Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

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

³And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

⁴Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”

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

⁶Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.

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

⁸And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.

⁹When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.

¹⁰And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

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

¹²After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

¹³Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁴And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.

¹⁵When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.

¹⁶And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”

¹⁷Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”

¹⁸So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”

¹⁹Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

²⁰Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”

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

²²Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

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

²⁴But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men,

²⁵and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

¹And the LORD said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether.

²Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.”

³And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

⁴Then Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt;

⁵and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals.

⁶Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again.

⁷But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the LORD does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’

⁸And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will go out.” Then he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.

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

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

¹Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.

²For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.

³Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.

⁴Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

⁵One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.

⁶He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.

⁷For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.

⁸For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

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

¹⁰But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

¹¹For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.”

¹²So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

¹³Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

¹⁴I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

¹⁵Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.

¹⁶Therefore do not let your good 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 he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.

¹⁹Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.

²⁰Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense.

²¹It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.

²²Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

²³But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

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

²He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,

³and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices.

⁴Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”

⁵The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven

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

⁷but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

⁸Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.”

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

¹⁰Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.

¹¹And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”

¹Oh, that you were like my brother, Who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I should find you outside, I would kiss you; I would not be despised.

²I would lead you and bring you Into the house of my mother, She who used to instruct me. I would cause you to drink of spiced wine, Of the juice of my pomegranate.

³His left hand is under my head, And his right hand embraces me.

⁴I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, Do not stir up nor awaken love Until it pleases.

⁵Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? I awakened you under the apple tree. There your mother brought you forth; There she who bore you brought you forth.

⁶Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame.

⁷Many waters cannot quench love, Nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love All the wealth of his house, It would be utterly despised.

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

⁹If she is a wall, We will build upon her A battlement of silver; And if she is a door, We will enclose her With boards of cedar.

¹⁰I am a wall, And my breasts like towers; Then I became in his eyes As one who found peace.

¹¹Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon; He leased the vineyard to keepers; Everyone was to bring for its fruit A thousand silver coins.

¹²My own vineyard is before me. You, O Solomon, may have a thousand, And those who tend its fruit two hundred.

¹³You who dwell in the gardens, The companions listen for your voice— Let me hear it!

¹⁴Make haste, my beloved, And be like a gazelle Or a young stag On the mountains of spices.

¹A Psalm. [1] Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.

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

³He has remembered His mercy 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; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.

⁵Sing to the LORD with the harp, With the harp and the sound of a psalm,

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

⁷Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell in it;

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the LORD,

⁹For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity.

¹The words of King Lemuel, the utterance 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, Nor your ways to that which destroys kings.

⁴It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Nor for princes intoxicating drink;

⁵Lest they drink and forget the law, And pervert the justice of all the afflicted.

⁶Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to those who are bitter of heart.

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

⁸Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die.

⁹Open your mouth, judge righteously, And plead the cause of the poor and needy.

¹⁰Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.

¹¹The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain.

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

¹³She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands.

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

¹⁵She also rises while it is yet night, And provides food for her household, And a portion for her maidservants.

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

¹⁷She girds herself with strength, And strengthens her arms.

¹⁸She perceives that her merchandise is good, And her lamp does not go out by night.

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

²⁰She extends her hand to the poor, Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.

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

²²She makes tapestry 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 sashes for the merchants.

²⁵Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.

²⁶She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.

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

²⁸Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:

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

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

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

¹Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, the time came for the king’s command and his decree to be executed. On the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them.

²The Jews gathered together in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could withstand them, because fear of them fell upon all people.

³And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and all those doing the king’s work, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.

⁴For Mordecai was great in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for this man Mordecai became increasingly prominent.

⁵Thus the Jews defeated all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, with slaughter and destruction, and did what they pleased with those who hated them.

⁶And in Shushan the citadel the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.

⁷Also Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

⁸Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

⁹Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vajezatha—

¹⁰the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews—they killed; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

¹¹On that day the number of those who were killed in Shushan the citadel was brought to the king.

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

¹³Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do again tomorrow according to today’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”

¹⁴So the king commanded this to be done; the decree was issued in Shushan, and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.

¹⁵And the Jews who were in Shushan gathered together again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men at Shushan; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

¹⁶The remainder of the Jews in the king’s provinces gathered together and protected their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of their enemies; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

¹⁷This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. And on the fourteenth of the month they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

¹⁸But the Jews who were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day, as well as on the fourteenth; and on the fifteenth of the month they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

¹⁹Therefore the Jews of the villages who dwelt in the unwalled towns celebrated the fourteenth day of the month of Adar with gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and for sending presents to one another.

²⁰And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus,

²¹to establish among them that they should celebrate yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar,

²²as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor.

²³So the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them,

²⁴because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them;

²⁵but when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letter that this wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

²⁶So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them,

²⁷the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time,

²⁸that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.

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

³⁰And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews, to the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,

³¹to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had prescribed for them, and as they had decreed for themselves and their descendants concerning matters of their fasting and lamenting.

³²So the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book.

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

²If you will not hear, And if you will not take it to heart, To give glory to My name,” Says the LORD of hosts, “I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, Because you do not take it to heart.

³“Behold, I will rebuke your descendants And spread refuse on your faces, The refuse of your solemn feasts; And one will take you away with it.

⁴Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, That My covenant with Levi may continue,” Says the LORD of hosts.

⁵“My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, And I gave them to him that he might fear Me; So he feared Me And was reverent before My name.

⁶The law of truth was in his mouth, And injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, And turned many away from iniquity.

⁷“For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.

⁸But you have departed from the way; You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” Says the LORD of hosts.

⁹“Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base Before all the people, Because you have not kept My ways But have shown partiality in the law.”

¹⁰Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another By profaning the covenant of the fathers?

¹¹Judah has dealt treacherously, And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, For Judah has profaned The LORD’s holy institution which He loves: He has married the daughter of a foreign god.

¹²May the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob The man who does this, being awake and aware, Yet who brings an offering to the LORD of hosts!

¹³And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the LORD with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.

¹⁴Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the LORD has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant.

¹⁵But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.

¹⁶“For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the LORD of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.”

¹⁷You have wearied the LORD with your words; Yet you say, “In what way 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 Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul.

²And when he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusation, saying: “Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight,

³we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.

⁴Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your courtesy, a few words from us.

⁵For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

⁶He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him, and wanted to judge him according to our law.

⁷But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands,

⁸commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him.”

⁹And the Jews also assented, maintaining that these things were so.

¹⁰Then Paul, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, answered: “Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself,

¹¹because you may ascertain that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

¹²And they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting the crowd, either in the synagogues or in the city.

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

¹⁴But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.

¹⁵I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.

¹⁶This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.

¹⁷“Now after many years I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation,

¹⁸in the midst of which some Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with a mob nor with tumult.

¹⁹They ought to have been here before you to object if they had anything against me.

²⁰Or else let those who are here themselves say if they found any wrongdoing in me while I stood before the council,

²¹unless it is for this one statement which I cried out, standing among them, ‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day.’ ”

²²But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the Way, he adjourned the proceedings and said, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will make a decision on your case.”

²³So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him.

²⁴And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

²⁵Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”

²⁶Meanwhile he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him.

²⁷But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.