Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹As Jesus left and was going out of the temple, his disciples came up and called his attention to its buildings.

²He replied to them, “Do you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down.”

³While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

⁴Jesus replied to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you.

⁵For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many.

⁶You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet.

⁷For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

⁸All these events are the beginning of labor pains.

⁹“Then they will hand you over to be persecuted, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name.

¹⁰Then many will fall away, betray one another, and hate one another.

¹¹Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

¹²Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold.

¹³But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

¹⁴This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵“So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand),

¹⁶“then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.

¹⁷A man on the housetop must not come down to get things out of his house,

¹⁸and a man in the field must not go back to get his coat.

¹⁹Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days!

²⁰Pray that your escape may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.

²¹For at that time there will be great distress, the kind that hasn’t taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again.

²²Unless those days were cut short, no one would be saved. But those days will be cut short because of the elect.

²³“If anyone tells you then, ‘See, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Over here!’ do not believe it.

²⁴For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

²⁵Take note: I have told you in advance.

²⁶So if they tell you, ‘See, he’s in the wilderness! ’ don’t go out; or, ‘See, he’s in the storerooms! ’ do not believe it.

²⁷For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

²⁸Wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹“Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

³⁰Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

³¹He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

³²“Learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.

³³In the same way, when you see all these things, recognize that he is near — at the door.

³⁴Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.

³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³⁶“Now concerning that day and hour no one knows — neither the angels of heaven nor the Son — except the Father alone.

³⁷As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.

³⁸For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark.

³⁹They didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away. This is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be.

⁴⁰Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.

⁴¹Two women will be grinding grain with a hand mill; one will be taken and one left.

⁴²Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.

⁴³But know this: If the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into.

⁴⁴This is why you are also to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

⁴⁵“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time?

⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes.

⁴⁷Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

⁴⁸But if that wicked servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delayed,’

⁴⁹and starts to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with drunkards,

⁵⁰that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know.

⁵¹He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

¹After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great.

²But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

³Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”

⁴Now the word of the LORD came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”

⁵He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”

⁶Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

⁷He also said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

⁸But he said, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”

⁹He said to him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

¹⁰So he brought all these to him, cut them in half, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds in half.

¹¹Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

¹²As the sun was setting, a deep sleep came over Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.

¹³Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed.

¹⁴However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions.

¹⁵But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.

¹⁶In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

¹⁷When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals.

¹⁸On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring, from the Brook of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River:

¹⁹the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

²⁰Hethites, Perizzites, Rephaim,

²¹Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

¹Paul, an apostle — not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead  —

²and all the brothers who are with me: To the churches of Galatia.

³Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

⁴who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.

⁵To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

⁶I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel —

⁷not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

⁸But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, a curse be on him!

⁹As we have said before, I now say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him!

¹⁰For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

¹¹For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin.

¹²For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹³For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I intensely persecuted God’s church and tried to destroy it.

¹⁴I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.

¹⁵But when God, who from my mother’s womb set me apart and called me by his grace, was pleased

¹⁶to reveal his Son in me, so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.

¹⁷I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who had become apostles before me; instead I went to Arabia and came back to Damascus.

¹⁸Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days.

¹⁹But I didn’t see any of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.

²⁰I declare in the sight of God: I am not lying in what I write to you.

²¹Afterward, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

²²I remained personally unknown to the Judean churches that are in Christ.

²³They simply kept hearing: “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith he once tried to destroy.”

²⁴And they glorified God because of me.

¹Then Job answered:

²I have heard many things like these. You are all miserable comforters.

³Is there no end to your empty words? What provokes you that you continue testifying?

⁴If you were in my place I could also talk like you. I could string words together against you and shake my head at you.

⁵Instead, I would encourage you with my mouth, and the consolation from my lips would bring relief.

⁶If I speak, my suffering is not relieved, and if I hold back, does any of it leave me?

⁷Surely he has now exhausted me. You have devastated my entire family.

⁸You have shriveled me up  — it has become a witness; my frailty rises up against me and testifies to my face.

⁹His anger tears at me, and he harasses me. He gnashes his teeth at me. My enemy pierces me with his eyes.

¹⁰They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join themselves together against me.

¹¹God hands me over to the unjust; he throws me to the wicked.

¹²I was at ease, but he shattered me; he seized me by the scruff of the neck and smashed me to pieces. He set me up as his target;

¹³his archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and pours my bile on the ground.

¹⁴He breaks through my defenses again and again; he charges at me like a warrior.

¹⁵I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my strength in the dust.

¹⁶My face has grown red with weeping, and darkness covers my eyes,

¹⁷although my hands are free from violence and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸Earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry for help find no resting place.

¹⁹Even now my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is in the heights!

²⁰My friends scoff at me as I weep before God.

²¹I wish that someone might argue for a man with God just as anyone would for a friend.

²²For only a few years will pass before I go the way of no return.

¹For the choir director. A of David. When Doeg the Edomite went and reported to Saul, telling him, “David went to Ahimelech’s house.” [1] Why boast about evil, you hero! God’s faithful love is constant.

²Like a sharpened razor, your tongue devises destruction, working treachery.

³You love evil instead of good, lying instead of speaking truthfully. Selah

⁴You love any words that destroy, you treacherous tongue!

⁵This is why God will bring you down forever. He will take you, ripping you out of your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah

⁶The righteous will see and fear, and they will derisively say about that hero,

⁷“Here is the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, taking refuge in his destructive behavior.”

⁸But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God; I trust in God’s faithful love forever and ever.

⁹I will praise you forever for what you have done. In the presence of your faithful people, I will put my hope in your name, for it is good.

¹The reflections of the heart belong to mankind, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

²All a person’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs motives.

³Commit your activities to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

⁴The LORD has prepared everything for his purpose — even the wicked for the day of disaster.

⁵Everyone with a proud heart is detestable to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished.

⁶Iniquity is atoned for by loyalty and faithfulness, and one turns from evil by the fear of the LORD.

⁷When a person’s ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

⁸Better a little with righteousness than great income with injustice.

⁹A person’s heart plans his way, but the LORD determines his steps.

¹⁰God’s verdict is on the lips of a king; his mouth should not give an unfair judgment.

¹¹Honest balances and scales are the LORD’s; all the weights in the bag are his concern.

¹²Wicked behavior is detestable to kings, since a throne is established through righteousness.

¹³Righteous lips are a king’s delight, and he loves one who speaks honestly.

¹⁴A king’s fury is a messenger of death, but a wise person appeases it.

¹⁵When a king’s face lights up, there is life; his favor is like a cloud with spring rain.

¹⁶Get wisdom — how much better it is than gold! And get understanding — it is preferable to silver.

¹⁷The highway of the upright avoids evil; the one who guards his way protects his life.

¹⁸Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.

¹⁹Better to be lowly of spirit with the humble than to divide plunder with the proud.

²⁰The one who understands a matter finds success, and the one who trusts in the LORD will be happy.

²¹Anyone with a wise heart is called discerning, and pleasant speech increases learning.

²²Insight is a fountain of life for its possessor, but the discipline of fools is folly.

²³The heart of a wise person instructs his mouth; it adds learning to his speech.

²⁴Pleasant words are a honeycomb: sweet to the taste and health to the body.

²⁵There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.

²⁶A worker’s appetite works for him because his hunger urges him on.

²⁷A worthless person digs up evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.

²⁸A contrary person spreads conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.

²⁹A violent person lures his neighbor, leading him on a path that is not good.

³⁰The one who narrows his eyes is planning deceptions; the one who compresses his lips brings about evil.

³¹Gray hair is a glorious crown; it is found in the ways of righteousness.

³²Patience is better than power, and controlling one’s emotions, than capturing a city.

³³The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

¹Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, because the troops that had come with the Arabs to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah.

²Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, granddaughter of Omri.

³He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother gave him evil advice.

⁴So he did what was evil in the LORD’s sight like the house of Ahab, for they were his advisers after the death of his father, to his destruction.

⁵He also followed their advice and went with Joram son of Israel’s King Ahab to fight against King Hazael of Aram, in Ramoth-gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram,

⁶so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they inflicted on him in Ramoth-gilead when he fought against King Hazael of Aram. Then Judah’s King Ahaziah son of Jehoram went down to Jezreel to visit Joram son of Ahab since Joram was ill.

⁷Ahaziah’s downfall came from God when he went to Joram. When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.

⁸So when Jehu executed judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the rulers of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who were serving Ahaziah, and he killed them.

⁹Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah, and Jehu’s soldiers captured him (he was hiding in Samaria). So they brought Ahaziah to Jehu, and they killed him. The soldiers buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat who sought the LORD with all his heart.” So no one from the house of Ahaziah had the strength to rule the kingdom.

¹⁰When Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs of the house of Judah.

¹¹Jehoshabeath, the king’s daughter, rescued Joash son of Ahaziah from the king’s sons who were being killed and put him and the one who nursed him in a bedroom. Now Jehoshabeath was the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of the priest Jehoiada. Since she was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid Joash from Athaliah so that she did not kill him.

¹²While Athaliah reigned over the land, he was hiding with them in God’s temple six years.

¹The LORD says: I will not relent from punishing Moab for three crimes, even four, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime.

²Therefore, I will send fire against Moab, and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth. Moab will die with a tumult, with shouting and the sound of the ram’s horn.

³I will cut off the judge from the land and kill all its officials with him. The LORD has spoken.

⁴The LORD says: I will not relent from punishing Judah for three crimes, even four, because they have rejected the instruction of the LORD and have not kept his statutes. The lies that their ancestors followed have led them astray.

⁵Therefore, I will send fire against Judah, and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.

⁶The LORD says: I will not relent from punishing Israel for three crimes, even four, because they sell a righteous person for silver and a needy person for a pair of sandals.

⁷They trample the heads of the poor on the dust of the ground and obstruct the path of the needy. A man and his father have sexual relations with the same girl, profaning my holy name.

⁸They stretch out beside every altar on garments taken as collateral, and in the house of their God they drink wine obtained through fines.

⁹Yet I destroyed the Amorite as Israel advanced; his height was like the cedars, and he was as sturdy as the oaks; I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath.

¹⁰And I brought you from the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness in order to possess the land of the Amorite.

¹¹I raised up some of your sons as prophets and some of your young men as Nazirites. Is this not the case, Israelites? This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹²But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets, “Do not prophesy.”

¹³Look, I am about to crush you in your place as a wagon crushes when full of grain.

¹⁴Escape will fail the swift, the strong one will not maintain his strength, and the warrior will not save his life.

¹⁵The archer will not stand his ground, the one who is swift of foot will not save himself, and the one riding a horse will not save his life.

¹⁶Even the most courageous of the warriors will flee naked on that day  — this is the LORD’s declaration.

¹In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

²The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables.

³Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty.

⁴But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

⁵This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch.

⁶They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

⁷So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.

⁸Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

⁹Opposition arose, however, from some members of the Freedmen’s Synagogue, composed of both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, and they began to argue with Stephen.

¹⁰But they were unable to stand up against his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.

¹¹Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

¹²They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; so they came, seized him, and took him to the Sanhedrin.

¹³They also presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the law.

¹⁴For we heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”

¹⁵And all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.