Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea

²and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

³This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ”

⁴John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

⁵People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.

⁶Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

⁸Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

⁹And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

¹⁰The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

¹²His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.

¹⁴But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

¹⁵Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

¹⁶As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’

²I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

³Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”

⁴When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments.

⁵For the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’ ”

⁶So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.

⁷Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.

⁸And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent.

⁹As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses.

¹⁰Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent.

¹¹The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

¹²Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’

¹³If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

¹⁴The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

¹⁵Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

¹⁶How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

¹⁷And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

¹⁸Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

¹⁹And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

²⁰But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

²¹Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.

²²When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

²³Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

¹Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.

²Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

⁴The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

⁵For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

⁶For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

⁸We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

¹⁰We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

¹¹For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.

¹²So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

¹³It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak,

¹⁴because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.

¹⁵All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

¹⁸So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

¹I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—

²for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

³This is good, and pleases God our Savior,

⁴who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

⁵For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,

⁶who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.

⁷And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.

⁸Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.

⁹I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,

¹⁰but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

¹¹A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.

¹²I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.

¹³For Adam was formed first, then Eve.

¹⁴And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

¹⁵But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

²“Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise person benefit him?

³What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

⁴“Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you?

⁵Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?

⁶You demanded security from your relatives for no reason; you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.

⁷You gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry,

⁸though you were a powerful man, owning land— an honored man, living on it.

⁹And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless.

¹⁰That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you,

¹¹why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.

¹²“Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars!

¹³Yet you say, ‘What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness?

¹⁴Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’

¹⁵Will you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod?

¹⁶They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood.

¹⁷They said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’

¹⁸Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

¹⁹The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying,

²⁰‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.’

²¹“Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.

²²Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.

²³If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent

²⁴and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,

²⁵then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.

²⁶Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God.

²⁷You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.

²⁸What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.

²⁹When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then he will save the downcast.

³⁰He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”

¹A song of ascents. I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me.

²Save me, LORD, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.

³What will he do to you, and what more besides, you deceitful tongue?

⁴He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom bush.

⁵Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, that I live among the tents of Kedar!

⁶Too long have I lived among those who hate peace.

⁷I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

¹A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

²Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all.

³The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

⁴Humility is the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and life.

⁵In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls, but those who would preserve their life stay far from them.

⁶Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

⁷The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.

⁸Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity, and the rod they wield in fury will be broken.

⁹The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.

¹⁰Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.

¹¹One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace will have the king for a friend.

¹²The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge, but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

¹³The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!”

¹⁴The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit; a man who is under the LORD’s wrath falls into it.

¹⁵Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.

¹⁶One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.

¹⁷Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach,

¹⁸for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.

¹⁹So that your trust may be in the LORD, I teach you today, even you.

²⁰Have I not written thirty sayings for you, sayings of counsel and knowledge,

²¹teaching you to be honest and to speak the truth, so that you bring back truthful reports to those you serve?

²²Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court,

²³for the LORD will take up their case and will exact life for life.

²⁴Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered,

²⁵or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.

²⁶Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts;

²⁷if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you.

²⁸Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your ancestors.

²⁹Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.

¹Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribal families of Israel

²at Shiloh in Canaan and said to them, “The LORD commanded through Moses that you give us towns to live in, with pasturelands for our livestock.”

³So, as the LORD had commanded, the Israelites gave the Levites the following towns and pasturelands out of their own inheritance:

⁴The first lot came out for the Kohathites, according to their clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin.

⁵The rest of Kohath’s descendants were allotted ten towns from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan and half of Manasseh.

⁶The descendants of Gershon were allotted thirteen towns from the clans of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷The descendants of Merari, according to their clans, received twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.

⁸So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these towns and their pasturelands, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

⁹From the tribes of Judah and Simeon they allotted the following towns by name

¹⁰(these towns were assigned to the descendants of Aaron who were from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them):

¹¹They gave them Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pastureland, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.)

¹²But the fields and villages around the city they had given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

¹³So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron (a city of refuge for one accused of murder), Libnah,

¹⁴Jattir, Eshtemoa,

¹⁵Holon, Debir,

¹⁶Ain, Juttah and Beth Shemesh, together with their pasturelands—nine towns from these two tribes.

¹⁷And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them: Gibeon, Geba,

¹⁸Anathoth and Almon, together with their pasturelands—four towns.

¹⁹The total number of towns for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, came to thirteen, together with their pasturelands.

²⁰The rest of the Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted towns from the tribe of Ephraim:

²¹In the hill country of Ephraim they were given Shechem (a city of refuge for one accused of murder) and Gezer,

²²Kibzaim and Beth Horon, together with their pasturelands—four towns.

²³Also from the tribe of Dan they received: Eltekeh, Gibbethon,

²⁴Aijalon and Gath Rimmon, together with their pasturelands—four towns.

²⁵From half the tribe of Manasseh they received: Taanach and Gath Rimmon, together with their pasturelands—two towns.

²⁶All these ten towns and their pasturelands were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.

²⁷The Levite clans of the Gershonites were given: from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan (a city of refuge for one accused of murder) and Be Eshterah, together with their pasturelands—two towns;

²⁸from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion, Daberath,

²⁹Jarmuth and En Gannim, together with their pasturelands—four towns;

³⁰from the tribe of Asher, Mishal, Abdon,

³¹Helkath and Rehob, together with their pasturelands—four towns;

³²from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for one accused of murder), Hammoth Dor and Kartan, together with their pasturelands—three towns.

³³The total number of towns of the Gershonite clans came to thirteen, together with their pasturelands.

³⁴The Merarite clans (the rest of the Levites) were given: from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam, Kartah,

³⁵Dimnah and Nahalal, together with their pasturelands—four towns;

³⁶from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer, Jahaz,

³⁷Kedemoth and Mephaath, together with their pasturelands—four towns;

³⁸from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead (a city of refuge for one accused of murder), Mahanaim,

³⁹Heshbon and Jazer, together with their pasturelands—four towns in all.

⁴⁰The total number of towns allotted to the Merarite clans, who were the rest of the Levites, came to twelve.

⁴¹The towns of the Levites in the territory held by the Israelites were forty-eight in all, together with their pasturelands.

⁴²Each of these towns had pasturelands surrounding it; this was true for all these towns.

⁴³So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there.

⁴⁴The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hands.

⁴⁵Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

¹In the year that the supreme commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it—

²at that time the LORD spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot.

³Then the LORD said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush,

⁴so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared—to Egypt’s shame.

⁵Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be dismayed and put to shame.

⁶In that day the people who live on this coast will say, ‘See what has happened to those we relied on, those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’ ”

¹After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

²There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them,

³and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.

⁴Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

⁵When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.

⁶But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁷Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.

⁸Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.

⁹One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.

¹⁰For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”

¹¹So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

¹²While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment.

¹³“This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”

¹⁴Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to them, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you.

¹⁵But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.”

¹⁶So he drove them off.

¹⁷Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever.

¹⁸Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken.

¹⁹They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

²⁰When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined.

²¹But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.

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

²³After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.

²⁵He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John.

²⁶He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

²⁷When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.

²⁸For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.