Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

²during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, God’s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

³He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,

⁴as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight!

⁵Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low; the crooked will become straight, the rough ways smooth,

⁶and everyone will see the salvation of God.

⁷He then said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

⁸Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.

⁹The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰“What then should we do?” the crowds were asking him.

¹¹He replied to them, “The one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.”

¹²Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”

¹³He told them, “Don’t collect any more than what you have been authorized.”

¹⁴Some soldiers also questioned him, “What should we do?” He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

¹⁵Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were questioning in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah.

¹⁶John answered them all, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I am is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

¹⁷His winnowing shovel is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.”

¹⁸Then, along with many other exhortations, he proclaimed good news to the people.

¹⁹But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the evil things he had done,

²⁰Herod added this to everything else — he locked up John in prison.

²¹When all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. As he was praying, heaven opened,

²²and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”

²³As he began his ministry, Jesus was about thirty years old and was thought to be the son of Joseph, son of Heli,

²⁴son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Melchi, son of Jannai, son of Joseph,

²⁵son of Mattathias, son of Amos, son of Nahum, son of Esli, son of Naggai,

²⁶son of Maath, son of Mattathias, son of Semein, son of Josech, son of Joda,

²⁷son of Joanan, son of Rhesa, son of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, son of Neri,

²⁸son of Melchi, son of Addi, son of Cosam, son of Elmadam, son of Er,

²⁹son of Joshua, son of Eliezer, son of Jorim, son of Matthat, son of Levi,

³⁰son of Simeon, son of Judah, son of Joseph, son of Jonam, son of Eliakim,

³¹son of Melea, son of Menna, son of Mattatha, son of Nathan, son of David,

³²son of Jesse, son of Obed, son of Boaz, son of Salmon, son of Nahshon,

³³son of Amminadab, son of Ram, son of Hezron, son of Perez, son of Judah,

³⁴son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Terah, son of Nahor,

³⁵son of Serug, son of Reu, son of Peleg, son of Eber, son of Shelah,

³⁶son of Cainan, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech,

³⁷son of Methuselah, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalalel, son of Cainan,

³⁸son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²“Make two trumpets of hammered silver to summon the community and have the camps set out.

³When both are sounded in long blasts, the entire community is to gather before you at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

⁴However, if one is sounded, only the leaders, the heads of Israel’s clans, are to gather before you.

⁵“When you sound short blasts, the camps pitched on the east are to set out.

⁶When you sound short blasts a second time, the camps pitched on the south are to set out. Short blasts are to be sounded for them to set out.

⁷When calling the assembly together, you are to sound long blasts, not short ones.

⁸The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to sound the trumpets. Your use of these is a permanent statute throughout your generations.

⁹“When you enter into battle in your land against an adversary who is attacking you, sound short blasts on the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God and be saved from your enemies.

¹⁰You are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and your fellowship sacrifices and on your joyous occasions, your appointed festivals, and the beginning of each of your months. They will serve as a reminder for you before your God: I am the LORD your God.”

¹¹During the second year, in the second month on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was lifted up above the tabernacle of the testimony.

¹²The Israelites traveled on from the Wilderness of Sinai, moving from one place to the next until the cloud stopped in the Wilderness of Paran.

¹³They set out for the first time according to the LORD’s command through Moses.

¹⁴The military divisions of the camp of Judah’s descendants with their banner set out first, and Nahshon son of Amminadab was over their divisions.

¹⁵Nethanel son of Zuar was over the division of the tribe of Issachar’s descendants,

¹⁶and Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun’s descendants.

¹⁷The tabernacle was then taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting the tabernacle.

¹⁸The military divisions of the camp of Reuben with their banner set out, and Elizur son of Shedeur was over their divisions.

¹⁹Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the division of the tribe of Simeon’s descendants,

²⁰and Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of Gad’s descendants.

²¹The Kohathites then set out, transporting the holy objects; the tabernacle was to be set up before their arrival.

²²Next the military divisions of the camp of Ephraim’s descendants with their banner set out, and Elishama son of Ammihud was over their divisions.

²³Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh’s descendants,

²⁴and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants.

²⁵The military divisions of the camp of Dan’s descendants with their banner set out, serving as rear guard for all the camps, and Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai was over their divisions.

²⁶Pagiel son of Ochran was over the division of the tribe of Asher’s descendants,

²⁷and Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali’s descendants.

²⁸This was the order of march for the Israelites by their military divisions as they set out.

²⁹Moses said to Hobab, descendant of Reuel the Midianite and Moses’s relative by marriage: Reuel the Midianite: “We’re setting out for the place the LORD promised: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel.”

³⁰But he replied to him, “I don’t want to go. Instead, I will go to my own land and my relatives.”

³¹“Please don’t leave us,” Moses said, “since you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you can serve as our eyes.

³²If you come with us, whatever good the LORD does for us we will do for you.”

³³They set out from the mountain of the LORD on a three-day journey with the ark of the LORD’s covenant traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.

³⁴Meanwhile, the cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

³⁵Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say: Arise, LORD! Let your enemies be scattered, and those who hate you flee from your presence.

³⁶When it came to rest, he would say: Return, LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel.

¹Therefore, every one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things.

²We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth.

³Do you really think — anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same — that you will escape God’s judgment?

⁴Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

⁵Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed.

⁶He will repay each one according to his works:

⁷eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality;

⁸but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness.

⁹There will be affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek;

¹⁰but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

¹¹For there is no favoritism with God.

¹²All who sin without the law will also perish without the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

¹³For the hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified.

¹⁴So, when Gentiles, who do not by nature have the law, do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law.

¹⁵They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts either accuse or even excuse them

¹⁶on the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.

¹⁷Now if you call yourself a Jew, and rely on the law, and boast in God,

¹⁸and know his will, and approve the things that are superior, being instructed from the law,

¹⁹and if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light to those in darkness,

²⁰an instructor of the ignorant, a teacher of the immature, having the embodiment of knowledge and truth in the law —

²¹you then, who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach, “You must not steal” — do you steal?

²²You who say, “You must not commit adultery” — do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob their temples?

²³You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

²⁴For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.

²⁵Circumcision benefits you if you observe the law, but if you are a lawbreaker, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

²⁶So if an uncircumcised man keeps the law’s requirements, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?

²⁷A man who is physically uncircumcised, but who keeps the law, will judge you who are a lawbreaker in spite of having the letter of the law and circumcision.

²⁸For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh.

²⁹On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart — by the Spirit, not the letter. That person’s praise is not from people but from God.

¹Then I was given a measuring reed like a rod, with these words: “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who worship there.

²But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Don’t measure it, because it is given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.

³I will grant my two witnesses authority to prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth.”

⁴These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

⁵If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies; if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.

⁶They have authority to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy. They also have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every plague whenever they want.

⁷When they finish their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war on them, conquer them, and kill them.

⁸Their dead bodies will lie in the main street of the great city, which figuratively is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

⁹And some of the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will view their bodies for three and a half days and not permit their bodies to be put into a tomb.

¹⁰Those who live on the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and send gifts to one another because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

¹¹But after three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them.

¹²Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them.

¹³At that moment a violent earthquake took place, a tenth of the city fell, and seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake. The survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴The second woe has passed. Take note: The third woe is coming soon!

¹⁵The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.

¹⁶The twenty-four elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell facedown and worshiped God,

¹⁷saying, We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.

¹⁸The nations were angry, but your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged and to give the reward to your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.

¹⁹Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and severe hail.

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

²Should anyone try to speak with you when you are exhausted? Yet who can keep from speaking?

³Indeed, you have instructed many and have strengthened weak hands.

⁴Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling and braced the knees that were buckling.

⁵But now that this has happened to you, you have become exhausted. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.

⁶Isn’t your piety your confidence, and the integrity of your life your hope?

⁷Consider: Who has perished when he was innocent? Where have the honest been destroyed?

⁸In my experience, those who plow injustice and those who sow trouble reap the same.

⁹They perish at a single blast from God and come to an end by the breath of his nostrils.

¹⁰The lion may roar and the fierce lion growl, but the teeth of young lions are broken.

¹¹The strong lion dies if it catches no prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹²A word was brought to me in secret; my ears caught a whisper of it.

¹³Among unsettling thoughts from visions in the night, when deep sleep comes over men,

¹⁴fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shake.

¹⁵I felt a draft on my face, and the hair on my body stood up.

¹⁶A figure stood there, but I could not recognize its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes. I heard a whispering voice:

¹⁷“Can a mortal be righteous before God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?”

¹⁸If God puts no trust in his servants and he charges his angels with foolishness,

¹⁹how much more those who dwell in clay houses, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth!

²⁰They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; they perish forever while no one notices.

²¹Are their tent cords not pulled up? They die without wisdom.

¹For the choir director. Of David. [1] The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.” They are corrupt; they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good.

²The LORD looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God.

³All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.

⁴Will evildoers never understand? They consume my people as they consume bread; they do not call on the LORD.

⁵Then they will be filled with dread, for God is with those who are righteous.

⁶You sinners frustrate the plans of the oppressed, but the LORD is his refuge.

⁷Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

¹The LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have selected a king from his sons.”

²Samuel asked, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me!” The LORD answered, “Take a young cow with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’

³Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will let you know what you are to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate to you.”

⁴Samuel did what the LORD directed and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace?”

⁵“In peace,” he replied. “I’ve come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Certainly the LORD’s anointed one is here before him.”

⁷But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the LORD sees, for humans see what is visible, but the LORD sees the heart.”

⁸Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. “The LORD hasn’t chosen this one either,” Samuel said.

⁹Then Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The LORD hasn’t chosen this one either.”

¹⁰After Jesse presented seven of his sons to him, Samuel told Jesse, “The LORD hasn’t chosen any of these.”

¹¹Samuel asked him, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” he answered, “but right now he’s tending the sheep.” Samuel told Jesse, “Send for him. We won’t sit down to eat until he gets here.”

¹²So Jesse sent for him. He had beautiful eyes and a healthy, handsome appearance. Then the LORD said, “Anoint him, for he is the one.”

¹³So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully on David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.

¹⁴Now the Spirit of the LORD had left Saul, and an evil spirit sent from the LORD began to torment him,

¹⁵so Saul’s servants said to him, “You see that an evil spirit from God is tormenting you.

¹⁶Let our lord command your servants here in your presence to look for someone who knows how to play the lyre. Whenever the evil spirit from God comes on you, that person can play the lyre, and you will feel better.”

¹⁷Then Saul commanded his servants, “Find me someone who plays well and bring him to me.”

¹⁸One of the young men answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is also a valiant man, a warrior, eloquent, handsome, and the LORD is with him.”

¹⁹Then Saul dispatched messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”

²⁰So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a wineskin, and one young goat and sent them by his son David to Saul.

²¹When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul loved him very much, and David became his armor-bearer.

²²Then Saul sent word to Jesse: “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor with me.”

²³Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would pick up his lyre and play, and Saul would then be relieved, feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.

¹If only you would tear the heavens open and come down, so that mountains would quake at your presence  —

²just as fire kindles brushwood, and fire boils water — to make your name known to your enemies, so that nations will tremble at your presence!

³When you did awesome works that we did not expect, you who came down, and the mountains quaked at your presence.

⁴From ancient times no one has heard, no one has listened to, no eye has seen any God except you who acts on behalf of the one who waits for him.

⁵You welcome the one who joyfully does what is right; they remember you in your ways. But we have sinned, and you were angry. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?

⁶All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

⁷No one calls on your name, striving to take hold of you. For you have hidden your face from us and made us melt because of our iniquity.

⁸Yet LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we all are the work of your hands.

⁹LORD, do not be terribly angry or remember our iniquity forever. Please look — all of us are your people!

¹⁰Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

¹¹Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised you, has been burned down, and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.

¹²LORD, after all this, will you restrain yourself? Will you keep silent and afflict us severely?

¹In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

²The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables.

³Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty.

⁴But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

⁵This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch.

⁶They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

⁷So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.

⁸Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

⁹Opposition arose, however, from some members of the Freedmen’s Synagogue, composed of both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, and they began to argue with Stephen.

¹⁰But they were unable to stand up against his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.

¹¹Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

¹²They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; so they came, seized him, and took him to the Sanhedrin.

¹³They also presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the law.

¹⁴For we heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”

¹⁵And all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.