Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹He said to his disciples, “Offenses will certainly come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

²It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

³Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

⁴And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and comes back to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

⁶“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,” the Lord said, “you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

⁷“Which one of you having a servant tending sheep or plowing will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?

⁸Instead, will he not tell him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink’?

⁹Does he thank that servant because he did what was commanded?

¹⁰In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are worthless servants; we’ve only done our duty.’”

¹¹While traveling to Jerusalem, he passed between Samaria and Galilee.

¹²As he entered a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance

¹³and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

¹⁴When he saw them, he told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And while they were going, they were cleansed.

¹⁵But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God.

¹⁶He fell facedown at his feet, thanking him. And he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?

¹⁸Didn’t any return to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

¹⁹And he told him, “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.”

²⁰Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable;

²¹no one will say, ‘See here! ’ or ‘There! ’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

²²Then he told the disciples: “The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you won’t see it.

²³They will say to you, ‘See there! ’ or ‘See here! ’ Don’t follow or run after them.

²⁴For as the lightning flashes from horizon to horizon and lights up the sky, so the Son of Man will be in his day.

²⁵But first it is necessary that he suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

²⁶“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man:

²⁷People went on eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah boarded the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot: People went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building.

²⁹But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all.

³⁰It will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

³¹On that day, a man on the housetop, whose belongings are in the house, must not come down to get them. Likewise the man who is in the field must not turn back.

³²Remember Lot’s wife!

³³Whoever tries to make his life secure will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.

³⁴I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left.

³⁵Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”

³⁶

³⁷“Where, Lord?” they asked him. He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”

¹Since Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go to seek omens as on previous occasions, but turned toward the wilderness.

²When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him,

³and he proclaimed his poem: The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened,

⁴the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:

⁵How beautiful are your tents, Jacob, your dwellings, Israel.

⁶They stretch out like river valleys, like gardens beside a stream, like aloes the LORD has planted, like cedars beside the water.

⁷Water will flow from his buckets, and his seed will be by abundant water. His king will be greater than Agag, and his kingdom will be exalted.

⁸God brought him out of Egypt; he is like the horns of a wild ox for them. He will feed on enemy nations and gnaw their bones; he will strike them with his arrows.

⁹He crouches, he lies down like a lion or a lioness — who dares to rouse him? Those who bless you will be blessed, and those who curse you will be cursed.

¹⁰Then Balak became furious with Balaam, struck his hands together, and said to him, “I summoned you to put a curse on my enemies, but instead, you have blessed them these three times.

¹¹Now go to your home! I said I would reward you richly, but look, the LORD has denied you a reward.”

¹²Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I previously tell the messengers you sent me:

¹³If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go against the LORD’s command, to do anything good or bad of my own will? I will say whatever the LORD says.

¹⁴Now I am going back to my people, but first, let me warn you what these people will do to your people in the future.”

¹⁵Then he proclaimed his poem: The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened;

¹⁶the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God and has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:

¹⁷I see him, but not now; I perceive him, but not near. A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will smash the forehead of Moab and strike down all the Shethites.

¹⁸Edom will become a possession; Seir will become a possession of its enemies, but Israel will be triumphant.

¹⁹One who comes from Jacob will rule; he will destroy the city’s survivors.

²⁰Then Balaam saw Amalek and proclaimed his poem: Amalek was first among the nations, but his future is destruction.

²¹Next he saw the Kenites and proclaimed his poem: Your dwelling place is enduring; your nest is set in the cliffs.

²²Kain will be destroyed when Asshur takes you captive.

²³Once more he proclaimed his poem: Ah, who can live when God does this?

²⁴Ships will come from the coast of Kittim; they will carry out raids against Asshur and Eber, but they too will come to destruction.

²⁵Balaam then arose and went back to his homeland, and Balak also went his way.

¹I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchreae.

²So you should welcome her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints and assist her in whatever matter she may require your help. For indeed she has been a benefactor of many — and of me also.

³Give my greetings to Prisca and Aquila, my coworkers in Christ Jesus,

⁴who risked their own necks for my life. Not only do I thank them, but so do all the Gentile churches.

⁵Greet also the church that meets in their home. Greet my dear friend Epaenetus, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia.

⁶Greet Mary, who has worked very hard for you.

⁷Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews and fellow prisoners. They are noteworthy in the eyes of the apostles, and they were also in Christ before me.

⁸Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.

⁹Greet Urbanus, our coworker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.

¹⁰Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.

¹¹Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew. Greet those who belong to the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.

¹²Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who have worked hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, who has worked very hard in the Lord.

¹³Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother — and mine.

¹⁴Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters who are with them.

¹⁵Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.

¹⁶Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send you greetings.

¹⁷Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them,

¹⁸because such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites. They deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting with smooth talk and flattering words.

¹⁹The report of your obedience has reached everyone. Therefore I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise about what is good, and yet innocent about what is evil.

²⁰The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

²¹Timothy, my coworker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow countrymen, greet you.

²²I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

²³Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you.

²⁴

²⁵Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation about Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept silent for long ages

²⁶but now revealed and made known through the prophetic Scriptures, according to the command of the eternal God to advance the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles —

²⁷to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ — to him be the glory forever! Amen.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²How long until you stop talking? Show some sense, and then we can talk.

³Why are we regarded as cattle, as stupid in your sight?

⁴You who tear yourself in anger  — should the earth be abandoned on your account, or a rock be removed from its place?

⁵Yes, the light of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.

⁶The light in his tent grows dark, and the lamp beside him is put out.

⁷His powerful stride is shortened, and his own schemes trip him up.

⁸For his own feet lead him into a net, and he strays into its mesh.

⁹A trap catches him by the heel; a noose seizes him.

¹⁰A rope lies hidden for him on the ground, and a snare waits for him along the path.

¹¹Terrors frighten him on every side and harass him at every step.

¹²His strength is depleted; disaster lies ready for him to stumble.

¹³Parts of his skin are eaten away; death’s firstborn consumes his limbs.

¹⁴He is ripped from the security of his tent and marched away to the king of terrors.

¹⁵Nothing he owned remains in his tent. Burning sulfur is scattered over his home.

¹⁶His roots below dry up, and his branches above wither away.

¹⁷All memory of him perishes from the earth; he has no name anywhere.

¹⁸He is driven from light to darkness and chased from the inhabited world.

¹⁹He has no children or descendants among his people, no survivor where he used to live.

²⁰Those in the west are appalled at his fate, while those in the east tremble in horror.

²¹Indeed, such is the dwelling of the unjust man, and this is the place of the one who does not know God.

¹Of David. [1] LORD, I call to you; my rock, do not be deaf to me. If you remain silent to me, I will be like those going down to the Pit.

²Listen to the sound of my pleading when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your holy sanctuary.

³Do not drag me away with the wicked, with the evildoers, who speak in friendly ways with their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.

⁴Repay them according to what they have done — according to the evil of their deeds. Repay them according to the work of their hands; give them back what they deserve.

⁵Because they do not consider what the LORD has done or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and not rebuild them.

⁶Blessed be the LORD, for he has heard the sound of my pleading.

⁷The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart celebrates, and I give thanks to him with my song.

⁸The LORD is the strength of his people; he is a stronghold of salvation for his anointed.

⁹Save your people, bless your possession, shepherd them, and carry them forever.

¹One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound wisdom.

²A fool does not delight in understanding, but only wants to show off his opinions.

³When a wicked person comes, contempt also comes, and along with dishonor, derision.

⁴The words of a person’s mouth are deep waters, a flowing river, a fountain of wisdom.

⁵It is not good to show partiality to the guilty, denying an innocent person justice.

⁶A fool’s lips lead to strife, and his mouth provokes a beating.

⁷A fool’s mouth is his devastation, and his lips are a trap for his life.

⁸A gossip’s words are like choice food that goes down to one’s innermost being.

⁹The one who is lazy in his work is brother to a vandal.

¹⁰The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are protected.

¹¹The wealth of the rich is his fortified city; in his imagination it is like a high wall.

¹²Before his downfall a person’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

¹³The one who gives an answer before he listens — this is foolishness and disgrace for him.

¹⁴A person’s spirit can endure sickness, but who can survive a broken spirit?

¹⁵The mind of the discerning acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks it.

¹⁶A person’s gift opens doors for him and brings him before the great.

¹⁷The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

¹⁸Casting the lot ends quarrels and separates powerful opponents.

¹⁹An offended brother is harder to reach than a fortified city, and quarrels are like the bars of a fortress.

²⁰From the fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is filled with the product of his lips.

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

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

²³The poor person pleads, but the rich one answers roughly.

²⁴One with many friends may be harmed, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.

¹David and his men arrived in Ziklag on the third day. The Amalekites had raided the Negev and attacked and burned Ziklag.

²They also had kidnapped the women and everyone in it from youngest to oldest. They had killed no one but had carried them off as they went on their way.

³When David and his men arrived at the town, they found it burned. Their wives, sons, and daughters had been kidnapped.

⁴David and the troops with him wept loudly until they had no strength left to weep.

⁵David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had also been kidnapped.

⁶David was in an extremely difficult position because the troops talked about stoning him, for they were all very bitter over the loss of their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

⁷David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought it to him,

⁸and David asked the LORD: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” The LORD replied to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them and rescue the people.”

⁹So David and the six hundred men with him went. They came to the Wadi Besor, where some stayed behind.

¹⁰David and four hundred of the men continued the pursuit, while two hundred stopped because they were too exhausted to cross the Wadi Besor.

¹¹David’s men found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink.

¹²Then they gave him some pressed figs and two clusters of raisins. After he ate he revived, for he hadn’t eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights.

¹³Then David said to him, “Who do you belong to? Where are you from?” “I’m an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite man,” he said. “My master abandoned me when I got sick three days ago.

¹⁴We raided the south country of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the south country of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag.”

¹⁵David then asked him, “Will you lead me to these raiders?” He said, “Swear to me by God that you won’t kill me or turn me over to my master, and I will lead you to them.”

¹⁶So he led him, and there were the Amalekites, spread out over the entire area, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.

¹⁷David slaughtered them from twilight until the evening of the next day. None of them escaped, except four hundred young men who got on camels and fled.

¹⁸David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken; he also rescued his two wives.

¹⁹Nothing of theirs was missing from the youngest to the oldest, including the sons and daughters, and all the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David got everything back.

²⁰He took all the flocks and herds, which were driven ahead of the other livestock, and the people shouted, “This is David’s plunder!”

²¹When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to go with him and had been left at the Wadi Besor, they came out to meet him and to meet the troops with him. When David approached the men, he greeted them,

²²but all the corrupt and worthless men among those who had gone with David argued, “Because they didn’t go with us, we will not give any of the plunder we recovered to them except for each man’s wife and children. They may take them and go.”

²³But David said, “My brothers, you must not do this with what the LORD has given us. He protected us and handed over to us the raiders who came against us.

²⁴Who can agree to your proposal? The share of the one who goes into battle is to be the same as the share of the one who remains with the supplies. They will share equally.”

²⁵And it has been so from that day forward. David established this policy as a law and an ordinance for Israel and it still continues today.

²⁶When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”

²⁷He sent gifts to those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negev, and in Jattir;

²⁸to those in Aroer, in Siphmoth, and in Eshtemoa;

²⁹to those in Racal, in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, and in the towns of the Kenites;

³⁰to those in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, and in Athach;

³¹to those in Hebron, and to those in all the places where David and his men had roamed.

¹You will be righteous, LORD, even if I bring a case against you. Yet, I wish to contend with you: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the treacherous live at ease?

²You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their conscience.

³As for you, LORD, you know me; you see me. You test whether my heart is with you. Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter and set them apart for the day of killing.

⁴How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? Because of the evil of its residents, animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”

⁵If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?

⁶Even your brothers — your own father’s family — even they were treacherous to you; even they have cried out loudly after you. Do not have confidence in them, though they speak well of you.

⁷I have abandoned my house; I have deserted my inheritance. I have handed the love of my life over to her enemies.

⁸My inheritance has behaved toward me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against me. Therefore, I hate her.

⁹Is my inheritance like a hyena to me? Are birds of prey circling her? Go, gather all the wild animals; bring them to devour her.

¹⁰Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled my plot of land. They have turned my desirable plot into a desolate wasteland.

¹¹They have made it a desolation. It mourns, desolate, before me. All the land is desolate, but no one takes it to heart.

¹²Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the LORD has a sword that devours from one end of the earth to the other. No one has peace.

¹³They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves but have no profit. Be put to shame by your harvests because of the LORD’s burning anger.

¹⁴This is what the LORD says: “Concerning all my evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to my people, Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them.

¹⁵After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.

¹⁶If they will diligently learn the ways of my people  — to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ just as they taught my people to swear by Baal — they will be built up among my people.

¹⁷However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹After the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, and after saying farewell, departed to go to Macedonia.

²And when he had passed through those areas and offered them many words of encouragement, he came to Greece

³and stayed three months. The Jews plotted against him when he was about to set sail for Syria, and so he decided to go back through Macedonia.

⁴He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

⁵These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas,

⁶but we sailed away from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread. In five days we reached them at Troas, where we spent seven days.

⁷On the first day of the week, we assembled to break bread. Paul spoke to them, and since he was about to depart the next day, he kept on talking until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were assembled,

⁹and a young man named Eutychus was sitting on a window sill and sank into a deep sleep as Paul kept on talking. When he was overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down, bent over him, embraced him, and said, “Don’t be alarmed, because he’s alive.”

¹¹After going upstairs, breaking the bread, and eating, Paul talked a long time until dawn. Then he left.

¹²They brought the boy home alive and were greatly comforted.

¹³We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul on board, because these were his instructions, since he himself was going by land.

¹⁴When he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went on to Mitylene.

¹⁵Sailing from there, the next day we arrived off Chios. The following day we crossed over to Samos, and the day after, we came to Miletus.

¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, because he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, for the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church.

¹⁸When they came to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews.

²⁰You know that I did not avoid proclaiming to you anything that was profitable or from teaching you publicly and from house to house.

²¹I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.

²²“And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there,

²³except that in every town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.

²⁴But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.

²⁵“And now I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will ever see me again.

²⁶Therefore I declare to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you,

²⁷because I did not avoid declaring to you the whole plan of God.

²⁸Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.

²⁹I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

³⁰Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them.

³¹Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.

³²“And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

³³I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.

³⁴You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me.

³⁵In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.

³⁷There were many tears shed by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him,

³⁸grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.