Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come!

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

³Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive.

⁴And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”

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

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

⁷“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’?

⁸Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’?

⁹Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded?

¹⁰So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”

¹¹On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.

¹²As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance,

¹³they called out, 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 made clean.

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

¹⁶He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?

¹⁸Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

¹⁹Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

²⁰Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed;

²¹nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.”

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

²³They will say to you, ‘Look there!’ or ‘Look here!’ Do not go, do not set off in pursuit.

²⁴For 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 endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation.

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

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

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

²⁹but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them

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

³¹On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back.

³²Remember Lot’s wife.

³³Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it.

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

³⁵There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.”

³⁶

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

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

²Balaam looked up and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. Then the spirit of God came upon him,

³and he uttered his oracle, saying: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is clear,

⁴the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, but with eyes uncovered:

⁵how fair are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel!

⁶Like palm groves that stretch far away, 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 have abundant water, his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.

⁸God who brings him out of Egypt, is like the horns of a wild ox for him; he shall devour the nations that are his foes and break their bones. He shall strike with his arrows.

⁹He crouched, he lay down like a lion, and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed is everyone who blesses you, and cursed is everyone who curses you.”

¹⁰Then Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but instead you have blessed them these three times.

¹¹Now be off with you! Go home! I said, ‘I will reward you richly,’ but the LORD has denied you any reward.”

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 says, that is what I will say’?

¹⁴So now, I am going to my people; let me advise you what this people will do to your people in days to come.”

¹⁵So he uttered his oracle, saying: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is clear,

¹⁶the oracle of one who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, but 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 borderlands of Moab, and the territory of all the Shethites.

¹⁸Edom will become a possession, Seir a possession of its enemies, while Israel does valiantly.

¹⁹One out of Jacob shall rule, and destroy the survivors of Ir.”

²⁰Then he looked on Amalek, and uttered his oracle, saying: “First among the nations was Amalek, but its end is to perish forever.”

²¹Then he looked on the Kenite, and uttered his oracle, saying: “Enduring is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock;

²²yet Kain is destined for burning. How long shall Asshur take you away captive?”

²³Again he uttered his oracle, saying: “Alas, who shall live when God does this?

²⁴But ships shall come from Kittim and shall afflict Asshur and Eber; and he also shall perish forever.”

²⁵Then Balaam got up and went back to his place, and Balak also went his way.

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

²so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well.

³Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus,

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

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

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

⁷Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

⁸Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.

⁹Greet Urbanus, our co-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 relative 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; and greet his mother — a mother to me also.

¹⁴Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters 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 urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and offenses, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them.

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

¹⁹For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I want you to be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil.

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

²¹Timothy, my co-worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my relatives.

²²I Tertius, the writer of 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 God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages

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

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

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:

²“How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we shall 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 because of you, or the rock be removed out of its place?

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

⁶The light is dark in their tent, and the lamp above them is put out.

⁷Their strong steps are shortened, and their own schemes throw them down.

⁸For they are thrust into a net by their own feet, and they walk into a pitfall.

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

¹⁰A rope is hid for them in the ground, a trap for them in the path.

¹¹Terrors frighten them on every side, and chase them at their heels.

¹²Their strength is consumed by hunger, and calamity is ready for their stumbling.

¹³By disease their skin is consumed, the firstborn of Death consumes their limbs.

¹⁴They are torn from the tent in which they trusted, and are brought to the king of terrors.

¹⁵In their tents nothing remains; sulfur is scattered upon their habitations.

¹⁶Their roots dry up beneath, and their branches wither above.

¹⁷Their memory perishes from the earth, and they have no name in the street.

¹⁸They are thrust from light into darkness, and driven out of the world.

¹⁹They have no offspring or descendant among their people, and no survivor where they used to live.

²⁰They of the west are appalled at their fate, and horror seizes those of the east.

²¹Surely such are the dwellings of the ungodly, such is the place of those who do not know God.”

¹To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, do not refuse to hear me, for if you are silent to me, I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.

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

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

⁴Repay them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds; repay 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 break them down and build them up no more.

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

⁷The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and 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.

⁹O save your people, and bless your heritage; be their shepherd, and carry them forever.

¹The one who lives alone is self-indulgent, showing contempt for all who have sound judgment.

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

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

⁴The words of the mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a gushing stream.

⁵It is not right to be partial to the guilty, or to subvert the innocent in judgment.

⁶A fool’s lips bring strife, and a fool’s mouth invites a flogging.

⁷The mouths of fools are their ruin, and their lips a snare to themselves.

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

⁹One who is slack in work is close kin to a vandal.

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

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

¹²Before destruction one’s heart is haughty, but humility goes before honor.

¹³If one gives answer before hearing, it is folly and shame.

¹⁴The human spirit will endure sickness; but a broken spirit — who can bear?

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

¹⁶A gift opens doors; it gives access to the great.

¹⁷The one who first states a case seems right, until the other comes and cross-examines.

¹⁸Casting the lot puts an end to disputes and decides between powerful contenders.

¹⁹An ally offended is stronger than a city; such quarreling is like the bars of a castle.

²⁰From the fruit of the mouth one’s stomach is satisfied; the yield of the lips brings satisfaction.

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.

²⁴Some friends play at friendship but a true friend sticks closer than one’s nearest kin.

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

²and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great; they killed none of them, but carried them off, and went their way.

³When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down, 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.

⁶David was in great danger; for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in spirit for their sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

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

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

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

¹⁰But David went on with the pursuit, he and four hundred men; two hundred stayed behind, too exhausted to cross the Wadi Besor.

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

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

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

¹⁴We had made a raid on the Negeb of the Cherethites and on that which belongs to Judah and on the Negeb of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag down.”

¹⁵David said to him, “Will you take me down to this raiding party?” He said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me, or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them.”

¹⁶When he had taken him down, they were spread out all over the ground, eating and drinking and dancing, because of the great amount of spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

¹⁷David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not one 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 everything.

²⁰David also captured all the flocks and herds, which were driven ahead of the other cattle; people 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 Wadi Besor. They went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. When David drew near to the people he saluted them.

²²Then all the corrupt 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 take his wife and children, and leave.”

²³But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us; he has preserved us and handed over to us the raiding party that attacked us.

²⁴Who would listen to you in this matter? For the share of the one who goes down into the battle shall be the same as the share of the one who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike.”

²⁵From that day forward he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel; it continues to the present 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 towns of the Jerahmeelites, in the towns of the Kenites,

³⁰in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach,

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

¹You will be in the right, O LORD, when I lay charges against you; but let me put my case to you. Why does the way of the guilty prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?

²You plant them, and they take root; they grow and bring forth fruit; you are near in their mouths yet far from their hearts.

³But you, O LORD, know me; You see me and test me — my heart is with 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 wickedness of those who live in it the animals and the birds are swept away, and because people said, “He is blind to our ways.”

⁵If you have raced with foot-runners and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you fall down, how will you fare in the thickets of the Jordan?

⁶For even your kinsfolk and your own family, 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.

⁷I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of my heart 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 the hyena greedy for my heritage at my command? Are the birds of prey all around her? Go, assemble all the wild animals; bring them to devour her.

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 one lays it to heart.

¹²Upon all the bare heights in the desert spoilers have come; for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the land to the other; no one shall be safe.

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: I am about to 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 to their heritage and to their land, every one of them.

¹⁶And then, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, “As the LORD lives,” 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 completely uproot it and destroy it, says the LORD.

¹After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples; and after encouraging them and saying farewell, he left for Macedonia.

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

³where he stayed for three months. He was about to set sail for Syria when a plot was made against him by the Jews, and so he decided to return through Macedonia.

⁴He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Beroea, by Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, by Gaius from Derbe, and by Timothy, as well as by Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.

⁵They went ahead and were waiting for us in Troas;

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

⁷On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were meeting.

⁹A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead.

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

¹¹Then Paul went upstairs, and after he had broken bread and eaten, he continued to converse with them until dawn; then he left.

¹²Meanwhile they had taken the boy away alive and were not a little comforted.

¹³We went ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there; for he had made this arrangement, intending to go by land himself.

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

¹⁵We sailed from there, and on the following day we arrived opposite Chios. The next day we touched at Samos, and the day after that we came to Miletus.

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

¹⁷From Miletus he sent a message to Ephesus, asking the elders of the church to meet him.

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

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

²⁰I did not shrink from doing anything helpful, proclaiming the message to you and teaching you publicly and from house to house,

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

²²And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

²³except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me.

²⁴But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.

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

²⁶Therefore I declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you,

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

²⁸Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son.

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

³⁰Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them.

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

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

³³I coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing.

³⁴You know for yourselves that I worked with my own hands to support myself and my companions.

³⁵In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶When he had finished speaking, he knelt down with them all and prayed.

³⁷There was much weeping among them all; they embraced Paul and kissed him,

³⁸grieving especially because of what he had said, that they would not see him again. Then they brought him to the ship.