Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “So who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

²He called a child and had him stand among them.

³“Truly I tell you,” he said, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

⁴Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child — this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

⁵And whoever welcomes one child like this in my name welcomes me.

⁶“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away — it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea.

⁷Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses will inevitably come, but woe to that person by whom the offense comes.

⁸If your hand or your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.

⁹And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire.

¹⁰“See to it that you don’t despise one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of my Father in heaven.

¹¹

¹²What do you think? If someone has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go and search for the stray?

¹³And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over that sheep more than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.

¹⁴In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

¹⁵“If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother.

¹⁶But if he won’t listen, take one or two others with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established.

¹⁷If he doesn’t pay attention to them, tell the church. If he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like a Gentile and a tax collector to you.

¹⁸Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.

¹⁹Again, truly I tell you, if two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.

²⁰For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.”

²¹Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?”

²²“I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.

²³“For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

²⁴When he began to settle accounts, one who owed ten thousand talents was brought before him.

²⁵Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.

²⁶“At this, the servant fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything’

²⁷Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.

²⁸“That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’

²⁹“At this, his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’

³⁰But he wasn’t willing. Instead, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed.

³¹When the other servants saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened.

³²Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.

³³Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’

³⁴And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed.

³⁵So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”

¹God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

²The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority.

³Every creature that lives and moves will be food for you; as I gave the green plants, I have given you everything.

⁴However, you must not eat meat with its lifeblood in it.

⁵And I will require a penalty for your lifeblood; I will require it from any animal and from any human; if someone murders a fellow human, I will require that person’s life.

⁶Whoever sheds human blood, by humans his blood will be shed, for God made humans in his image.

⁷But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it.”

⁸Then God said to Noah and his sons with him,

⁹“Understand that I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you,

¹⁰and with every living creature that is with you — birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you — all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark.

¹¹I establish my covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by floodwaters; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”

¹²And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations:

¹³I have placed my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

¹⁴Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds,

¹⁵I will remember my covenant between me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature.

¹⁶The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the permanent covenant between God and all the living creatures on earth.”

¹⁷God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and every creature on earth.”

¹⁸Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.

¹⁹These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated.

²⁰Noah, as a man of the soil, began by planting a vineyard.

²¹He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.

²²Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.

²³Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked.

²⁴When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him,

²⁵he said: Canaan is cursed. He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers.

²⁶He also said: Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; Let Canaan be Shem’s slave.

²⁷Let God extend Japheth; let Japheth dwell in the tents of Shem; let Canaan be Shem’s slave.

²⁸Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood.

²⁹So Noah’s life lasted 950 years; then he died.

¹We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia:

²During a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

³I can testify that, according to their ability and even beyond their ability, of their own accord,

⁴they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints,

⁵and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us by God’s will.

⁶So we urged Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete among you this act of grace.

⁷Now as you excel in everything — in faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us  — excel also in this act of grace.

⁸I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love.

⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

¹⁰And in this matter I am giving advice because it is profitable for you, who began last year not only to do something but also to want to do it.

¹¹Now also finish the task, so that just as there was an eager desire, there may also be a completion, according to what you have.

¹²For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

¹³It is not that there should be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality.

¹⁴At the present time your surplus is available for their need, so that their abundance may in turn meet your need, in order that there may be equality.

¹⁵As it is written: The person who had much did not have too much, and the person who had little did not have too little.

¹⁶Thanks be to God, who put the same concern for you into the heart of Titus.

¹⁷For he welcomed our appeal and, being very diligent, went out to you by his own choice.

¹⁸We have sent with him the brother who is praised among all the churches for his gospel ministry.

¹⁹And not only that, but he was also appointed by the churches to accompany us with this gracious gift that we are administering for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help.

²⁰We are taking this precaution so that no one will criticize us about this large sum that we are administering.

²¹Indeed, we are giving careful thought to do what is right, not only before the Lord but also before people.

²²We have also sent with them our brother. We have often tested him in many circumstances and found him to be diligent — and now even more diligent because of his great confidence in you.

²³As for Titus, he is my partner and coworker for you; as for our brothers, they are the messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.

²⁴Therefore, show them proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you.

¹I am disgusted with my life. I will give vent to my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.

²I will say to God, “Do not declare me guilty! Let me know why you prosecute me.

³Is it good for you to oppress, to reject the work of your hands, and favor the plans of the wicked?

⁴Do you have eyes of flesh, or do you see as a human sees?

⁵Are your days like those of a human, or your years like those of a man,

⁶that you look for my iniquity and search for my sin,

⁷even though you know that I am not wicked and that there is no one who can rescue from your power?

⁸“Your hands shaped me and formed me. Will you now turn and destroy me?

⁹Please remember that you formed me like clay. Will you now return me to dust?

¹⁰Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese?

¹¹You clothed me with skin and flesh, and wove me together with bones and tendons.

¹²You gave me life and faithful love, and your care has guarded my life.

¹³“Yet you concealed these thoughts in your heart; I know that this was your hidden plan:

¹⁴if I sin, you would notice, and would not acquit me of my iniquity.

¹⁵If I am wicked, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am filled with shame and have drunk deeply of my affliction.

¹⁶If I am proud, you hunt me like a lion and again display your miraculous power against me.

¹⁷You produce new witnesses against me and multiply your anger toward me. Hardships assault me, wave after wave.

¹⁸“Why did you bring me out of the womb? I should have died and never been seen.

¹⁹I wish I had never existed but had been carried from the womb to the grave.

²⁰Are my days not few? Stop it! Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little

²¹before I go to a land of darkness and gloom, never to return.

²²It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness, gloomy and chaotic, where even the light is like the darkness.”

¹For the choir director. A song of the sons of Korah. According to . [1] God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.

²Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas,

³though its water roars and foams and the mountains quake with its turmoil. Selah

⁴There is a river — its streams delight the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High.

⁵God is within her; she will not be toppled. God will help her when the morning dawns.

⁶Nations rage, kingdoms topple; the earth melts when he lifts his voice.

⁷The LORD of Armies is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah

⁸Come, see the works of the LORD, who brings devastation on the earth.

⁹He makes wars cease throughout the earth. He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces; he sets wagons ablaze.

¹⁰“Stop your fighting, and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.”

¹¹The LORD of Armies is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah

¹Solomon’s proverbs: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son, heartache to his mother.

²Ill-gotten gains do not profit anyone, but righteousness rescues from death.

³The LORD will not let the righteous go hungry, but he denies the wicked what they crave.

⁴Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring riches.

⁵The son who gathers during summer is prudent; the son who sleeps during harvest is disgraceful.

⁶Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

⁷The remembrance of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

⁸A wise heart accepts commands, but foolish lips will be destroyed.

⁹The one who lives with integrity lives securely, but whoever perverts his ways will be found out.

¹⁰A sly wink of the eye causes grief, and foolish lips will be destroyed.

¹¹The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

¹²Hatred stirs up conflicts, but love covers all offenses.

¹³Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of the one who lacks sense.

¹⁴The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool hastens destruction.

¹⁵The wealth of the rich is his fortified city; the poverty of the poor is their destruction.

¹⁶The reward of the righteous is life; the wages of the wicked is punishment.

¹⁷The one who follows instruction is on the path to life, but the one who rejects correction goes astray.

¹⁸The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

¹⁹When there are many words, sin is unavoidable, but the one who controls his lips is prudent.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is pure silver; the heart of the wicked is of little value.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense.

²²The LORD’s blessing enriches, and he adds no painful effort to it.

²³As shameful conduct is pleasure for a fool, so wisdom is for a person of understanding.

²⁴What the wicked dreads will come to him, but what the righteous desire will be given to them.

²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous are secure forever.

²⁶Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so the slacker is to the one who sends him on an errand.

²⁷The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.

²⁸The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.

²⁹The way of the LORD is a stronghold for the honorable, but destruction awaits the malicious.

³⁰The righteous will never be shaken, but the wicked will not remain on the earth.

³¹The mouth of the righteous produces wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out.

³²The lips of the righteous know what is appropriate, but the mouth of the wicked, only what is perverse.

¹In the thirty-sixth year of Asa, Israel’s King Baasha went to war against Judah. He built Ramah in order to keep anyone from leaving or coming to King Asa of Judah.

²So Asa brought out the silver and gold from the treasuries of the LORD’s temple and the royal palace and sent it to Aram’s King Ben-hadad, who lived in Damascus, saying,

³“There’s a treaty between me and you, between my father and your father. Look, I have sent you silver and gold. Go break your treaty with Israel’s King Baasha so that he will withdraw from me.”

⁴Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies to the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.

⁵When Baasha heard about it, he quit building Ramah and stopped his work.

⁶Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had built it with. Then he built Geba and Mizpah with them.

⁷At that time, the seer Hanani came to King Asa of Judah and said to him, “Because you depended on the king of Aram and have not depended on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from you.

⁸Were not the Cushites and Libyans a vast army with many chariots and horsemen? When you depended on the LORD, he handed them over to you.

⁹For the eyes of the LORD roam throughout the earth to show himself strong for those who are wholeheartedly devoted to him. You have been foolish in this matter. Therefore, you will have wars from now on.”

¹⁰Asa was enraged with the seer and put him in prison because of his anger over this. And Asa mistreated some of the people at that time.

¹¹Note that the events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

¹²In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a disease in his feet, and his disease became increasingly severe. Yet even in his disease he didn’t seek the LORD but only the physicians.

¹³Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign.

¹⁴He was buried in his own tomb that he had made for himself in the city of David. They laid him out in a coffin that was full of spices and various mixtures of prepared ointments; then they made a great fire in his honor.

¹When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel. But he incurred guilt through Baal and died.

²Now they continue to sin and make themselves a cast image, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say about them, “Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves.”

³Therefore, they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, or like smoke from a window.

⁴I have been the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and no Savior exists besides me.

⁵I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought.

⁶When they had pasture, they became satisfied; they were satisfied, and their hearts became proud. Therefore they forgot me.

⁷So I will be like a lion to them; I will lurk like a leopard on the path.

⁸I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs and tear open the rib cage over their hearts. I will devour them there like a lioness, like a wild beast that would rip them open.

⁹I will destroy you, Israel; you have no help but me.

¹⁰Where now is your king, that he may save you in all your cities, and the rulers you demanded, saying, “Give me a king and leaders”?

¹¹I give you a king in my anger and take away a king in my wrath.

¹²Ephraim’s guilt is preserved; his sin is stored up.

¹³Labor pains come on him. He is not a wise son; when the time comes, he will not be born.

¹⁴I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death. Death, where are your barbs? Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

¹⁵Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come, a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His water source will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder the treasury of every precious item.

¹⁶Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their children will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.

¹Once safely ashore, we then learned that the island was called Malta.

²The local people showed us extraordinary kindness. They lit a fire and took us all in, since it was raining and cold.

³As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

⁴When the local people saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man, no doubt, is a murderer. Even though he has escaped the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”

⁵But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶They expected that he would begin to swell up or suddenly drop dead. After they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

⁷Now in the area around that place was an estate belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days.

⁸Publius’s father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him.

⁹After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.

¹⁰So they heaped many honors on us, and when we sailed, they gave us what we needed.

¹¹After three months we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered at the island, with the Twin Gods as its figurehead.

¹²Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed three days.

¹³From there, after making a circuit along the coast, we reached Rhegium. After one day a south wind sprang up, and the second day we came to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found brothers and sisters and were invited to stay a week with them. And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵Now the brothers and sisters from there had heard the news about us and had come to meet us as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

¹⁷After three days he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had gathered he said to them: “Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

¹⁸After they examined me, they wanted to release me, since there was no reason for the death penalty in my case.

¹⁹Because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar; even though I had no charge to bring against my people.

²⁰For this reason I’ve asked to see you and speak to you. In fact, it is for the hope of Israel that I’m wearing this chain.”

²¹Then they said to him, “We haven’t received any letters about you from Judea. None of the brothers has come and reported or spoken anything evil about you.

²²But we want to hear what your views are, since we know that people everywhere are speaking against this sect.”

²³After arranging a day with him, many came to him at his lodging. From dawn to dusk he expounded and testified about the kingdom of God. He tried to persuade them about Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets.

²⁴Some were persuaded by what he said, but others did not believe.

²⁵Disagreeing among themselves, they began to leave after Paul made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah

²⁶when he said, Go to these people and say: You will always be listening, but never understanding; and you will always be looking, but never perceiving.

²⁷For the hearts of these people have grown callous, their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.

²⁸Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

²⁹

³⁰Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him,

³¹proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.