Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

²After agreeing with the workers on one denarius, he sent them into his vineyard for the day.

³When he went out about nine in the morning, he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.

⁴He said to them, ‘You also go into my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So off they went.

⁵About noon and about three, he went out again and did the same thing.

⁶Then about five he went and found others standing around and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’

⁷“‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him. “‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he told them.

⁸When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay, starting with the last and ending with the first.’

⁹“When those who were hired about five came, they each received one denarius.

¹⁰So when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each.

¹¹When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner:

¹²‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day’s work and the burning heat.’

¹³“He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius?

¹⁴Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you.

¹⁵Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what is mine? Are you jealous because I’m generous?’

¹⁶“So the last will be first, and the first last.”

¹⁷While going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples aside privately and said to them on the way,

¹⁸“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death.

¹⁹They will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised.”

²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons approached him with her sons. She knelt down to ask him for something.

²¹“What do you want?” he asked her. “Promise,” she said to him, “that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right and the other on your left, in your kingdom.”

²²Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” “We are able,” they said to him.

²³He told them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right and left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

²⁴When the ten disciples heard this, they became indignant with the two brothers.

²⁵Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them.

²⁶It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

²⁷and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave;

²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

²⁹As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.

³⁰There were two blind men sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

³¹The crowd demanded that they keep quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

³²Jesus stopped, called them, and said, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³³“Lord,” they said to him, “open our eyes.”

³⁴Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed him.

¹The whole earth had the same language and vocabulary.

²As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.

³They said to each other, “Come, let us make oven-fired bricks.” (They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.)

⁴And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.”

⁵Then the LORD came down to look over the city and the tower that the humans were building.

⁶The LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

⁷Come, let’s go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

⁸So from there the LORD scattered them throughout the earth, and they stopped building the city.

⁹Therefore it is called Babylon, for there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the LORD scattered them throughout the earth.

¹⁰These are the family records of Shem. Shem lived 100 years and fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood.

¹¹After he fathered Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

¹²Arpachshad lived 35 years and fathered Shelah.

¹³After he fathered Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

¹⁴Shelah lived 30 years and fathered Eber.

¹⁵After he fathered Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

¹⁶Eber lived 34 years and fathered Peleg.

¹⁷After he fathered Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

¹⁸Peleg lived 30 years and fathered Reu.

¹⁹After he fathered Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

²⁰Reu lived 32 years and fathered Serug.

²¹After he fathered Serug, Reu lived 207 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

²²Serug lived 30 years and fathered Nahor.

²³After he fathered Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

²⁴Nahor lived 29 years and fathered Terah.

²⁵After he fathered Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

²⁶Terah lived 70 years and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

²⁷These are the family records of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot.

²⁸Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans, during his father Terah’s lifetime.

²⁹Abram and Nahor took wives: Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah.

³⁰Sarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child.

³¹Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.

³²Terah lived 205 years and died in Haran.

¹Now I Paul, myself, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ — I who am humble among you in person but bold toward you when absent.

²I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are behaving according to the flesh.

³For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh,

⁴since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments

⁵and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

⁶And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

⁷Look at what is obvious. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, let him remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to Christ, so do we.

⁸For if I boast a little too much about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame.

⁹I don’t want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters.

¹⁰For it is said, “His letters are weighty and powerful, but his physical presence is weak and his public speaking amounts to nothing.”

¹¹Let such a person consider this: What we are in our letters, when we are absent, we will also be in our actions when we are present.

¹²For we don’t dare classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. But in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves, they lack understanding.

¹³We, however, will not boast beyond measure but according to the measure of the area of ministry that God has assigned to us, which reaches even to you.

¹⁴For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we had not reached you, since we have come to you with the gospel of Christ.

¹⁵We are not boasting beyond measure about other people’s labors. On the contrary, we have the hope that as your faith increases, our area of ministry will be greatly enlarged,

¹⁶so that we may preach the gospel to the regions beyond you without boasting about what has already been done in someone else’s area of ministry.

¹⁷So let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.

¹⁸For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one the Lord commends.

¹Then Job answered:

²No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!

³But I also have a mind like you; I am not inferior to you. Who doesn’t know the things you are talking about?

⁴I am a laughingstock to my friends, by calling on God, who answers me. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.

⁵The one who is at ease holds calamity in contempt and thinks it is prepared for those whose feet are slipping.

⁶The tents of robbers are safe, and those who trouble God are secure; God holds them in his hands.

⁷But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.

⁸Or speak to the earth, and it will instruct you; let the fish of the sea inform you.

⁹Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?

¹⁰The life of every living thing is in his hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.

¹¹Doesn’t the ear test words as the palate tastes food?

¹²Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.

¹³Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are his.

¹⁴Whatever he tears down cannot be rebuilt; whoever he imprisons cannot be released.

¹⁵When he withholds water, everything dries up, and when he releases it, it destroys the land.

¹⁶True wisdom and power belong to him. The deceived and the deceiver are his.

¹⁷He leads counselors away barefoot and makes judges go mad.

¹⁸He releases the bonds put on by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.

¹⁹He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows established leaders.

²⁰He deprives trusted advisers of speech and takes away the elders’ good judgment.

²¹He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the strong.

²²He reveals mysteries from the darkness and brings the deepest darkness into the light.

²³He makes nations great, then destroys them; he enlarges nations, then leads them away.

²⁴He deprives the world’s leaders of reason, and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.

²⁵They grope around in darkness without light; he makes them stagger like a drunkard.

¹A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah. [1] The LORD is great and highly praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain,

²rising splendidly, is the joy of the whole earth. Mount Zion — the summit of Zaphon —  is the city of the great King.

³God is known as a stronghold in its citadels.

⁴Look! The kings assembled; they advanced together.

⁵They looked and froze with fear; they fled in terror.

⁶Trembling seized them there, agony like that of a woman in labor,

⁷as you wrecked the ships of Tarshish with the east wind.

⁸Just as we heard, so we have seen in the city of the LORD of Armies, in the city of our God; God will establish it forever. Selah

⁹God, within your temple, we contemplate your faithful love.

¹⁰Like your name, God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with justice.

¹¹Mount Zion is glad. Judah’s villages rejoice because of your judgments.

¹²Go around Zion, encircle it; count its towers,

¹³note its ramparts; tour its citadels so that you can tell a future generation:

¹⁴“This God, our God forever and ever — he will always lead us.”

¹Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but one who hates correction is stupid.

²One who is good obtains favor from the LORD, but he condemns a person who schemes.

³No one can be made secure by wickedness, but the root of the righteous is immovable.

⁴A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a wife who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just, but guidance from the wicked is deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked are a deadly ambush, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown and perish, but the house of the righteous will stand.

⁸A man is praised for his insight, but a twisted mind is despised.

⁹Better to be disregarded, yet have a servant, than to act important but have no food.

¹⁰The righteous cares about his animal’s health, but even the merciful acts of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks sense.

¹²The wicked desire what evil people have caught, but the root of the righteous is productive.

¹³By rebellious speech an evil person is trapped, but a righteous person escapes from trouble.

¹⁴A person will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth, and the work of a person’s hands will reward him.

¹⁵A fool’s way is right in his own eyes, but whoever listens to counsel is wise.

¹⁶A fool’s displeasure is known at once, but whoever ignores an insult is sensible.

¹⁷Whoever speaks the truth declares what is right, but a false witness speaks deceit.

¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly, like a piercing sword; but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue, only a moment.

²⁰Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy.

²¹No disaster overcomes the righteous, but the wicked are full of misery.

²²Lying lips are detestable to the LORD, but faithful people are his delight.

²³A shrewd person conceals knowledge, but a foolish heart publicizes stupidity.

²⁴The diligent hand will rule, but laziness will lead to forced labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a person’s heart weighs it down, but a good word cheers it up.

²⁶A righteous person is careful in dealing with his neighbor, but the ways of the wicked lead them astray.

²⁷A lazy hunter doesn’t roast his game, but to a diligent person, his wealth is precious.

²⁸There is life in the path of righteousness, and in its path there is no death.

¹Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance, and he made an alliance with Ahab through marriage.

²Then after some years, he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria. Ahab sacrificed many sheep, goats, and cattle for him and for the people who were with him. Then he persuaded him to attack Ramoth-gilead,

³for Israel’s King Ahab asked Judah’s King Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?” He replied to him, “I am as you are, my people as your people; we will be with you in the battle.”

⁴But Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “First, please ask what the LORD’s will is.”

⁵So the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men, and asked them, “Should we go to Ramoth-gilead for war or should I refrain?” They replied, “March up, and God will hand it over to the king.”

⁶But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the LORD here anymore? Let’s ask him.”

⁷The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man who can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king shouldn’t say that,” Jehoshaphat replied.

⁸So the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Hurry and get Micaiah son of Imlah!”

⁹Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah, clothed in royal attire, were each sitting on his own throne. They were sitting on the threshing floor at the entrance to Samaria’s gate, and all the prophets were prophesying in front of them.

¹⁰Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah made iron horns and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You will gore the Arameans with these until they are finished off.’”

¹¹And all the prophets were prophesying the same, saying, “March up to Ramoth-gilead and succeed, for the LORD will hand it over to the king.”

¹²The messenger who went to call Micaiah instructed him, “Look, the words of the prophets are unanimously favorable for the king. So let your words be like theirs, and speak favorably.”

¹³But Micaiah said, “As the LORD lives, I will say whatever my God says.”

¹⁴So he went to the king, and the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to Ramoth-gilead for war, or should I refrain?” Micaiah said, “March up and succeed, for they will be handed over to you.”

¹⁵But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear not to tell me anything but the truth in the name of the LORD?”

¹⁶So Micaiah said: I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, “They have no master; let each return home in peace.”

¹⁷So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster?”

¹⁸Then Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and the whole heavenly army was standing at his right hand and at his left hand.

¹⁹And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice King Ahab of Israel to march up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? ’ So one was saying this and another was saying that.

²⁰“Then a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ “The LORD asked him, ‘How?’

²¹“So he said, ‘I will go and become a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ “Then he said, ‘You will entice him and also prevail. Go and do that.’

²²“Now, you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit into the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the LORD has pronounced disaster against you.”

²³Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah came up, hit Micaiah on the cheek, and demanded, “Which way did the spirit from the LORD leave me to speak to you?”

²⁴Micaiah replied, “You will soon see when you go to hide in an inner chamber on that day.”

²⁵Then the king of Israel ordered, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king’s son,

²⁶and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this guy in prison and feed him only a little bread and water until I come back safely.’”

²⁷But Micaiah said, “If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” Then he said, “Listen, all you people!”

²⁸Then the king of Israel and Judah’s King Jehoshaphat went up to Ramoth-gilead.

²⁹But the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal attire.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.

³⁰Now the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone at all except the king of Israel.”

³¹When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they shouted, “He must be the king of Israel!” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him. God drew them away from him.

³²When the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

³³But a man drew his bow without taking special aim and struck the king of Israel through the joints of his armor. So he said to the charioteer, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am badly wounded!”

³⁴The battle raged throughout that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening. Then he died at sunset.

¹The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

²Hear this, you elders; listen, all you inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors?

³Tell your children about it, and let your children tell their children, and their children the next generation.

⁴What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.

⁵Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you wine drinkers, because of the sweet wine, for it has been taken from your mouth.

⁶For a nation has invaded my land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness.

⁷It has devastated my grapevine and splintered my fig tree. It has stripped off its bark and thrown it away; its branches have turned white.

⁸Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth, mourning for the husband of her youth.

⁹Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, who are ministers of the LORD, mourn.

¹⁰The fields are destroyed; the land grieves; indeed, the grain is destroyed; the new wine is dried up; and the fresh oil fails.

¹¹Be ashamed, you farmers, wail, you vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.

¹²The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the date palm, and the apple  — all the trees of the orchard — have withered. Indeed, human joy has dried up.

¹³Dress in sackcloth and lament, you priests; wail, you ministers of the altar. Come and spend the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, because grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.

¹⁴Announce a sacred fast; proclaim an assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land at the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.

¹⁵Woe because of that day! For the day of the LORD is near and will come as devastation from the Almighty.

¹⁶Hasn’t the food been cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

¹⁷The seeds lie shriveled in their casings. The storehouses are in ruin, and the granaries are broken down, because the grain has withered away.

¹⁸How the animals groan! The herds of cattle wander in confusion since they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep and goats suffer punishment.

¹⁹I call to you, LORD, for fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness, and flames have devoured all the trees of the orchard.

²⁰Even the wild animals cry out to you, for the river beds are dried up, and fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness.

¹When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place.

²Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying.

³They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them.

⁴Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them.

⁵Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven.

⁶When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

⁷They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?

⁸How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language?

⁹Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts),

¹¹Cretans and Arabs — we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues.”

¹²They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”

¹³But some sneered and said, “They’re drunk on new wine.”

¹⁴Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them: “Fellow Jews and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you and pay attention to my words.

¹⁵For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only nine in the morning.

¹⁶On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

¹⁸I will even pour out my Spirit on my servants in those days, both men and women and they will prophesy.

¹⁹I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.

²⁰The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.

²¹Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

²²“Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know.

²³Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him.

²⁴God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death.

²⁵For David says of him: I saw the Lord ever before me; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

²⁶Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope,

²⁷because you will not abandon me in Hades or allow your holy one to see decay.

²⁸You have revealed the paths of life to me; you will fill me with gladness in your presence.

²⁹“Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

³⁰Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne.

³¹Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not abandoned in Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay.

³²“God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this.

³³Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear.

³⁴For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand

³⁵until I make your enemies your footstool.’

³⁶“Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

³⁷When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Brothers, what should we do?”

³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

⁴⁰With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!”

⁴¹So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.

⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.

⁴⁴Now all the believers were together and held all things in common.

⁴⁵They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.

⁴⁶Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts,

⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.