁴“Students are not greater than their teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master.

²⁵Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, the members of my household will be called by even worse names!

²⁶“But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all.

²⁷What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear!

²⁸“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

²⁹What is the price of two sparrows — one copper coin ? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.

³⁰And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.

³¹So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

³²“Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.

³³But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.

³⁴“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.

³⁵‘I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

³⁶Your enemies will be right in your own household!’

³⁷“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.

³⁸If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.

³⁹If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

⁴⁰“Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me.

⁴¹If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs.

⁴²And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.”

¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

²The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

³Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

⁴And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness.

⁵God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.

⁶Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.”

⁷And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens.

⁸God called the space “sky.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.

⁹Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened.

¹⁰God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

¹¹Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation — every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened.

¹²The land produced vegetation — all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

¹³And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.

¹⁴Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years.

¹⁵Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened.

¹⁶God made two great lights — the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars.

¹⁷God set these lights in the sky to light the earth,

¹⁸to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

¹⁹And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.

²⁰Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.”

²¹So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird — each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

²²Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”

²³And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.

²⁴Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind — livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened.

²⁵God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

²⁷So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

²⁸Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

²⁹Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.

³⁰And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground — everything that has life.” And that is what happened.

³¹Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.

¹Now regarding your question about the money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem. You should follow the same procedure I gave to the churches in Galatia.

²On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once.

³When I come, I will write letters of recommendation for the messengers you choose to deliver your gift to Jerusalem.

⁴And if it seems appropriate for me to go along, they can travel with me.

⁵I am coming to visit you after I have been to Macedonia, for I am planning to travel through Macedonia.

⁶Perhaps I will stay awhile with you, possibly all winter, and then you can send me on my way to my next destination.

⁷This time I don’t want to make just a short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord will let me.

⁸In the meantime, I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost.

⁹There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me.

¹⁰When Timothy comes, don’t intimidate him. He is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am.

¹¹Don’t let anyone treat him with contempt. Send him on his way with your blessing when he returns to me. I expect him to come with the other believers.

¹²Now about our brother Apollos — I urged him to visit you with the other believers, but he was not willing to go right now. He will see you later when he has the opportunity.

¹³Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.

¹⁴And do everything with love.

¹⁵You know that Stephanas and his household were the first of the harvest of believers in Greece, and they are spending their lives in service to God’s people. I urge you, dear brothers and sisters,

¹⁶to submit to them and others like them who serve with such devotion.

¹⁷I am very glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have come here. They have been providing the help you weren’t here to give me.

¹⁸They have been a wonderful encouragement to me, as they have been to you. You must show your appreciation to all who serve so well.

¹⁹The churches here in the province of Asia send greetings in the Lord, as do Aquila and Priscilla and all the others who gather in their home for church meetings.

²⁰All the brothers and sisters here send greetings to you. Greet each other with a sacred kiss.

²¹HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN HANDWRITING — PAUL.

²²If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed. Our Lord, come!

²³May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

²⁴My love to all of you in Christ Jesus.

¹Then I saw in heaven another marvelous event of great significance. Seven angels were holding the seven last plagues, which would bring God’s wrath to completion.

²I saw before me what seemed to be a glass sea mixed with fire. And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name. They were all holding harps that God had given them.

³And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God, the Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations.

⁴Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed.”

⁵Then I looked and saw that the Temple in heaven, God’s Tabernacle, was thrown wide open.

⁶The seven angels who were holding the seven plagues came out of the Temple. They were clothed in spotless white linen with gold sashes across their chests.

⁷Then one of the four living beings handed each of the seven angels a gold bowl filled with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.

⁸The Temple was filled with smoke from God’s glory and power. No one could enter the Temple until the seven angels had completed pouring out the seven plagues.

¹One day the members of the heavenly court came again to present themselves before the LORD, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them.

²“Where have you come from?” the LORD asked Satan. Satan answered the LORD, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

³Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless — a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.”

⁴Satan replied to the LORD, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life.

⁵But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!”

⁶“All right, do with him as you please,” the LORD said to Satan. “But spare his life.”

⁷So Satan left the LORD’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.

⁸Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes.

⁹His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.”

¹⁰But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.

¹¹When three of Job’s friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. Their names were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite.

¹²When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief.

¹³Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.

¹O LORD, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage!

²Your arrows have struck deep, and your blows are crushing me.

³Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins.

⁴My guilt overwhelms me — it is a burden too heavy to bear.

⁵My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins.

⁶I am bent over and racked with pain. All day long I walk around filled with grief.

⁷A raging fever burns within me, and my health is broken.

⁸I am exhausted and completely crushed. My groans come from an anguished heart.

⁹You know what I long for, Lord; you hear my every sigh.

¹⁰My heart beats wildly, my strength fails, and I am going blind.

¹¹My loved ones and friends stay away, fearing my disease. Even my own family stands at a distance.

¹²Meanwhile, my enemies lay traps to kill me. Those who wish me harm make plans to ruin me. All day long they plan their treachery.

¹³But I am deaf to all their threats. I am silent before them as one who cannot speak.

¹⁴I choose to hear nothing, and I make no reply.

¹⁵For I am waiting for you, O LORD. You must answer for me, O Lord my God.

¹⁶I prayed, “Don’t let my enemies gloat over me or rejoice at my downfall.”

¹⁷I am on the verge of collapse, facing constant pain.

¹⁸But I confess my sins; I am deeply sorry for what I have done.

¹⁹I have many aggressive enemies; they hate me without reason.

²⁰They repay me evil for good and oppose me for pursuing good.

²¹Do not abandon me, O LORD. Do not stand at a distance, my God.

²²Come quickly to help me, O Lord my savior.

¹My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.

²Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.

³Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.

⁴Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.

⁵Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God.

⁶For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁷He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.

⁸He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.

⁹Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.

¹¹Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.

¹²Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted.

¹³These men turn from the right way to walk down dark paths.

¹⁴They take pleasure in doing wrong, and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.

¹⁵Their actions are crooked, and their ways are wrong.

¹⁶Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman, from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.

¹⁷She has abandoned her husband and ignores the covenant she made before God.

¹⁸Entering her house leads to death; it is the road to the grave.

¹⁹The man who visits her is doomed. He will never reach the paths of life.

²⁰So follow the steps of the good, and stay on the paths of the righteous.

²¹For only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it.

²²But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted.

¹It took Solomon twenty years to build the LORD’s Temple and his own royal palace. At the end of that time,

²Solomon turned his attention to rebuilding the towns that King Hiram had given him, and he settled Israelites in them.

³Solomon also fought against the town of Hamath-zobah and conquered it.

⁴He rebuilt Tadmor in the wilderness and built towns in the region of Hamath as supply centers.

⁵He fortified the towns of Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, rebuilding their walls and installing barred gates.

⁶He also rebuilt Baalath and other supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.

⁷There were still some people living in the land who were not Israelites, including the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

⁸These were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not destroyed. So Solomon conscripted them for his labor force, and they serve as forced laborers to this day.

⁹But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for his labor force. Instead, he assigned them to serve as fighting men, officers in his army, commanders of his chariots, and charioteers.

¹⁰King Solomon appointed 250 of them to supervise the people.

¹¹Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. He said, “My wife must not live in King David’s palace, for the Ark of the LORD has been there, and it is holy ground.”

¹²Then Solomon presented burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar he had built for him in front of the entry room of the Temple.

¹³He offered the sacrifices for the Sabbaths, the new moon festivals, and the three annual festivals — the Passover celebration, the Festival of Harvest, and the Festival of Shelters — as Moses had commanded.

¹⁴In assigning the priests to their duties, Solomon followed the regulations of his father, David. He also assigned the Levites to lead the people in praise and to assist the priests in their daily duties. And he assigned the gatekeepers to their gates by their divisions, following the commands of David, the man of God.

¹⁵Solomon did not deviate in any way from David’s commands concerning the priests and Levites and the treasuries.

¹⁶So Solomon made sure that all the work related to building the Temple of the LORD was carried out, from the day its foundation was laid to the day of its completion.

¹⁷Later Solomon went to Ezion-geber and Elath, ports along the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom.

¹⁸Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own officers and manned by experienced crews of sailors. These ships sailed to Ophir with Solomon’s men and brought back to Solomon almost seventeen tons of gold.

¹“Hear this, you priests. Pay attention, you leaders of Israel. Listen, you members of the royal family. Judgment has been handed down against you. For you have led the people into a snare by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor.

²You have dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia Grove. But I will settle with you for what you have done.

³I know what you are like, O Ephraim. You cannot hide yourself from me, O Israel. You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband; you are utterly defiled.

⁴Your deeds won’t let you return to your God. You are a prostitute through and through, and you do not know the LORD.

⁵“The arrogance of Israel testifies against her; Israel and Ephraim will stumble under their load of guilt. Judah, too, will fall with them.

⁶When they come with their flocks and herds to offer sacrifices to the LORD, they will not find him, because he has withdrawn from them.

⁷They have betrayed the honor of the LORD, bearing children that are not his. Now their false religion will devour them along with their wealth.

⁸“Sound the alarm in Gibeah! Blow the trumpet in Ramah! Raise the battle cry in Beth-aven ! Lead on into battle, O warriors of Benjamin!

⁹One thing is certain, Israel : On your day of punishment, you will become a heap of rubble.

¹⁰“The leaders of Judah have become like thieves. So I will pour my anger on them like a waterfall.

¹¹The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment because they are determined to worship idols.

¹²I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool. I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood.

¹³“When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were, Israel turned to Assyria — to the great king there — but he could neither help nor cure them.

¹⁴I will be like a lion to Israel, like a strong young lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces! I will carry them off, and no one will be left to rescue them.

¹⁵Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me.”

¹When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the believers and encouraged them. Then he said good-bye and left for Macedonia.

²While there, he encouraged the believers in all the towns he passed through. Then he traveled down to Greece,

³where he stayed for three months. He was preparing to sail back to Syria when he discovered a plot by some Jews against his life, so he decided to return through Macedonia.

⁴Several men were traveling with him. They were Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica; Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

⁵They went on ahead and waited for us at Troas.

⁶After the Passover ended, we boarded a ship at Philippi in Macedonia and five days later joined them in Troas, where we stayed a week.

⁷On the first day of the week, we gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord’s Supper. Paul was preaching to them, and since he was leaving the next day, he kept talking until midnight.

⁸The upstairs room where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps.

⁹As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below.

¹⁰Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he’s alive!”

¹¹Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and ate together. Paul continued talking to them until dawn, and then he left.

¹²Meanwhile, the young man was taken home alive and well, and everyone was greatly relieved.

¹³Paul went by land to Assos, where he had arranged for us to join him, while we traveled by ship.

¹⁴He joined us there, and we sailed together to Mitylene.

¹⁵The next day we sailed past the island of Kios. The following day we crossed to the island of Samos, and a day later we arrived at Miletus.

¹⁶Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus, for he didn’t want to spend any more time in the province of Asia. He was hurrying to get to Jerusalem, if possible, in time for the Festival of Pentecost.

¹⁷But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him.

¹⁸When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now

¹⁹I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews.

²⁰I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes.

²¹I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike — the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.

²²“And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me,

²³except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.

²⁴But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus — the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

²⁵“And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again.

²⁶I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault,

²⁷for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.

²⁸“So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock — his church, purchased with his own blood — over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders.

²⁹I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock.

³⁰Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following.

³¹Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you — my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you.

³²“And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.

³³“I have never coveted anyone’s silver or gold or fine clothes.

³⁴You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me.

³⁵And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶When he had finished speaking, he knelt and prayed with them.

³⁷They all cried as they embraced and kissed him good-bye.

³⁸They were sad most of all because he had said that they would never see him again. Then they escorted him down to the ship.