Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

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

³Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,

⁴and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

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

⁶And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

⁷“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’?

⁸Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’?

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

¹⁰So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

¹¹On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.

¹²And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance

¹³and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

¹⁴When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.

¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;

¹⁶and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.

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

¹⁸Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

¹⁹And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

²⁰Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed,

²¹nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

²²And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.

²³ And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them.

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

²⁵But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

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

²⁷ They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot — they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,

²⁹ but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all —

³⁰so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

³¹On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back.

³² Remember Lot's wife.

³³ Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.

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

³⁵ There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”

³⁶

³⁷And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

¹When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness.

²And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him,

³and he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

⁴the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered:

⁵How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel!

⁶Like palm groves that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the LORD has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters.

⁷Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters; his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.

⁸God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows.

⁹He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you.”

¹⁰And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times.

¹¹Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the LORD has held you back from honor.”

¹²And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me,

¹³‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the LORD speaks, that will I speak’?

¹⁴And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”

¹⁵And he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

¹⁶the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered:

¹⁷I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.

¹⁸Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly.

¹⁹And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”

²⁰Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said, “Amalek was the first among the nations, but its end is utter destruction.”

²¹And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said, “Enduring is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock.

²²Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned when Asshur takes you away captive.”

²³And he took up his discourse and said, “Alas, who shall live when God does this?

²⁴But ships shall come from Kittim and shall afflict Asshur and Eber; and he too shall come to utter destruction.”

²⁵Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

¹I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae,

²that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

³Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,

⁴who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.

⁵Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.

⁶Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.

⁷Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.

⁸Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.

⁹Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys.

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

¹¹Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus.

¹²Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.

¹³Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.

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

¹⁵Greet Philologus, 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 greet you.

¹⁷I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.

¹⁸For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

¹⁹For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.

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

²¹Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

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 preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages

²⁶but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith —

²⁷to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

²“How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we will speak.

³Why are we counted as cattle? Why are we stupid in your sight?

⁴You who tear yourself in your anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you, or the rock be removed out of its place?

⁵“Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out, and the flame of his fire does not shine.

⁶The light is dark in his tent, and his lamp above him is put out.

⁷His strong steps are shortened, and his own schemes throw him down.

⁸For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walks on its mesh.

⁹A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare lays hold of him.

¹⁰A rope is hidden for him in the ground, a trap for him in the path.

¹¹Terrors frighten him on every side, and chase him at his heels.

¹²His strength is famished, and calamity is ready for his stumbling.

¹³It consumes the parts of his skin; the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.

¹⁴He is torn from the tent in which he trusted and is brought to the king of terrors.

¹⁵In his tent dwells that which is none of his; sulfur is scattered over his habitation.

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

¹⁷His memory perishes from the earth, and he has no name in the street.

¹⁸He is thrust from light into darkness, and driven out of the world.

¹⁹He has no posterity or progeny among his people, and no survivor where he used to live.

²⁰They of the west are appalled at his day, and horror seizes them of the east.

²¹Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous, such is the place of him who knows not God.”

¹To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.

²Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.

³Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts.

⁴Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds; give to them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward.

⁵Because they do not regard the works of the LORD or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and build them up no more.

⁶Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

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

⁸The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

⁹Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

¹Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire

²and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way.

³And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.

⁴Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.

⁵David's two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

⁶And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

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

⁸And David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”

⁹So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.

¹⁰But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.

¹¹They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink,

¹²and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.

¹³And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago.

¹⁴We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.”

¹⁵And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.”

¹⁶And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

¹⁷And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled.

¹⁸David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives.

¹⁹Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all.

²⁰David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David's spoil.”

²¹Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them.

²²Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.”

²³But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us.

²⁴Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.”

²⁵And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.

²⁶When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD.”

²⁷It was for those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in Jattir,

²⁸in Aroer, in Siphmoth, in Eshtemoa,

²⁹in Racal, in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, in the cities of the Kenites,

³⁰in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach,

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

¹Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?

²You plant them, and they take root; they grow and produce fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart.

³But you, O LORD, know me; you see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter.

⁴How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? For the evil of those who dwell in it the beasts and the birds are swept away, because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”

⁵“If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you are so trusting, what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?

⁶For even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; they are in full cry after you; do not believe them, though they speak friendly words to you.”

⁷“I have forsaken my house; I have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies.

⁸My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest; she has lifted up her voice against me; therefore I hate her.

⁹Is my heritage to me like a hyena's lair? Are the birds of prey against her all around? Go, assemble all the wild beasts; bring them to devour.

¹⁰Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled down my portion; they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

¹¹They have made it a desolation; desolate, it mourns to me. The whole land is made desolate, but no man lays it to heart.

¹²Upon all the bare heights in the desert destroyers have come, for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the land to the other; no flesh has peace.

¹³They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns; they have tired themselves out but profit nothing. They shall be ashamed of their harvests because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

¹⁴Thus says the LORD concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them.

¹⁵And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land.

¹⁶And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people.

¹⁷But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the LORD.”

¹After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia.

²When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.

³There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

⁴Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus.

⁵These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas,

⁶but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

⁷On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered.

⁹And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.”

¹¹And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed.

¹²And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.

¹³But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land.

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

¹⁵And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and the day after that we went to Miletus.

¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.

¹⁸And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia,

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews;

²⁰how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house,

²¹testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

²²And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there,

²³except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

²⁴But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

²⁵And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.

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

²⁷for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

²⁸Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

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

³⁰and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

³¹Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

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

³³I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.

³⁴You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me.

³⁵In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

³⁷And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him,

³⁸being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.