Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up

²and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.”

³He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me,

⁴was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?”

⁵And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’

⁶But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.”

⁷So they answered that they did not know where it came from.

⁸And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

⁹And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while.

¹⁰When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

¹¹ And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.

¹² And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out.

¹³Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’

¹⁴But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’

¹⁵And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

¹⁶ He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!”

¹⁷But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?

¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

¹⁹The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.

²⁰So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.

²¹So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God.

²²Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?”

²³But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them,

²⁴“Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar's.”

²⁵He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”

²⁶And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.

²⁷There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,

²⁸and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.

²⁹Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children.

³⁰And the second

³¹and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died.

³²Afterward the woman also died.

³³In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

³⁴And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage,

³⁵but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,

³⁶for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

³⁷But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

³⁸Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.”

³⁹Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.”

⁴⁰For they no longer dared to ask him any question.

⁴¹But he said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is David's son?

⁴²For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand,

⁴³until I make your enemies your footstool.”’

⁴⁴David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?”

⁴⁵And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples,

⁴⁶“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts,

⁴⁷ who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

¹Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’”

²But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”

³Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

⁴But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.”

⁵And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!”

⁶The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen,

⁷“You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves.

⁸But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’

⁹Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

¹⁰So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw.

¹¹Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’”

¹²So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

¹³The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.”

¹⁴And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”

¹⁵Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this?

¹⁶No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.”

¹⁷But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’

¹⁸Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.”

¹⁹The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.”

²⁰They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh;

²¹and they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

²²Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?

²³For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

¹There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

²For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

³For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

⁴in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁵For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

⁶For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

⁷For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.

⁸Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

¹⁰But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

¹¹If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

¹²So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

¹³For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

¹⁵For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

¹⁶The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

¹⁷and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

¹⁸For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope

²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

²²For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

²³And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

²⁴For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?

²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

²⁶Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

²⁷And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

²⁸And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

²⁹For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

³⁰And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

³²He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

³³Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.

³⁴Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

³⁶As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

³⁸For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

³⁹nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

²At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.

³And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.

⁴Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.

⁵From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God,

⁶and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:

⁷the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight.

⁸And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

⁹And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,

¹⁰the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

¹¹“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

¹I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

²As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women.

³As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

⁴He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

⁵Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love.

⁶His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!

⁷I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.

⁸The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills.

⁹My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice.

¹⁰My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away,

¹¹for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.

¹²The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

¹³The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.

¹⁴O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

¹⁵Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”

¹⁶My beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes among the lilies.

¹⁷Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains.

¹It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;

²to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,

³to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.

⁴For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

⁵How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!

⁶The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this:

⁷that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever;

⁸but you, O LORD, are on high forever.

⁹For behold, your enemies, O LORD, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered.

¹⁰But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil.

¹¹My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.

¹²The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

¹³They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.

¹⁴They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,

¹⁵to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

¹These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied.

²It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.

³As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.

⁴Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel;

⁵take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great,

⁷for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. What your eyes have seen

⁸do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame?

⁹Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another's secret,

¹⁰lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end.

¹¹A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

¹²Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.

¹³Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters.

¹⁴Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.

¹⁵With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.

¹⁶If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.

¹⁷Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.

¹⁸A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.

²⁰Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,

²²for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

²³The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.

²⁴It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.

²⁵Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

²⁶Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

²⁷It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory.

²⁸A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

¹After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him.

²And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage.

³Then the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king's command?”

⁴And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai's words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew.

⁵And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury.

⁶But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

⁷In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

⁸Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them.

⁹If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king's business, that they may put it into the king's treasuries.”

¹⁰So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.

¹¹And the king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.”

¹²Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king's satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet ring.

¹³Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.

¹⁴A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day.

¹⁵The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.

¹Ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain, from the LORD who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field.

²For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.

³“My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the LORD of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his majestic steed in battle.

⁴From him shall come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler — all of them together.

⁵They shall be like mighty men in battle, trampling the foe in the mud of the streets; they shall fight because the LORD is with them, and they shall put to shame the riders on horses.

⁶“I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back because I have compassion on them, and they shall be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the LORD their God and I will answer them.

⁷Then Ephraim shall become like a mighty warrior, and their hearts shall be glad as with wine. Their children shall see it and be glad; their hearts shall rejoice in the LORD.

⁸“I will whistle for them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them, and they shall be as many as they were before.

⁹Though I scattered them among the nations, yet in far countries they shall remember me, and with their children they shall live and return.

¹⁰I will bring them home from the land of Egypt, and gather them from Assyria, and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon, till there is no room for them.

¹¹He shall pass through the sea of troubles and strike down the waves of the sea, and all the depths of the Nile shall be dried up. The pride of Assyria shall be laid low, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart.

¹²I will make them strong in the LORD, and they shall walk in his name,” declares the LORD.

¹After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

²And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,

³and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.

⁴And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

⁵When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.

⁶And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁷And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue.

⁸Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

⁹And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,

¹⁰ for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

¹¹And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹²But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal,

¹³saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.”

¹⁴But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint.

¹⁵But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.”

¹⁶And he drove them from the tribunal.

¹⁷And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

¹⁸After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.

¹⁹And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

²⁰When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined.

²¹But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

²²When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.

²³After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures.

²⁵He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.

²⁶He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

²⁷And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed,

²⁸for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.