Display
Professor Horner’s Reading Plan
Matthew 25; Genesis 16; Galatians 2; 2 Thessalonians3; Job 17; Psalms 53; Proverbs 17; 2 Chronicles 23; Amos 3; Acts 7
Matthew 25
1“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,
4but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’
7Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
8And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
9But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’
10And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’
12But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
14“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.
15And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
16Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.
17And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.
18But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.
19After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
20“So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’
21His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
22He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’
23His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
24“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
25And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
26“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.
27So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.
28Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
29‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.
30And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
31“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
32All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
33And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
34Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
36I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
38When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
39Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
40And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
41“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
42for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;
43I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
45Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
46And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Genesis 16
1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.
2So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.
3Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.
4So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.
5Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The LORD judge between you and me.”
6So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.
7Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.
8And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
9The Angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.”
10Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.”
11And the Angel of the LORD said to her: “Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has heard your affliction.
12He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
13Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”
14Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Galatians 2
1Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me.
2And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain.
3Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
4And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage),
5to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
6But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me.
7But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter
8(for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles),
9and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
10They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.
11Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;
12for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.
13And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
14But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?
15We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
16knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
17“But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!
18For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
19For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.
20I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
21I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
Job 17
1“My spirit is broken, My days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me.
2Are not mockers with me? And does not my eye dwell on their provocation?
3“Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself. Who is he who will shake hands with me?
4For You have hidden their heart from understanding; Therefore You will not exalt them.
5He who speaks flattery to his friends, Even the eyes of his children will fail.
6“But He has made me a byword of the people, And I have become one in whose face men spit.
7My eye has also grown dim because of sorrow, And all my members are like shadows.
8Upright men are astonished at this, And the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite.
9Yet the righteous will hold to his way, And he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.
10“But please, come back again, all of you, For I shall not find one wise man among you.
11My days are past, My purposes are broken off, Even the thoughts of my heart.
12They change the night into day; ‘The light is near,’ they say, in the face of darkness.
13If I wait for the grave as my house, If I make my bed in the darkness,
14If I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ And to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’
15Where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see it?
16Will they go down to the gates of Sheol? Shall we have rest together in the dust?”
Psalms 53
1To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath.” A Contemplation of David. [1] The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good.
2God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
3Every one of them has turned aside; They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.
4Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call upon God?
5There they are in great fear Where no fear was, For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you; You have put them to shame, Because God has despised them.
6Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God brings back the captivity of His people, Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.
Proverbs 17
1Better is a dry morsel with quietness, Than a house full of feasting with strife.
2A wise servant will rule over a son who causes shame, And will share an inheritance among the brothers.
3The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the LORD tests the hearts.
4An evildoer gives heed to false lips; A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue.
5He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker; He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
6Children’s children are the crown of old men, And the glory of children is their father.
7Excellent speech is not becoming to a fool, Much less lying lips to a prince.
8A present is a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor; Wherever he turns, he prospers.
9He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends.
10Rebuke is more effective for a wise man Than a hundred blows on a fool.
11An evil man seeks only rebellion; Therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
12Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs, Rather than a fool in his folly.
13Whoever rewards evil for good, Evil will not depart from his house.
14The beginning of strife is like releasing water; Therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts.
15He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.
16Why is there in the hand of a fool the purchase price of wisdom, Since he has no heart for it?
17A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.
18A man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge, And becomes surety for his friend.
19He who loves transgression loves strife, And he who exalts his gate seeks destruction.
20He who has a deceitful heart finds no good, And he who has a perverse tongue falls into evil.
21He who begets a scoffer does so to his sorrow, And the father of a fool has no joy.
22A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.
23A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back To pervert the ways of justice.
24Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding, But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
25A foolish son is a grief to his father, And bitterness to her who bore him.
26Also, to punish the righteous is not good, Nor to strike princes for their uprightness.
27He who has knowledge spares his words, And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.
28Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.
2 Chronicles 23
1In the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and made a covenant with the captains of hundreds: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri.
2And they went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the chief fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.
3Then all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the LORD has said of the sons of David.
4This is what you shall do: One-third of you entering on the Sabbath, of the priests and the Levites, shall be keeping watch over the doors;
5one-third shall be at the king’s house; and one-third at the Gate of the Foundation. All the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD.
6But let no one come into the house of the LORD except the priests and those of the Levites who serve. They may go in, for they are holy; but all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.
7And the Levites shall surround the king on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes into the house, let him be put to death. You are to be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”
8So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each man took his men who were to be on duty on the Sabbath, with those who were going off duty on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed the divisions.
9And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and the large and small shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of God.
10Then he set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and by the temple, all around the king.
11And they brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, gave him the Testimony, and made him king. Then Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, “Long live the king!”
12Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people in the temple of the LORD.
13When she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance; and the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, also the singers with musical instruments, and those who led in praise. So Athaliah tore her clothes and said, “Treason! Treason!”
14And Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, “Take her outside under guard, and slay with the sword whoever follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not kill her in the house of the LORD.”
15So they seized her; and she went by way of the entrance of the Horse Gate into the king’s house, and they killed her there.
16Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, the people, and the king, that they should be the LORD’s people.
17And all the people went to the temple of Baal, and tore it down. They broke in pieces its altars and images, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.
18Also Jehoiada appointed the oversight of the house of the LORD to the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had assigned in the house of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was established by David.
19And he set the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the LORD, so that no one who was in any way unclean should enter.
20Then he took the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought the king down from the house of the LORD; and they went through the Upper Gate to the king’s house, and set the king on the throne of the kingdom.
21So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, for they had slain Athaliah with the sword.
Amos 3
1Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:
2“You only have I known of all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
3Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
4Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
5Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?
6If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?
7Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
8A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy?
9“Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say: ‘Assemble on the mountains of Samaria; See great tumults in her midst, And the oppressed within her.
10For they do not know to do right,’ Says the LORD, ‘Who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.’ ”
11Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “An adversary shall be all around the land; He shall sap your strength from you, And your palaces shall be plundered.”
12Thus says the LORD: “As a shepherd takes from the mouth of a lion Two legs or a piece of an ear, So shall the children of Israel be taken out Who dwell in Samaria— In the corner of a bed and on the edge of a couch!
13Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,” Says the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,
14“That in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions, I will also visit destruction on the altars of Bethel; And the horns of the altar shall be cut off And fall to the ground.
15I will destroy the winter house along with the summer house; The houses of ivory shall perish, And the great houses shall have an end,” Says the LORD.
Acts 7
1Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,
3and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’
4Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.
5And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him.
6But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years.
7‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’
8Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.
9“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him
10and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
11Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance.
12But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.
13And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh.
14Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people.
15So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers.
16And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.
17“But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt
18till another king arose who did not know Joseph.
19This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live.
20At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months.
21But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son.
22And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.
23“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.
24And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian.
25For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.
26And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’
27But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
28Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’
29Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.
30“And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.
31When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him,
32saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look.
33‘Then the LORD said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.
34I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.” ’
35“This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush.
36He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
37“This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’
38“This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us,
39whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,
40saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
41And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
42Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: ‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’
44“Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen,
45which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David,
46who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob.
47But Solomon built Him a house.
48“However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
49‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest?
50Has My hand not made all these things?’
51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.
52Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,
53who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”
54When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
55But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
56and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;
58and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
60Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.