Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

Matthew 16; Leviticus 6; Galatians 4; James 1; Job 35; Psalms 133; Proverbs 4; Judges 10; Isaiah 33; Acts 3

Matthew 16

1The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and putting Jesus to the test, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.

2But He replied to them, When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’

3And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to discern theappearance of the sky, but are you unable to discern the signs of the times?

4An evil and adulterous generation wants asign; and so asign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

5And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread.

6And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of theleaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

7They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.”

8But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?

9Do you not yet understand nor remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up?

10Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up?

11How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But beware of theleaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

12Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

13Now when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

14And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.”

15He *said to them, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?”

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

17And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, SimonBarjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

18And I also say to you that you arePeter, and upon thisrock 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 youbind on earthshall have been bound in heaven, and whatever youloose on earthshall have been loosed in heaven.”

20Then He gave the disciples strict orders that they were to tell no one that He was the Christ.

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

22And yet Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You!”

23But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind onGod’s purposes, but men’s.”

24Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.

25For whoever wants to save hislife will lose it; but whoever loses hislife for My sake will find it.

26For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, butforfeits his soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul?

27For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY PERSON ACCORDING TO HISDEEDS.

28“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

Leviticus 6

1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2“When a person sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD, and disavows the rightful claim of his neighbor regarding a deposit or a security entrusted to him, or regarding robbery, or he has extorted from his neighbor,

3or has found what was lost and lied about it and sworn falsely, so that he sins regarding any of the things that people do;

4then it shall be, when he sins and becomes guilty, that he shall restore what he took by robbery or acquired by extortion, or the deposit which was entrusted to him, or the lost property which he found,

5or anything about which he swore falsely; he shall make restitution for it in full and add to it a fifth more. He shall give it to the one to whom it belongs on the day he presents his guilt offering.

6Then he shall bring to the priest his guilt offering to the LORD, a ram without defect from the flock, according to your assessment, as a guilt offering,

7and the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for any one of the things which he may have done to incur guilt.”

8Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

9“Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law for the burnt offering: the burnt offering itself shall remain on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire on the altar is to be kept burning on it.

10The priest is to put on his linen robe, and he shall put on linen undergarments next to his body; and he shall take up the fatty ashes to which the fire reduces the burnt offering on the altar and place them beside the altar.

11Then he shall take off his garments and put on other garments, and carry the fatty ashes outside the camp to a clean place.

12The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it. It shall not go out, but the priest shall burn wood on it every morning; and he shall lay out the burnt offering on it, and offer up in smoke the fat portions of the peace offerings on it.

13Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out.

14‘Now this is the law of the grain offering: the sons of Aaron shall present it before the LORD in front of the altar.

15Then one of them shall lift up from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil and all the incense that is on the grain offering, and he shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, a soothing aroma, as its memorial offering to the LORD.

16And Aaron and his sons are to eat what is left of it. It shall be eaten as unleavened cakes in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

17It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their share from My offerings by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.

18Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it; it is a permanent ordinance throughout your generations, from the offerings by fire to the LORD. Whoever touches them will become consecrated.’ ”

19Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

20“This is the offering which Aaron and his sons are to present to the LORD on the day when he is anointed; the tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening.

21It shall be prepared with oil on a griddle. When it is well stirred, you shall bring it. You shall present the grain offering in baked pieces as a soothing aroma to the LORD.

22The anointed priest who will be in his place among his sons shall offer it. By a permanent ordinance it shall be entirely offered up in smoke to the LORD.

23So every grain offering of the priest shall be burned entirely. It shall not be eaten.”

24Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

25“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, the sin offering shall be slaughtered before the LORD; it is most holy.

26The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

27Whoever touches its flesh will become consecrated; and when any of its blood spatters on a garment, you shall wash what spattered on it in a holy place.

28Also the earthenware vessel in which it was boiled shall be broken; and if it was boiled in a bronze vessel, then it shall be scoured and rinsed in water.

29Every male among the priests may eat it; it is most holy.

30But no sin offering of which any of the blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place shall be eaten; it shall be burned with fire.

Galatians 4

1Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave, although he is owner of everything,

2but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.

3So we too, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elementary principles of the world.

4But when the fullness of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,

5so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters.

6Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!”

7Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

8However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are not gods.

9But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles, to which you want to be enslaved all over again?

10You meticulously observe days and months and seasons and years.

11I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.

12I beg of you, brothers and sisters, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong;

13but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time;

14and you did not despise that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition, nor express contempt, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself.

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

16So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?

17They eagerly seek you, not in a commendable way, but they want to shut you out so that you will seek them.

18But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable way, and not only when I am present with you.

19My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you—

20but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone of voice, for I am at a loss about you!

21Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the Law?

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

23But the son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise.

24This is speaking allegorically, for these women are two covenants: one coming from Mount Sinai giving birth to children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar.

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

26But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.

27For it is written: “REJOICE, INFERTILE ONE, YOU WHO DO NOT GIVE BIRTH; BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR; FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE ONE are more numerous THAN those of the one who has a husband.”

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

29But as at that time the son who was born according to the flesh persecuted the one who was born according to the Spirit, so it is even now.

30But what does the Scripture say? “DRIVE OUT THE SLAVE WOMAN AND HER SON, FOR THE SON OF THE SLAVE WOMAN SHALL NOT BE AN HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN.”

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

James 1

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

2Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials,

3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

4And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

6But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

7For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

8being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9Now the brother or sister of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position;

10but the rich person is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.

11For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so also the rich person, in the midst of his pursuits, will die out.

12Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

13No one is to say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

14But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

15Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.

16Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters.

17Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

18In the exercise of His will He gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

19You know this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Now everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;

20for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God.

21Therefore, ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

22But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.

23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;

24for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

25But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an active doer, this person will be blessed in what he does.

26If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

27Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Job 35

1Then Elihu continued and said,

2“Do you think this is in accordance with justice? Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?

3For you say, ‘What advantage will it be to You? What benefit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’

4I will answer you, And your friends with you.

5Look at the heavens and see; And look at the clouds—they are higher than you.

6If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him? And if your wrongdoings are many, what do you do to Him?

7If you are righteous, what do you give to Him, Or what does He receive from your hand?

8Your wickedness is for a man like yourself, And your righteousness is for a son of man.

9“Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; They cry for help because of the arm of the mighty.

10But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night,

11Who teaches us more 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.

13God certainly will not listen to an empty cry, Nor will the Almighty regard it.

14How much less when you say you do not look at Him, The case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

15And now, because He has not avenged His anger, Nor has He acknowledged wrongdoing well,

16So Job opens his mouth with empty words; He multiplies words without knowledge.”

Psalms 133

1Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to live together in unity!

2It is like the precious oil on the head, Running down upon the beard, As on Aaron’s beard, The oil which ran down upon the edge of his robes.

3It is like the dew of Hermon Coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For the LORD commanded the blessing there—life forever.

Proverbs 4

1Listen, my sons, to the instruction of a father, And pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

2For I give you good teaching; Do not abandon my instruction.

3When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

4He taught me and said to me, “Let your heart take hold of my words; Keep my commandments and live;

5Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

6Do not abandon her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you.

7The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your possessions, acquire understanding.

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

9She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

10Listen, my son, and accept my sayings, And the years of your life will be many.

11I have instructed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths.

12When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; And if you run, you will not stumble.

13Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.

14Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil people.

15Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on.

16For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

17For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.

18But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

19The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.

20My son, pay attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

21They are not to escape from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart.

22For they are life to those who find them, And healing to all their body.

23Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

24Rid yourself of a deceitful mouth And keep devious speech far from you.

25Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

26Watch the path of your feet, And all your ways will be established.

27Do not turn to the right or to the left; Turn your foot from evil.

Judges 10

1Now after Abimelech died, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, rose up to save Israel; and he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

2He judged Israel for twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried in Shamir.

3After him, Jair the Gileadite rose up and judged Israel for twenty-two years.

4And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities in the land of Gilead that are called Havvoth-jair to this day.

5And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

6Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; so they abandoned the LORD and did not serve Him.

7And the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the sons of Ammon.

8And they afflicted and oppressed the sons of Israel that year; for eighteen years they oppressed all the sons of Israel who were beyond the Jordan, in Gilead in the land of the Amorites.

9And the sons of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was in great difficulty.

10Then the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have abandoned our God and served the Baals.”

11And the LORD said to the sons of Israel, “Did I not save you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines?

12And when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to Me, and I saved you from their hands.

13Yet you abandoned Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer save you.

14Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.”

15Then the sons of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to You; only please save us this day.”

16So they removed the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD; and He could no longer endure the misery of Israel.

17Then the sons of Ammon were summoned, and they camped in Gilead. And the sons of Israel gathered together and camped in Mizpah.

18And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the sons of Ammon? He shall become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Isaiah 33

1Woe to you, destroyer, While you were not destroyed; And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him. As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed; As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.

2LORD, be gracious to us; we have waited for You. Be their strength every morning, Our salvation also in the time of distress.

3At the sound of a roar, peoples flee; At the lifting up of Yourself, nations disperse.

4Your plunder is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; Like an infestation of locusts, people storm it.

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

6And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; The fear of the LORD is his treasure.

7Behold, their brave men cry out in the streets, The ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

8The highways are desolate, the traveler has ceased, He has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities, He has no regard for mankind.

9The land mourns and wastes away, Lebanon is shamed and withers; Sharon is like a desert plain, And Bashan and Carmel lose their foliage.

10“Now I will arise,” says the LORD, “Now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up.

11You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to stubble; My breath will consume you like a fire.

12The peoples will be burned to lime, Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.

13“You who are far away, hear what I have done; And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

14Sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. “Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?”

15One who walks righteously and speaks with integrity, One who rejects unjust gain And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe; One who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed And shuts his eyes from looking at evil;

16He will dwell on the heights, His refuge will be the impregnable rock; His bread will be given him, His water will be sure.

17Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will see a distant land.

18Your heart will meditate on terror: “Where is one who counts? Where is one who weighs? Where is one who counts the towers?”

19You will no longer see a fierce people, A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends, Of a stammering tongue which no one understands.

20Look at Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed settlement, A tent which will not be folded; Its stakes will never be pulled up, Nor any of its ropes be torn apart.

21But there the majestic One, the LORD, will be for us A place of rivers and wide canals On which no boat with oars will go, And on which no mighty ship will pass—

22For the LORD is our judge, The LORD is our lawgiver, The LORD is our king; He will save us—

23Your ship’s tackle hangs slack; It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly, Nor spread out the sail. Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided; Those who limp will take the plunder.

24And no resident will say, “I am sick”; The people who live there will be forgiven their wrongdoing.

Acts 3

1Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.

2And a man who had been unable to walk from birth was being carried, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order for him to beg for charitable gifts from those entering the temple grounds.

3When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple grounds, he began asking to receive a charitable gift.

4But Peter, along with John, looked at him intently and said, “Look at us!”

5And he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

6But Peter said, “I do not have silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!”

7And grasping him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.

8And leaping up, he stood and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

9And all the people saw him walking and praising God;

10and they recognized him as being the very one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg for charitable gifts, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

11While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the portico named Solomon’s, completely astonished.

12But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why are you staring at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk?

13The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you handed over and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.

14But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,

15but put to death the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.

16And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

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

18But the things which God previously announced by the mouths of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has fulfilled in this way.

19Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

20and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,

21whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things, about which God spoke by the mouths of His holy prophets from ancient times.

22Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR COUNTRYMEN; TO HIM YOU SHALL LISTEN regarding everything He says to you.

23And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

24And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and his successors onward, have also announced these days.

25It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’

26God raised up His Servant for you first, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”