Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside.

²Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”

³Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

⁴Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”

⁵When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him,

⁶“Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”

⁷Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

⁸But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed.

⁹I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

¹⁰When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!

¹¹And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world — from east and west — and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven.

¹²But many Israelites — those for whom the Kingdom was prepared — will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

¹⁴When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever.

¹⁵But when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left her. Then she got up and prepared a meal for him.

¹⁶That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick.

¹⁷This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said, “He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.”

¹⁸When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he instructed his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake.

¹⁹Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

²¹Another of his disciples said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”

²²But Jesus told him, “Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead. ”

²³Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples.

²⁴Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.

²⁵The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

²⁶Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.

²⁷The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”

²⁸When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They came out of the tombs and were so violent that no one could go through that area.

²⁹They began screaming at him, “Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time?”

³⁰There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding in the distance.

³¹So the demons begged, “If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”

³²“All right, go!” Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.

³³The herdsmen fled to the nearby town, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men.

³⁴Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.

¹Next Bezalel used acacia wood to construct the square altar of burnt offering. It was 7 1⁄2 feet wide, 7 1⁄2 feet long, and 4 1⁄2 feet high.

²He made horns for each of its four corners so that the horns and altar were all one piece. He overlaid the altar with bronze.

³Then he made all the altar utensils of bronze — the ash buckets, shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans.

⁴Next he made a bronze grating and installed it halfway down the side of the altar, under the ledge.

⁵He cast four rings and attached them to the corners of the bronze grating to hold the carrying poles.

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

⁷He inserted the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar. The altar was hollow and was made from planks.

⁸Bezalel made the bronze washbasin and its bronze stand from bronze mirrors donated by the women who served at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

⁹Then Bezalel made the courtyard, which was enclosed with curtains made of finely woven linen. On the south side the curtains were 150 feet long.

¹⁰They were held up by twenty posts set securely in twenty bronze bases. He hung the curtains with silver hooks and rings.

¹¹He made a similar set of curtains for the north side — 150 feet of curtains held up by twenty posts set securely in bronze bases. He hung the curtains with silver hooks and rings.

¹²The curtains on the west end of the courtyard were 75 feet long, hung with silver hooks and rings and supported by ten posts set into ten bases.

¹³The east end, the front, was also 75 feet long.

¹⁴The courtyard entrance was on the east end, flanked by two curtains. The curtain on the right side was 22 1⁄2 feet long and was supported by three posts set into three bases.

¹⁵The curtain on the left side was also 22 1⁄2 feet long and was supported by three posts set into three bases.

¹⁶All the curtains used in the courtyard were made of finely woven linen.

¹⁷Each post had a bronze base, and all the hooks and rings were silver. The tops of the posts of the courtyard were overlaid with silver, and the rings to hold up the curtains were made of silver.

¹⁸He made the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard of finely woven linen, and he decorated it with beautiful embroidery in blue, purple, and scarlet thread. It was 30 feet long, and its height was 7 1⁄2 feet, just like the curtains of the courtyard walls.

¹⁹It was supported by four posts, each set securely in its own bronze base. The tops of the posts were overlaid with silver, and the hooks and rings were also made of silver.

²⁰All the tent pegs used in the Tabernacle and courtyard were made of bronze.

²¹This is an inventory of the materials used in building the Tabernacle of the Covenant. The Levites compiled the figures, as Moses directed, and Ithamar son of Aaron the priest served as recorder.

²²Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²³He was assisted by Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, a craftsman expert at engraving, designing, and embroidering with blue, purple, and scarlet thread on fine linen cloth.

²⁴The people brought special offerings of gold totaling 2,193 pounds, as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel. This gold was used throughout the Tabernacle.

²⁵The whole community of Israel gave 7,545 pounds of silver, as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel.

²⁶This silver came from the tax collected from each man registered in the census. (The tax is one beka, which is half a shekel, based on the sanctuary shekel.) The tax was collected from 603,550 men who had reached their twentieth birthday.

²⁷The hundred bases for the frames of the sanctuary walls and for the posts supporting the inner curtain required 7,500 pounds of silver, about 75 pounds for each base.

²⁸The remaining 45 pounds of silver was used to make the hooks and rings and to overlay the tops of the posts.

²⁹The people also brought as special offerings 5,310 pounds of bronze,

³⁰which was used for casting the bases for the posts at the entrance to the Tabernacle, and for the bronze altar with its bronze grating and all the altar utensils.

³¹Bronze was also used to make the bases for the posts that supported the curtains around the courtyard, the bases for the curtain at the entrance of the courtyard, and all the tent pegs for the Tabernacle and the courtyard.

¹I really don’t need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem.

²For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to the churches in Macedonia that you in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of the Macedonian believers to begin giving.

³But I am sending these brothers to be sure you really are ready, as I have been telling them, and that your money is all collected. I don’t want to be wrong in my boasting about you.

⁴We would be embarrassed — not to mention your own embarrassment — if some Macedonian believers came with me and found that you weren’t ready after all I had told them!

⁵So I thought I should send these brothers ahead of me to make sure the gift you promised is ready. But I want it to be a willing gift, not one given grudgingly.

⁶Remember this — a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.

⁷You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”

⁸And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

⁹As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”

¹⁰For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

¹¹Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.

¹²So two good things will result from this ministry of giving — the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.

¹³As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ.

¹⁴And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you.

¹⁵Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!

¹This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I have been sent out to tell others about the life he has promised through faith in Christ Jesus.

²I am writing to Timothy, my dear son. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.

³Timothy, I thank God for you — the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

⁴I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again.

⁵I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.

⁶This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you.

⁷For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

⁸So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News.

⁹For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time — to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.

¹⁰And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.

¹¹And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News.

¹²That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.

¹³Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me — a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.

¹⁵As you know, everyone from the province of Asia has deserted me — even Phygelus and Hermogenes.

¹⁶May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family because he often visited and encouraged me. He was never ashamed of me because I was in chains.

¹⁷When he came to Rome, he searched everywhere until he found me.

¹⁸May the Lord show him special kindness on the day of Christ’s return. And you know very well how helpful he was in Ephesus.

¹Job continued speaking:

²“I vow by the living God, who has taken away my rights, by the Almighty who has embittered my soul —

³As long as I live, while I have breath from God,

⁴my lips will speak no evil, and my tongue will speak no lies.

⁵I will never concede that you are right; I will defend my integrity until I die.

⁶I will maintain my innocence without wavering. My conscience is clear for as long as I live.

⁷“May my enemy be punished like the wicked, my adversary like those who do evil.

⁸For what hope do the godless have when God cuts them off and takes away their life?

⁹Will God listen to their cry when trouble comes upon them?

¹⁰Can they take delight in the Almighty? Can they call to God at any time?

¹¹I will teach you about God’s power. I will not conceal anything concerning the Almighty.

¹²But you have seen all this, yet you say all these useless things to me.

¹³“This is what the wicked will receive from God; this is their inheritance from the Almighty.

¹⁴They may have many children, but the children will die in war or starve to death.

¹⁵Those who survive will die of a plague, and not even their widows will mourn them.

¹⁶“Evil people may have piles of money and may store away mounds of clothing.

¹⁷But the righteous will wear that clothing, and the innocent will divide that money.

¹⁸The wicked build houses as fragile as a spider’s web, as flimsy as a shelter made of branches.

¹⁹The wicked go to bed rich but wake to find that all their wealth is gone.

²⁰Terror overwhelms them like a flood, and they are blown away in the storms of the night.

²¹The east wind carries them away, and they are gone. It sweeps them away.

²²It whirls down on them without mercy. They struggle to flee from its power.

²³But everyone jeers at them and mocks them.

¹Those who trust in the LORD are as secure as Mount Zion; they will not be defeated but will endure forever.

²Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people, both now and forever.

³The wicked will not rule the land of the godly, for then the godly might be tempted to do wrong.

⁴O LORD, do good to those who are good, whose hearts are in tune with you.

⁵But banish those who turn to crooked ways, O LORD. Take them away with those who do evil. May Israel have peace!

¹Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.

²Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth — a stranger, not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier.

⁴Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.

⁵An open rebuke is better than hidden love!

⁶Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.

⁷A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.

⁸A person who strays from home is like a bird that strays from its nest.

⁹The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.

¹⁰Never abandon a friend — either yours or your father’s. When disaster strikes, you won’t have to ask your brother for assistance. It’s better to go to a neighbor than to a brother who lives far away.

¹¹Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad. Then I will be able to answer my critics.

¹²A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

¹³Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt. Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.

¹⁴A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning will be taken as a curse!

¹⁵A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping on a rainy day.

¹⁶Stopping her complaints is like trying to stop the wind or trying to hold something with greased hands.

¹⁷As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

¹⁸As workers who tend a fig tree are allowed to eat the fruit, so workers who protect their employer’s interests will be rewarded.

¹⁹As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.

²⁰Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.

²¹Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised.

²²You cannot separate fools from their foolishness, even though you grind them like grain with mortar and pestle.

²³Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds,

²⁴for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.

²⁵After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears and the mountain grasses are gathered in,

²⁶your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will provide the price of a field.

²⁷And you will have enough goats’ milk for yourself, your family, and your servant girls.

¹The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said to the Israelites, “I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your ancestors, and I said I would never break my covenant with you.

²For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this?

³So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you.”

⁴When the angel of the LORD finished speaking to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly.

⁵So they called the place Bokim (which means “weeping”), and they offered sacrifices there to the LORD.

⁶After Joshua sent the people away, each of the tribes left to take possession of the land allotted to them.

⁷And the Israelites served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the leaders who outlived him — those who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.

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

⁹They buried him in the land he had been allocated, at Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

¹⁰After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel.

¹¹The Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight and served the images of Baal.

¹²They abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the LORD.

¹³They abandoned the LORD to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth.

¹⁴This made the LORD burn with anger against Israel, so he handed them over to raiders who stole their possessions. He turned them over to their enemies all around, and they were no longer able to resist them.

¹⁵Every time Israel went out to battle, the LORD fought against them, causing them to be defeated, just as he had warned. And the people were in great distress.

¹⁶Then the LORD raised up judges to rescue the Israelites from their attackers.

¹⁷Yet Israel did not listen to the judges but prostituted themselves by worshiping other gods. How quickly they turned away from the path of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commands.

¹⁸Whenever the LORD raised up a judge over Israel, he was with that judge and rescued the people from their enemies throughout the judge’s lifetime. For the LORD took pity on his people, who were burdened by oppression and suffering.

¹⁹But when the judge died, the people returned to their corrupt ways, behaving worse than those who had lived before them. They went after other gods, serving and worshiping them. And they refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

²⁰So the LORD burned with anger against Israel. He said, “Because these people have violated my covenant, which I made with their ancestors, and have ignored my commands,

²¹I will no longer drive out the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died.

²²I did this to test Israel — to see whether or not they would follow the ways of the LORD as their ancestors did.”

²³That is why the LORD left those nations in place. He did not quickly drive them out or allow Joshua to conquer them all.

¹O LORD, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them.

²You turn mighty cities into heaps of ruins. Cities with strong walls are turned to rubble. Beautiful palaces in distant lands disappear and will never be rebuilt.

³Therefore, strong nations will declare your glory; ruthless nations will fear you.

⁴But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O LORD, a tower of refuge to the needy in distress. You are a refuge from the storm and a shelter from the heat. For the oppressive acts of ruthless people are like a storm beating against a wall,

⁵or like the relentless heat of the desert. But you silence the roar of foreign nations. As the shade of a cloud cools relentless heat, so the boastful songs of ruthless people are stilled.

⁶In Jerusalem, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the people of the world. It will be a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat.

⁷There he will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth.

⁸He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign LORD will wipe away all tears. He will remove forever all insults and mockery against his land and people. The LORD has spoken!

⁹In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the LORD, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!”

¹⁰For the LORD’s hand of blessing will rest on Jerusalem. But Moab will be crushed. It will be like straw trampled down and left to rot.

¹¹God will push down Moab’s people as a swimmer pushes down water with his hands. He will end their pride and all their evil works.

¹²The high walls of Moab will be demolished. They will be brought down to the ground, down into the dust.

¹Gazing intently at the high council, Paul began: “Brothers, I have always lived before God with a clear conscience!”

²Instantly Ananias the high priest commanded those close to Paul to slap him on the mouth.

³But Paul said to him, “God will slap you, you corrupt hypocrite! What kind of judge are you to break the law yourself by ordering me struck like that?”

⁴Those standing near Paul said to him, “Do you dare to insult God’s high priest?”

⁵“I’m sorry, brothers. I didn’t realize he was the high priest,” Paul replied, “for the Scriptures say, ‘You must not speak evil of any of your rulers.’ ”

⁶Paul realized that some members of the high council were Sadducees and some were Pharisees, so he shouted, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, as were my ancestors! And I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead!”

⁷This divided the council — the Pharisees against the Sadducees —

⁸for the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, but the Pharisees believe in all of these.

⁹So there was a great uproar. Some of the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees jumped up and began to argue forcefully. “We see nothing wrong with him,” they shouted. “Perhaps a spirit or an angel spoke to him.”

¹⁰As the conflict grew more violent, the commander was afraid they would tear Paul apart. So he ordered his soldiers to go and rescue him by force and take him back to the fortress.

¹¹That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.”

¹²The next morning a group of Jews got together and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³There were more than forty of them in the conspiracy.

¹⁴They went to the leading priests and elders and told them, “We have bound ourselves with an oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul.

¹⁵So you and the high council should ask the commander to bring Paul back to the council again. Pretend you want to examine his case more fully. We will kill him on the way.”

¹⁶But Paul’s nephew — his sister’s son — heard of their plan and went to the fortress and told Paul.

¹⁷Paul called for one of the Roman officers and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has something important to tell him.”

¹⁸So the officer did, explaining, “Paul, the prisoner, called me over and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

¹⁹The commander took his hand, led him aside, and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”

²⁰Paul’s nephew told him, “Some Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the high council tomorrow, pretending they want to get some more information.

²¹But don’t do it! There are more than forty men hiding along the way ready to ambush him. They have vowed not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent.”

²²“Don’t let anyone know you told me this,” the commander warned the young man.

²³Then the commander called two of his officers and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. Also take 200 spearmen and 70 mounted troops.

²⁴Provide horses for Paul to ride, and get him safely to Governor Felix.”

²⁵Then he wrote this letter to the governor:

²⁶“From Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings!

²⁷“This man was seized by some Jews, and they were about to kill him when I arrived with the troops. When I learned that he was a Roman citizen, I removed him to safety.

²⁸Then I took him to their high council to try to learn the basis of the accusations against him.

²⁹I soon discovered the charge was something regarding their religious law — certainly nothing worthy of imprisonment or death.

³⁰But when I was informed of a plot to kill him, I immediately sent him on to you. I have told his accusers to bring their charges before you.”

³¹So that night, as ordered, the soldiers took Paul as far as Antipatris.

³²They returned to the fortress the next morning, while the mounted troops took him on to Caesarea.

³³When they arrived in Caesarea, they presented Paul and the letter to Governor Felix.

³⁴He read it and then asked Paul what province he was from. “Cilicia,” Paul answered.

³⁵“I will hear your case myself when your accusers arrive,” the governor told him. Then the governor ordered him kept in the prison at Herod’s headquarters.