Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.

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

³and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

⁴A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.

⁵When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread.

⁶“Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”

⁸Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?

⁹Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?

¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?

¹¹How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

¹²Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

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

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

¹⁵“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

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

¹⁷Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.

¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

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

²⁰Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

²¹From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

²²Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

²³Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

²⁵For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

²⁶What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

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

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

¹The LORD said to Moses:

²“If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving a neighbor about something entrusted to them or left in their care or about something stolen, or if they cheat their neighbor,

³or if they find lost property and lie about it, or if they swear falsely about any such sin that people may commit—

⁴when they sin in any of these ways and realize their guilt, they must return what they have stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to them, or the lost property they found,

⁵or whatever it was they swore falsely about. They must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day they present their guilt offering.

⁶And as a penalty they must bring to the priest, that is, to the LORD, their guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value.

⁷In this way the priest will make atonement for them before the LORD, and they will be forgiven for any of the things they did that made them guilty.”

⁸The LORD said to Moses:

⁹“Give Aaron and his sons this command: ‘These are the regulations for the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar.

¹⁰The priest shall then put on his linen clothes, with linen undergarments next to his body, and shall remove the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed on the altar and place them beside the altar.

¹¹Then he is to take off these clothes and put on others, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a place that is ceremonially clean.

¹²The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it.

¹³The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.

¹⁴“ ‘These are the regulations for the grain offering: Aaron’s sons are to bring it before the LORD, in front of the altar.

¹⁵The priest is to take a handful of the finest flour and some olive oil, together with all the incense on the grain offering, and burn the memorial portion on the altar as an aroma pleasing to the LORD.

¹⁶Aaron and his sons shall eat the rest of it, but it is to be eaten without yeast in the sanctuary area; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

¹⁷It must not be baked with yeast; I have given it as their share of the food offerings presented to me. Like the sin offering and the guilt offering, it is most holy.

¹⁸Any male descendant of Aaron may eat it. For all generations to come it is his perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the LORD. Whatever touches them will become holy.’ ”

¹⁹The LORD also said to Moses,

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

²¹It must be prepared with oil on a griddle; bring it well-mixed and present the grain offering broken in pieces as an aroma pleasing to the LORD.

²²The son who is to succeed him as anointed priest shall prepare it. It is the LORD’s perpetual share and is to be burned completely.

²³Every grain offering of a priest shall be burned completely; it must not be eaten.”

²⁴The LORD said to Moses,

²⁵“Say to Aaron and his sons: ‘These are the regulations for the sin offering: The sin offering is to be slaughtered before the LORD in the place the burnt offering is slaughtered; it is most holy.

²⁶The priest who offers it shall eat it; it is to be eaten in the sanctuary area, in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

²⁷Whatever touches any of the flesh will become holy, and if any of the blood is spattered on a garment, you must wash it in the sanctuary area.

²⁸The clay pot the meat is cooked in must be broken; but if it is cooked in a bronze pot, the pot is to be scoured and rinsed with water.

²⁹Any male in a priest’s family may eat it; it is most holy.

³⁰But any sin offering whose blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place must not be eaten; it must be burned up.

¹What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.

²The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.

³So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world.

⁴But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

⁵to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

⁶Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

⁷So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

⁸Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.

⁹But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

¹⁰You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!

¹¹I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

¹²I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong.

¹³As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you,

¹⁴and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.

¹⁵Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

¹⁶Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

¹⁷Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them.

¹⁸It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you.

¹⁹My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

²⁰how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

²¹Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?

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

²³His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.

²⁴These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar.

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

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

²⁷For it is written: “Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child; shout for joy and cry aloud, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”

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

²⁹At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.

³⁰But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”

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

¹James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

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

⁴Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

⁶But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

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

⁸Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

⁹Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position.

¹⁰But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower.

¹¹For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

¹²Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

¹³When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

¹⁴but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.

¹⁵Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, 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 the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

¹⁸He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

¹⁹My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

²⁰because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror

²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

²⁵But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

²⁶Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

²⁷Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

¹Then Elihu said:

²“Do you think this is just? You say, ‘I am in the right, not God.’

³Yet you ask him, ‘What profit is it to me, and what do I gain by not sinning?’

⁴“I would like to reply to you and to your friends with you.

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

⁶If you sin, how does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him?

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

⁸Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself, and your righteousness only other people.

⁹“People cry out under a load of oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.

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

¹¹who teaches us more than he teaches the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?’

¹²He does not answer when people cry out because of the arrogance of the wicked.

¹³Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea; the Almighty pays no attention to it.

¹⁴How much less, then, will he listen when you say that you do not see him, that your case is before him and you must wait for him,

¹⁵and further, that his anger never punishes and he does not take the least notice of wickedness.

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

¹A song of ascents. Of David. How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!

²It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe.

³It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

¹Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.

²I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching.

³For I too was a son to my father, still tender, and cherished by my mother.

⁴Then he taught me, and he said to me, “Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live.

⁵Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them.

⁶Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.

⁷The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.

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

⁹She will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown.”

¹⁰Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many.

¹¹I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.

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

¹³Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.

¹⁴Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers.

¹⁵Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way.

¹⁶For they cannot rest until they do evil; they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.

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

¹⁸The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

¹⁹But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words.

²¹Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;

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

²³Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

²⁴Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

²⁵Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.

²⁶Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.

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

¹After the time of Abimelek, a man of Issachar named Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim.

²He led Israel twenty-three years; then he died, and was buried in Shamir.

³He was followed by Jair of Gilead, who led Israel twenty-two years.

⁴He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair.

⁵When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

⁶Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the LORD and no longer served him,

⁷he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites,

⁸who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites.

⁹The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim; Israel was in great distress.

¹⁰Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, “We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals.”

¹¹The LORD replied, “When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines,

¹²the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands?

¹³But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you.

¹⁴Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!”

¹⁵But the Israelites said to the LORD, “We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now.”

¹⁶Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the LORD. And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.

¹⁷When the Ammonites were called to arms and camped in Gilead, the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah.

¹⁸The leaders of the people of Gilead said to each other, “Whoever will take the lead in attacking the Ammonites will be head over all who live in Gilead.”

¹Woe to you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, betrayer, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed.

²LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.

³At the uproar of your army, the peoples flee; when you rise up, the nations scatter.

⁴Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts; like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.

⁵The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness.

⁶He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.

⁷Look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.

⁸The highways are deserted, no travelers are on the roads. The treaty is broken, its witnesses are despised, no one is respected.

⁹The land dries up and wastes away, Lebanon is ashamed and withers; Sharon is like the Arabah, and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.

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

¹¹You conceive chaff, you give birth to straw; your breath is a fire that consumes you.

¹²The peoples will be burned to ashes; like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze.”

¹³You who are far away, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge my power!

¹⁴The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: “Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”

¹⁵Those who walk righteously and speak what is right, who reject gain from extortion and keep their hands from accepting bribes, who stop their ears against plots of murder and shut their eyes against contemplating evil—

¹⁶they are the ones who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. Their bread will be supplied, and water will not fail them.

¹⁷Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar.

¹⁸In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror: “Where is that chief officer? Where is the one who took the revenue? Where is the officer in charge of the towers?”

¹⁹You will see those arrogant people no more, people whose speech is obscure, whose language is strange and incomprehensible.

²⁰Look on Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.

²¹There the LORD will be our Mighty One. It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams. No galley with oars will ride them, no mighty ship will sail them.

²²For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.

²³Your rigging hangs loose: The mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder.

²⁴No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.

¹One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.

²Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.

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

⁴Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!”

⁵So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

⁶Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

⁷Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.

⁸He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.

⁹When all the people saw him walking and praising God,

¹⁰they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

¹¹While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade.

¹²When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.

¹⁴You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.

¹⁵You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.

¹⁶By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

¹⁷“Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.

¹⁸But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer.

¹⁹Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

²⁰and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.

²¹Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

²²For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you.

²³Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’

²⁴“Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days.

²⁵And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’

²⁶When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”