Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret;

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

³And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the land. And He sat down and continued teaching the crowds from the boat.

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

⁵Simon responded and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”

⁶And when they had done this, they caught a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to tear;

⁷so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, to the point that they were sinking.

⁸But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

⁹For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;

¹⁰and likewise also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear; from now on you will be catching people.”

¹¹When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

¹²While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

¹³And He reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him.

¹⁴And He ordered him to tell no one, saying, “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

¹⁵But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.

¹⁶But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.

¹⁷One day He was teaching, and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing.

¹⁸And some men were carrying a man on a stretcher who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him.

¹⁹But when they did not find any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.

²⁰And seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”

²¹The scribes and the Pharisees began thinking of the implications, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, except God alone?”

²²But Jesus, aware of their thoughts, responded and said to them, “Why are you thinking this way 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 said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher, and go home.”

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

²⁶And they were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God. They were also filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today!”

²⁷After that He went out and looked at a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.”

²⁸And he left everything behind, and got up and began following Him.

²⁹And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them.

³⁰The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling to His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”

³¹And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.

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

³³And they said to Him, “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink.”

³⁴And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make theattendants of the groom fast while the groom is with them, can you?

³⁵But the days will come; and when the groom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.”

³⁶And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the patch from the new garment will not match the old.

³⁷And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.

³⁸But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.

³⁹And no one, after drinking old wine wants new; for he says, ‘The old is fine.’ ”

¹Then it came about after these things, that the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.

²And Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.

³So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the prison, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned.

⁴And the captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.

⁵Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.

⁶When Joseph came to them in the morning and saw them, behold, they were dejected.

⁷So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so sad today?”

⁸And they said to him, “We have had a dream, and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do interpretations not belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”

⁹So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, saying to him, “In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me;

¹⁰and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes.

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

¹²Then Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days;

¹³within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand as in your former practice when you were his cupbearer.

¹⁴Only keep me in mind when it goes well for you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison.

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

¹⁶When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head;

¹⁷and in the top basket there were some of all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days;

¹⁹within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a wooden post, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.”

²⁰So it came about on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he held a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.

²¹He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand;

²²but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.

²³Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

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

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

³And this we will do, if God permits.

⁴For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,

⁵and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,

⁶and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

⁷For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and produces vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;

⁸but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.

⁹But, beloved, we are convinced of better things regarding you, and things that accompany salvation, even though we are speaking in this way.

¹⁰For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, by having served and by still serving the saints.

¹¹And we desire that each one of you demonstrate the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end,

¹²so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and endurance inherit the promises.

¹³For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear an oath by no one greater, He swore by Himself,

¹⁴saying, “INDEED I WILL GREATLY BLESS YOU AND I WILL GREATLY MULTIPLY YOU.”

¹⁵And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.

¹⁶For people swear an oath by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath serving as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

¹⁷In the same way God, desiring even more to demonstrate to the heirs of the promise the fact that His purpose is unchangeable, confirmed it with an oath,

¹⁸so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to hold firmly to the hope set before us.

¹⁹This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and reliable and one which enters within the veil,

²⁰where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

¹Therefore, I urge elders among you, as your fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and one who is also a fellow partaker of the glory that is to be revealed:

²shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not with greed but with eagerness;

³nor yet as domineering over those assigned to your care, but by proving to be examples to the flock.

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

⁵You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT HE GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.

⁶Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time,

⁷having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you.

⁸Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

⁹So resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world.

¹⁰After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

¹¹To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

¹²Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!

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

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

¹“Can you drag out Leviathan with a fishhook, And press down his tongue with a rope?

²Can you put a rope in his nose, And pierce his jaw with a hook?

³Will he make many pleas to you, Or will he speak to you gentle words?

⁴Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him as a servant forever?

⁵Will you play with him as with a bird, And tie him down for your young girls?

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

⁷Can you fill his skin with harpoons, Or his head with fishing spears?

⁸Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle; you will not do it again!

⁹Behold, your expectation is false; Will you be hurled down even at the sight of him?

¹⁰No one is so reckless that he dares to stir him; Who then is he who opposes Me?

¹¹Who has been first to give to Me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the entire heaven is Mine.

¹²“I will not be silent about his limbs, Or his mighty strength, or his graceful frame.

¹³Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can pierce his double armor?

¹⁴Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth there is terror.

¹⁵His strong scales are his pride, Locked as with a tight seal.

¹⁶One is so close to another That no air can come between them.

¹⁷They are joined one to another; They clasp each other and cannot be separated.

¹⁸His sneezes flash forth light, And his eyes are like the eye of dawn.

¹⁹From his mouth go burning torches; Sparks of fire leap forth.

²⁰From his nostrils smoke goes out As from a boiling pot and burning reeds.

²¹His breath sets coals aglow, And a flame goes forth from his mouth.

²²In his neck dwells strength, And dismay leaps before him.

²³The folds of his flesh are joined together, Firm and immovable on him.

²⁴His heart is as firm as a stone, And as firm as a lower millstone.

²⁵When he rises up, the mighty are afraid; Because of the crashing they are bewildered.

²⁶The sword that reaches him cannot prevail, Nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

²⁷He regards iron as straw, Bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸The arrow cannot make him flee; Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.

²⁹Clubs are regarded as stubble; He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.

³⁰His underparts are like sharp pieces of pottery; He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mud.

³¹He makes the depths boil like a pot; He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.

³²Behind him he illuminates a pathway; One would think the deep to be gray-haired.

³³Nothing on earth is like him, One made without fear.

³⁴He looks on everything that is high; He is king over all the sons of pride.”

¹My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud; My voice rises to God, and He will listen to me.

²In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; In the night my hand was stretched out and did not grow weary; My soul refused to be comforted.

³When I remember God, then I am restless; When I sigh, then my spirit feels weak. Selah

⁴You have held my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

⁵I have considered the days of old, The years of long ago.

⁶I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart, And my spirit ponders:

⁷Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again?

⁸Has His favor ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever?

⁹Has God forgotten to be gracious, Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Selah

¹⁰Then I said, “It is my grief, That the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

¹¹I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; I will certainly remember Your wonders of old.

¹²I will meditate on all Your work, And on Your deeds with thanksgiving.

¹³Your way, God, is holy; What god is great like our God?

¹⁴You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples.

¹⁵By Your power You have redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

¹⁶The waters saw You, God; The waters saw You, they were in anguish; The ocean depths also trembled.

¹⁷The clouds poured out water; The skies sounded out; Your arrows flashed here and there.

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

¹⁹Your way was in the sea And Your paths in the mighty waters, And Your footprints were not known.

²⁰You led Your people like a flock By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

¹The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a father glad, But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

²Ill-gotten gains do not benefit, But righteousness rescues from death.

³The LORD will not allow the righteous to hunger, But He will reject the craving of the wicked.

⁴Poor is one who works with a lazy hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.

⁵He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.

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

⁷The mentioning of the righteous is a blessing, But the name of the wicked will rot.

⁸The wise of heart will receive commands, But a babbling fool will come to ruin.

⁹One who walks in integrity walks securely, But one who perverts his ways will be found out.

¹⁰He who winks the eye causes trouble, And a babbling fool will come to ruin.

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

¹²Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all offenses.

¹³On the lips of the discerning, wisdom is found, But a rod is for the back of him who has no sense.

¹⁴Wise people store up knowledge, But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.

¹⁵The rich person’s wealth is his fortress, The ruin of the poor is their poverty.

¹⁶The wages of the righteous is life, The income of the wicked, punishment.

¹⁷One who is on the path of life follows instruction, But one who ignores a rebuke goes astray.

¹⁸One who conceals hatred has lying lips, And one who spreads slander is a fool.

¹⁹When there are many words, wrongdoing is unavoidable, But one who restrains his lips is wise.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver, The heart of the wicked is worth little.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many, But fools die for lack of understanding.

²²It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it.

²³Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool, And so is wisdom to a person of understanding.

²⁴What the wicked fears will come upon him, But the desire of the righteous will be granted.

²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more, But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.

²⁶Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy one to those who send him.

²⁷The fear of the LORD prolongs life, But the years of the wicked will be shortened.

²⁸The hope of the righteous is gladness, But the expectation of the wicked perishes.

²⁹The way of the LORD is a stronghold for the upright, But ruin to the workers of injustice.

³⁰The righteous will never be shaken, But the wicked will not live in the land.

³¹The mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom, But the perverted tongue will be cut out.

³²The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, But the mouth of the wicked, what is perverted.

¹The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol,

²that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem.

³And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and disgrace, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.”

⁴Now when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

⁵I said, “Please, LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments:

⁶let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have committed against You; I and my father’s house have sinned.

⁷We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.

⁸Remember, please, the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples;

⁹but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I have chosen to have My name dwell.’

¹⁰They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.

¹¹Please, Lord, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and please make Your servant successful today and grant him mercy before this man.” Now I was the cupbearer to the king.

¹A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.

²LORD, I have heard the report about You, and I was afraid. LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known. In anger remember mercy.

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

⁴His radiance is like the sunlight; He has rays flashing from His hand, And the hiding of His might is there.

⁵Before Him goes plague, And plague comes forth after Him.

⁶He stood and caused the earth to shudder; He looked and caused the nations to jump. Yes, the everlasting mountains were shattered, The ancient hills collapsed. His paths are everlasting.

⁷I saw the tents of Cushan under distress, The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling.

⁸Did the LORD rage against the rivers, Or was Your anger against the rivers, Or was Your rage against the sea, That You rode on Your horses, On Your chariots of salvation?

⁹You removed Your bow from its holder, The arrows of Your word were sworn. Selah You divided the earth with rivers.

¹⁰The mountains saw You and quaked; The downpour of waters swept by. The deep raised its voice, It lifted high its hands.

¹¹Sun and moon stood in their lofty places; They went away at the light of Your arrows, At the radiance of Your flashing spear.

¹²In indignation You marched through the earth; In anger You trampled the nations.

¹³You went forth for the salvation of Your people, For the salvation of Your anointed. You smashed the head of the house of evil To uncover him from foot to neck. Selah

¹⁴You pierced with his own arrows The head of his leaders. They stormed in to scatter us; Their arrogance was like those Who devour the oppressed in secret.

¹⁵You trampled on the sea with Your horses, On the foam of many waters.

¹⁶I heard, and my inner parts trembled; At the sound, my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, And in my place I tremble; Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will attack us.

¹⁷Even if the fig tree does not blossom, And there is no fruit on the vines, If the yield of the olive fails, And the fields produce no food, Even if the flock disappears from the fold, And there are no cattle in the stalls,

¹⁸Yet I will triumph in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

¹⁹The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like deer’s feet, And has me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.

¹Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.

²And a man who had been unable to walk from birth was being carried, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order for him to beg for charitable gifts from those entering the temple grounds.

³When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple grounds, he began asking to receive a charitable gift.

⁴But Peter, along with John, looked at him intently and said, “Look at us!”

⁵And he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

⁶But Peter said, “I do not have silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!”

⁷And grasping him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.

⁸And leaping up, he stood and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

⁹And all the people saw him walking and praising God;

¹⁰and they recognized him as being the very one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg for charitable gifts, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

¹¹While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the portico named Solomon’s, completely astonished.

¹²But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why are you staring at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you handed over and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.

¹⁴But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,

¹⁵but put to death the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.

¹⁶And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

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

¹⁸But the things which God previously announced by the mouths of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has fulfilled in this way.

¹⁹Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

²⁰and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,

²¹whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things, about which God spoke by the mouths of His holy prophets from ancient times.

²²Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR COUNTRYMEN; TO HIM YOU SHALL LISTEN regarding everything He says to you.

²³And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

²⁴And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and his successors onward, have also announced these days.

²⁵It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’

²⁶God raised up His Servant for you first, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”