Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.

²He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

³You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.

⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

⁵“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

⁶Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.

⁷But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!

⁸When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

⁹“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.

¹⁰When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.

¹¹I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

¹²This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.

¹³There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command.

¹⁵I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

¹⁶You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.

¹⁷This is my command: Love each other.

¹⁸“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.

¹⁹The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.

²⁰Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.

²¹They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.

²²They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

²³Anyone who hates me also hates my Father.

²⁴If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father.

²⁵This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures : ‘They hated me without cause.’

²⁶“But I will send you the Advocate — the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me.

²⁷And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry.

¹Then the LORD instructed Moses: “Come up here to me, and bring along Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders. All of you must worship from a distance.

²Only Moses is allowed to come near to the LORD. The others must not come near, and none of the other people are allowed to climb up the mountain with him.”

³Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the instructions and regulations the LORD had given him. All the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the LORD has commanded.”

⁴Then Moses carefully wrote down all the LORD’s instructions. Early the next morning Moses got up and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He also set up twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

⁵Then he sent some of the young Israelite men to present burnt offerings and to sacrifice bulls as peace offerings to the LORD.

⁶Moses drained half the blood from these animals into basins. The other half he splattered against the altar.

⁷Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again they all responded, “We will do everything the LORD has commanded. We will obey.”

⁸Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, “Look, this blood confirms the covenant the LORD has made with you in giving you these instructions.”

⁹Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain.

¹⁰There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself.

¹¹And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!

¹²Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain. Stay there, and I will give you the tablets of stone on which I have inscribed the instructions and commands so you can teach the people.”

¹³So Moses and his assistant Joshua set out, and Moses climbed up the mountain of God.

¹⁴Moses told the elders, “Stay here and wait for us until we come back. Aaron and Hur are here with you. If anyone has a dispute while I am gone, consult with them.”

¹⁵Then Moses climbed up the mountain, and the cloud covered it.

¹⁶And the glory of the LORD settled down on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from inside the cloud.

¹⁷To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the glory of the LORD appeared at the summit like a consuming fire.

¹⁸Then Moses disappeared into the cloud as he climbed higher up the mountain. He remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

¹And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.

²I am so glad that you always keep me in your thoughts, and that you are following the teachings I passed on to you.

³But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

⁴A man dishonors his head if he covers his head while praying or prophesying.

⁵But a woman dishonors her head if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head.

⁶Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair! But since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, she should wear a covering.

⁷A man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping, for man is made in God’s image and reflects God’s glory. And woman reflects man’s glory.

⁸For the first man didn’t come from woman, but the first woman came from man.

⁹And man was not made for woman, but woman was made for man.

¹⁰For this reason, and because the angels are watching, a woman should wear a covering on her head to show she is under authority.

¹¹But among the Lord’s people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women.

¹²For although the first woman came from man, every other man was born from a woman, and everything comes from God.

¹³Judge for yourselves. Is it right for a woman to pray to God in public without covering her head?

¹⁴Isn’t it obvious that it’s disgraceful for a man to have long hair?

¹⁵And isn’t long hair a woman’s pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering.

¹⁶But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches.

¹⁷But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together.

¹⁸First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it.

¹⁹But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!

²⁰When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper.

²¹For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk.

²²What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!

²³For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread

²⁴and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁵In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people — an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”

²⁶For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.

²⁷So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

²⁸That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.

²⁹For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.

³⁰That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.

³¹But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way.

³²Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

³³So, my dear brothers and sisters, when you gather for the Lord’s Supper, wait for each other.

³⁴If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won’t bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together. I’ll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive.

¹“Look, I have seen all this with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears, and now I understand.

²I know as much as you do. You are no better than I am.

³As for me, I would speak directly to the Almighty. I want to argue my case with God himself.

⁴As for you, you smear me with lies. As physicians, you are worthless quacks.

⁵If only you could be silent! That’s the wisest thing you could do.

⁶Listen to my charge; pay attention to my arguments.

⁷“Are you defending God with lies? Do you make your dishonest arguments for his sake?

⁸Will you slant your testimony in his favor? Will you argue God’s case for him?

⁹What will happen when he finds out what you are doing? Can you fool him as easily as you fool people?

¹⁰No, you will be in trouble with him if you secretly slant your testimony in his favor.

¹¹Doesn’t his majesty terrify you? Doesn’t your fear of him overwhelm you?

¹²Your platitudes are as valuable as ashes. Your defense is as fragile as a clay pot.

¹³“Be silent now and leave me alone. Let me speak, and I will face the consequences.

¹⁴Why should I put myself in mortal danger and take my life in my own hands?

¹⁵God might kill me, but I have no other hope. I am going to argue my case with him.

¹⁶But this is what will save me — I am not godless. If I were, I could not stand before him.

¹⁷“Listen closely to what I am about to say. Hear me out.

¹⁸I have prepared my case; I will be proved innocent.

¹⁹Who can argue with me over this? And if you prove me wrong, I will remain silent and die.

²⁰“O God, grant me these two things, and then I will be able to face you.

²¹Remove your heavy hand from me, and don’t terrify me with your awesome presence.

²²Now summon me, and I will answer! Or let me speak to you, and you reply.

²³Tell me, what have I done wrong? Show me my rebellion and my sin.

²⁴Why do you turn away from me? Why do you treat me as your enemy?

²⁵Would you terrify a leaf blown by the wind? Would you chase dry straw?

²⁶“You write bitter accusations against me and bring up all the sins of my youth.

²⁷You put my feet in stocks. You examine all my paths. You trace all my footprints.

²⁸I waste away like rotting wood, like a moth-eaten coat.

¹Praise the LORD! I will thank the LORD with all my heart as I meet with his godly people.

²How amazing are the deeds of the LORD! All who delight in him should ponder them.

³Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails.

⁴He causes us to remember his wonderful works. How gracious and merciful is our LORD!

⁵He gives food to those who fear him; he always remembers his covenant.

⁶He has shown his great power to his people by giving them the lands of other nations.

⁷All he does is just and good, and all his commandments are trustworthy.

⁸They are forever true, to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.

⁹He has paid a full ransom for his people. He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever. What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!

¹⁰Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!

¹A wise child accepts a parent’s discipline; a mocker refuses to listen to correction.

²Wise words will win you a good meal, but treacherous people have an appetite for violence.

³Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.

⁴Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.

⁵The godly hate lies; the wicked cause shame and disgrace.

⁶Godliness guards the path of the blameless, but the evil are misled by sin.

⁷Some who are poor pretend to be rich; others who are rich pretend to be poor.

⁸The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened.

⁹The life of the godly is full of light and joy, but the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.

¹⁰Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise.

¹¹Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

¹³People who despise advice are asking for trouble; those who respect a command will succeed.

¹⁴The instruction of the wise is like a life-giving fountain; those who accept it avoid the snares of death.

¹⁵A person with good sense is respected; a treacherous person is headed for destruction.

¹⁶Wise people think before they act; fools don’t — and even brag about their foolishness.

¹⁷An unreliable messenger stumbles into trouble, but a reliable messenger brings healing.

¹⁸If you ignore criticism, you will end in poverty and disgrace; if you accept correction, you will be honored.

¹⁹It is pleasant to see dreams come true, but fools refuse to turn from evil to attain them.

²⁰Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

²¹Trouble chases sinners, while blessings reward the righteous.

²²Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth passes to the godly.

²³A poor person’s farm may produce much food, but injustice sweeps it all away.

²⁴Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.

²⁵The godly eat to their hearts’ content, but the belly of the wicked goes hungry.

¹These are the kings east of the Jordan River who had been killed by the Israelites and whose land was taken. Their territory extended from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon and included all the land east of the Jordan Valley.

²King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, was defeated. His kingdom included Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon Gorge, and extended from the middle of the Arnon Gorge to the Jabbok River, which serves as a border for the Ammonites. This territory included the southern half of the territory of Gilead.

³Sihon also controlled the Jordan Valley and regions to the east — from as far north as the Sea of Galilee to as far south as the Dead Sea, including the road to Beth-jeshimoth and southward to the slopes of Pisgah.

⁴King Og of Bashan, the last of the Rephaites, lived at Ashtaroth and Edrei.

⁵He ruled a territory stretching from Mount Hermon to Salecah in the north and to all of Bashan in the east, and westward to the borders of the kingdoms of Geshur and Maacah. This territory included the northern half of Gilead, as far as the boundary of King Sihon of Heshbon.

⁶Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the Israelites had destroyed the people of King Sihon and King Og. And Moses gave their land as a possession to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁷The following is a list of the kings that Joshua and the Israelite armies defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which leads up to Seir. (Joshua gave this land to the tribes of Israel as their possession,

⁸including the hill country, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley, the mountain slopes, the Judean wilderness, and the Negev. The people who lived in this region were the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.) These are the kings Israel defeated:

⁹The king of Jericho The king of Ai, near Bethel

¹⁰The king of Jerusalem The king of Hebron

¹¹The king of Jarmuth The king of Lachish

¹²The king of Eglon The king of Gezer

¹³The king of Debir The king of Geder

¹⁴The king of Hormah The king of Arad

¹⁵The king of Libnah The king of Adullam

¹⁶The king of Makkedah The king of Bethel

¹⁷The king of Tappuah The king of Hepher

¹⁸The king of Aphek The king of Lasharon

¹⁹The king of Madon The king of Hazor

²⁰The king of Shimron-meron The king of Acshaph

²¹The king of Taanach The king of Megiddo

²²The king of Kedesh The king of Jokneam in Carmel

²³The king of Dor in the town of Naphoth-dor The king of Goyim in Gilgal

²⁴The king of Tirzah. In all, thirty-one kings were defeated.

¹Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot — yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.

²And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

³He will delight in obeying the LORD. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay.

⁴He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.

⁵He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.

⁶In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all.

⁷The cow will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like a cow.

⁸The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm.

⁹Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the LORD.

¹⁰In that day the heir to David’s throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world. The nations will rally to him, and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.

¹¹In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to bring back the remnant of his people — those who remain in Assyria and northern Egypt; in southern Egypt, Ethiopia, and Elam; in Babylonia, Hamath, and all the distant coastlands.

¹²He will raise a flag among the nations and assemble the exiles of Israel. He will gather the scattered people of Judah from the ends of the earth.

¹³Then at last the jealousy between Israel and Judah will end. They will not be rivals anymore.

¹⁴They will join forces to swoop down on Philistia to the west. Together they will attack and plunder the nations to the east. They will occupy the lands of Edom and Moab, and Ammon will obey them.

¹⁵The LORD will make a dry path through the gulf of the Red Sea. He will wave his hand over the Euphrates River, sending a mighty wind to divide it into seven streams so it can easily be crossed on foot.

¹⁶He will make a highway for the remnant of his people, the remnant coming from Assyria, just as he did for Israel long ago when they returned from Egypt.

¹Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest.

²He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them — both men and women — back to Jerusalem in chains.

³As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him.

⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

⁵“Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!

⁶Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one!

⁸Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus.

⁹He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.

¹⁰Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord!” he replied.

¹¹The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.

¹²I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”

¹³“But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem!

¹⁴And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.”

¹⁵But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.

¹⁶And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

¹⁷So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.

¹⁹Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength. Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days.

²⁰And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”

²¹All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem?” they asked. “And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests?”

²²Saul’s preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.

²³After a while some of the Jews plotted together to kill him.

²⁴They were watching for him day and night at the city gate so they could murder him, but Saul was told about their plot.

²⁵So during the night, some of the other believers lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the city wall.

²⁶When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer!

²⁷Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. He also told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus.

²⁸So Saul stayed with the apostles and went all around Jerusalem with them, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.

²⁹He debated with some Greek-speaking Jews, but they tried to murder him.

³⁰When the believers heard about this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown.

³¹The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers.

³²Meanwhile, Peter traveled from place to place, and he came down to visit the believers in the town of Lydda.

³³There he met a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years.

³⁴Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up, and roll up your sleeping mat!” And he was healed instantly.

³⁵Then the whole population of Lydda and Sharon saw Aeneas walking around, and they turned to the Lord.

³⁶There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas ). She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor.

³⁷About this time she became ill and died. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room.

³⁸But the believers had heard that Peter was nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, “Please come as soon as possible!”

³⁹So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them.

⁴⁰But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up!

⁴¹He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.

⁴²The news spread through the whole town, and many believed in the Lord.

⁴³And Peter stayed a long time in Joppa, living with Simon, a tanner of hides.