Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,

² “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat,

³so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.

⁴ They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

⁵ They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,

⁶and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues

⁷and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.

⁸ But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.

⁹ And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

¹⁰Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.

¹¹ The greatest among you shall be your servant.

¹² Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

¹³“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.

¹⁴

¹⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

¹⁶“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’

¹⁷You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?

¹⁸And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’

¹⁹You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

²⁰So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

²¹And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it.

²²And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

²⁴You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

²⁶You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.

²⁸So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,

³⁰saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

³¹Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

³² Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.

³³You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

³⁴ Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,

³⁵so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

³⁶Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

³⁷ “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

³⁸See, your house is left to you desolate.

³⁹For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

¹In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim,

²these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

³And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).

⁴Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

⁵In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,

⁶and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness.

⁷Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar.

⁸Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim

⁹with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five.

¹⁰Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country.

¹¹So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way.

¹²They also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.

¹³Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram.

¹⁴When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

¹⁵And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus.

¹⁶Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people.

¹⁷After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

¹⁸And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)

¹⁹And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;

²⁰and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

²¹And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.”

²²But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth,

²³that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’

²⁴I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”

¹This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

²I warned those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not spare them —

³since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you.

⁴For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.

⁵Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

⁶I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test.

⁷But we pray to God that you may not do wrong — not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed.

⁸For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.

⁹For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for.

¹⁰For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

¹¹Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

¹²Greet one another with a holy kiss.

¹³All the saints greet you.

¹⁴The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

²“Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

³Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good?

⁴But you are doing away with the fear of God and hindering meditation before God.

⁵For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.

⁶Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you.

⁷“Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills?

⁸Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

⁹What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us?

¹⁰Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, older than your father.

¹¹Are the comforts of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you?

¹²Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash,

¹³that you turn your spirit against God and bring such words out of your mouth?

¹⁴What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?

¹⁵Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight;

¹⁶how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice like water!

¹⁷“I will show you; hear me, and what I have seen I will declare

¹⁸(what wise men have told, without hiding it from their fathers,

¹⁹to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them).

²⁰The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.

²¹Dreadful sounds are in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.

²²He does not believe that he will return out of darkness, and he is marked for the sword.

²³He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;

²⁴distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.

²⁵Because he has stretched out his hand against God and defies the Almighty,

²⁶running stubbornly against him with a thickly bossed shield;

²⁷because he has covered his face with his fat and gathered fat upon his waist

²⁸and has lived in desolate cities, in houses that none should inhabit, which were ready to become heaps of ruins;

²⁹he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the earth;

³⁰he will not depart from darkness; the flame will dry up his shoots, and by the breath of his mouth he will depart.

³¹Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment.

³²It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not be green.

³³He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine, and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.

³⁴For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.

³⁵They conceive trouble and give birth to evil, and their womb prepares deceit.”

¹Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

²Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

³For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

⁴Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

⁵Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁶Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

⁹Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

¹¹Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

¹⁶For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

¹⁸Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem;

¹⁹then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

¹A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

²The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

³The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

⁴A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

⁵A fool despises his father's instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.

⁶In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked.

⁷The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools.

⁸The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.

⁹The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but he loves him who pursues righteousness.

¹⁰There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way; whoever hates reproof will die.

¹¹Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD; how much more the hearts of the children of man!

¹²A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.

¹³A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.

¹⁴The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.

¹⁵All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast.

¹⁶Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it.

¹⁷Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.

¹⁸A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.

¹⁹The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.

²⁰A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother.

²¹Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense, but a man of understanding walks straight ahead.

²²Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.

²³To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is!

²⁴The path of life leads upward for the prudent, that he may turn away from Sheol beneath.

²⁵The LORD tears down the house of the proud but maintains the widow's boundaries.

²⁶The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD, but gracious words are pure.

²⁷Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live.

²⁸The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

²⁹The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

³⁰The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones.

³¹The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.

³²Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.

³³The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

¹Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place.

²He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.

³Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.

⁴When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel.

⁵Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

⁶And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

⁷Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.

⁸In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own.

⁹Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders.

¹⁰So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers.

¹¹Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom and made Judah go astray.

¹²And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

¹³but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom, as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you have killed your brothers, of your father's house, who were better than you,

¹⁴behold, the LORD will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions,

¹⁵and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”

¹⁶And the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the anger of the Philistines and of the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians.

¹⁷And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king's house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son.

¹⁸And after all this the LORD struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease.

¹⁹In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers.

²⁰He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one's regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

¹The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

²And he said: “The LORD roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.”

³Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron.

⁴So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.

⁵I will break the gate-bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir,” says the LORD.

⁶Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they carried into exile a whole people to deliver them up to Edom.

⁷So I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour her strongholds.

⁸I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod, and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,” says the Lord GOD.

⁹Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they delivered up a whole people to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.

¹⁰So I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour her strongholds.”

¹¹Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever.

¹²So I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.”

¹³Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border.

¹⁴So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour her strongholds, with shouting on the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;

¹⁵and their king shall go into exile, he and his princes together,” says the LORD.

¹But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,

²and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.

³But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

⁵When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.

⁶The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

⁷After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.”

⁹But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

¹⁰Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

¹²Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico.

¹³None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

¹⁴And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

¹⁵so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

¹⁶The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

¹⁷But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy

¹⁸they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

¹⁹But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,

²⁰“Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”

²¹And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

²²But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported,

²³“We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.”

²⁴Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to.

²⁵And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”

²⁶Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

²⁷And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them,

²⁸saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.”

²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

³⁰The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.

³¹God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

³²And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

³³When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.

³⁴But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.

³⁵And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.

³⁶For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

³⁷After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.

³⁸So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail;

³⁹but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice,

⁴⁰and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

⁴¹Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

⁴²And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.