Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹The Pharisees and Sadducees approached, and tested him, asking him to show them a sign from heaven.

²He replied, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be good weather because the sky is red.’

³And in the morning, ‘Today will be stormy because the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to read the appearance of the sky, but you can’t read the signs of the times.

⁴An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away.

⁵The disciples reached the other shore, and they had forgotten to take bread.

⁶Then Jesus told them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷They were discussing among themselves, “We didn’t bring any bread.”

⁸Aware of this, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves that you do not have bread?

⁹Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you collected?

¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many large baskets you collected?

¹¹Why is it you don’t understand that when I told you, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,’ it wasn’t about bread?”

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

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.

¹⁸And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

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

²⁰Then he gave the disciples orders to tell no one that he was the Messiah.

²¹From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.

²²Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to you!”

²³Jesus turned and told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.

²⁶For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?

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

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

¹Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation.

²You are to take with you seven pairs, a male and its female, of all the clean animals, and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and its female,

³and seven pairs, male and female, of the birds of the sky — in order to keep offspring alive throughout the earth.

⁴Seven days from now I will make it rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing I have made I will wipe off the face of the earth.”

⁵And Noah did everything that the LORD commanded him.

⁶Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came and water covered the earth.

⁷So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the floodwaters.

⁸From the clean animals, unclean animals, birds, and every creature that crawls on the ground,

⁹two of each, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, just as God had commanded him.

¹⁰Seven days later the floodwaters came on the earth.

¹¹In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the sources of the vast watery depths burst open, the floodgates of the sky were opened,

¹²and the rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

¹³On that same day Noah along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah’s wife, and his three sons’ wives entered the ark with him.

¹⁴They entered it with all the wildlife according to their kinds, all livestock according to their kinds, all the creatures that crawl on the earth according to their kinds, every flying creature — all the birds and every winged creature — according to their kinds.

¹⁵Two of every creature that has the breath of life in it came to Noah and entered the ark.

¹⁶Those that entered, male and female of every creature, entered just as God had commanded him. Then the LORD shut him in.

¹⁷The flood continued for forty days on the earth; the water increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth.

¹⁸The water surged and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.

¹⁹Then the water surged even higher on the earth, and all the high mountains under the whole sky were covered.

²⁰The mountains were covered as the water surged above them more than twenty feet.

²¹Every creature perished — those that crawl on the earth, birds, livestock, wildlife, and those that swarm on the earth, as well as all mankind.

²²Everything with the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils  — everything on dry land died.

²³He wiped out every living thing that was on the face of the earth, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark.

²⁴And the water surged on the earth 150 days.

¹Working together with him, we also appeal to you, “Don’t receive the grace of God in vain.”

²For he says: At an acceptable time I listened to you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!

³We are not giving anyone an occasion for offense, so that the ministry will not be blamed.

⁴Instead, as God’s ministers, we commend ourselves in everything: by great endurance, by afflictions, by hardships, by difficulties,

⁵by beatings, by imprisonments, by riots, by labors, by sleepless nights, by times of hunger,

⁶by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,

⁷by the word of truth, by the power of God; through weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,

⁸through glory and dishonor, through slander and good report; regarded as deceivers, yet true;

⁹as unknown, yet recognized; as dying, yet see — we live; as being disciplined, yet not killed;

¹⁰as grieving, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet enriching many; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

¹¹We have spoken openly to you, Corinthians; our heart has been opened wide.

¹²We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us.

¹³I speak as to my children; as a proper response, open your heart to us.

¹⁴Don’t become partners with those who do not believe. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?

¹⁵What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

¹⁶And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.

¹⁷Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you.

¹⁸And I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.

¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

²I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

³Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God.

⁴He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

⁵Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.”

⁶Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life.

⁷The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

⁸But the cowards, faithless, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars  — their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

⁹Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me: “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

¹⁰He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

¹¹arrayed with God’s glory. Her radiance was like a precious jewel, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

¹²The city had a massive high wall, with twelve gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; the names of the twelve tribes of Israel’s sons were inscribed on the gates.

¹³There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

¹⁴The city wall had twelve foundations, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb were on the foundations.

¹⁵The one who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.

¹⁶The city is laid out in a square; its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at 12,000 stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal.

¹⁷Then he measured its wall, 144 cubits according to human measurement, which the angel used.

¹⁸The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold clear as glass.

¹⁹The foundations of the city wall were adorned with every kind of jewel: the first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,

²⁰the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.

²¹The twelve gates are twelve pearls; each individual gate was made of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.

²²I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

²³The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

²⁴The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

²⁵Its gates will never close by day because it will never be night there.

²⁶They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

²⁷Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²How long will you go on saying these things? Your words are a blast of wind.

³Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

⁴Since your children sinned against him, he gave them over to their rebellion.

⁵But if you earnestly seek God and ask the Almighty for mercy,

⁶if you are pure and upright, then he will move even now on your behalf and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.

⁷Then, even if your beginnings were modest, your final days will be full of prosperity.

⁸For ask the previous generation, and pay attention to what their fathers discovered,

⁹since we were born only yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are but a shadow.

¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you and speak from their understanding?

¹¹Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Do reeds flourish without water?

¹²While still uncut shoots, they would dry up quicker than any other plant.

¹³Such is the destiny of all who forget God; the hope of the godless will perish.

¹⁴His source of confidence is fragile; what he trusts in is a spider’s web.

¹⁵He leans on his web, but it doesn’t stand firm. He grabs it, but it does not hold up.

¹⁶He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine; his shoots spread out over his garden.

¹⁷His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks. He looks for a home among the stones.

¹⁸If he is uprooted from his place, it will deny knowing him, saying, “I never saw you.”

¹⁹Surely this is the joy of his way of life; yet others will sprout from the dust.

²⁰Look, God does not reject a person of integrity, and he will not support evildoers.

²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with a shout of joy.

²²Your enemies will be clothed with shame; the tent of the wicked will no longer exist.

¹For the choir director. A of the sons of Korah. [1] God, we have heard with our ears — our ancestors have told us — the work you accomplished in their days, in days long ago:

²In order to plant them, you displaced the nations by your hand; in order to settle them, you brought disaster on the peoples.

³For they did not take the land by their sword — their arm did not bring them victory — but by your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, because you were favorable toward them.

⁴You are my King, my God, who ordains victories for Jacob.

⁵Through you we drive back our foes; through your name we trample our enemies.

⁶For I do not trust in my bow, and my sword does not bring me victory.

⁷But you give us victory over our foes and let those who hate us be disgraced.

⁸We boast in God all day long; we will praise your name forever. Selah

⁹But you have rejected and humiliated us; you do not march out with our armies.

¹⁰You make us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have taken plunder for themselves.

¹¹You hand us over to be eaten like sheep and scatter us among the nations.

¹²You sell your people for nothing; you make no profit from selling them.

¹³You make us an object of reproach to our neighbors, a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us.

¹⁴You make us a joke among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.

¹⁵My disgrace is before me all day long, and shame has covered my face,

¹⁶because of the taunts of the scorner and reviler, because of the enemy and avenger.

¹⁷All this has happened to us, but we have not forgotten you or betrayed your covenant.

¹⁸Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from your path.

¹⁹But you have crushed us in a haunt of jackals and have covered us with deepest darkness.

²⁰If we had forgotten the name of our God and spread out our hands to a foreign god,

²¹wouldn’t God have found this out, since he knows the secrets of the heart?

²²Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.

²³Wake up, LORD! Why are you sleeping? Get up! Don’t reject us forever!

²⁴Why do you hide and forget our affliction and oppression?

²⁵For we have sunk down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground.

²⁶Rise up! Help us! Redeem us because of your faithful love.

¹Doesn’t wisdom call out? Doesn’t understanding make her voice heard?

²At the heights overlooking the road, at the crossroads, she takes her stand.

³Beside the gates leading into the city, at the main entrance, she cries out:

⁴“People, I call out to you; my cry is to the children of Adam.

⁵Learn to be shrewd, you who are inexperienced; develop common sense, you who are foolish.

⁶Listen, for I speak of noble things, and what my lips say is right.

⁷For my mouth tells the truth, and wickedness is detestable to my lips.

⁸All the words from my mouth are righteous; none of them are deceptive or perverse.

⁹All of them are clear to the perceptive, and right to those who discover knowledge.

¹⁰Accept my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.

¹¹For wisdom is better than jewels, and nothing desirable can equal it.

¹²I, wisdom, share a home with shrewdness and have knowledge and discretion.

¹³To fear the LORD is to hate evil. I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.

¹⁴I possess good advice and sound wisdom; I have understanding and strength.

¹⁵It is by me that kings reign and rulers enact just law;

¹⁶by me, princes lead, as do nobles and all righteous judges.

¹⁷I love those who love me, and those who search for me find me.

¹⁸With me are riches and honor, lasting wealth and righteousness.

¹⁹My fruit is better than solid gold, and my harvest than pure silver.

²⁰I walk in the ways of righteousness, along the paths of justice,

²¹giving wealth as an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.

²²“The LORD acquired me at the beginning of his creation, before his works of long ago.

²³I was formed before ancient times, from the beginning, before the earth began.

²⁴I was born when there were no watery depths and no springs filled with water.

²⁵Before the mountains were established, prior to the hills, I was given birth —

²⁶before he made the land, the fields, or the first soil on earth.

²⁷I was there when he established the heavens, when he laid out the horizon on the surface of the ocean,

²⁸when he placed the skies above, when the fountains of the ocean gushed out,

²⁹when he set a limit for the sea so that the waters would not violate his command, when he laid out the foundations of the earth.

³⁰I was a skilled craftsman beside him. I was his delight every day, always rejoicing before him.

³¹I was rejoicing in his inhabited world, delighting in the children of Adam.

³²“And now, sons, listen to me; those who keep my ways are happy.

³³Listen to instruction and be wise; don’t ignore it.

³⁴Anyone who listens to me is happy, watching at my doors every day, waiting by the posts of my doorway.

³⁵For the one who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD,

³⁶but the one who misses me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”

¹Abijah rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. His son Asa became king in his place. During his reign the land experienced peace for ten years.

²Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the LORD his God.

³He removed the pagan altars and the high places. He shattered their sacred pillars and chopped down their Asherah poles.

⁴He told the people of Judah to seek the LORD God of their ancestors and to carry out the instruction and the commands.

⁵He also removed the high places and the shrines from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom experienced peace under him.

⁶Because the land experienced peace, Asa built fortified cities in Judah. No one made war with him in those days because the LORD gave him rest.

⁷So he said to the people of Judah, “Let’s build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, with doors and bars. The land is still ours because we sought the LORD our God. We sought him and he gave us rest on every side.” So they built and succeeded.

⁸Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah bearing large shields and spears, and two hundred eighty thousand from Benjamin bearing regular shields and drawing the bow. All these were valiant warriors.

⁹Then Zerah the Cushite came against them with an army of one million men and three hundred chariots. They came as far as Mareshah.

¹⁰So Asa marched out against him and lined up in battle formation in Zephathah Valley at Mareshah.

¹¹Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God: “LORD, there is no one besides you to help the mighty and those without strength. Help us, LORD our God, for we depend on you, and in your name we have come against this large army. LORD, you are our God. Do not let a mere mortal hinder you.”

¹²So the LORD routed the Cushites before Asa and before Judah, and the Cushites fled.

¹³Then Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell until they had no survivors, for they were crushed before the LORD and his army. So the people of Judah carried off a great supply of loot.

¹⁴Then they attacked all the cities around Gerar because the terror of the LORD was on them. They also plundered all the cities, since there was a great deal of plunder in them.

¹⁵They also attacked the tents of the herdsmen and captured many sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

¹When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

²Israel called to the Egyptians even as Israel was leaving them. They kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols.

³It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the hand, but they never knew that I healed them.

⁴I led them with human cords, with ropes of love. To them I was like one who eases the yoke from their jaws; I bent down to give them food.

⁵Israel will not return to the land of Egypt and Assyria will be his king, because they refused to repent.

⁶A sword will whirl through his cities; it will destroy and devour the bars of his gates, because of their schemes.

⁷My people are bent on turning from me. Though they call to him on high, he will not exalt them at all.

⁸How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I surrender you, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? I have had a change of heart; my compassion is stirred!

⁹I will not vent the full fury of my anger; I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not man, the Holy One among you; I will not come in rage.

¹⁰They will follow the LORD; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west.

¹¹They will be roused like birds from Egypt and like doves from the land of Assyria. Then I will settle them in their homes. This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹²Ephraim surrounds me with lies, the house of Israel, with deceit. Judah still wanders with God and is faithful to the holy ones.

¹Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:

²“I consider myself fortunate, that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews,

³especially since you are very knowledgeable about all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴“All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.

⁵They have known me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.

⁶And now I stand on trial because of the hope in what God promised to our ancestors,

⁷the promise our twelve tribes hope to reach as they earnestly serve him night and day. King Agrippa, I am being accused by the Jews because of this hope.

⁸Why do any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

⁹In fact, I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰I actually did this in Jerusalem, and I locked up many of the saints in prison, since I had received authority for that from the chief priests. When they were put to death, I was in agreement against them.

¹¹In all the synagogues I often punished them and tried to make them blaspheme. Since I was terribly enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.

¹²“I was traveling to Damascus under these circumstances with authority and a commission from the chief priests.

¹³King Agrippa, while on the road at midday, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, shining around me and those traveling with me.

¹⁴We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵“I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “And the Lord replied: ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.

¹⁶But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.

¹⁷I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them

¹⁸to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

¹⁹“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

²⁰Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.

²¹For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and were trying to kill me.

²²To this very day, I have had help from God, and I stand and testify to both small and great, saying nothing other than what the prophets and Moses said would take place  —

²³that the Messiah must suffer, and that, as the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴As he was saying these things in his defense, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice, “You’re out of your mind, Paul! Too much study is driving you mad.”

²⁵But Paul replied, “I’m not out of my mind, most excellent Festus. On the contrary, I’m speaking words of truth and good judgment.

²⁶For the king knows about these matters, and I can speak boldly to him. For I am convinced that none of these things has escaped his notice, since this was not done in a corner.

²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you believe.”

²⁸Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you going to persuade me to become a Christian so easily?”

²⁹“I wish before God,” replied Paul, “that whether easily or with difficulty, not only you but all who listen to me today might become as I am — except for these chains.”

³⁰The king, the governor, Bernice, and those sitting with them got up,

³¹and when they had left they talked with each other and said, “This man is not doing anything to deserve death or imprisonment.”

³²Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.”