Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples

²and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.

³If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’”

⁴And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it.

⁵And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”

⁶And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go.

⁷And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it.

⁸And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields.

⁹And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

¹⁰Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

¹¹And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

¹²On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.

¹³And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

¹⁴And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

¹⁵And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

¹⁶And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.

¹⁷And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”

¹⁸And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.

¹⁹And when evening came they went out of the city.

²⁰As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.

²¹And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”

²²And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.

²³ Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.

²⁴Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

²⁵And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

²⁶

²⁷And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him,

²⁸and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?”

²⁹Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

³⁰Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.”

³¹And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’

³²But shall we say, ‘From man’?” — they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet.

³³So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

¹The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

²“The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers' houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side.

³Those to camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies, the chief of the people of Judah being Nahshon the son of Amminadab,

⁴his company as listed being 74,600.

⁵Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, the chief of the people of Issachar being Nethanel the son of Zuar,

⁶his company as listed being 54,400.

⁷Then the tribe of Zebulun, the chief of the people of Zebulun being Eliab the son of Helon,

⁸his company as listed being 57,400.

⁹All those listed of the camp of Judah, by their companies, were 186,400. They shall set out first on the march.

¹⁰“On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their companies, the chief of the people of Reuben being Elizur the son of Shedeur,

¹¹his company as listed being 46,500.

¹²And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, the chief of the people of Simeon being Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai,

¹³his company as listed being 59,300.

¹⁴Then the tribe of Gad, the chief of the people of Gad being Eliasaph the son of Reuel,

¹⁵his company as listed being 45,650.

¹⁶All those listed of the camp of Reuben, by their companies, were 151,450. They shall set out second.

¹⁷“Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they camp, so shall they set out, each in position, standard by standard.

¹⁸“On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their companies, the chief of the people of Ephraim being Elishama the son of Ammihud,

¹⁹his company as listed being 40,500.

²⁰And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the chief of the people of Manasseh being Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur,

²¹his company as listed being 32,200.

²²Then the tribe of Benjamin, the chief of the people of Benjamin being Abidan the son of Gideoni,

²³his company as listed being 35,400.

²⁴All those listed of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, were 108,100. They shall set out third on the march.

²⁵“On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their companies, the chief of the people of Dan being Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai,

²⁶his company as listed being 62,700.

²⁷And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, the chief of the people of Asher being Pagiel the son of Ochran,

²⁸his company as listed being 41,500.

²⁹Then the tribe of Naphtali, the chief of the people of Naphtali being Ahira the son of Enan,

³⁰his company as listed being 53,400.

³¹All those listed of the camp of Dan were 157,600. They shall set out last, standard by standard.”

³²These are the people of Israel as listed by their fathers' houses. All those listed in the camps by their companies were 603,550.

³³But the Levites were not listed among the people of Israel, as the LORD commanded Moses.

³⁴Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, each one in his clan, according to his fathers' house.

¹For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

²and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.

³He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

⁴See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils!

⁵And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham.

⁶But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.

⁷It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.

⁸In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives.

⁹One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham,

¹⁰for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

¹¹Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron?

¹²For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.

¹³For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar.

¹⁴For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.

¹⁵This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek,

¹⁶who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.

¹⁷For it is witnessed of him, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”

¹⁸For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness

¹⁹(for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

²⁰And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath,

²¹but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever.’”

²²This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

²³The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office,

²⁴but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.

²⁵Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

²⁶For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

²⁷He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

²⁸For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

¹“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

²Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

³ Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

⁴Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

⁵ The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

⁶ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

⁷“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

⁸“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

⁹Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie — behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.

¹⁰ Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.

¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.

¹² The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

¹³ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

¹⁴“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

¹⁵“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!

¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

¹⁷ For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

¹⁸I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

¹⁹ Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

²⁰Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

²¹ The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

²² He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

¹Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead.

²Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them has lost its young.

³Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.

⁴Your neck is like the tower of David, built in rows of stone; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.

⁵Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that graze among the lilies.

⁶Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense.

⁷You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards.

⁹You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.

¹⁰How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!

¹¹Your lips drip nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

¹²A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed.

¹³Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits, henna with nard,

¹⁴nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all choice spices —

¹⁵a garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon.

¹⁶Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow. Together in the Garden of Love She Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits.

¹O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.

²Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.

³My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD — how long?

⁴Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

⁵For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?

⁶I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.

⁷My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.

⁸Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.

⁹The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.

¹⁰All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

¹Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

²Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool's provocation is heavier than both.

⁴Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

⁶Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

⁷One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.

⁸Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home.

⁹Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

¹⁰Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend, and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who reproaches me.

¹²The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.

¹³Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger, and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.

¹⁴Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.

¹⁵A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike;

¹⁶to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in one's right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

¹⁸Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored.

¹⁹As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.

²¹The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.

²²Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him.

²³Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds,

²⁴for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?

²⁵When the grass is gone and the new growth appears and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,

²⁶the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field.

²⁷There will be enough goats' milk for your food, for the food of your household and maintenance for your girls.

¹When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.

²The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.

³Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.

⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah

⁵and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

⁶But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD.

⁷And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

⁸According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.

⁹Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

¹⁰So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him.

¹¹He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.

¹²And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.

¹³He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.

¹⁴He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.

¹⁵He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.

¹⁶He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work.

¹⁷He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.

¹⁸And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

¹⁹But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,

²⁰that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

²¹And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the LORD.

²²And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

¹Thus says the LORD: “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my righteousness be revealed.

²Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

³Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely separate me from his people”; and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”

⁴For thus says the LORD: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant,

⁵I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

⁶“And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant —

⁷these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

⁸The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.”

⁹All you beasts of the field, come to devour — all you beasts in the forest.

¹⁰His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.

¹¹The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.

¹²“Come,” they say, “let me get wine; let us fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be like this day, great beyond measure.”

¹So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

²“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews,

³especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews.

⁵They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee.

⁶And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers,

⁷to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king!

⁸Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

⁹“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.

¹¹And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

¹²“In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.

¹³At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.

¹⁴And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

¹⁶But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,

¹⁷ delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles — to whom I am sending you

¹⁸ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

¹⁹“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

²⁰but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

²¹For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

²²To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass:

²³that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.”

²⁵But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.

²⁶For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.

²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”

²⁸And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”

²⁹And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am — except for these chains.”

³⁰Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them.

³¹And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.”

³²And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”