Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.

²Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.

³And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?”

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

⁵And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.

⁶But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.

⁷But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”

⁸So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

⁹Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.

¹⁰She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.

¹¹And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

¹²After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.

¹³And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.

¹⁴Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

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

¹⁶He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

¹⁷And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

¹⁸they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

¹⁹So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

²⁰And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

¹Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

²And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.

³Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.”

⁴So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

⁵And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

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

⁷And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

⁸Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.

⁹Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him.

¹⁰And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel.

¹¹Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.

¹²The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”

¹³Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.

¹⁴So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it.

¹⁵And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.

¹⁶Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor.

¹⁷Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.”

¹⁸And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

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

²⁰And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.

²¹Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

²²And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

²³the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun;

²⁴the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin;

²⁵the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali;

²⁶and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.

²⁷Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt.

²⁸Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.

²⁹So Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

¹God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,

²has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

³who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

⁴having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

⁵For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son”?

⁶But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.”

⁷And of the angels He says: “Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.”

⁸But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

⁹You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

¹⁰And: “You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

¹¹They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment;

¹²Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.”

¹³But to which of the angels has He ever said: “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?

¹⁴Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

¹Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!

²Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.

³Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.

⁴Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

⁵You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.

⁶You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

⁷Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.

⁸You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

⁹Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!

¹⁰My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.

¹¹Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

¹²But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.

¹³Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.

¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

¹⁵And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

¹⁶Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

¹⁷Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.

¹⁸And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

¹⁹Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,

²⁰let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

¹Elihu also proceeded and said:

²“Bear with me a little, and I will show you That there are yet words to speak on God’s behalf.

³I will fetch my knowledge from afar; I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

⁴For truly my words are not false; One who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵“Behold, God is mighty, but despises no one; He is mighty in strength of understanding.

⁶He does not preserve the life of the wicked, But gives justice to the oppressed.

⁷He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous; But they are on the throne with kings, For He has seated them forever, And they are exalted.

⁸And if they are bound in fetters, Held in the cords of affliction,

⁹Then He tells them their work and their transgressions— That they have acted defiantly.

¹⁰He also opens their ear to instruction, And commands that they turn from iniquity.

¹¹If they obey and serve Him, They shall spend their days in prosperity, And their years in pleasures.

¹²But if they do not obey, They shall perish by the sword, And they shall die without knowledge.

¹³“But the hypocrites in heart store up wrath; They do not cry for help when He binds them.

¹⁴They die in youth, And their life ends among the perverted persons.

¹⁵He delivers the poor in their affliction, And opens their ears in oppression.

¹⁶“Indeed He would have brought you out of dire distress, Into a broad place where there is no restraint; And what is set on your table would be full of richness.

¹⁷But you are filled with the judgment due the wicked; Judgment and justice take hold of you.

¹⁸Because there is wrath, beware lest He take you away with one blow; For a large ransom would not help you avoid it.

¹⁹Will your riches, Or all the mighty forces, Keep you from distress?

²⁰Do not desire the night, When people are cut off in their place.

²¹Take heed, do not turn to iniquity, For you have chosen this rather than affliction.

²²“Behold, God is exalted by His power; Who teaches like Him?

²³Who has assigned Him His way, Or who has said, ‘You have done wrong’?

²⁴“Remember to magnify His work, Of which men have sung.

²⁵Everyone has seen it; Man looks on it from afar.

²⁶“Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can the number of His years be discovered.

²⁷For He draws up drops of water, Which distill as rain from the mist,

²⁸Which the clouds drop down And pour abundantly on man.

²⁹Indeed, can anyone understand the spreading of clouds, The thunder from His canopy?

³⁰Look, He scatters His light upon it, And covers the depths of the sea.

³¹For by these He judges the peoples; He gives food in abundance.

³²He covers His hands with lightning, And commands it to strike.

³³His thunder declares it, The cattle also, concerning the rising storm.

¹A Psalm of Solomon. [1] Give the king Your judgments, O God, And Your righteousness to the king’s Son.

²He will judge Your people with righteousness, And Your poor with justice.

³The mountains will bring peace to the people, And the little hills, by righteousness.

⁴He will bring justice to the poor of the people; He will save the children of the needy, And will break in pieces the oppressor.

⁵They shall fear You As long as the sun and moon endure, Throughout all generations.

⁶He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, Like showers that water the earth.

⁷In His days the righteous shall flourish, And abundance of peace, Until the moon is no more.

⁸He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.

⁹Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him, And His enemies will lick the dust.

¹⁰The kings of Tarshish and of the isles Will bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba Will offer gifts.

¹¹Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; All nations shall serve Him.

¹²For He will deliver the needy when he cries, The poor also, and him who has no helper.

¹³He will spare the poor and needy, And will save the souls of the needy.

¹⁴He will redeem their life from oppression and violence; And precious shall be their blood in His sight.

¹⁵And He shall live; And the gold of Sheba will be given to Him; Prayer also will be made for Him continually, And daily He shall be praised.

¹⁶There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, On the top of the mountains; Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

¹⁷His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun. And men shall be blessed in Him; All nations shall call Him blessed.

¹⁸Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things!

¹⁹And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.

²⁰The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding,

²That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge.

³For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;

⁴But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell.

⁶Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them.

⁷Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house,

⁹Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;

¹¹And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed,

¹²And say: “How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction!

¹³I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!

¹⁴I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

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

¹⁶Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets?

¹⁷Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth.

¹⁹As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love.

²⁰For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He ponders all his paths.

²²His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin.

²³He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

¹Then King Darius issued a decree, and a search was made in the archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon.

²And at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, a scroll was found, and in it a record was written thus:

³In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: “Let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offered sacrifices; and let the foundations of it be firmly laid, its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits,

⁴with three rows of heavy stones and one row of new timber. Let the expenses be paid from the king’s treasury.

⁵Also let the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple which is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and taken back to the temple which is in Jerusalem, each to its place; and deposit them in the house of God”—

⁶Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, and Shethar-Boznai, and your companions the Persians who are beyond the River, keep yourselves far from there.

⁷Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God on its site.

⁸Moreover I issue a decree as to what you shall do for the elders of these Jews, for the building of this house of God: Let the cost be paid at the king’s expense from taxes on the region beyond the River; this is to be given immediately to these men, so that they are not hindered.

⁹And whatever they need—young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the request of the priests who are in Jerusalem—let it be given them day by day without fail,

¹⁰that they may offer sacrifices of sweet aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons.

¹¹Also I issue a decree that whoever alters this edict, let a timber be pulled from his house and erected, and let him be hanged on it; and let his house be made a refuse heap because of this.

¹²And may the God who causes His name to dwell there destroy any king or people who put their hand to alter it, or to destroy this house of God which is in Jerusalem. I Darius issue a decree; let it be done diligently.

¹³Then Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, Shethar-Boznai, and their companions diligently did according to what King Darius had sent.

¹⁴So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

¹⁵Now the temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

¹⁶Then the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites and the rest of the descendants of the captivity, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.

¹⁷And they offered sacrifices at the dedication of this house of God, one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁸They assigned the priests to their divisions and the Levites to their divisions, over the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.

¹⁹And the descendants of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

²⁰For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves; all of them were ritually clean. And they slaughtered the Passover lambs for all the descendants of the captivity, for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

²¹Then the children of Israel who had returned from the captivity ate together with all who had separated themselves from the filth of the nations of the land in order to seek the LORD God of Israel.

²²And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy; for the LORD made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

¹Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself:

²“I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews,

³especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

⁴“My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know.

⁵They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

⁶And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.

⁷To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.

⁸Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?

⁹“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

¹¹And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

¹²“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,

¹³at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.

¹⁴And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

¹⁶But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.

¹⁷I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you,

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

¹⁹“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

²⁰but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

²¹For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

²²Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come—

²³that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!”

²⁵But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason.

²⁶For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner.

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

²⁸Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

²⁹And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”

³⁰When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them;

³¹and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.”

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