Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.

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

³and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.

⁴A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.

⁵Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

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

⁷And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”

⁸But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?

⁹Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?

¹⁰Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?

¹¹How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to 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 doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

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

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

¹⁶Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷Jesus answered and said to 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 also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

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

²⁰Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

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

²²Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”

²³But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

²⁴Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

²⁵For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

²⁶For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

²⁷For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

²⁸“Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

¹Then the LORD said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.

²You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female;

³also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth.

⁴For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.”

⁵And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him.

⁶Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth.

⁷So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.

⁸Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth,

⁹two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

¹⁰And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth.

¹¹In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

¹²And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

¹³On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark—

¹⁴they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort.

¹⁵And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life.

¹⁶So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.

¹⁷Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.

¹⁸The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters.

¹⁹And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered.

²⁰The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.

²¹And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.

²²All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died.

²³So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.

²⁴And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.

¹We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

²For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

³We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed.

⁴But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses,

⁵in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;

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

⁷by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,

⁸by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true;

⁹as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed;

¹⁰as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

¹¹O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open.

¹²You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.

¹³Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open.

¹⁴Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

¹⁵And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

¹⁶And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”

¹⁷Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.”

¹⁸“I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.”

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

²Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

³And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

⁴And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

⁵Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

⁶And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.

⁷He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

⁸But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

⁹Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”

¹⁰And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

¹¹having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

¹²Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

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

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

¹⁵And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.

¹⁶The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.

¹⁷Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.

¹⁸The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

¹⁹The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,

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

²¹The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

²²But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

²³The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

²⁴And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.

²⁵Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).

²⁶And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.

²⁷But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

²“How long will you speak these things, And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?

³Does God subvert judgment? Or does the Almighty pervert justice?

⁴If your sons have sinned against Him, He has cast them away for their transgression.

⁵If you would earnestly seek God And make your supplication to the Almighty,

⁶If you were pure and upright, Surely now He would awake for you, And prosper your rightful dwelling place.

⁷Though your beginning was small, Yet your latter end would increase abundantly.

⁸“For inquire, please, of the former age, And consider the things discovered by their fathers;

⁹For we were born yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days on earth are a shadow.

¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you, And utter words from their heart?

¹¹“Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh? Can the reeds flourish without water?

¹²While it is yet green and not cut down, It withers before any other plant.

¹³So are the paths of all who forget God; And the hope of the hypocrite shall perish,

¹⁴Whose confidence shall be cut off, And whose trust is a spider’s web.

¹⁵He leans on his house, but it does not stand. He holds it fast, but it does not endure.

¹⁶He grows green in the sun, And his branches spread out in his garden.

¹⁷His roots wrap around the rock heap, And look for a place in the stones.

¹⁸If he is destroyed from his place, Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’

¹⁹“Behold, this is the joy of His way, And out of the earth others will grow.

²⁰Behold, God will not cast away the blameless, Nor will He uphold the evildoers.

²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughing, And your lips with rejoicing.

²²Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, And the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing.”

¹To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of the sons of Korah. [1] We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, The deeds You did in their days, In days of old:

²You drove out the nations with Your hand, But them You planted; You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.

³For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, Nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, Because You favored them.

⁴You are my King, O God; Command victories for Jacob.

⁵Through You we will push down our enemies; Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.

⁶For I will not trust in my bow, Nor shall my sword save me.

⁷But You have saved us from our enemies, And have put to shame those who hated us.

⁸In God we boast all day long, And praise Your name forever. Selah

⁹But You have cast us off and put us to shame, And You do not go out with our armies.

¹⁰You make us turn back from the enemy, And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.

¹¹You have given us up like sheep intended for food, And have scattered us among the nations.

¹²You sell Your people for next to nothing, And are not enriched by selling them.

¹³You make us a reproach to our neighbors, A scorn and a derision to those all around us.

¹⁴You make us a byword among the nations, A shaking of the head among the peoples.

¹⁵My dishonor is continually before me, And the shame of my face has covered me,

¹⁶Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, Because of the enemy and the avenger.

¹⁷All this has come upon us; But we have not forgotten You, Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.

¹⁸Our heart has not turned back, Nor have our steps departed from Your way;

¹⁹But You have severely broken us in the place of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death.

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

²¹Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.

²²Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

²³Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever.

²⁴Why do You hide Your face, And forget our affliction and our oppression?

²⁵For our soul is bowed down to the dust; Our body clings to the ground.

²⁶Arise for our help, And redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.

¹Does not wisdom cry out, And understanding lift up her voice?

²She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, Beside the way, where the paths meet.

³She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, At the entrance of the doors:

⁴“To you, O men, I call, And my voice is to the sons of men.

⁵O you simple ones, understand prudence, And you fools, be of an understanding heart.

⁶Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, And from the opening of my lips will come right things;

⁷For my mouth will speak truth; Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

⁸All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.

⁹They are all plain to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge.

¹⁰Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold;

¹¹For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.

¹²“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And find out knowledge and discretion.

¹³The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.

¹⁴Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, I have strength.

¹⁵By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice.

¹⁶By me princes rule, and nobles, All the judges of the earth.

¹⁷I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.

¹⁸Riches and honor are with me, Enduring riches and righteousness.

¹⁹My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, And my revenue than choice silver.

²⁰I traverse the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice,

²¹That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, That I may fill their treasuries.

²²“The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old.

²³I have been established from everlasting, From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.

²⁴When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no fountains abounding with water.

²⁵Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills, I was brought forth;

²⁶While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields, Or the primal dust of the world.

²⁷When He prepared the heavens, I was there, When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,

²⁸When He established the clouds above, When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,

²⁹When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the waters would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth,

³⁰Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him,

³¹Rejoicing in His inhabited world, And my delight was with the sons of men.

³²“Now therefore, listen to me, my children, For blessed are those who keep my ways.

³³Hear instruction and be wise, And do not disdain it.

³⁴Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors.

³⁵For whoever finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the LORD;

³⁶But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate me love death.”

¹So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.

²Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God,

³for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and the high places, and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images.

⁴He commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment.

⁵He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him.

⁶And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because the LORD had given him rest.

⁷Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the LORD our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.

⁸And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty men of valor.

⁹Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah.

¹⁰So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

¹¹And Asa cried out to the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!”

¹²So the LORD struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.

¹³And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the LORD and His army. And they carried away very much spoil.

¹⁴Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the LORD came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much spoil in them.

¹⁵They also attacked the livestock enclosures, and carried off sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

¹“When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.

²As they called them, So they went from them; They sacrificed to the Baals, And burned incense to carved images.

³“I taught Ephraim to walk, Taking them by their arms; But they did not know that I healed them.

⁴I drew them with gentle cords, With bands of love, And I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them.

⁵“He shall not return to the land of Egypt; But the Assyrian shall be his king, Because they refused to repent.

⁶And the sword shall slash in his cities, Devour his districts, And consume them, Because of their own counsels.

⁷My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, None at all exalt Him.

⁸“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred.

⁹I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, The Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror.

¹⁰“They shall walk after the LORD. He will roar like a lion. When He roars, Then His sons shall come trembling from the west;

¹¹They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt, Like a dove from the land of Assyria. And I will let them dwell in their houses,” Says the LORD.

¹²“Ephraim has encircled Me with lies, And the house of Israel with deceit; But Judah still walks with God, Even with the Holy One who is faithful.

¹Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself:

²“I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews,

³especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

⁴“My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know.

⁵They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

⁶And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.

⁷To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.

⁸Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?

⁹“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

¹¹And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

¹²“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,

¹³at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.

¹⁴And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

¹⁶But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.

¹⁷I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you,

¹⁸to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

¹⁹“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

²⁰but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

²¹For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

²²Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come—

²³that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!”

²⁵But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason.

²⁶For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner.

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

²⁸Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

²⁹And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”

³⁰When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them;

³¹and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.”

³²Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”