Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.

²Right away a man with leprosy came up and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

³Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

⁵When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, pleading with him,

⁶“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony.”

⁷He said to him, “Am I to come and heal him?”

⁸“Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁹For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

¹⁰Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith.

¹¹I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

¹²But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed, let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that very moment.

¹⁴Jesus went into Peter’s house and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.

¹⁵So he touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve him.

¹⁶When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick,

¹⁷so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: He himself took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.

¹⁸When Jesus saw a large crowd around him, he gave the order to go to the other side of the sea.

¹⁹A scribe approached him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

²¹“Lord,” another of his disciples said, “first let me go bury my father.”

²²But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

²³As he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.

²⁴Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves — but Jesus kept sleeping.

²⁵So the disciples came and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!”

²⁶He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

²⁷The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!”

²⁸When he had come to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.

²⁹Suddenly they shouted, “What do you have to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

³⁰A long way off from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding.

³¹“If you drive us out,” the demons begged him, “send us into the herd of pigs.”

³²“Go!” he told them. So when they had come out, they entered the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water.

³³Then the men who tended them fled. They went into the city and reported everything, especially what had happened to those who were demon-possessed.

³⁴At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

¹Bezalel constructed the altar of burnt offering from acacia wood. It was square, 7½ feet long and 7½ feet wide, and was 4½ feet high.

²He made horns for it on its four corners; the horns were of one piece with it. Then he overlaid it with bronze.

³He made all the altar’s utensils: the pots, shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans; he made all its utensils of bronze.

⁴He constructed for the altar a grate of bronze mesh under its ledge, halfway up from the bottom.

⁵He cast four rings at the four corners of the bronze grate as holders for the poles.

⁶He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.

⁷Then he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar in order to carry it with them. He constructed the altar with boards so that it was hollow.

⁸He made the bronze basin and its stand from the bronze mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

⁹Then he made the courtyard. The hangings on the south side of the courtyard were of finely spun linen, 150 feet long,

¹⁰including their twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and silver bands for the posts.

¹¹The hangings on the north side were also 150 feet long, including their twenty posts and twenty bronze bases. The hooks and bands of the posts were silver.

¹²The hangings on the west side were 75 feet long, including their ten posts and their ten bases, with silver hooks and silver bands for the posts.

¹³And for the east side toward the sunrise, 75 feet long,

¹⁴the hangings on one side of the gate were 22½ feet, including their three posts and their three bases.

¹⁵It was the same for the other side of the courtyard gate. The hangings were 22½ feet, including their three posts and their three bases.

¹⁶All the hangings around the courtyard were of finely spun linen.

¹⁷The bases for the posts were bronze; the hooks and bands of the posts were silver; and the plating for the tops of the posts was silver. All the posts of the courtyard were banded with silver.

¹⁸The screen for the gate of the courtyard was made of finely spun linen, expertly embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. It was 30 feet long, and like the hangings of the courtyard, 7½ feet high.

¹⁹It had four posts with their four bronze bases. Their hooks were silver, and their top plating and their bands were silver.

²⁰All the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the surrounding courtyard were bronze.

²¹This is the inventory for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, that was recorded at Moses’s command. It was the work of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

²²Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that the LORD commanded Moses.

²³With him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, a gem cutter, a designer, and an embroiderer with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen.

²⁴All the gold of the presentation offering that was used for the project in all the work on the sanctuary, was 2,193 pounds, according to the sanctuary shekel.

²⁵The silver from those of the community who were registered was 7,544 pounds, according to the sanctuary shekel —

²⁶two-fifths of an ounce per man, that is, half a shekel according to the sanctuary shekel, from everyone twenty years old or more who had crossed over to the registered group, 603,550 men.

²⁷There were 7,500 pounds of silver used to cast the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the curtain — one hundred bases from 7,500 pounds, 75 pounds for each base.

²⁸With the remaining 44 pounds he made the hooks for the posts, overlaid their tops, and supplied bands for them.

²⁹The bronze of the presentation offering totaled 5,310 pounds.

³⁰He made with it the bases for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the bronze altar and its bronze grate, all the utensils for the altar,

³¹the bases for the surrounding courtyard, the bases for the gate of the courtyard, all the tent pegs for the tabernacle, and all the tent pegs for the surrounding courtyard.

¹Now concerning the ministry to the saints, it is unnecessary for me to write to you.

²For I know your eagerness, and I boast about you to the Macedonians: “Achaia has been ready since last year,” and your zeal has stirred up most of them.

³But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you in this matter would not prove empty, and so that you would be ready just as I said.

⁴Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to mention you, would be put to shame in that situation.

⁵Therefore I considered it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance the generous gift you promised, so that it will be ready as a gift and not as an extortion.

⁶The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.

⁷Each person should do as he has decided in his heart — not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.

⁸And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.

⁹As it is written: He distributed freely; he gave to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.

¹⁰Now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

¹¹You will be enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us.

¹²For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.

¹³Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone.

¹⁴And as they pray on your behalf, they will have deep affection for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.

¹⁵Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, for the sake of the promise of life in Christ Jesus:

²To Timothy, my dearly loved son. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as my ancestors did, when I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day.

⁴Remembering your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.

⁵I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also.

⁶Therefore, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.

⁷For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

⁸So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me his prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.

⁹He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

¹⁰This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

¹¹For this gospel I was appointed a herald, apostle, and teacher,

¹²and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.

¹³Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

¹⁵You know that all those in the province of Asia have deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

¹⁶May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.

¹⁷On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he diligently searched for me and found me.

¹⁸May the Lord grant that he obtain mercy from him on that day. You know very well how much he ministered at Ephesus.

¹Job continued his discourse, saying:

²As God lives, who has deprived me of justice, and the Almighty who has made me bitter,

³as long as my breath is still in me and the breath from God remains in my nostrils,

⁴my lips will not speak unjustly, and my tongue will not utter deceit.

⁵I will never affirm that you are right. I will maintain my integrity until I die.

⁶I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go. My conscience will not accuse me as long as I live!

⁷May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust.

⁸For what hope does the godless person have when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

⁹Will God hear his cry when distress comes on him?

¹⁰Will he delight in the Almighty? Will he call on God at all times?

¹¹I will teach you about God’s power. I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned.

¹²All of you have seen this for yourselves, why do you keep up this empty talk?

¹³This is a wicked man’s lot from God, the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.

¹⁴Even if his children increase, they are destined for the sword; his descendants will never have enough food.

¹⁵Those who survive him will be buried by the plague, yet their widows will not weep for them.

¹⁶Though he piles up silver like dust and heaps up fine clothing like clay —

¹⁷he may heap it up, but the righteous will wear it, and the innocent will divide up his silver.

¹⁸The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon or a shelter set up by a watchman.

¹⁹He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, it is gone.

²⁰Terrors overtake him like a flood; a storm wind sweeps him away at night.

²¹An east wind picks him up, and he is gone; it carries him away from his place.

²²It blasts at him without mercy, while he flees desperately from its force.

²³It claps its hands at him and scoffs at him from its place.

¹A song of ascents. [1] Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion. It cannot be shaken; it remains forever.

²The mountains surround Jerusalem and the LORD surrounds his people, both now and forever.

³The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, so that the righteous will not apply their hands to injustice.

⁴Do what is good, LORD, to the good, to those whose hearts are upright.

⁵But as for those who turn aside to crooked ways, the LORD will banish them with the evildoers. Peace be with Israel.

¹Don’t boast about tomorrow, for you don’t know what a day might bring.

²Let another praise you, and not your own mouth — a stranger, and not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy and sand, a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.

⁴Fury is cruel, and anger a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?

⁵Better an open reprimand than concealed love.

⁶The wounds of a friend are trustworthy, but the kisses of an enemy are excessive.

⁷A person who is full tramples on a honeycomb, but to a hungry person, any bitter thing is sweet.

⁸Anyone wandering from his home is like a bird wandering from its nest.

⁹Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the sweetness of a friend is better than self-counsel.

¹⁰Don’t abandon your friend or your father’s friend, and don’t go to your brother’s house in your time of calamity; better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and bring my heart joy, so that I can answer anyone who taunts me.

¹²A sensible person sees danger and takes cover; the inexperienced keep going and are punished.

¹³Take his garment, for he has put up security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for foreigners.

¹⁴If one blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted as a curse to him.

¹⁵An endless dripping on a rainy day and a nagging wife are alike;

¹⁶the one who controls her controls the wind and grasps oil with his right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another.

¹⁸Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever looks after his master will be honored.

¹⁹As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the person.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and people’s eyes are never satisfied.

²¹A crucible refines silver, a smelter refines gold, and a person refines his praise.

²²Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, you will not separate his foolishness from him.

²³Know well the condition of your flock, and pay attention to your herds,

²⁴for wealth is not forever; not even a crown lasts for all time.

²⁵When hay is removed and new growth appears and the grain from the hills is gathered in,

²⁶lambs will provide your clothing, and goats, the price of a field;

²⁷there will be enough goat’s milk for your food — food for your household and nourishment for your female servants.

¹The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you out of Egypt and led you into the land I had promised to your fathers. I also said: I will never break my covenant with you.

²You are not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You are to tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed me. What is this you have done?

³Therefore, I now say: I will not drive out these people before you. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a trap for you.”

⁴When the angel of the LORD had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly.

⁵So they named that place Bochim and offered sacrifices there to the LORD.

⁶Previously, when Joshua had sent the people away, the Israelites had gone to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance.

⁷The people worshiped the LORD throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshua. They had seen all the LORD’s great works he had done for Israel.

⁸Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110.

⁹They buried him in the territory of his inheritance, in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

¹⁰That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them another generation rose up who did not know the LORD or the works he had done for Israel.

¹¹The Israelites did what was evil in the LORD’s sight. They worshiped the Baals

¹²and abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed other gods from the surrounding peoples and bowed down to them. They angered the LORD,

¹³for they abandoned him and worshiped Baal and the Ashtoreths.

¹⁴The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he handed them over to marauders who raided them. He sold them to the enemies around them, and they could no longer resist their enemies.

¹⁵Whenever the Israelites went out, the LORD was against them and brought disaster on them, just as he had promised and sworn to them. So they suffered greatly.

¹⁶The LORD raised up judges, who saved them from the power of their marauders,

¹⁷but they did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods, bowing down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commands. They did not do as their fathers did.

¹⁸Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, the LORD was with him and saved the people from the power of their enemies while the judge was still alive. The LORD was moved to pity whenever they groaned because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them.

¹⁹Whenever the judge died, the Israelites would act even more corruptly than their fathers, following other gods to serve them and bow in worship to them. They did not turn from their evil practices or their obstinate ways.

²⁰The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he declared, “Because this nation has violated my covenant that I made with their fathers and disobeyed me,

²¹I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died.

²²I did this to test Israel and to see whether or not they would keep the LORD’s way by walking in it, as their fathers had.”

²³The LORD left these nations and did not drive them out immediately. He did not hand them over to Joshua.

¹LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you. I will praise your name, for you have accomplished wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.

²For you have turned the city into a pile of rocks, a fortified city, into ruins; the fortress of barbarians is no longer a city; it will never be rebuilt.

³Therefore, a strong people will honor you. The cities of violent nations will fear you.

⁴For you have been a stronghold for the poor person, a stronghold for the needy in his distress, a refuge from storms and a shade from heat. When the breath of the violent is like a storm against a wall,

⁵like heat in a dry land, you will subdue the uproar of barbarians. As the shade of a cloud cools the heat of the day, so he will silence the song of the violent.

⁶On this mountain, the LORD of Armies will prepare for all the peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast with aged wine, prime cuts of choice meat, fine vintage wine.

⁷On this mountain he will destroy the burial shroud, the shroud over all the peoples, the sheet covering all the nations;

⁸he will destroy death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove his people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the LORD has spoken.

⁹On that day it will be said, “Look, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he has saved us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him. Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

¹⁰For the LORD’s power will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be trampled in his place as straw is trampled in a dung pile.

¹¹He will spread out his arms in the middle of it, as a swimmer spreads out his arms to swim. His pride will be brought low, along with the trickery of his hands.

¹²The high-walled fortress will be brought down, thrown to the ground, to the dust.

¹Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience to this day.”

²The high priest Ananias ordered those who were standing next to him to strike him on the mouth.

³Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You are sitting there judging me according to the law, and yet in violation of the law are you ordering me to be struck?”

⁴Those standing nearby said, “Do you dare revile God’s high priest?”

⁵“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest,” replied Paul. “For it is written, You must not speak evil of a ruler of your people.”

⁶When Paul realized that one part of them were Sadducees and the other part were Pharisees, he cried out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am being judged because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead!”

⁷When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

⁸For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, and neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees affirm them all.

⁹The shouting grew loud, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party got up and argued vehemently: “We find nothing evil in this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

¹⁰When the dispute became violent, the commander feared that Paul might be torn apart by them and ordered the troops to go down, take him away from them, and bring him into the barracks.

¹¹The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Have courage! For as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary for you to testify in Rome.”

¹²When it was morning, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³There were more than forty who had formed this plot.

¹⁴These men went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under a solemn curse that we won’t eat anything until we have killed Paul.

¹⁵So now you, along with the Sanhedrin, make a request to the commander that he bring him down to you as if you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly. But, before he gets near, we are ready to kill him.”

¹⁶But the son of Paul’s sister, hearing about their ambush, came and entered the barracks and reported it to Paul.

¹⁷Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander, because he has something to report to him.”

¹⁸So he took him, brought him to the commander, and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you.”

¹⁹The commander took him by the hand, led him aside, and inquired privately, “What is it you have to report to me?”

²⁰“The Jews,” he said, “have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow, as though they are going to hold a somewhat more careful inquiry about him.

²¹Don’t let them persuade you, because there are more than forty of them lying in ambush — men who have bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Now they are ready, waiting for your consent.”

²²So the commander dismissed the young man and instructed him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have informed me about this.”

²³He summoned two of his centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready with seventy cavalry and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight.

²⁴Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.”

²⁵He wrote the following letter:

²⁶Claudius Lysias, To the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings.

²⁷When this man had been seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, I arrived with my troops and rescued him because I learned that he is a Roman citizen.

²⁸Wanting to know the charge they were accusing him of, I brought him down before their Sanhedrin.

²⁹I found out that the accusations were concerning questions of their law, and that there was no charge that merited death or imprisonment.

³⁰When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you right away. I also ordered his accusers to state their case against him in your presence.

³¹So the soldiers took Paul during the night and brought him to Antipatris as they were ordered.

³²The next day, they returned to the barracks, allowing the cavalry to go on with him.

³³When these men entered Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him.

³⁴After he read it, he asked what province he was from. When he learned he was from Cilicia,

³⁵he said, “I will give you a hearing whenever your accusers also get here.” He ordered that he be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.