Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

²He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

³“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.

⁴He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’

⁵So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.

⁶About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

⁷“ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

⁸“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

⁹“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius.

¹⁰So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.

¹¹When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.

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

¹³“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?

¹⁴Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you.

¹⁵Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

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

¹⁷Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them,

¹⁸“We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death

¹⁹and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”

²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.

²¹“What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”

²²“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered.

²³Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

²⁴When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.

²⁵Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.

²⁶Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

²⁷and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—

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

²⁹As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.

³⁰Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

³¹The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

³²Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

³³“Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”

³⁴Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

¹Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar,

²and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.

³But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”

⁴Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?

⁵Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”

⁶Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her.

⁷Now 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, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”

⁸Early the next morning Abimelek summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid.

⁹Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.”

¹⁰And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”

¹¹Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’

¹²Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife.

¹³And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

¹⁴Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him.

¹⁵And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”

¹⁶To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”

¹⁷Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again,

¹⁸for the LORD had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.

¹This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.

²Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

³I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.

⁴My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.

⁵Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

⁶Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.

⁷For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

⁸Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you!

⁹For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.

¹⁰We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!

¹¹To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.

¹²We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;

¹³when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

¹⁴I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children.

¹⁵Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

¹⁶Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

¹⁷For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

¹⁸Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.

¹⁹But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.

²⁰For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

²¹What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

¹You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine.

²Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

³Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.

⁴Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children,

⁵to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

⁶Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.

⁷In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness

⁸and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

⁹Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them,

¹⁰and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.

¹²It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

¹³while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

¹⁵These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

²“My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed.

³I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply.

⁴“Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever since mankind was placed on the earth,

⁵that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.

⁶Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds,

⁷he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

⁸Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found, banished like a vision of the night.

⁹The eye that saw him will not see him again; his place will look on him no more.

¹⁰His children must make amends to the poor; his own hands must give back his wealth.

¹¹The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie with him in the dust.

¹²“Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue,

¹³though he cannot bear to let it go and lets it linger in his mouth,

¹⁴yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him.

¹⁵He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up.

¹⁶He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him.

¹⁷He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

¹⁸What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.

¹⁹For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses he did not build.

²⁰“Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his treasure.

²¹Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure.

²²In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him.

²³When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows on him.

²⁴Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.

²⁵He pulls it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over him;

²⁶total darkness lies in wait for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.

²⁷The heavens will expose his guilt; the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.

²⁹Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God.”

¹For the director of music. A psalm of David. May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

²May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.

³May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.

⁴May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

⁵May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your requests.

⁶Now this I know: The LORD gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand.

⁷Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

⁸They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.

⁹LORD, give victory to the king! Answer us when we call!

¹Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

²A king’s wrath strikes terror like the roar of a lion; those who anger him forfeit their lives.

³It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.

⁴Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing.

⁵The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.

⁶Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find?

⁷The righteous lead blameless lives; blessed are their children after them.

⁸When a king sits on his throne to judge, he winnows out all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?

¹⁰Differing weights and differing measures— the LORD detests them both.

¹¹Even small children are known by their actions, so is their conduct really pure and upright?

¹²Ears that hear and eyes that see— the LORD has made them both.

¹³Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.

¹⁴“It’s no good, it’s no good!” says the buyer— then goes off and boasts about the purchase.

¹⁵Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.

¹⁶Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.

¹⁷Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouth full of gravel.

¹⁸Plans are established by seeking advice; so if you wage war, obtain guidance.

¹⁹A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much.

²⁰If someone curses their father or mother, their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.

²¹An inheritance claimed too soon will not be blessed at the end.

²²Do not say, “I’ll pay you back for this wrong!” Wait for the LORD, and he will avenge you.

²³The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.

²⁴A person’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way?

²⁵It is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider one’s vows.

²⁶A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The human spirit is the lamp of the LORD that sheds light on one’s inmost being.

²⁸Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure.

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

³⁰Blows and wounds scrub away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.

¹Then the LORD said to Joshua:

²“Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,

³so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood.

⁴When they flee to one of these cities, they are to stand in the entrance of the city gate and state their case before the elders of that city. Then the elders are to admit the fugitive into their city and provide a place to live among them.

⁵If the avenger of blood comes in pursuit, the elders must not surrender the fugitive, because the fugitive killed their neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought.

⁶They are to stay in that city until they have stood trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest who is serving at that time. Then they may go back to their own home in the town from which they fled.”

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

⁸East of the Jordan (on the other side from Jericho) they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau in the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan in the tribe of Manasseh.

⁹Any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing among them who killed someone accidentally could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.

¹In the year that the supreme commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it—

²at that time the LORD spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot.

³Then the LORD said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush,

⁴so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared—to Egypt’s shame.

⁵Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be dismayed and put to shame.

⁶In that day the people who live on this coast will say, ‘See what has happened to those we relied on, those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’ ”

¹When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said goodbye and set out for Macedonia.

²He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece,

³where he stayed three months. Because some Jews had plotted against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.

⁴He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

⁵These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas.

⁶But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days.

⁷On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.

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

⁹Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead.

¹⁰Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!”

¹¹Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left.

¹²The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

¹³We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot.

¹⁴When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene.

¹⁵The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Chios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus.

¹⁶Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.

¹⁸When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia.

¹⁹I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents.

²⁰You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.

²¹I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

²²“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.

²³I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.

²⁴However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

²⁵“Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.

²⁶Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you.

²⁷For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.

²⁸Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

²⁹I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.

³⁰Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.

³¹So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

³²“Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

³³I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.

³⁴You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.

³⁵In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

³⁶When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.

³⁷They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him.

³⁸What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.