Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

²When he had agreed with the laborers for adenarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

³And he went out about thethird hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace;

⁴and to those he said, ‘You go into the vineyard also, and whatever is right, I will give you.’ And so they went.

⁵Again he went out about thesixth and the ninth hour, and didthe same thing.

⁶And about theeleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he *said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’

⁷They *said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He *said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

⁸“Now when evening came, the owner of the vineyard *said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, starting with the last group to the first.’

⁹When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received adenarius.

¹⁰And so when those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more;but each of them also received a denarius.

¹¹When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner,

¹²saying, ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day’s work and the scorching heat.’

¹³But he answered and said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?

¹⁴Take what is yours and go; but I want to give to this last person the same as to you.

¹⁵Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with what is my own? Or is your eyeenvious because I amgenerous?’

¹⁶So the last shall be first, and the first, last.”

¹⁷As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the road He said to them,

¹⁸“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will behanded over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death,

¹⁹and they will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and flog and crucify, and on the third day He will be raised up.”

²⁰Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him.

²¹And He said to her, “What do you desire?” She *said to Him, “Say that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine shall sit, one at Your right, and one at Your left.”

²²But Jesus replied, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They *said to Him, “We are able.”

²³He *said to them, “My cup you shall drink; but to sit at My right and at My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.”

²⁴And after hearing this, the other ten disciples became indignant with the two brothers.

²⁵But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles domineer over them, andthose in high position exercise authority over them.

²⁶Itis not this way among you, but whoever wants to becomeprominent among you shall be your servant,

²⁷and whoever desires to be first among you shall be your slave;

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

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

³⁰And two people who were blind, sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

³¹But the crowd sternly warned them to be quiet; yet they cried out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

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

³³They *said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.”

³⁴Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

¹Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev, and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he lived for a time in Gerar.

²And Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar sent men and took Sarah.

³But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married.”

⁴Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, will You kill a nation, even though blameless?

⁵Did he himself not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.”

⁶Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.

⁷Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.”

⁸So Abimelech got up early in the morning and called all his servants, and told all these things in their presence; and the people were greatly frightened.

⁹Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.”

¹⁰And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What have you encountered, that you have done this thing?”

¹¹Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.

¹²Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife;

¹³and it came about, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is the kindness which you will show to me: everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

¹⁴Abimelech then took sheep and oxen and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him.

¹⁵Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; settle wherever you please.”

¹⁶To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is your vindication before all who are with you, and before everyone you are cleared.”

¹⁷Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his female slaves, so that they gave birth to children.

¹⁸For the LORD had completely closed all the wombs of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

¹This is the way any person is to regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

²In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.

³But to me it is an insignificant matter that I would be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself.

⁴For I am not aware of anything against myself; however I am not vindicated by this, but the one who examines me is the Lord.

⁵Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of human hearts; and then praise will come to each person from God.

⁶Now these things, brothers and sisters, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos on your account, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.

⁷For who considers you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

⁸You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you!

⁹For I think, God has exhibited us, the apostles, last of all as men condemned to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to mankind.

¹⁰We are fools on account of Christ, but you are prudent in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are without honor!

¹¹Up to this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed and roughly treated and homeless;

¹²and we labor, working with our own hands; when we are verbally abused, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;

¹³when we are slandered, we reply as friends; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.

¹⁴I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

¹⁵For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

¹⁶Therefore I urge you, be imitators of me.

¹⁷For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.

¹⁸Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.

¹⁹But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant, but their power.

²⁰For the kingdom of God is not in words, but in power.

²¹What do you desire? That I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?

¹But as for you, proclaim the things which are fitting for sound doctrine.

²Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance.

³Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,

⁴so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,

⁵to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

⁶Likewise urge the young men to be sensible;

⁷in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified,

⁸sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.

⁹Urge slaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be pleasing, not argumentative,

¹⁰not stealing, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people,

¹²instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and in a godly manner in the present age,

¹³looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,

¹⁴who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, eager for good deeds.

¹⁵These things speak and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. No one is to disregard you.

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite responded,

²“Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me respond, Even because of my inward agitation.

³I listened to the reprimand which insults me, And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.

⁴Do you know this from ancient times, From the establishment of mankind on earth,

⁵That the rejoicing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless momentary?

⁶Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, And his head touches the clouds,

⁷He perishes forever like his refuse; Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

⁸He flies away like a dream, and they cannot find him; Like a vision of the night he is chased away.

⁹The eye which saw him sees him no longer, And his place no longer beholds him.

¹⁰His sons favor the poor, And his hands give back his wealth.

¹¹His bones are full of his youthful strength, But it lies down with him in the dust.

¹²“Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth And he hides it under his tongue,

¹³Though he desires it and will not let it go, But holds it in his mouth,

¹⁴Yet his food in his stomach is changed To the venom of cobras within him.

¹⁵He swallows riches, But will vomit them up; God will expel them from his belly.

¹⁶He sucks the poison of cobras; The viper’s tongue kills him.

¹⁷He does not look at the streams, The rivers flowing with honey and curds.

¹⁸He returns the product of his labor And cannot swallow it; As to the riches of his trading, He cannot even enjoy them.

¹⁹For he has oppressed and neglected the poor; He has seized a house which he has not built.

²⁰“Because he knew no quiet within him, He does not retain anything he desires.

²¹Nothing remains for him to devour, Therefore his prosperity does not endure.

²²In the fullness of his excess he will be cramped; The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.

²³When he fills his belly, God will send His fierce anger on him And rain it on him while he is eating.

²⁴He may flee from the iron weapon, But the bronze bow will pierce him.

²⁵It is drawn and comes out of his back, Even the flashing point from his gallbladder; Terrors come upon him,

²⁶Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures, And unfanned fire will devour him; It will consume the survivor in his tent.

²⁷The heavens will reveal his guilt, And the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸The increase of his house will disappear; His possessions will flow away on the day of His anger.

²⁹This is a wicked person’s portion from God, The inheritance decreed to him by God.”

¹May the LORD answer you on a day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!

²May He send you help from the sanctuary, And support you from Zion!

³May He remember all your meal offerings And accept your burnt offering! Selah

⁴May He grant you your heart’s desire And fulfill your whole plan!

⁵We will sing for joy over your victory, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the LORD fulfill all your desires.

⁶Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand.

⁷Some praise their chariots and some their horses, But we will praise the name of the LORD, our God.

⁸They have bowed down and fallen, But we have risen and stood upright.

⁹Save, LORD; May the King answer us on the day we call.

¹Wine is a mocker, intoxicating drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

²The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion; One who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

³Avoiding strife is an honor for a person, But any fool will quarrel.

⁴The lazy one does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.

⁵A plan in the heart of a person is like deep water, But a person of understanding draws it out.

⁶Many a person proclaims his own loyalty, But who can find a trustworthy person?

⁷A righteous person who walks in his integrity— How blessed are his sons after him.

⁸A king who sits on the throne of justice Disperses all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin”?

¹⁰Differing weights and differing measures, Both of them are abominable to the LORD.

¹¹It is by his deeds that a boy distinguishes himself, If his conduct is pure and right.

¹²The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made both of them.

¹³Do not love sleep, or you will become poor; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.

¹⁴“Bad, bad,” says the buyer, But when he goes his way, then he boasts.

¹⁵There is gold, and an abundance of jewels; But lips of knowledge are a more precious thing.

¹⁶Take his garment when he becomes guarantor for a stranger; And for foreigners, seize a pledge from him.

¹⁷Bread obtained by a lie is sweet to a person, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

¹⁸Prepare plans by consultation, And make war by wise guidance.

¹⁹One who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets; Therefore do not associate with a gossip.

²⁰He who curses his father or his mother, His lamp will go out in time of darkness.

²¹An inheritance gained in a hurry at the beginning Will not be blessed in the end.

²²Do not say, “I will repay evil”; Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.

²³Differing weights are an abomination to the LORD, And a false scale is not good.

²⁴A man’s steps are ordained by the LORD; How then can a person understand his way?

²⁵It is a trap for a person to say carelessly, “It is holy!” And after the vows to make inquiry.

²⁶A wise king scatters the wicked, And drives a threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The spirit of a person is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being.

²⁸Loyalty and truth watch over the king, And he upholds his throne by loyalty.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength, And the honor of old men is their gray hair.

³⁰Bruising wounds clean away evil, And blows cleanse the innermost parts.

¹Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,

²“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘Designate the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,

³so that one who commits manslaughter by killing a person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood.

⁴Then he shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and state his case in the presence of the elders of that city; and they shall receive him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may remain among them.

⁵Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they are not to hand the one who committed manslaughter over to him, since he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him previously.

⁶And he shall remain in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then he shall return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled.’ ”

⁷So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

⁸And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.

⁹These were the designated cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them, so that whoever kills a person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.

¹In the year that the commander came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it,

²at that time the LORD spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go and loosen the sackcloth from your hips and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, going naked and barefoot.

³Then the LORD said, “Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and symbol against Egypt and Cush,

⁴so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

⁵Then they will be terrified and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their pride.

⁶So the inhabitants of this coastland will say on that day, ‘Behold, such is our hope, where we fled for help to be saved from the king of Assyria; and how are we ourselves to escape?’ ”

¹After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had encouraged them and taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia.

²When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.

³And there he spent three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

⁴And he was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.

⁵Now these had gone on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas.

⁶We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and reached them at Troas within five days; and we stayed there for seven days.

⁷On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were gathered together.

⁹And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, Eutychus was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor, and was picked up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, “Do not be troubled, for he is still alive.”

¹¹When Paul had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left.

¹²They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted.

¹³But we went ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for that was what he had arranged, intending himself to go by land.

¹⁴And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene.

¹⁵Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day we came to Miletus.

¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to lose time in Asia; for he was hurrying, if it might be possible for him to be in Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷From Miletus he sent word to Ephesus and called to himself the elders of the church.

¹⁸And when they came to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews;

²⁰how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was beneficial, and teaching you publicly and from house to house,

²¹solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

²²And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

²³except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that chains and afflictions await me.

²⁴But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of God’s grace.

²⁵“And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.

²⁶Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all people.

²⁷For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.

²⁸Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

²⁹I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;

³⁰and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.

³¹Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.

³²And now I entrust you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

³³I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes.

³⁴You yourselves know that these hands served my own needs and the men who were with me.

³⁵In everything I showed you that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’  ”

³⁶When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

³⁷And they all began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him,

³⁸grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship.