Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God’s word, he was standing by Lake Gennesaret.

²He saw two boats at the edge of the lake; the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.

³He got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat.

⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

⁵“Master,” Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.”

⁶When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear.

⁷So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

⁸When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”

⁹For he and all those with him were amazed at the catch of fish they had taken,

¹⁰and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners. “Don’t be afraid,” Jesus told Simon. “From now on you will be catching people.”

¹¹Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed him.

¹²While he was in one of the towns, a man was there who had leprosy all over him. He saw Jesus, fell facedown, and begged him: “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

¹³Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean,” and immediately the leprosy left him.

¹⁴Then he ordered him to tell no one: “But go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them.”

¹⁵But the news about him spread even more, and large crowds would come together to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.

¹⁶Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.

¹⁷On one of those days while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and also from Jerusalem. And the Lord’s power to heal was in him.

¹⁸Just then some men came, carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed. They tried to bring him in and set him down before him.

¹⁹Since they could not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the roof tiles into the middle of the crowd before Jesus.

²⁰Seeing their faith he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

²¹Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to think to themselves: “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

²²But perceiving their thoughts, Jesus replied to them, “Why are you thinking this in your hearts?

²³Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

²⁴But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”  — he told the paralyzed man, “I tell you: Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

²⁵Immediately he got up before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.

²⁶Then everyone was astounded, and they were giving glory to God. And they were filled with awe and said, “We have seen incredible things today.”

²⁷After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me.”

²⁸So, leaving everything behind, he got up and began to follow him.

²⁹Then Levi hosted a grand banquet for him at his house. Now there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were guests with them.

³⁰But the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

³¹Jesus replied to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick.

³²I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

³³Then they said to him, “John’s disciples fast often and say prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but yours eat and drink.”

³⁴Jesus said to them, “You can’t make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them, can you?

³⁵But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them — then they will fast in those days.”

³⁶He also told them a parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. Otherwise, not only will he tear the new, but also the piece from the new garment will not match the old.

³⁷And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, it will spill, and the skins will be ruined.

³⁸No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.

³⁹And no one, after drinking old wine, wants new, because he says, ‘The old is better.’”

¹After this, the king of Egypt’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt.

²Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,

³and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guards in the prison where Joseph was confined.

⁴The captain of the guards assigned Joseph to them as their personal attendant, and they were in custody for some time.

⁵The king of Egypt’s cupbearer and baker, who were confined in the prison, each had a dream. Both had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning.

⁶When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked distraught.

⁷So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”

⁸“We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

⁹So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: “In my dream there was a vine in front of me.

¹⁰On the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and its clusters ripened into grapes.

¹¹Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹²“This is its interpretation,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days.

¹³In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand the way you used to when you were his cupbearer.

¹⁴But when all goes well for you, remember that I was with you. Please show kindness to me by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison.

¹⁵For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should put me in the dungeon.”

¹⁶When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was positive, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream. Three baskets of white bread were on my head.

¹⁷In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸“This is its interpretation,” Joseph replied. “The three baskets are three days.

¹⁹In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head — from off you — and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh from your body.”

²⁰On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he gave a feast for all his servants. He elevated the chief cupbearer and the chief baker among his servants.

²¹Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position as cupbearer, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.

²²But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had explained to them.

²³Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

¹Therefore, let us leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, faith in God,

²teaching about ritual washings, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

³And we will do this if God permits.

⁴For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit,

⁵who tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age,

⁶and who have fallen away. This is because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding him up to contempt.

⁷For the ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it and that produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God.

⁸But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and at the end will be burned.

⁹Even though we are speaking this way, dearly loved friends, in your case we are confident of things that are better and that pertain to salvation.

¹⁰For God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you demonstrated for his name by serving the saints — and by continuing to serve them.

¹¹Now we desire each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the full assurance of your hope until the end,

¹²so that you won’t become lazy but will be imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance.

¹³For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself:

¹⁴I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply you.

¹⁵And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise.

¹⁶For people swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute.

¹⁷Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath,

¹⁸so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.

¹⁹We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.

²⁰Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because he has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

¹I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed:

²Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly;

³not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

⁴And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

⁵In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time,

⁷casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.

⁸Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

⁹Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.

¹⁰The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.

¹¹To him be dominion forever. Amen.

¹²Through Silvanus, a faithful brother (as I consider him), I have written to you briefly in order to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!

¹³She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, as does Mark, my son.

¹⁴Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

¹Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie his tongue down with a rope?

²Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?

³Will he beg you for mercy or speak softly to you?

⁴Will he make a covenant with you so that you can take him as a slave forever?

⁵Can you play with him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls?

⁶Will traders bargain for him or divide him among the merchants?

⁷Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?

⁸Lay a hand on him. You will remember the battle and never repeat it!

⁹Any hope of capturing him proves false. Does a person not collapse at the very sight of him?

¹⁰No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan; who then can stand against me?

¹¹Who confronted me, that I should repay him? Everything under heaven belongs to me.

¹²I cannot be silent about his limbs, his power, and his graceful proportions.

¹³Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can penetrate his double layer of armor?

¹⁴Who can open his jaws, surrounded by those terrifying teeth?

¹⁵His pride is in his rows of scales, closely sealed together.

¹⁶One scale is so close to another that no air can pass between them.

¹⁷They are joined to one another, so closely connected they cannot be separated.

¹⁸His snorting flashes with light, while his eyes are like the rays of dawn.

¹⁹Flaming torches shoot from his mouth; fiery sparks fly out!

²⁰Smoke billows from his nostrils as from a boiling pot or burning reeds.

²¹His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames pour out of his mouth.

²²Strength resides in his neck, and dismay dances before him.

²³The folds of his flesh are joined together, solid as metal and immovable.

²⁴His heart is as hard as a rock, as hard as a lower millstone!

²⁵When Leviathan rises, the mighty are terrified; they withdraw because of his thrashing.

²⁶The sword that reaches him will have no effect, nor will a spear, dart, or arrow.

²⁷He regards iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸No arrow can make him flee; slingstones become like stubble to him.

²⁹A club is regarded as stubble, and he laughs at the sound of a javelin.

³⁰His undersides are jagged potsherds, spreading the mud like a threshing sledge.

³¹He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron; he makes the sea like an ointment jar.

³²He leaves a shining wake behind him; one would think the deep had gray hair!

³³He has no equal on earth — a creature devoid of fear!

³⁴He surveys everything that is haughty; he is king over all the proud beasts.

¹For the choir director: according to Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm. [1] I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.

²I sought the Lord in my day of trouble. My hands were continually lifted up all night long; I refused to be comforted.

³I think of God; I groan; I meditate; my spirit becomes weak. Selah

⁴You have kept me from closing my eyes; I am troubled and cannot speak.

⁵I consider days of old, years long past.

⁶At night I remember my music; I meditate in my heart, and my spirit ponders.

⁷“Will the Lord reject forever and never again show favor?

⁸Has his faithful love ceased forever? Is his promise at an end for all generations?

⁹Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” Selah

¹⁰So I say, “I am grieved that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

¹¹I will remember the LORD’s works; yes, I will remember your ancient wonders.

¹²I will reflect on all you have done and meditate on your actions.

¹³God, your way is holy. What god is great like God?

¹⁴You are the God who works wonders; you revealed your strength among the peoples.

¹⁵With power you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

¹⁶The water saw you, God. The water saw you; it trembled. Even the depths shook.

¹⁷The clouds poured down water. The storm clouds thundered; your arrows flashed back and forth.

¹⁸The sound of your thunder was in the whirlwind; lightning lit up the world. The earth shook and quaked.

¹⁹Your way went through the sea and your path through the vast water, but your footprints were unseen.

²⁰You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

¹Solomon’s proverbs: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son, heartache to his mother.

²Ill-gotten gains do not profit anyone, but righteousness rescues from death.

³The LORD will not let the righteous go hungry, but he denies the wicked what they crave.

⁴Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring riches.

⁵The son who gathers during summer is prudent; the son who sleeps during harvest is disgraceful.

⁶Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

⁷The remembrance of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

⁸A wise heart accepts commands, but foolish lips will be destroyed.

⁹The one who lives with integrity lives securely, but whoever perverts his ways will be found out.

¹⁰A sly wink of the eye causes grief, and foolish lips will be destroyed.

¹¹The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

¹²Hatred stirs up conflicts, but love covers all offenses.

¹³Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of the one who lacks sense.

¹⁴The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool hastens destruction.

¹⁵The wealth of the rich is his fortified city; the poverty of the poor is their destruction.

¹⁶The reward of the righteous is life; the wages of the wicked is punishment.

¹⁷The one who follows instruction is on the path to life, but the one who rejects correction goes astray.

¹⁸The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

¹⁹When there are many words, sin is unavoidable, but the one who controls his lips is prudent.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is pure silver; the heart of the wicked is of little value.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense.

²²The LORD’s blessing enriches, and he adds no painful effort to it.

²³As shameful conduct is pleasure for a fool, so wisdom is for a person of understanding.

²⁴What the wicked dreads will come to him, but what the righteous desire will be given to them.

²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous are secure forever.

²⁶Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so the slacker is to the one who sends him on an errand.

²⁷The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.

²⁸The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.

²⁹The way of the LORD is a stronghold for the honorable, but destruction awaits the malicious.

³⁰The righteous will never be shaken, but the wicked will not remain on the earth.

³¹The mouth of the righteous produces wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out.

³²The lips of the righteous know what is appropriate, but the mouth of the wicked, only what is perverse.

¹The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: During the month of Chislev in the twentieth year, when I was in the fortress city of Susa,

²Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah, and I questioned them about Jerusalem and the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile.

³They said to me, “The remnant in the province, who survived the exile, are in great trouble and disgrace. Jerusalem’s wall has been broken down, and its gates have been burned.”

⁴When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.

⁵I said, LORD, the God of the heavens, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands,

⁶let your eyes be open and your ears be attentive to hear your servant’s prayer that I now pray to you day and night for your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we have committed against you. Both I and my father’s family have sinned.

⁷We have acted corruptly toward you and have not kept the commands, statutes, and ordinances you gave your servant Moses.

⁸Please remember what you commanded your servant Moses: “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples.

⁹But if you return to me and carefully observe my commands, even though your exiles were banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have my name dwell.”

¹⁰They are your servants and your people. You redeemed them by your great power and strong hand.

¹¹Please, Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to that of your servants who delight to revere your name. Give your servant success today, and grant him compassion in the presence of this man. At the time, I was the king’s cupbearer.

¹A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk. According to Shigionoth.

²LORD, I have heard the report about you; LORD, I stand in awe of your deeds. Revive your work in these years; make it known in these years. In your wrath remember mercy!

³God comes from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His splendor covers the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.

⁴His brilliance is like light; rays are flashing from his hand. This is where his power is hidden.

⁵Plague goes before him, and pestilence follows in his steps.

⁶He stands and shakes the earth; he looks and startles the nations. The age-old mountains break apart; the ancient hills sink down. His pathways are ancient.

⁷I see the tents of Cushan in distress; the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble.

⁸Are you angry at the rivers, LORD? Is your wrath against the rivers? Or is your rage against the sea when you ride on your horses, your victorious chariot?

⁹You took the sheath from your bow; the arrows are ready to be used with an oath. Selah You split the earth with rivers.

¹⁰The mountains see you and shudder; a downpour of water sweeps by. The deep roars with its voice and lifts its waves high.

¹¹Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence, at the flash of your flying arrows, at the brightness of your shining spear.

¹²You march across the earth with indignation; you trample down the nations in wrath.

¹³You come out to save your people, to save your anointed. You crush the leader of the house of the wicked and strip him from foot to neck. Selah

¹⁴You pierce his head with his own spears; his warriors storm out to scatter us, gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak.

¹⁵You tread the sea with your horses, stirring up the vast water.

¹⁶I heard, and I trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Rottenness entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress to come against the people invading us.

¹⁷Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the flocks disappear from the pen and there are no herds in the stalls,

¹⁸yet I will celebrate in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

¹⁹The LORD my Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights! For the choir director: on stringed instruments.

¹Now Peter and John were going up to the temple for the time of prayer at three in the afternoon.

²A man who was lame from birth was being carried there. He was placed each day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so that he could beg from those entering the temple.

³When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple, he asked for money.

⁴Peter, along with John, looked straight at him and said, “Look at us.”

⁵So he turned to them, expecting to get something from them.

⁶But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

⁷Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong.

⁸So he jumped up and started to walk, and he entered the temple with them — walking, leaping, and praising God.

⁹All the people saw him walking and praising God,

¹⁰and they recognized that he was the one who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. So they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him.

¹¹While he was holding on to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astonished, ran toward them in what is called Solomon’s Colonnade.

¹²When Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk by our own power or godliness?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied before Pilate, though he had decided to release him.

¹⁴You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you.

¹⁵You killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead; we are witnesses of this.

¹⁶By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in front of all of you.

¹⁷“And now, brothers and sisters, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your leaders also did.

¹⁸In this way God fulfilled what he had predicted through all the prophets — that his Messiah would suffer.

¹⁹Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out,

²⁰that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah.

²¹Heaven must receive him until the time of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about through his holy prophets from the beginning.

²²Moses said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers and sisters. You must listen to everything he tells you.

²³And everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be completely cut off from the people.

²⁴“In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also foretold these days.

²⁵You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, And all the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.

²⁶God raised up his servant and sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”