Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;

²and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.

³When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, “They have no wine.”

⁴And Jesus *said to her, “What business do you have with Me, woman? My hour has not yet come.”

⁵His mother *said to the servants, “Whatever He tells you, do it.”

⁶Now there were six stone waterpots standing there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing two or three measures each.

⁷Jesus *said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.

⁸And He *said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to theheadwaiter.” And they took it to him.

⁹Now when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter *called the groom,

¹⁰and *said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the guests are drunk, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”

¹¹This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

¹²After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother, and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.

¹³The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁴And within the temple grounds He found those who were selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.

¹⁵And He made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;

¹⁶and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away from here; stop making My Father’s house aplace of business!”

¹⁷His disciples remembered that it was written: “ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”

¹⁸The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?”

¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy thistemple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

²⁰The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and yet You will raise it up in three days?”

²¹But He was speaking about the temple of His body.

²²So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

²³Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name as they observed His signs which He was doing.

²⁴But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, because He knew all people,

²⁵and because He did not need anyone to testify about mankind, for He Himself knew what was in mankind.

¹Now the LORD said to Moses, “One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will assuredly drive you out from here completely.

²Speak now so that the people hear, that each man is to ask of his neighbor, and each woman of her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.”

³And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Furthermore, the man Moses himself was greatly esteemed in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

⁴Then Moses said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt,

⁵and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well.

⁶So there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again.

⁷But not even a dog will threaten any of the sons of Israel, nor anything from person to animal, so that you may learn how the LORD distinguishes between Egypt and Israel.’

⁸And all these servants of yours will come down to me and bow themselves before me, saying, ‘Go out, you and all the people who follow you,’ and after that I will go out.” And he left Pharaoh in the heat of anger.

⁹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My wonders will be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

¹⁰So Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; yet the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land.

¹Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not to have quarrels over opinions.

²One person has faith that he may eat all things, but the one who is weak eats only vegetables.

³The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.

⁴Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

⁵One person values one day over another, another values every day the same. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.

⁶The one who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and the one who eats, does so with regard to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and the one who does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat, and he gives thanks to God.

⁷For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself;

⁸for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

⁹For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

¹⁰But as for you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you as well, why do you regard your brother or sister with contempt? For we will all appear before the judgment seat of God.

¹¹For it is written: “AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, TO ME EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, AND EVERY TONGUE WILL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.”

¹²So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

¹³Therefore let’s not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this: not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s or sister’s way.

¹⁴I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to the one who thinks something is unclean, to that person it is unclean.

¹⁵For if because of food your brother or sister is hurt, you are no longer walking in accordance with love. Do not destroy with your choice of food that person for whom Christ died.

¹⁶Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil;

¹⁷for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸For the one who serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and approved by other people.

¹⁹So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.

²⁰Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the person who eats and causes offense.

²¹It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother or sister stumbles.

²²The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is the one who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

²³But the one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

¹I saw another strong angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was on his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire;

²and he had in his hand a little scroll, which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land;

³and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices.

⁴When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken, and do not write them.”

⁵Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven,

⁶and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there will no longer be a delay,

⁷but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He announced to His servants the prophets.

⁸Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.”

⁹And I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little scroll. And he *said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”

¹⁰I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.

¹¹And they *said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”

¹“Oh that you were like a brother to me Who nursed at my mother’s breasts. If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you; No one would despise me, either.

²I would lead you and bring you Into the house of my mother, who used to instruct me; I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranates.

³Let his left hand be under my head, And his right hand embrace me.”

⁴“Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem: Do not disturb or awaken my love Until she pleases.”

⁵“Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Leaning on her beloved?” “Beneath the apple tree I awakened you; There your mother went into labor with you, There she was in labor and gave birth to you.

⁶Put me like a seal over your heart, Like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, Jealousy is as severe as Sheol; Its flames are flames of fire, The flame of the LORD.

⁷Many waters cannot quench love, Nor will rivers flood over it; If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, It would be utterly despised.”

⁸“We have a little sister, And she has no breasts; What shall we do for our sister On the day when she is spoken for?

⁹If she is a wall, We will build on her a battlement of silver; But if she is a door, We will barricade her with planks of cedar.”

¹⁰“I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers; Then I became in his eyes as one who finds peace.

¹¹Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; He entrusted the vineyard to caretakers. Each one was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit.

¹²My very own vineyard is at my disposal; The thousand shekels are for you, Solomon, And two hundred are for those who take care of its fruit.”

¹³“You who sit in the gardens: My companions are listening for your voice— Let me hear it!”

¹⁴“Hurry, my beloved, And be like a gazelle or a young stag On the mountains of balsam trees!”

¹Sing a new song to the LORD, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.

²The LORD has made His salvation known; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.

³He has remembered His graciousness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

⁴Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Be cheerful and sing for joy and sing praises.

⁵Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody.

⁶With trumpets and the sound of the horn Shout joyfully before the King, the LORD.

⁷May the sea roar and all it contains, The world and those who dwell in it.

⁸May the rivers clap their hands, May the mountains sing together for joy

⁹Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with fairness.

¹The words of King Lemuel, the pronouncement which his mother taught him:

²What, my son? And what, son of my womb? And what, son of my vows?

³Do not give your strength to women, Or your ways to that which destroys kings.

⁴It is not for kings, Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire intoxicating drink,

⁵Otherwise they will drink and forget what is decreed, And pervert the rights of all the needy.

⁶Give intoxicating drink to one who is perishing, And wine to one whose life is bitter.

⁷Let him drink and forget his poverty, And remember his trouble no more.

⁸Open your mouth for the people who cannot speak, For the rights of all the unfortunate.

⁹Open your mouth, judge righteously, And defend the rights of the poor and needy.

¹⁰An excellent wife, who can find her? For her worth is far above jewels.

¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her, And he will have no lack of gain.

¹²She does him good and not evil All the days of her life.

¹³She looks for wool and linen, And works with her hands in delight.

¹⁴She is like merchant ships; She brings her food from afar.

¹⁵And she rises while it is still night And gives food to her household, And portions to her attendants.

¹⁶She considers a field and buys it; From her earnings she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷She surrounds her waist with strength And makes her arms strong.

¹⁸She senses that her profit is good; Her lamp does not go out at night.

¹⁹She stretches out her hands to the distaff, And her hands grasp the spindle.

²⁰She extends her hand to the poor, And she stretches out her hands to the needy.

²¹She is not afraid of the snow for her household, For all her household are clothed with scarlet.

²²She makes coverings for herself; Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

²³Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land.

²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them, And supplies belts to the tradesmen.

²⁵Strength and dignity are her clothing, And she smiles at the future.

²⁶She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

²⁷She watches over the activities of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.

²⁸Her children rise up and bless her; Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:

²⁹“Many daughters have done nobly, But you excel them all.”

³⁰Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.

³¹Give her the product of her hands, And let her works praise her in the gates.

¹Now in the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on the thirteenth day, when the king’s command and edict were to be put into effect, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it turned out to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained mastery over those who hated them.

²The Jews assembled in their cities throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus to attack those who sought to harm them; and no one could stand against them, because the dread of them had fallen on all the peoples.

³Even all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who were doing the king’s business were supporting the Jews, because the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them.

⁴For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and the news about him spread throughout the provinces; for the man Mordecai became greater and greater.

⁵So the Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying; and they did as they pleased to those who hated them.

⁶At the citadel in Susa the Jews killed and eliminated five hundred men,

⁷and they killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

⁸Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

⁹Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,

¹⁰the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ enemy; but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

¹¹On that day the number of those who were killed at the citadel in Susa was reported to the king.

¹²And the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and eliminated five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your request? It shall also be granted you. And what is your further wish? It shall also be done.”

¹³Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the edict of today; and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the wooden gallows.”

¹⁴So the king commanded that it was to be done so; and an edict was issued in Susa, and Haman’s ten sons were hanged.

¹⁵The Jews who were in Susa assembled also on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and killed three hundred men in Susa, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

¹⁶Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces assembled, to defend their lives and rid themselves of their enemies, and to kill seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

¹⁷This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.

¹⁸But the Jews who were in Susa assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth of the same month, and they rested on the fifteenth day and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.

¹⁹Therefore the Jews of the rural areas, who live in the rural towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a holiday for rejoicing and feasting and sending portions of food to one another.

²⁰Then Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,

²¹obliging them to celebrate the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same month, annually,

²²because on those days the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was turned for them from grief into joy, and from mourning into a holiday; that they were to make them days of feasting and rejoicing, and sending portions of food to one another, and gifts to the poor.

²³So the Jews undertook what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them.

²⁴For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to eliminate them, and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to disturb them and eliminate them.

²⁵But when it came to the king’s attention, he commanded by letter that his wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews was to return on his own head, and that he and his sons were to be hanged on the wooden gallows.

²⁶Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. And because of the instructions in this letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had happened to them,

²⁷the Jews established and made a custom for themselves, their descendants, and for all those who allied themselves with them, so that they would not fail to celebrate these two days according to their regulation and according to their appointed time annually.

²⁸So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and these days of Purim were not to be neglected by the Jews, or their memory fade from their descendants.

²⁹Then Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter about Purim.

³⁰He sent letters to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, namely, words of peace and truth,

³¹to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them, and just as they had established for themselves and for their descendants, with instructions for their times of fasting and their mourning.

³²The command of Esther established these customs for Purim, and it was written in the book.

¹“And now, this commandment is for you, the priests.

²If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the LORD of armies, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.

³Behold, I am going to rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the dung of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.

⁴Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, so that My covenant may continue with Levi,” says the LORD of armies.

⁵“My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and was in awe of My name.

⁶True instruction was in his mouth and injustice was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and justice, and he turned many back from wrongdoing.

⁷For the lips of a priest should maintain knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of armies.

⁸But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have ruined the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of armies.

⁹“So I also have made you despised and of low reputation in the view of all the people, since you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality in the instruction.”

¹⁰Do we not all have one Father? Is it not one God who has created us? Why do we deal treacherously, each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?

¹¹Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

¹²As for the man who does this, may the LORD eliminate from the tents of Jacob everyone who is awake and answers, or who presents an offering to the LORD of armies.

¹³And this is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and sighing, because He no longer gives attention to the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.

¹⁴Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your marriage companion and your wife by covenant.

¹⁵But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And why the one? He was seeking a godly offspring. Be careful then about your spirit, and see that none of you deals treacherously against the wife of your youth.

¹⁶“For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with violence,” says the LORD of armies. “So be careful about your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

¹⁷You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”

¹Now after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and an attorney named Tertullus, and they brought charges against Paul to the governor.

²After Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began accusing him, saying to the governor, “Since we have attained great peace through you, and since reforms are being carried out for this nation by your foresight,

³we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness.

⁴But, that I may not weary you further, I beg you to grant us a brief hearing, by your kindness.

⁵For we have found this man a public menace and one who stirs up dissensions among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

⁶And he even tried to desecrate the temple, so indeed we arrested him.

⁷

⁸By interrogating him yourself concerning all these matters, you will be able to ascertain the things of which we are accusing him.”

⁹The Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.

¹⁰And when the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul responded: “Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense,

¹¹since you can take note of the fact that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

¹²And neither in the temple did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city itself.

¹³Nor can they prove to you the things of which they now accuse me.

¹⁴But I confess this to you, that in accordance with the Way, which they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and is written in the Prophets;

¹⁵having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

¹⁶In view of this I also do my best to maintain a blameless conscience both before God and before other people, always.

¹⁷Now after several years I came to bring charitable gifts to my nation and to present offerings,

¹⁸in which they found me occupied in the temple, having been purified, without any crowd or uproar. But there were some Jews from Asia—

¹⁹who ought to have been present before you and to have been bringing charges, if they should have anything against me.

²⁰Or else have these men themselves declare what violation they discovered when I stood before the Council,

²¹other than in regard to this one declaration which I shouted while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today!’ ”

²²But Felix, having quite accurate knowledge about the Way, adjourned them, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.”

²³He gave orders to the centurion for Paul to be kept in custody and yet have some freedom, and not to prevent any of his friends from providing for his needs.

²⁴Now some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla his wife, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁵But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and responded, “Go away for now, and when I have an opportunity, I will summon you.”

²⁶At the same time he was also hoping that money would be given to him by Paul; therefore he also used to send for him quite often and talk with him.

²⁷But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul imprisoned.