Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

Mark 2; Leviticus 20; Colossians 2; 1 John 2; Ecclesiastes 7; Psalms 147; Proverbs 18; Ruth 3; Isaiah 47; Acts 17

Mark 2

1And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.

2And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them.

3And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.

4And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.

5And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

6Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,

7“Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

8And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts?

9Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?

10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he said to the paralytic —

11“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”

12And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

13He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.

14And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

15And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.

16And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

17And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

18Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

19And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

21No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.

22And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins — and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

23One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.

24And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

25And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him:

26how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?”

27And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

28So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Leviticus 20

1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2“Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.

3I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name.

4And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death,

5then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.

6“If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.

7Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.

8Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

9For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.

10“If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

11If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

12If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them.

13If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

14If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you.

15If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal.

16If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

17“If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity.

18If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

19You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or of your father's sister, for that is to make naked one's relative; they shall bear their iniquity.

20If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.

21If a man takes his brother's wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.

22“You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.

23And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them.

24But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples.

25You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean.

26You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

27“A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.”

Colossians 2

1For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face,

2that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ,

3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

4I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

5For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

6Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,

7rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

8See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

10and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

11In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,

12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

16Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

18Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,

19and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

20If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations —

21“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”

22(referring to things that all perish as they are used) — according to human precepts and teachings?

23These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

1 John 2

1My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

2He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

3And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

4Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

5but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:

6whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

7Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.

8At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

9Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.

10Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.

11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.

13I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father.

14I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world.

17And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

18Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.

19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

20But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.

21I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

22Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.

23No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

24Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.

25And this is the promise that he made to us — eternal life.

26I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

27But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie — just as it has taught you, abide in him.

28And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

29If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

Ecclesiastes 7

1A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.

2It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.

3Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.

4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

5It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.

6For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity.

7Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

8Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

9Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.

10Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

11Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun.

12For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

13Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked?

14In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

15In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.

16Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

17Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

18It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

19Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

20Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

21Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you.

22Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

23All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me.

24That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?

25I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.

26And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her.

27Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things —

28which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found.

29See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

Psalms 147

1Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.

2The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.

3He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

4He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.

5Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

6The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.

7Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre!

8He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills.

9He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry.

10His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,

11but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.

12Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!

13For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you.

14He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat.

15He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.

16He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes.

17He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold?

18He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.

19He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules to Israel.

20He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his rules. Praise the LORD!

Proverbs 18

1Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.

2A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.

3When wickedness comes, contempt comes also, and with dishonor comes disgrace.

4The words of a man's mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

5It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the righteous of justice.

6A fool's lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating.

7A fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.

8The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.

9Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.

10The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

11A rich man's wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination.

12Before destruction a man's heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.

13If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.

14A man's spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?

15An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

16A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before the great.

17The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.

18The lot puts an end to quarrels and decides between powerful contenders.

19A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.

20From the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.

21Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

22He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.

23The poor use entreaties, but the rich answer roughly.

24A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Ruth 3

1Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?

2Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.

3Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

4But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.”

5And she replied, “All that you say I will do.”

6So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her.

7And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.

8At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet!

9He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.”

10And he said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.

11And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.

12And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I.

13Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the LORD lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”

14So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”

15And he said, “Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city.

16And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her,

17saying, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’”

18She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.”

Isaiah 47

1Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called tender and delicate.

2Take the millstones and grind flour, put off your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers.

3Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your disgrace shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will spare no one.

4Our Redeemer — the LORD of hosts is his name — is the Holy One of Israel.

5Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.

6I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand; you showed them no mercy; on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.

7You said, “I shall be mistress forever,” so that you did not lay these things to heart or remember their end.

8Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children”:

9These two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the great power of your enchantments.

10You felt secure in your wickedness; you said, “No one sees me”; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.”

11But evil shall come upon you, which you will not know how to charm away; disaster shall fall upon you, for which you will not be able to atone; and ruin shall come upon you suddenly, of which you know nothing.

12Stand fast in your enchantments and your many sorceries, with which you have labored from your youth; perhaps you may be able to succeed; perhaps you may inspire terror.

13You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons make known what shall come upon you.

14Behold, they are like stubble; the fire consumes them; they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. No coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit before!

15Such to you are those with whom you have labored, who have done business with you from your youth; they wander about, each in his own direction; there is no one to save you.

Acts 17

1Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

2And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

3explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”

4And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.

5But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

6And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,

7and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

8And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.

9And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

10The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.

11Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

12Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.

13But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.

14Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there.

15Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

16Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.

17So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

18Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities” — because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

19And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

20For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.”

21Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

22So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.

23For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

24The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,

25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

26And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,

27that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,

28for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

29Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.

30The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

31because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

32Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”

33So Paul went out from their midst.

34But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.