Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹The Pharisees and Sadducees approached, and tested him, asking him to show them a sign from heaven.

²He replied, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be good weather because the sky is red.’

³And in the morning, ‘Today will be stormy because the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to read the appearance of the sky, but you can’t read the signs of the times.

⁴An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away.

⁵The disciples reached the other shore, and they had forgotten to take bread.

⁶Then Jesus told them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷They were discussing among themselves, “We didn’t bring any bread.”

⁸Aware of this, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves that you do not have bread?

⁹Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you collected?

¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many large baskets you collected?

¹¹Why is it you don’t understand that when I told you, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,’ it wasn’t about bread?”

¹²Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the leaven in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.

¹⁸And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.”

²⁰Then he gave the disciples orders to tell no one that he was the Messiah.

²¹From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.

²²Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to you!”

²³Jesus turned and told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.

²⁶For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?

²⁷For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each according to what he has done.

²⁸Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

¹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²“When someone sins and offends the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit, a security, or a robbery; or defrauds his neighbor;

³or finds something lost and lies about it; or swears falsely about any of the sinful things a person may do —

⁴once he has sinned and acknowledged his guilt  — he must return what he stole or defrauded, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost item he found,

⁵or anything else about which he swore falsely. He will make full restitution for it and add a fifth of its value to it. He is to pay it to its owner on the day he acknowledges his guilt.

⁶Then he is to bring his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram from the flock according to your assessment of its value as a guilt offering to the priest.

⁷In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for anything he may have done to incur guilt.”

⁸The LORD spoke to Moses:

⁹“Command Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the burnt offering; the burnt offering itself must remain on the altar’s hearth all night until morning, while the fire of the altar is kept burning on it.

¹⁰The priest is to put on his linen robe and linen undergarments. He is to remove the ashes of the burnt offering the fire has consumed on the altar, and place them beside the altar.

¹¹Then he will take off his garments, put on other clothes, and bring the ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place.

¹²The fire on the altar is to be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest will burn wood on the fire. He is to arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat portions from the fellowship offerings on it.

¹³Fire must be kept burning on the altar continually; it must not go out.

¹⁴“Now this is the law of the grain offering: Aaron’s sons will present it before the LORD in front of the altar.

¹⁵The priest is to remove a handful of fine flour and olive oil from the grain offering, with all the frankincense that is on the offering, and burn its memorial portion on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

¹⁶Aaron and his sons may eat the rest of it. It is to be eaten in the form of unleavened bread in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

¹⁷It must not be baked with yeast; I have assigned it as their portion from my fire offerings. It is especially holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.

¹⁸Any male among Aaron’s descendants may eat it. It is a permanent portion throughout your generations from the fire offerings to the LORD. Anything that touches the offerings will become holy.”

¹⁹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²⁰“This is the offering that Aaron and his sons are to present to the LORD on the day that he is anointed: two quarts of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening.

²¹It is to be prepared with oil on a griddle; you are to bring it well-kneaded. You are to present it as a grain offering of baked pieces, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

²²The priest, who is one of Aaron’s sons and will be anointed to take his place, is to prepare it. It must be completely burned as a permanent portion for the LORD.

²³Every grain offering for a priest will be a whole burnt offering; it is not to be eaten.”

²⁴The LORD spoke to Moses:

²⁵“Tell Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the sin offering. The sin offering is most holy and must be slaughtered before the LORD at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered.

²⁶The priest who offers it as a sin offering will eat it. It is to be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

²⁷Anything that touches its flesh will become holy, and if any of its blood spatters on a garment, then you must wash that garment in a holy place.

²⁸A clay pot in which the sin offering is boiled is to be broken; if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, it is to be scoured and rinsed with water.

²⁹Any male among the priests may eat it; it is especially holy.

³⁰But no sin offering may be eaten if its blood has been brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place; it must be burned.

¹Now I say that as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything.

²Instead, he is under guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.

³In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elements of the world.

⁴When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

⁵to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

⁶And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”

⁷So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.

⁸But in the past, since you didn’t know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods.

⁹But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elements? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?

¹⁰You are observing special days, months, seasons, and years.

¹¹I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted.

¹²I beg you, brothers and sisters: Become like me, for I also became like you. You have not wronged me;

¹³you know that previously I preached the gospel to you because of a weakness of the flesh.

¹⁴You did not despise or reject me though my physical condition was a trial for you. On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself.

¹⁵Where, then, is your blessing? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

¹⁶So then, have I become your enemy because I told you the truth?

¹⁷They court you eagerly, but not for good. They want to exclude you from me, so that you would pursue them.

¹⁸But it is always good to be pursued in a good manner — and not just when I am with you.

¹⁹My children, I am again suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you.

²⁰I would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I don’t know what to do about you.

²¹Tell me, you who want to be under the law, don’t you hear the law?

²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman.

²³But the one by the slave was born as a result of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born through promise.

²⁴These things are being taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery — this is Hagar.

²⁵Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

²⁶But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

²⁷For it is written, Rejoice, childless woman, unable to give birth. Burst into song and shout, you who are not in labor, for the children of the desolate woman will be many, more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.

²⁸Now you too, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.

²⁹But just as then the child born as a result of the flesh persecuted the one born as a result of the Spirit, so also now.

³⁰But what does the Scripture say? “Drive out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never be a coheir with the son of the free woman.”

³¹Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave but of the free woman.

¹James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: To the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings.

²Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials,

³because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

⁴And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

⁵Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God — who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly — and it will be given to him.

⁶But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

⁷That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord,

⁸being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.

⁹Let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his exaltation,

¹⁰but let the rich boast in his humiliation because he will pass away like a flower of the field.

¹¹For the sun rises and, together with the scorching wind, dries up the grass; its flower falls off, and its beautiful appearance perishes. In the same way, the rich person will wither away while pursuing his activities.

¹²Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

¹³No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone.

¹⁴But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire.

¹⁵Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

¹⁶Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.

¹⁷Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

¹⁸By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

¹⁹My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,

²⁰for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.

²¹Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

²²But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

²³Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror.

²⁴For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was.

²⁵But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works — this person will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself.

²⁷Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

¹Then Elihu continued, saying:

²Do you think it is just when you say, “I am righteous before God”?

³For you ask, “What does it profit you, and what benefit comes to me, if I do not sin?”

⁴I will answer you and your friends with you.

⁵Look at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds high above you.

⁶If you sin, how does it affect God? If you multiply your transgressions, what does it do to him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give him, or what does he receive from your hand?

⁸Your wickedness affects a person like yourself, and your righteousness, a son of man.

⁹People cry out because of severe oppression; they shout for help because of the power of the mighty.

¹⁰But no one asks, “Where is God my Maker, who provides us with songs in the night,

¹¹who gives us more understanding than the animals of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?”

¹²There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil people.

¹³Indeed, God does not listen to empty cries, and the Almighty does not take note of it —

¹⁴how much less when you complain that you do not see him, that your case is before him and you are waiting for him.

¹⁵But now, because God’s anger does not punish and he does not pay attention to transgression,

¹⁶Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.

¹A song of ascents. Of David. [1] How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!

²It is like fine oil on the head, running down on the beard, running down Aaron’s beard onto his robes.

³It is like the dew of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion. For there the LORD has appointed the blessing — life forevermore.

¹Listen, sons, to a father’s discipline, and pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

²for I am giving you good instruction. Don’t abandon my teaching.

³When I was a son with my father, tender and precious to my mother,

⁴he taught me and said: “Your heart must hold on to my words. Keep my commands and live.

⁵Get wisdom, get understanding; don’t forget or turn away from the words from my mouth.

⁶Don’t abandon wisdom, and she will watch over you; love her, and she will guard you.

⁷Wisdom is supreme — so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding.

⁸Cherish her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.

⁹She will place a garland of favor on your head; she will give you a crown of beauty.”

¹⁰Listen, my son. Accept my words, and you will live many years.

¹¹I am teaching you the way of wisdom; I am guiding you on straight paths.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be hindered; when you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Hold on to instruction; don’t let go. Guard it, for it is your life.

¹⁴Keep off the path of the wicked; don’t proceed on the way of evil ones.

¹⁵Avoid it; don’t travel on it. Turn away from it, and pass it by.

¹⁶For they can’t sleep unless they have done what is evil; they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

¹⁷They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.

¹⁹But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they don’t know what makes them stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words; listen closely to my sayings.

²¹Don’t lose sight of them; keep them within your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, and health to one’s whole body.

²³Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.

²⁴Don’t let your mouth speak dishonestly, and don’t let your lips talk deviously.

²⁵Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead.

²⁶Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established.

²⁷Don’t turn to the right or to the left; keep your feet away from evil.

¹After Abimelech, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo became judge and began to deliver Israel. He was from Issachar and lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

²Tola judged Israel twenty-three years and when he died, was buried in Shamir.

³After him came Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years.

⁴He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. They had thirty towns in Gilead, which are still called Jair’s Villages today.

⁵When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

⁶Then the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They worshiped the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and the Philistines. They abandoned the LORD and did not worship him.

⁷So the LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them to the Philistines and the Ammonites.

⁸They shattered and crushed the Israelites that year, and for eighteen years they did the same to all the Israelites who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites in Gilead.

⁹The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim. Israel was greatly oppressed,

¹⁰so they cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against you. We have abandoned our God and worshiped the Baals.”

¹¹The LORD said to the Israelites, “When the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines,

¹²Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, did I not deliver you from them?

¹³But you have abandoned me and worshiped other gods. Therefore, I will not deliver you again.

¹⁴Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them deliver you whenever you are oppressed.”

¹⁵But the Israelites said, “We have sinned. Deal with us as you see fit; only rescue us today!”

¹⁶So they got rid of the foreign gods among them and worshiped the LORD, and he became weary of Israel’s misery.

¹⁷The Ammonites were called together, and they camped in Gilead. So the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah.

¹⁸The rulers of Gilead said to one another, “Which man will begin the fight against the Ammonites? He will be the leader of all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

¹Woe, you destroyer never destroyed, you traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, they will betray you.

²LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for you. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble.

³The peoples flee at the thunderous noise; the nations scatter when you rise in your majesty.

⁴Your spoil will be gathered as locusts are gathered; people will swarm over it like an infestation of locusts.

⁵The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

⁶There will be times of security for you — a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.

⁷Listen! Their warriors cry loudly in the streets; the messengers of peace weep bitterly.

⁸The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. An agreement has been broken, cities despised, and human life disregarded.

⁹The land mourns and withers; Lebanon is ashamed and wilted. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

¹⁰“Now I will rise up,” says the LORD. “Now I will lift myself up. Now I will be exalted.

¹¹You will conceive chaff; you will give birth to stubble. Your breath is fire that will consume you.

¹²The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and burned in a fire.

¹³You who are far off, hear what I have done; you who are near, know my strength.”

¹⁴The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling seizes the ungodly: “Who among us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with ever-burning flames?”

¹⁵The one who lives righteously and speaks rightly, who refuses profit from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots and shuts his eyes against evil schemes  —

¹⁶he will dwell on the heights; his refuge will be the rocky fortresses, his food provided, his water assured.

¹⁷Your eyes will see the King in his beauty; you will see a vast land.

¹⁸Your mind will meditate on the past terror: “Where is the accountant? Where is the tribute collector? Where is the one who spied out our defenses?”

¹⁹You will no longer see the barbarians, a people whose speech is difficult to comprehend — who stammer in a language that is not understood.

²⁰Look at Zion, the city of our festival times. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander; its tent pegs will not be pulled up nor will any of its cords be loosened.

²¹For the majestic one, our LORD, will be there, a place of rivers and broad streams where ships that are rowed will not go, and majestic vessels will not pass.

²²For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the LORD is our King. He will save us.

²³Your ropes are slack; they cannot hold the base of the mast or spread out the flag. Then abundant spoil will be divided, the lame will plunder it,

²⁴and none there will say, “I am sick.” The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.

¹Now Peter and John were going up to the temple for the time of prayer at three in the afternoon.

²A man who was lame from birth was being carried there. He was placed each day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so that he could beg from those entering the temple.

³When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple, he asked for money.

⁴Peter, along with John, looked straight at him and said, “Look at us.”

⁵So he turned to them, expecting to get something from them.

⁶But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

⁷Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong.

⁸So he jumped up and started to walk, and he entered the temple with them — walking, leaping, and praising God.

⁹All the people saw him walking and praising God,

¹⁰and they recognized that he was the one who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. So they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him.

¹¹While he was holding on to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astonished, ran toward them in what is called Solomon’s Colonnade.

¹²When Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk by our own power or godliness?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied before Pilate, though he had decided to release him.

¹⁴You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you.

¹⁵You killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead; we are witnesses of this.

¹⁶By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in front of all of you.

¹⁷“And now, brothers and sisters, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your leaders also did.

¹⁸In this way God fulfilled what he had predicted through all the prophets — that his Messiah would suffer.

¹⁹Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out,

²⁰that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah.

²¹Heaven must receive him until the time of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about through his holy prophets from the beginning.

²²Moses said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers and sisters. You must listen to everything he tells you.

²³And everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be completely cut off from the people.

²⁴“In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also foretold these days.

²⁵You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, And all the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.

²⁶God raised up his servant and sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”