Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.

²Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb

³and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

⁴But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

⁵As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

⁶“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ”

⁸Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. [The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9 — 20.]

⁹When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.

¹⁰She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping.

¹¹When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.

¹²Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country.

¹³These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

¹⁴Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

¹⁵He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

¹⁶Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

¹⁷And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

¹⁸they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

¹⁹After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.

²⁰Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

¹Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”

²So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.

³Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.”

⁴So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem.

⁵Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.

⁶Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.

⁷There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

⁸Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak outside Bethel. So it was named Allon Bakuth.

⁹After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.

¹⁰God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.

¹¹And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants.

¹²The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”

¹³Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.

¹⁴Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it.

¹⁵Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.

¹⁶Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty.

¹⁷And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.”

¹⁸As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.

¹⁹So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

²⁰Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.

²¹Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder.

²²While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it. Jacob had twelve sons:

²³The sons of Leah: Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.

²⁴The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁵The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.

²⁶The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

²⁷Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.

²⁸Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years.

²⁹Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

¹In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,

²but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

³The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

⁴So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

⁵For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?

⁶And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

⁷In speaking of the angels he says, “He makes his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.”

⁸But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

⁹You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

¹⁰He also says, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

¹¹They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment.

¹²You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”

¹³To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

¹⁴Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

¹Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.

²Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.

³Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.

⁴Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.

⁵You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.

⁶You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

⁷Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.

⁸You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

⁹Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

¹⁰Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

¹¹As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

¹²Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.

¹³Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.

¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

¹⁵And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

¹⁷Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

¹⁸Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

¹⁹My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back,

²⁰remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

¹Elihu continued:

²“Bear with me a little longer and I will show you that there is more to be said in God’s behalf.

³I get my knowledge from afar; I will ascribe justice to my Maker.

⁴Be assured that my words are not false; one who has perfect knowledge is with you.

⁵“God is mighty, but despises no one; he is mighty, and firm in his purpose.

⁶He does not keep the wicked alive but gives the afflicted their rights.

⁷He does not take his eyes off the righteous; he enthrones them with kings and exalts them forever.

⁸But if people are bound in chains, held fast by cords of affliction,

⁹he tells them what they have done— that they have sinned arrogantly.

¹⁰He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil.

¹¹If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.

¹²But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword and die without knowledge.

¹³“The godless in heart harbor resentment; even when he fetters them, they do not cry for help.

¹⁴They die in their youth, among male prostitutes of the shrines.

¹⁵But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction.

¹⁶“He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food.

¹⁷But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked; judgment and justice have taken hold of you.

¹⁸Be careful that no one entices you by riches; do not let a large bribe turn you aside.

¹⁹Would your wealth or even all your mighty efforts sustain you so you would not be in distress?

²⁰Do not long for the night, to drag people away from their homes.

²¹Beware of turning to evil, which you seem to prefer to affliction.

²²“God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?

²³Who has prescribed his ways for him, or said to him, ‘You have done wrong’?

²⁴Remember to extol his work, which people have praised in song.

²⁵All humanity has seen it; mortals gaze on it from afar.

²⁶How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out.

²⁷“He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams;

²⁸the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind.

²⁹Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds, how he thunders from his pavilion?

³⁰See how he scatters his lightning about him, bathing the depths of the sea.

³¹This is the way he governs the nations and provides food in abundance.

³²He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark.

³³His thunder announces the coming storm; even the cattle make known its approach.

¹Of Solomon. Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness.

²May he judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice.

³May the mountains bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness.

⁴May he defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; may he crush the oppressor.

⁵May he endure as long as the sun, as long as the moon, through all generations.

⁶May he be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth.

⁷In his days may the righteous flourish and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.

⁸May he rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.

⁹May the desert tribes bow before him and his enemies lick the dust.

¹⁰May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts.

¹¹May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.

¹²For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.

¹³He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.

¹⁴He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.

¹⁵Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him. May people ever pray for him and bless him all day long.

¹⁶May grain abound throughout the land; on the tops of the hills may it sway. May the crops flourish like Lebanon and thrive like the grass of the field.

¹⁷May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. Then all nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed.

¹⁸Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.

¹⁹Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen.

²⁰This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom, turn your ear to my words of insight,

²that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.

³For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil;

⁴but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.

⁶She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.

⁷Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say.

⁸Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house,

⁹lest you lose your honor to others and your dignity to one who is cruel,

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich the house of another.

¹¹At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent.

¹²You will say, “How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction!

¹³I would not obey my teachers or turn my ear to my instructors.

¹⁴And I was soon in serious trouble in the assembly of God’s people.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?

¹⁷Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.

¹⁸May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

¹⁹A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.

²⁰Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

²¹For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths.

²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast.

²³For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly.

¹King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon.

²A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it: Memorandum:

³In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide,

⁴with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury.

⁵Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.

⁶Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you other officials of that province, stay away from there.

⁷Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.

⁸Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God: Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop.

⁹Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail,

¹⁰so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.

¹¹Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble.

¹²May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem. I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.

¹³Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence.

¹⁴So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.

¹⁵The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

¹⁶Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

¹⁷For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁸And they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.

¹⁹On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover.

²⁰The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves.

²¹So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the LORD, the God of Israel.

²²For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

¹Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense:

²“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews,

³and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴“The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem.

⁵They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee.

⁶And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today.

⁷This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me.

⁸Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

⁹“I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

¹¹Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

¹²“On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.

¹³About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions.

¹⁴We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵“Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.

¹⁶‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.

¹⁷I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them

¹⁸to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

¹⁹“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.

²⁰First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.

²¹That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.

²²But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—

²³that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”

²⁵“I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable.

²⁶The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.

²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

²⁸Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”

²⁹Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

³⁰The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them.

³¹After they left the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”

³²Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”