Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now he said to the disciples: “There was a rich man who received an accusation that his manager was squandering his possessions.

²So he called the manager in and asked, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be my manager.’

³“Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg.

⁴I know what I’ll do so that when I’m removed from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’

⁵“So he summoned each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master? ’ he asked the first one.

⁶“‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he said. “‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘sit down quickly, and write fifty.’

⁷“Next he asked another, ‘How much do you owe?’ “‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he said. “‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘and write eighty.’

⁸“The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this age are more shrewd than the children of light in dealing with their own people.

⁹And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of worldly wealth so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings.

¹⁰Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much.

¹¹So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine?

¹²And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own?

¹³No servant can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

¹⁴The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and scoffing at him.

¹⁵And he told them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight.

¹⁶“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urgently invited to enter it.

¹⁷But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to drop out.

¹⁸“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and everyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

¹⁹“There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day.

²⁰But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was lying at his gate.

²¹He longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man’s table, but instead the dogs would come and lick his sores.

²²One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.

²³And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side.

²⁴‘Father Abraham! ’ he called out, ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!’

²⁵“‘Son,’ Abraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

²⁶Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.’

²⁷“‘Father,’ he said, ‘then I beg you to send him to my father’s house — 

²⁸because I have five brothers — to warn them, so they won’t also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹“But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’

³⁰“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

³¹“But he told him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’”

¹Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”

²So Balak did as Balaam directed, and they offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

³Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the LORD will meet with me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me.” So he went to a barren hill.

⁴God met with him and Balaam said to him, “I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”

⁵Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”

⁶So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with all the officials of Moab.

⁷Balaam proclaimed his poem: Balak brought me from Aram; the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains: “Come, put a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel!”

⁸How can I curse someone God has not cursed? How can I denounce someone the LORD has not denounced?

⁹I see them from the top of rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. There is a people living alone; it does not consider itself among the nations.

¹⁰Who has counted the dust of Jacob or numbered even one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright; let the end of my life be like theirs.

¹¹“What have you done to me?” Balak asked Balaam. “I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them!”

¹²He answered, “Shouldn’t I say exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

¹³Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won’t see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me.”

¹⁴So Balak took him to Lookout Field on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

¹⁵Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the LORD over there.”

¹⁶The LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then he said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”

¹⁷So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, “What did the LORD say?”

¹⁸Balaam proclaimed his poem: Balak, get up and listen; son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say!

¹⁹God is not a man, that he might lie, or a son of man, that he might change his mind. Does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?

²⁰I have indeed received a command to bless; since he has blessed, I cannot change it.

²¹He considers no disaster for Jacob; he sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and there is rejoicing over the King among them.

²²God brought them out of Egypt; he is like the horns of a wild ox for them.

²³There is no magic curse against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said about Jacob and Israel, “What great things God has done!”

²⁴A people rise up like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion. They will not lie down until they devour the prey and drink the blood of the slain.

²⁵Then Balak told Balaam, “Don’t curse them and don’t bless them!”

²⁶But Balaam answered him, “Didn’t I tell you: Whatever the LORD says, I must do?”

²⁷Again Balak said to Balaam, “Please come. I will take you to another place. Maybe it will be agreeable to God that you can put a curse on them for me there.”

²⁸So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.

²⁹Balaam told Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”

³⁰So Balak did as Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

¹Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.

²Each one of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

³For even Christ did not please himself. On the contrary, as it is written, The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.

⁴For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.

⁵Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus,

⁶so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.

⁷Therefore accept one another, just as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God.

⁸For I say that Christ became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises to the fathers,

⁹and so that Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praise to your name.

¹⁰Again it says, Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people!

¹¹And again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples praise him!

¹²And again, Isaiah says, The root of Jesse will appear, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; the Gentiles will hope in him.

¹³Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁴My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.

¹⁵Nevertheless, I have written to remind you more boldly on some points because of the grace given me by God

¹⁶to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the gospel of God. My purpose is that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷Therefore I have reason to boast in Christ Jesus regarding what pertains to God.

¹⁸For I would not dare say anything except what Christ has accomplished through me by word and deed for the obedience of the Gentiles,

¹⁹by the power of miraculous signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit. As a result, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum.

²⁰My aim is to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that I will not build on someone else’s foundation,

²¹but, as it is written, Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.

²²That is why I have been prevented many times from coming to you.

²³But now I no longer have any work to do in these regions, and I have strongly desired for many years to come to you

²⁴whenever I travel to Spain. For I hope to see you when I pass through and to be assisted by you for my journey there, once I have first enjoyed your company for a while.

²⁵Right now I am traveling to Jerusalem to serve the saints,

²⁶because Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

²⁷Yes, they were pleased, and indeed are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual benefits, then they are obligated to minister to them in material needs.

²⁸So when I have finished this and safely delivered the funds to them, I will visit you on the way to Spain.

²⁹I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

³⁰Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in fervent prayers to God on my behalf.

³¹Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,

³²and that, by God’s will, I may come to you with joy and be refreshed together with you.

³³May the God of peace be with all of you. Amen.

¹My spirit is broken. My days are extinguished. A graveyard awaits me.

²Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.

³Accept my pledge! Put up security for me. Who else will be my sponsor?

⁴You have closed their minds to understanding, therefore you will not honor them.

⁵If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.

⁶He has made me an object of scorn to the people; I have become a man people spit at.

⁷My eyes have grown dim from grief, and my whole body has become but a shadow.

⁸The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are roused against the godless.

⁹Yet the righteous person will hold to his way, and the one whose hands are clean will grow stronger.

¹⁰But come back and try again, all of you. I will not find a wise man among you.

¹¹My days have slipped by; my plans have been ruined, even the things dear to my heart.

¹²They turned night into day and made light seem near in the face of darkness.

¹³If I await Sheol as my home, spread out my bed in darkness,

¹⁴and say to corruption, “You are my father,” and to the maggot, “My mother” or “My sister,”

¹⁵where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?

¹⁶Will it go down to the gates of Sheol, or will we descend together to the dust?

¹Of David. [1] The LORD is my light and my salvation — whom should I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life — whom should I dread?

²When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh, my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.

³Though an army deploys against me, my heart will not be afraid; though a war breaks out against me, I will still be confident.

⁴I have asked one thing from the LORD; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the LORD and seeking him in his temple.

⁵For he will conceal me in his shelter in the day of adversity; he will hide me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock.

⁶Then my head will be high above my enemies around me; I will offer sacrifices in his tent with shouts of joy. I will sing and make music to the LORD.

⁷LORD, hear my voice when I call; be gracious to me and answer me.

⁸My heart says this about you: “Seek his face.” LORD, I will seek your face.

⁹Do not hide your face from me; do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my helper; do not leave me or abandon me, God of my salvation.

¹⁰Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD cares for me.

¹¹Because of my adversaries, show me your way, LORD, and lead me on a level path.

¹²Do not give me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing violence.

¹³I am certain that I will see the LORD’s goodness in the land of the living.

¹⁴Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Wait for the LORD.

¹Better a dry crust with peace than a house full of feasting with strife.

²A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son and share an inheritance among brothers.

³A crucible for silver, and a smelter for gold, and the LORD is the tester of hearts.

⁴A wicked person listens to malicious talk; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

⁵The one who mocks the poor insults his Maker, and one who rejoices over calamity will not go unpunished.

⁶Grandchildren are the crown of the elderly, and the pride of children is their fathers.

⁷Eloquent words are not appropriate on a fool’s lips; how much worse are lies for a ruler.

⁸A bribe seems like a magic stone to its owner; wherever he turns, he succeeds.

⁹Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but whoever gossips about it separates friends.

¹⁰A rebuke cuts into a perceptive person more than a hundred lashes into a fool.

¹¹An evil person desires only rebellion; a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

¹²Better for a person to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his foolishness.

¹³If anyone returns evil for good, evil will never depart from his house.

¹⁴To start a conflict is to release a flood; stop the dispute before it breaks out.

¹⁵Acquitting the guilty and condemning the just  — both are detestable to the LORD.

¹⁶Why does a fool have money in his hand with no intention of buying wisdom?

¹⁷A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.

¹⁸One without sense enters an agreement and puts up security for his friend.

¹⁹One who loves to offend loves strife; one who builds a high threshold invites injury.

²⁰One with a twisted mind will not succeed, and one with deceitful speech will fall into ruin.

²¹A man fathers a fool to his own sorrow; the father of a fool has no joy.

²²A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

²³A wicked person secretly takes a bribe to subvert the course of justice.

²⁴Wisdom is the focus of the perceptive, but a fool’s eyes roam to the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son is grief to his father and bitterness to the one who bore him.

²⁶It is certainly not good to fine an innocent person or to beat a noble for his honesty.

²⁷The one who has knowledge restrains his words, and one who keeps a cool head is a person of understanding.

²⁸Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps silent — discerning, when he seals his lips.

¹The Philistines brought all their military units together at Aphek while Israel was camped by the spring in Jezreel.

²As the Philistine leaders were passing in review with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were passing in review behind them with Achish.

³Then the Philistine commanders asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” Achish answered the Philistine commanders, “That is David, servant of King Saul of Israel. He has been with me a considerable period of time. From the day he defected until today, I’ve found no fault with him.”

⁴The Philistine commanders, however, were enraged with Achish and told him, “Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the battle. What better way could he ingratiate himself with his master than with the heads of our men?

⁵Isn’t this the David they sing about during their dances: Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands?”

⁶So Achish summoned David and told him, “As the LORD lives, you are an honorable man. I think it is good to have you fighting in this unit with me, because I have found no fault in you from the day you came to me until today. But the leaders don’t think you are reliable.

⁷Now go back quietly and you won’t be doing anything the Philistine leaders think is wrong.”

⁸“But what have I done?” David replied to Achish. “From the first day I entered your service until today, what have you found against your servant to keep me from going to fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

⁹Achish answered David, “I’m convinced that you are as reliable as an angel of God. But the Philistine commanders have said, ‘He must not go into battle with us.’

¹⁰So get up early in the morning, you and your masters’ servants who came with you. When you’ve all gotten up early, go as soon as it’s light.”

¹¹So David and his men got up early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

²“Listen to the words of this covenant and tell them to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem.

³Tell them, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: “Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,

⁴which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace.” I declared, “Obey me, and do everything that I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God,”

⁵in order to establish the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today.’” I answered, “Amen, LORD.”

⁶The LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out.’

⁷For I strongly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt until today, warning them time and time again, ‘Obey me.’

⁸Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant, because they had not done what I commanded them to do.”

⁹The LORD said to me, “A conspiracy has been discovered among the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem.

¹⁰They have returned to the iniquities of their fathers who refused to obey my words and have followed other gods to worship them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah broke my covenant I made with their ancestors.

¹¹“Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I am about to bring on them disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to me, but I will not hear them.

¹²Then the cities of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods they have been burning incense to, but they certainly will not save them in their time of disaster.

¹³Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, Judah, and the altars you have set up to Shame  — altars to burn incense to Baal — as numerous as the streets of Jerusalem.

¹⁴“As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to me at the time of their disaster.

¹⁵What right does my beloved have to be in my house, having carried out so many evil schemes? Can holy meat prevent your disaster so you can celebrate?

¹⁶The LORD named you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful with well-formed fruit. He has set fire to it, and its branches are consumed with the sound of a mighty tumult.

¹⁷“The LORD of Armies who planted you has decreed disaster against you, because of the disaster the house of Israel and the house of Judah brought on themselves when they angered me by burning incense to Baal.”

¹⁸The LORD informed me, so I knew. Then you helped me to see their deeds,

¹⁹for I was like a docile lamb led to slaughter. I didn’t know that they had devised plots against me: “Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit; let’s cut him off from the land of the living so that his name will no longer be remembered.”

²⁰But, LORD of Armies, who judges righteously, who tests heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for I have presented my case to you.

²¹Therefore, here is what the LORD says concerning the people of Anathoth who intend to take your life. They warn, “Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will certainly die at our hand.”

²²Therefore, this is what the LORD of Armies says: “I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine.

²³They will have no remnant, for I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.”

¹While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples

²and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” “No,” they told him, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³“Into what then were you baptized?” he asked them. “Into John’s baptism,” they replied.

⁴Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”

⁵When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

⁶And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in other tongues and to prophesy.

⁷Now there were about twelve men in all.

⁸Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

⁹But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples, and conducted discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

¹⁰This went on for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

¹¹God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands,

¹²so that even facecloths or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

¹³Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!”

¹⁴Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.

¹⁵The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul — but who are you?”

¹⁶Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.

¹⁷When this became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, they became afraid, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem.

¹⁸And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices,

¹⁹while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.

²⁰In this way the word of the Lord flourished and prevailed.

²¹After these events, Paul resolved by the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I’ve been there,” he said, “It is necessary for me to see Rome as well.”

²²After sending to Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

²³About that time there was a major disturbance about the Way.

²⁴For a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, provided a great deal of business for the craftsmen.

²⁵When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said: “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business.

²⁶You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods.

²⁷Not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin — the very one all of Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

²⁹So the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.

³⁰Although Paul wanted to go in before the people, the disciples did not let him.

³¹Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to venture into the amphitheater.

³²Some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.

³³Some Jews in the crowd gave instructions to Alexander after they pushed him to the front. Motioning with his hand, Alexander wanted to make his defense to the people.

³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵When the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “People of Ephesus! What person is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven?

³⁶Therefore, since these things are undeniable, you must keep calm and not do anything rash.

³⁷For you have brought these men here who are not temple robbers or blasphemers of our goddess.

³⁸So if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a case against anyone, the courts are in session, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.

³⁹But if you seek anything further, it must be decided in a legal assembly.

⁴⁰In fact, we run a risk of being charged with rioting for what happened today, since there is no justification that we can give as a reason for this disturbance.”

⁴¹After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.