Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

²And He called a child to Himself and set him among them,

³and said, “Truly I say to you, unless youchange and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

⁴So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

⁵And whoever receives one such child in My name, receives Me;

⁶but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me tosin, it is better for him that aheavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.

⁷“Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the stumbling block comes!

⁸“And if your hand or your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or without a foot, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.

⁹And if your eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into thefiery hell.

¹⁰“See that you do not look down on one of these little ones; for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

¹¹

¹²“What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and search for the one that is lost?

¹³And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray.

¹⁴So it is not the willof your Father who is in heaven for one of these little ones to perish.

¹⁵“Now if your brother sins , go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

¹⁶But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that ON THETESTIMONY OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERYMATTER MAY BE CONFIRMED.

¹⁷And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, he is to be to you asa Gentile anda tax collector.

¹⁸Truly I say to you, whatever youbind on earthshall have been bound in heaven; and whatever youloose on earthshall have been loosed in heaven.

¹⁹“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.

²⁰For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

²¹Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to seven times?”

²²Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up toseventy-seven times.

²³“For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.

²⁴And when he had begun to settle them, one who owed himten thousand talents was brought to him.

²⁵But since hedid not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment be made.

²⁶So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’

²⁷And the master of that slave felt compassion, and he released him and forgave him thedebt.

²⁸But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundreddenarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’

²⁹So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’

³⁰But he was unwilling,and went and threw him in prison until he would pay back what was owed.

³¹So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their master all that had happened.

³²Then summoning him, his master *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

³³Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’

³⁴And his master, moved with anger, handed him over to thetorturers until he would repay all that was owed him.

³⁵My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from yourheart.”

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

²The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every animal of the earth and on every bird of the sky; on everything that crawls on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. They are handed over to you.

³Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I have given everything to you, as I gave the green plant.

⁴But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

⁵I certainly will require your lifeblood; from every animal I will require it. And from every person, from every man as his brother I will require the life of a person.

⁶Whoever sheds human blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made mankind.

⁷As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”

⁸Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,

⁹“Now behold, I Myself am establishing My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you;

¹⁰and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, every animal of the earth.

¹¹I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be eliminated by the waters of a flood, nor shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.”

¹²God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations;

¹³I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall serve as a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.

¹⁴It shall come about, when I make a cloud appear over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud,

¹⁵and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.

¹⁶When the rainbow is in the cloud, then I will look at it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

¹⁷And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

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

¹⁹These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.

²⁰Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard.

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

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

²³But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it on both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.

²⁴When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.

²⁵So he said, “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.”

²⁶He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.

²⁷May God enlarge Japheth, And may he live in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.”

²⁸Noah lived 350 years after the flood.

²⁹So all the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

¹Now, brothers and sisters, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia,

²that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.

³For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave voluntarily,

⁴begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints,

⁵and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

⁶So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well.

⁷But just as you excel in everything, in faith, speaking, knowledge, and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you also excel in this gracious work.

⁸I am not saying this as a command, but as proving, through the earnestness of others, the sincerity of your love as well.

⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

¹⁰I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it.

¹¹But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the willingness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability.

¹²For if the willingness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

¹³For this is not for the relief of others and for your hardship, but by way of equality—

¹⁴at this present time your abundance will serve as assistance for their need, so that their abundance also may serve as assistance for your need, so that there may be equality;

¹⁵as it is written: “THE ONE WHO had gathered much did not have too much, AND THE ONE WHO had gathered little did not have too little.”

¹⁶But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness in your behalf in the heart of Titus.

¹⁷For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, he has gone to you of his own accord.

¹⁸We have sent along with him the brother whose fame in the things of the gospel has spread through all the churches;

¹⁹and not only that, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious work, which is being administered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself, and to show our readiness,

²⁰taking precaution so that no one will discredit us in our administration of this generous gift;

²¹for we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of other people.

²²We have sent with them our brother, whom we have often tested and found diligent in many things, but now even more diligent because of his great confidence in you.

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

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

¹“I am disgusted with my own life; I will express my complaint freely; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

²I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; Let me know why You contend with me.

³Is it right for You indeed to oppress, To reject the work of Your hands, And to look favorably on the plan of the wicked?

⁴Do You have eyes of flesh? Or do You see as mankind sees?

⁵Are Your days like the days of a mortal, Or Your years like a man’s year,

⁶That You should search for my guilt And carefully seek my sin?

⁷According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty, Yet there is no one to save me from Your hand.

⁸‘Your hands fashioned and made me altogether, Yet would You destroy me?

⁹Remember that You have made me as clay; Yet would You turn me into dust again?

¹⁰Did You not pour me out like milk, And curdle me like cheese,

¹¹Clothe me with skin and flesh, And intertwine me with bones and tendons?

¹²You have granted me life and goodness; And Your care has guarded my spirit.

¹³Yet You have concealed these things in Your heart; I know that this is within You:

¹⁴If I have sinned, You will take note of me, And will not acquit me of my guilt.

¹⁵If I am wicked, woe to me! But if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head. I am full of shame, and conscious of my misery.

¹⁶And should my head be high, You would hunt me like a lion; And You would show Your power against me again.

¹⁷You renew Your witnesses against me And increase Your anger toward me; Hardship after hardship is with me.

¹⁸‘Why then did You bring me out of the womb? If only I had died and no eye had seen me!

¹⁹I should have been as though I had not been, Brought from womb to tomb.’

²⁰Would He not leave my few days alone? Withdraw from me so that I may have a little cheerfulness

²¹Before I go—and I shall not return— To the land of darkness and deep shadow,

²²The land of utter gloom like darkness itself, Of deep shadow without order, And it shines like darkness.”

¹God is our refuge and strength, A very ready help in trouble.

²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth shakes And the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;

³Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah

⁴There is a river whose streams make the city of God happy, The holy dwelling places of the Most High.

⁵God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.

⁶The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He raised His voice, the earth quaked.

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

⁸Come, behold the works of the LORD, Who has inflicted horrific events on the earth.

⁹He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire.

¹⁰“Stop striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted on the earth.”

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

¹The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a father glad, But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

²Ill-gotten gains do not benefit, But righteousness rescues from death.

³The LORD will not allow the righteous to hunger, But He will reject the craving of the wicked.

⁴Poor is one who works with a lazy hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.

⁵He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.

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

⁷The mentioning of the righteous is a blessing, But the name of the wicked will rot.

⁸The wise of heart will receive commands, But a babbling fool will come to ruin.

⁹One who walks in integrity walks securely, But one who perverts his ways will be found out.

¹⁰He who winks the eye causes trouble, And a babbling fool will come to ruin.

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

¹²Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all offenses.

¹³On the lips of the discerning, wisdom is found, But a rod is for the back of him who has no sense.

¹⁴Wise people store up knowledge, But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.

¹⁵The rich person’s wealth is his fortress, The ruin of the poor is their poverty.

¹⁶The wages of the righteous is life, The income of the wicked, punishment.

¹⁷One who is on the path of life follows instruction, But one who ignores a rebuke goes astray.

¹⁸One who conceals hatred has lying lips, And one who spreads slander is a fool.

¹⁹When there are many words, wrongdoing is unavoidable, But one who restrains his lips is wise.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver, The heart of the wicked is worth little.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many, But fools die for lack of understanding.

²²It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it.

²³Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool, And so is wisdom to a person of understanding.

²⁴What the wicked fears will come upon him, But the desire of the righteous will be granted.

²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more, But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.

²⁶Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy one to those who send him.

²⁷The fear of the LORD prolongs life, But the years of the wicked will be shortened.

²⁸The hope of the righteous is gladness, But the expectation of the wicked perishes.

²⁹The way of the LORD is a stronghold for the upright, But ruin to the workers of injustice.

³⁰The righteous will never be shaken, But the wicked will not live in the land.

³¹The mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom, But the perverted tongue will be cut out.

³²The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, But the mouth of the wicked, what is perverted.

¹In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.

²Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the king’s house, and sent it to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying,

³“A treaty must be made between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.”

⁴And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa, and he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.

⁵When Baasha heard about it, he stopped fortifying Ramah and put an end to his work.

⁶Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with it he fortified Geba and Mizpah.

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

⁸Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, He handed them over to you.

⁹For the eyes of the LORD roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will have wars.”

¹⁰Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa mistreated some of the people at the same time.

¹¹Now, the acts of Asa from the first to the last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

¹²In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians.

¹³So Asa lay down with his fathers, and died in the forty-first year of his reign.

¹⁴They buried him in his own tomb which he had cut out for himself in the city of David, and they laid him in the resting place which he had filled with spices of various kinds blended by the perfumers’ art; and they made a very great fire for him.

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

²And now they sin more and more, And make for themselves cast metal images, Idols skillfully made from their silver, All of them the work of craftsmen. They say of them, “Let the people who sacrifice kiss the calves!”

³Therefore they will be like the morning cloud And like dew which soon disappears, Like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor, And like smoke from a chimney.

⁴Yet I have been the LORD your God Since the land of Egypt; And you were not to know any god except Me, For there is no savior besides Me.

⁵I cared for you in the wilderness, In the land of drought.

⁶As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, And as they became satisfied, their heart became proud; Therefore they forgot Me.

⁷So I will be like a lion to them; Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside.

⁸I will confront them like a bear deprived of her cubs, And I will tear open their chests; I will also devour them there like a lioness, As a wild animal would tear them to pieces.

⁹It is to your own destruction, Israel, That you are against Me, against your help.

¹⁰Where then is your king, That he might save you in all your cities; And your judges, to whom you said, “Give me a king and princes”?

¹¹I gave you a king in My anger, And took him away in My wrath.

¹²The guilt of Ephraim is wrapped up; His sin is stored up.

¹³The pains of childbirth come on him; He is not a wise son, For it is not the time that he should delay at the opening of the womb.

¹⁴Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? Death, where are your thorns? Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight.

¹⁵Though he flourishes among the reeds, An east wind will come, The wind of the LORD coming up from the wilderness; And his fountain will become dry And his spring will dry up; It will plunder his treasury of every precious article.

¹⁶Samaria will pay the penalty for her guilt, Because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword, Their children will be slaughtered, And their pregnant women will be ripped open.

¹When they had been brought safely through, then we found out that the island was called Malta.

²The natives showed us extraordinary kindness, for they kindled a fire and took us all in because of the rain that had started and because of the cold.

³But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

⁴When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.”

⁵However, Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶Now they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

⁷Now in the neighboring parts of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us warmly for three days.

⁸And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with a recurring fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after he prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him.

⁹After this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being cured.

¹⁰They also showed us many honors, and when we were about to set sail, they supplied us with everything we needed.

¹¹After three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead.

¹²After we put in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.

¹³From there we sailed around and arrived at Rhegium, and a day later a south wind came up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found some brothers and sisters, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and that is how we came to Rome.

¹⁵And from there the brothers and sisters, when they heard about us, came as far as the Market of Appius and the Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

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

¹⁷After three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.

¹⁸And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there were no grounds for putting me to death.

¹⁹But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation.

²⁰For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, since I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.”

²¹They said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor has any of the brothers come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you.

²²But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for regarding this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³When they had set a day for Paul, people came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.

²⁴Some were being persuaded by the things said by Paul, but others would not believe.

²⁵And when they disagreed with one another, they began leaving after Paul said one parting statement: “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers,

²⁶saying, ‘GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY, “YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, AND WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, AND WILL NOT PERCEIVE;

²⁷FOR THE HEARTS OF THIS PEOPLE HAVE BECOME INSENSITIVE, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY HARDLY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES; OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, 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 also listen.”

²⁹

³⁰Now Paul stayed two full years in his own rented lodging and welcomed all who came to him,

³¹preaching the kingdom of God and teaching things about the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.