Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you.

²For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him.

³And this is the way to have eternal life — to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.

⁴I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

⁵Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.

⁶“I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

⁷Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you,

⁸for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.

⁹“My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you.

¹⁰All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory.

¹¹Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are.

¹²During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.

¹³“Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy.

¹⁴I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

¹⁵I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.

¹⁶They do not belong to this world any more than I do.

¹⁷Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.

¹⁸Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.

¹⁹And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.

²⁰“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.

²¹I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one — as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

²²“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one.

²³I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

²⁴Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!

²⁵“O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me.

²⁶I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”

¹“Make the Tabernacle from ten curtains of finely woven linen. Decorate the curtains with blue, purple, and scarlet thread and with skillfully embroidered cherubim.

²These ten curtains must all be exactly the same size — 42 feet long and 6 feet wide.

³Join five of these curtains together to make one long curtain, then join the other five into a second long curtain.

⁴Put loops of blue yarn along the edge of the last curtain in each set.

⁵The fifty loops along the edge of one curtain are to match the fifty loops along the edge of the other curtain.

⁶Then make fifty gold clasps and fasten the long curtains together with the clasps. In this way, the Tabernacle will be made of one continuous piece.

⁷“Make eleven curtains of goat-hair cloth to serve as a tent covering for the Tabernacle.

⁸These eleven curtains must all be exactly the same size — 45 feet long and 6 feet wide.

⁹Join five of these curtains together to make one long curtain, and join the other six into a second long curtain. Allow 3 feet of material from the second set of curtains to hang over the front of the sacred tent.

¹⁰Make fifty loops for one edge of each large curtain.

¹¹Then make fifty bronze clasps, and fasten the loops of the long curtains with the clasps. In this way, the tent covering will be made of one continuous piece.

¹²The remaining 3 feet of this tent covering will be left to hang over the back of the Tabernacle.

¹³Allow 18 inches of remaining material to hang down over each side, so the Tabernacle is completely covered.

¹⁴Complete the tent covering with a protective layer of tanned ram skins and a layer of fine goatskin leather.

¹⁵“For the framework of the Tabernacle, construct frames of acacia wood.

¹⁶Each frame must be 15 feet high and 27 inches wide,

¹⁷with two pegs under each frame. Make all the frames identical.

¹⁸Make twenty of these frames to support the curtains on the south side of the Tabernacle.

¹⁹Also make forty silver bases — two bases under each frame, with the pegs fitting securely into the bases.

²⁰For the north side of the Tabernacle, make another twenty frames,

²¹with their forty silver bases, two bases under each frame.

²²Make six frames for the rear — the west side of the Tabernacle —

²³along with two additional frames to reinforce the rear corners of the Tabernacle.

²⁴These corner frames will be matched at the bottom and firmly attached at the top with a single ring, forming a single corner unit. Make both of these corner units the same way.

²⁵So there will be eight frames at the rear of the Tabernacle, set in sixteen silver bases — two bases under each frame.

²⁶“Make crossbars of acacia wood to link the frames, five crossbars for the north side of the Tabernacle

²⁷and five for the south side. Also make five crossbars for the rear of the Tabernacle, which will face west.

²⁸The middle crossbar, attached halfway up the frames, will run all the way from one end of the Tabernacle to the other.

²⁹Overlay the frames with gold, and make gold rings to hold the crossbars. Overlay the crossbars with gold as well.

³⁰“Set up this Tabernacle according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.

³¹“For the inside of the Tabernacle, make a special curtain of finely woven linen. Decorate it with blue, purple, and scarlet thread and with skillfully embroidered cherubim.

³²Hang this curtain on gold hooks attached to four posts of acacia wood. Overlay the posts with gold, and set them in four silver bases.

³³Hang the inner curtain from clasps, and put the Ark of the Covenant in the room behind it. This curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.

³⁴“Then put the Ark’s cover — the place of atonement — on top of the Ark of the Covenant inside the Most Holy Place.

³⁵Place the table outside the inner curtain on the north side of the Tabernacle, and place the lampstand across the room on the south side.

³⁶“Make another curtain for the entrance to the sacred tent. Make it of finely woven linen and embroider it with exquisite designs, using blue, purple, and scarlet thread.

³⁷Craft five posts from acacia wood. Overlay them with gold, and hang the curtain from them with gold hooks. Cast five bronze bases for the posts.

¹If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

²If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.

³If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

⁴Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud

⁵or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

⁶It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

⁷Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

⁸Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!

⁹Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!

¹⁰But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

¹¹When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.

¹²Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

¹³Three things will last forever — faith, hope, and love — and the greatest of these is love.

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

²“A wise man wouldn’t answer with such empty talk! You are nothing but a windbag.

³The wise don’t engage in empty chatter. What good are such words?

⁴Have you no fear of God, no reverence for him?

⁵Your sins are telling your mouth what to say. Your words are based on clever deception.

⁶Your own mouth condemns you, not I. Your own lips testify against you.

⁷“Were you the first person ever born? Were you born before the hills were made?

⁸Were you listening at God’s secret council? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?

⁹What do you know that we don’t? What do you understand that we do not?

¹⁰On our side are aged, gray-haired men much older than your father!

¹¹“Is God’s comfort too little for you? Is his gentle word not enough?

¹²What has taken away your reason? What has weakened your vision,

¹³that you turn against God and say all these evil things?

¹⁴Can any mortal be pure? Can anyone born of a woman be just?

¹⁵Look, God does not even trust the angels. Even the heavens are not absolutely pure in his sight.

¹⁶How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person with a thirst for wickedness!

¹⁷“If you will listen, I will show you. I will answer you from my own experience.

¹⁸And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men who have heard the same thing from their fathers —

¹⁹from those to whom the land was given long before any foreigners arrived.

²⁰“The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives. Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless.

²¹The sound of terror rings in their ears, and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.

²²They dare not go out into the darkness for fear they will be murdered.

²³They wander around, saying, ‘Where can I find bread?’ They know their day of destruction is near.

²⁴That dark day terrifies them. They live in distress and anguish, like a king preparing for battle.

²⁵For they shake their fists at God, defying the Almighty.

²⁶Holding their strong shields, they defiantly charge against him.

²⁷“These wicked people are heavy and prosperous; their waists bulge with fat.

²⁸But their cities will be ruined. They will live in abandoned houses that are ready to tumble down.

²⁹Their riches will not last, and their wealth will not endure. Their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon.

³⁰“They will not escape the darkness. The burning sun will wither their shoots, and the breath of God will destroy them.

³¹Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches, for emptiness will be their only reward.

³²They will be cut down in the prime of life; their branches will never again be green.

³³They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early, like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form.

³⁴For the godless are barren. Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn.

³⁵They conceive trouble and give birth to evil. Their womb produces deceit.”

¹Praise the LORD! Yes, give praise, O servants of the LORD. Praise the name of the LORD!

²Blessed be the name of the LORD now and forever.

³Everywhere — from east to west — praise the name of the LORD.

⁴For the LORD is high above the nations; his glory is higher than the heavens.

⁵Who can be compared with the LORD our God, who is enthroned on high?

⁶He stoops to look down on heaven and on earth.

⁷He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump.

⁸He sets them among princes, even the princes of his own people!

⁹He gives the childless woman a family, making her a happy mother. Praise the LORD!

¹A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.

²The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing, but the mouth of a fool belches out foolishness.

³The LORD is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.

⁴Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.

⁵Only a fool despises a parent’s discipline; whoever learns from correction is wise.

⁶There is treasure in the house of the godly, but the earnings of the wicked bring trouble.

⁷The lips of the wise give good advice; the heart of a fool has none to give.

⁸The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but he delights in the prayers of the upright.

⁹The LORD detests the way of the wicked, but he loves those who pursue godliness.

¹⁰Whoever abandons the right path will be severely disciplined; whoever hates correction will die.

¹¹Even Death and Destruction hold no secrets from the LORD. How much more does he know the human heart!

¹²Mockers hate to be corrected, so they stay away from the wise.

¹³A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.

¹⁴A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash.

¹⁵For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.

¹⁶Better to have little, with fear for the LORD, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil.

¹⁷A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate.

¹⁸A hot-tempered person starts fights; a cool-tempered person stops them.

¹⁹A lazy person’s way is blocked with briers, but the path of the upright is an open highway.

²⁰Sensible children bring joy to their father; foolish children despise their mother.

²¹Foolishness brings joy to those with no sense; a sensible person stays on the right path.

²²Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success.

²³Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!

²⁴The path of life leads upward for the wise; they leave the grave behind.

²⁵The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but he protects the property of widows.

²⁶The LORD detests evil plans, but he delights in pure words.

²⁷Greed brings grief to the whole family, but those who hate bribes will live.

²⁸The heart of the godly thinks carefully before speaking; the mouth of the wicked overflows with evil words.

²⁹The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous.

³⁰A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.

³¹If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise.

³²If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding.

³³Fear of the LORD teaches wisdom; humility precedes honor.

¹The remaining tribes of Israel received land in Canaan as allotted by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the tribal leaders.

²These nine and a half tribes received their grants of land by means of sacred lots, in accordance with the LORD’s command through Moses.

³Moses had already given a grant of land to the two and a half tribes on the east side of the Jordan River, but he had given the Levites no such allotment.

⁴The descendants of Joseph had become two separate tribes — Manasseh and Ephraim. And the Levites were given no land at all, only towns to live in with surrounding pasturelands for their livestock and all their possessions.

⁵So the land was distributed in strict accordance with the LORD’s commands to Moses.

⁶A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua, “Remember what the LORD said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea.

⁷I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the LORD, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report,

⁸but my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the LORD my God.

⁹So that day Moses solemnly promised me, ‘The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the LORD my God.’

¹⁰“Now, as you can see, the LORD has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise — even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old.

¹¹I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then.

¹²So give me the hill country that the LORD promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the LORD is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the LORD said.”

¹³So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave Hebron to him as his portion of land.

¹⁴Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he wholeheartedly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹⁵(Previously Hebron had been called Kiriath-arba. It had been named after Arba, a great hero of the descendants of Anak.) And the land had rest from war.

¹Isaiah son of Amoz received this message concerning the destruction of Babylon:

²“Raise a signal flag on a bare hilltop. Call up an army against Babylon. Wave your hand to encourage them as they march into the palaces of the high and mighty.

³I, the LORD, have dedicated these soldiers for this task. Yes, I have called mighty warriors to express my anger, and they will rejoice when I am exalted.”

⁴Hear the noise on the mountains! Listen, as the vast armies march! It is the noise and shouting of many nations. The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has called this army together.

⁵They come from distant countries, from beyond the farthest horizons. They are the LORD’s weapons to carry out his anger. With them he will destroy the whole land.

⁶Scream in terror, for the day of the LORD has arrived — the time for the Almighty to destroy.

⁷Every arm is paralyzed with fear. Every heart melts,

⁸and people are terrified. Pangs of anguish grip them, like those of a woman in labor. They look helplessly at one another, their faces aflame with fear.

⁹For see, the day of the LORD is coming — the terrible day of his fury and fierce anger. The land will be made desolate, and all the sinners destroyed with it.

¹⁰The heavens will be black above them; the stars will give no light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will provide no light.

¹¹“I, the LORD, will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sin. I will crush the arrogance of the proud and humble the pride of the mighty.

¹²I will make people scarcer than gold — more rare than the fine gold of Ophir.

¹³For I will shake the heavens. The earth will move from its place when the LORD of Heaven’s Armies displays his wrath in the day of his fierce anger.”

¹⁴Everyone in Babylon will run about like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd. They will try to find their own people and flee to their own land.

¹⁵Anyone who is captured will be cut down — run through with a sword.

¹⁶Their little children will be dashed to death before their eyes. Their homes will be sacked, and their wives will be raped.

¹⁷“Look, I will stir up the Medes against Babylon. They cannot be tempted by silver or bribed with gold.

¹⁸The attacking armies will shoot down the young men with arrows. They will have no mercy on helpless babies and will show no compassion for children.”

¹⁹Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean pride, will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them.

²⁰Babylon will never be inhabited again. It will remain empty for generation after generation. Nomads will refuse to camp there, and shepherds will not bed down their sheep.

²¹Desert animals will move into the ruined city, and the houses will be haunted by howling creatures. Owls will live among the ruins, and wild goats will go there to dance.

²²Hyenas will howl in its fortresses, and jackals will make dens in its luxurious palaces. Babylon’s days are numbered; its time of destruction will soon arrive.

¹Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God.

²But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him.

³“You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said.

⁴Then Peter told them exactly what had happened.

⁵“I was in the town of Joppa,” he said, “and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me.

⁶When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of tame and wild animals, reptiles, and birds.

⁷And I heard a voice say, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’

⁸“‘No, Lord,’ I replied. ‘I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean. ’

⁹“But the voice from heaven spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’

¹⁰This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up to heaven.

¹¹“Just then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying.

¹²The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man who had sent for us.

¹³He told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him, ‘Send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter.

¹⁴He will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved!’

¹⁵“As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning.

¹⁶Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

¹⁷And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”

¹⁹Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews.

²⁰However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus.

²¹The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord.

²²When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

²³When he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord.

²⁴Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord.

²⁵Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul.

²⁶When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)

²⁷During this time some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch.

²⁸One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.)

²⁹So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could.

³⁰This they did, entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem.