Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Again he began to teach by the sea, and a very large crowd gathered around him. So he got into a boat on the sea and sat down, while the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore.

²He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:

³“Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow.

⁴As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly, since the soil wasn’t deep.

⁶When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.

⁷Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce fruit.

⁸Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit that increased thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.”

⁹Then he said, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”

¹⁰When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve, asked him about the parables.

¹¹He answered them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables

¹²so that they may indeed look, and yet not perceive; they may indeed listen, and yet not understand; otherwise, they might turn back and be forgiven.”

¹³Then he said to them: “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables?

¹⁴The sower sows the word.

¹⁵Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them.

¹⁶And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy.

¹⁷But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.

¹⁸Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word,

¹⁹but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

²⁰And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.”

²¹He also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand?

²²For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light.

²³If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.”

²⁴And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you — and more will be added to you.

²⁵For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

²⁶“The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground.

²⁷He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how.

²⁸The soil produces a crop by itself — first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head.

²⁹As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

³⁰And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it?

³¹It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground.

³²And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.”

³³He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand.

³⁴He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.

³⁵On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.”

³⁶So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him.

³⁷A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.

³⁸He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?”

³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

⁴⁰Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

¹Now Sarah lived 127 years; these were all the years of her life.

²Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron ) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

³Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hethites:

⁴“I am an alien residing among you. Give me burial property among you so that I can bury my dead.”

⁵The Hethites replied to Abraham,

⁶“Listen to us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in our finest burial place. None of us will withhold from you his burial place for burying your dead.”

⁷Then Abraham rose and bowed down to the Hethites, the people of the land.

⁸He said to them, “If you are willing for me to bury my dead, listen to me and ask Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf

⁹to give me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me in your presence, for the full price, as burial property.”

¹⁰Ephron was sitting among the Hethites. So in the hearing of all the Hethites who came to the gate of his city, Ephron the Hethite answered Abraham:

¹¹“No, my lord. Listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the sight of my people. Bury your dead.”

¹²Abraham bowed down to the people of the land

¹³and said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “Listen to me, if you please. Let me pay the price of the field. Accept it from me, and let me bury my dead there.”

¹⁴Ephron answered Abraham and said to him,

¹⁵“My lord, listen to me. Land worth four hundred shekels of silver  — what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”

¹⁶Abraham agreed with Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had agreed to in the hearing of the Hethites: four hundred standard shekels of silver.

¹⁷So Ephron’s field at Machpelah near Mamre — the field with its cave and all the trees anywhere within the boundaries of the field — became

¹⁸Abraham’s possession in the sight of all the Hethites who came to the gate of his city.

¹⁹After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

²⁰The field with its cave passed from the Hethites to Abraham as burial property.

¹For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles —

²you have heard, haven’t you, about the administration of God’s grace that he gave to me for you?

³The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above.

⁴By reading this you are able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.

⁵This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:

⁶The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

⁷I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power.

⁸This grace was given to me — the least of all the saints — to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of Christ,

⁹and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

¹⁰This is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.

¹¹This is according to his eternal purpose accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹²In him we have boldness and confident access through faith in him.

¹³So then I ask you not to be discouraged over my afflictions on your behalf, for they are your glory.

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father

¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

¹⁶I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit,

¹⁷and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love,

¹⁸may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love,

¹⁹and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us —

²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, for the sake of the promise of life in Christ Jesus:

²To Timothy, my dearly loved son. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as my ancestors did, when I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day.

⁴Remembering your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.

⁵I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also.

⁶Therefore, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.

⁷For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

⁸So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me his prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.

⁹He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

¹⁰This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

¹¹For this gospel I was appointed a herald, apostle, and teacher,

¹²and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.

¹³Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

¹⁵You know that all those in the province of Asia have deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

¹⁶May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.

¹⁷On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he diligently searched for me and found me.

¹⁸May the Lord grant that he obtain mercy from him on that day. You know very well how much he ministered at Ephesus.

¹Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why do those who know him never see his days?

²The wicked displace boundary markers. They steal a flock and provide pasture for it.

³They drive away the donkeys owned by the fatherless and take the widow’s ox as collateral.

⁴They push the needy off the road; the poor of the land are forced into hiding.

⁵Like wild donkeys in the wilderness, the poor go out to their task of foraging for food; the desert provides nourishment for their children.

⁶They gather their fodder in the field and glean the vineyards of the wicked.

⁷Without clothing, they spend the night naked, having no covering against the cold.

⁸Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks, shelterless.

⁹The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral.

¹⁰Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry sheaves but go hungry.

¹¹They crush olives in their presses; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.

¹²From the city, men groan; the mortally wounded cry for help, yet God pays no attention to this crime.

¹³The wicked are those who rebel against the light. They do not recognize its ways or stay on its paths.

¹⁴The murderer rises at dawn to kill the poor and needy, and by night he becomes a thief.

¹⁵The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight, thinking, “No eye will see me,” and he covers his face.

¹⁶In the dark they break into houses; by day they lock themselves in, never experiencing the light.

¹⁷For the morning is like darkness to them. Surely they are familiar with the terrors of darkness!

¹⁸They float on the surface of the water. Their section of the land is cursed, so that they never go to their vineyards.

¹⁹As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned.

²⁰The womb forgets them; worms feed on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is broken like a tree.

²¹They prey on the childless woman who is unable to conceive, and do not deal kindly with the widow.

²²Yet God drags away the mighty by his power; when he rises up, they have no assurance of life.

²³He gives them a sense of security, so they can rely on it, but his eyes watch over their ways.

²⁴They are exalted for a moment, then gone; they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else. They wither like heads of grain.

²⁵If this is not true, then who can prove me a liar and show that my speech is worthless?

¹For the choir director: according to “The Lily of Testimony.” A of David for teaching. When he fought with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and struck Edom in Salt Valley, killing twelve thousand. [1] God, you have rejected us; you have broken us down; you have been angry. Restore us!

²You have shaken the land and split it open. Heal its fissures, for it shudders.

³You have made your people suffer hardship; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.

⁴You have given a signal flag to those who fear you, so that they can flee before the archers. Selah

⁵Save with your right hand, and answer me, so that those you love may be rescued.

⁶God has spoken in his sanctuary: “I will celebrate! I will divide up Shechem. I will apportion the Valley of Succoth.

⁷Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine, and Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter.

⁸Moab is my washbasin. I throw my sandal on Edom; I shout in triumph over Philistia.”

⁹Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?

¹⁰God, haven’t you rejected us? God, you do not march out with our armies.

¹¹Give us aid against the foe, for human help is worthless.

¹²With God we will perform valiantly; he will trample our foes.

¹Don’t envy the evil or desire to be with them,

²for their hearts plan violence, and their words stir up trouble.

³A house is built by wisdom, and it is established by understanding;

⁴by knowledge the rooms are filled with every precious and beautiful treasure.

⁵A wise warrior is better than a strong one, and a man of knowledge than one of strength;

⁶for you should wage war with sound guidance — victory comes with many counselors.

⁷Wisdom is inaccessible to a fool; he does not open his mouth at the city gate.

⁸The one who plots evil will be called a schemer.

⁹A foolish scheme is sin, and a mocker is detestable to people.

¹⁰If you do nothing in a difficult time, your strength is limited.

¹¹Rescue those being taken off to death, and save those stumbling toward slaughter.

¹²If you say, “But we didn’t know about this,” won’t he who weighs hearts consider it? Won’t he who protects your life know? Won’t he repay a person according to his work?

¹³Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to your palate;

¹⁴realize that wisdom is the same for you. If you find it, you will have a future, and your hope will never fade.

¹⁵Don’t set an ambush, you wicked one, at the camp of the righteous man; don’t destroy his dwelling.

¹⁶Though a righteous person falls seven times, he will get up, but the wicked will stumble into ruin.

¹⁷Don’t gloat when your enemy falls, and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,

¹⁸or the LORD will see, be displeased, and turn his wrath away from him.

¹⁹Don’t be agitated by evildoers, and don’t envy the wicked.

²⁰For the evil have no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹My son, fear the LORD, as well as the king, and don’t associate with rebels,

²²for destruction will come suddenly from them; who knows what distress these two can bring?

²³These sayings also belong to the wise: It is not good to show partiality in judgment.

²⁴Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent”  — peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;

²⁵but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a generous blessing will come to them.

²⁶He who gives an honest answer gives a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Complete your outdoor work, and prepare your field; afterward, build your house.

²⁸Don’t testify against your neighbor without cause. Don’t deceive with your lips.

²⁹Don’t say, “I’ll do to him what he did to me; I’ll repay the man for what he has done.”

³⁰I went by the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of one lacking sense.

³¹Thistles had come up everywhere, weeds covered the ground, and the stone wall was ruined.

³²I saw, and took it to heart; I looked, and received instruction:

³³a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest,

³⁴and your poverty will come like a robber, and your need, like a bandit.

¹Then Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh to come to the LORD’s temple in Jerusalem to observe the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel.

²For the king and his officials and the entire congregation in Jerusalem decided to observe the Passover of the LORD in the second month,

³because they were not able to observe it at the appropriate time. Not enough of the priests had consecrated themselves, and the people hadn’t been gathered together in Jerusalem.

⁴The proposal pleased the king and the congregation,

⁵so they affirmed the proposal and spread the message throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan, to come to observe the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel in Jerusalem, for they hadn’t observed it often, as prescribed.

⁶So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the hand of the king and his officials, and according to the king’s command, saying, “Israelites, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that he may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.

⁷Don’t be like your fathers and your brothers who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their ancestors so that he made them an object of horror as you yourselves see.

⁸Don’t become obstinate now like your fathers did. Give your allegiance to the LORD, and come to his sanctuary that he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God so that he may turn his burning anger away from you,

⁹for when you return to the LORD, your brothers and your sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful; he will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.”

¹⁰The couriers traveled from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but the inhabitants laughed at them and mocked them.

¹¹But some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

¹²Also, the power of God was at work in Judah to unite them to carry out the command of the king and his officials by the word of the LORD.

¹³A very large assembly of people was gathered in Jerusalem to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month.

¹⁴They proceeded to take away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and they took away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.

¹⁵They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the LORD’s temple.

¹⁶They stood at their prescribed posts, according to the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests splattered the blood received from the Levites,

¹⁷for there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, and so the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover lambs for every unclean person to consecrate the lambs to the LORD.

¹⁸A large number of the people — many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun — were ritually unclean, yet they had eaten the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah had interceded for them, saying, “May the good LORD provide atonement on behalf of

¹⁹whoever sets his whole heart on seeking God, the LORD, the God of his ancestors, even though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.”

²⁰So the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

²¹The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day after day with loud instruments.

²²Then Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who performed skillfully before the LORD. They ate at the appointed festival for seven days, sacrificing fellowship offerings and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their ancestors.

²³The whole congregation decided to observe seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy,

²⁴for King Hezekiah of Judah contributed one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the congregation. Also, the officials contributed one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the congregation, and many priests consecrated themselves.

²⁵Then the whole assembly of Judah with the priests and Levites, the whole assembly that came from Israel, the resident aliens who came from the land of Israel, and those who were living in Judah, rejoiced.

²⁶There was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for nothing like this was known since the days of Solomon son of David, the king of Israel.

²⁷Then the priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, and their prayer came into his holy dwelling place in heaven.

¹In Iconium they entered the Jewish synagogue, as usual, and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.

²But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

³So they stayed there a long time and spoke boldly for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace by enabling them to do signs and wonders.

⁴But the people of the city were divided, some siding with the Jews and others with the apostles.

⁵When an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat and stone them,

⁶they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside.

⁷There they continued preaching the gospel.

⁸In Lystra a man was sitting who was without strength in his feet, had never walked, and had been lame from birth.

⁹He listened as Paul spoke. After looking directly at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

¹⁰Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” And he jumped up and began to walk around.

¹¹When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

¹²Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

¹³The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds, to offer sacrifice.

¹⁴The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their robes when they heard this and rushed into the crowd, shouting:

¹⁵“People! Why are you doing these things? We are people also, just like you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.

¹⁶In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own way,

¹⁷although he did not leave himself without a witness, since he did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.”

¹⁸Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

¹⁹Some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.

²⁰After the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

²¹After they had preached the gospel in that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch,

²²strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

²³When they had appointed elders for them in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

²⁴They passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.

²⁵After they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

²⁶From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

²⁷After they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported everything God had done with them and that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

²⁸And they spent a considerable time with the disciples.