Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not give up.

²“There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God or respect people.

³And a widow in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

⁴“For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect people,

⁵yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice, so that she doesn’t wear me out by her persistent coming.’”

⁶Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.

⁷Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay helping them?

⁸I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

⁹He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else:

¹⁰“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

¹¹The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people — greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

¹²I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’

¹³“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner! ’

¹⁴I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹⁵People were bringing infants to him so he might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.

¹⁶Jesus, however, invited them: “Let the little children come to me, and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

¹⁷Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

¹⁸A ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone.

²⁰You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother.”

²¹“I have kept all these from my youth,” he said.

²²When Jesus heard this, he told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell all you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²³After he heard this, he became extremely sad, because he was very rich.

²⁴Seeing that he became sad, Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!

²⁵For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶Those who heard this asked, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷He replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

²⁸Then Peter said, “Look, we have left what we had and followed you.”

²⁹So he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left a house, wife or brothers or sisters, parents or children because of the kingdom of God,

³⁰who will not receive many times more at this time, and eternal life in the age to come.”

³¹Then he took the Twelve aside and told them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. Everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.

³²For he will be handed over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked, insulted, spit on;

³³and after they flog him, they will kill him, and he will rise on the third day.”

³⁴They understood none of these things. The meaning of the saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

³⁵As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging.

³⁶Hearing a crowd passing by, he inquired what was happening.

³⁷“Jesus of Nazareth is passing by,” they told him.

³⁸So he called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

³⁹Then those in front told him to keep quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁰Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to him. When he came closer, he asked him,

⁴¹“What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “I want to see.”

⁴²“Receive your sight.” Jesus told him. “Your faith has saved you.”

⁴³Instantly he could see, and he began to follow him, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

¹While Israel was staying in the Acacia Grove, the people began to prostitute themselves with the women of Moab.

²The women invited them to the sacrifices for their gods, and the people ate and bowed in worship to their gods.

³So Israel aligned itself with Baal of Peor, and the LORD’s anger burned against Israel.

⁴The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD so that his burning anger may turn away from Israel.”

⁵So Moses told Israel’s judges, “Kill each of the men who aligned themselves with Baal of Peor.”

⁶An Israelite man came bringing a Midianite woman to his relatives in the sight of Moses and the whole Israelite community while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

⁷When Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand,

⁸followed the Israelite man into the tent, and drove it through both the Israelite man and the woman — through her belly. Then the plague on the Israelites was stopped,

⁹but those who died in the plague numbered twenty-four thousand.

¹⁰The LORD spoke to Moses,

¹¹“Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the Israelites because he was zealous among them with my zeal, so that I did not destroy the Israelites in my zeal.

¹²Therefore declare: I grant him my covenant of peace.

¹³It will be a covenant of perpetual priesthood for him and his future descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”

¹⁴The name of the slain Israelite man, who was struck dead with the Midianite woman, was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.

¹⁵The name of the slain Midianite woman was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, a tribal head of a family in Midian.

¹⁶The LORD told Moses:

¹⁷“Attack the Midianites and strike them dead.

¹⁸For they attacked you with the treachery that they used against you in the Peor incident. They did the same in the case involving their sister Cozbi, daughter of the Midianite leader who was killed the day the plague came at Peor.”

¹Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Sosthenes our brother:

²To the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord — both their Lord and ours.

³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus,

⁵that you were enriched in him in every way, in all speech and all knowledge.

⁶In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you,

⁷so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹God is faithful; you were called by him into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹⁰Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction.

¹¹For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by members of Chloe’s people, that there is rivalry among you.

¹²What I am saying is this: One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.”

¹³Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name?

¹⁴I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,

¹⁵so that no one can say you were baptized in my name.

¹⁶I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t recall if I baptized anyone else.

¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.

¹⁸For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.

¹⁹For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent.

²⁰Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish?

²¹For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached.

²²For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom,

²³but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.

²⁴Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God,

²⁵because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

²⁶Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth.

²⁷Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

²⁸God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world  — what is viewed as nothing — to bring to nothing what is viewed as something,

²⁹so that no one may boast in his presence.

³⁰It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us — our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,

³¹in order that, as it is written: Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.

¹Then Job answered:

²How long will you torment me and crush me with words?

³You have humiliated me ten times now, and you mistreat me without shame.

⁴Even if it is true that I have sinned, my mistake concerns only me.

⁵If you really want to appear superior to me and would use my disgrace as evidence against me,

⁶then understand that it is God who has wronged me and caught me in his net.

⁷I cry out: “Violence!” but get no response; I call for help, but there is no justice.

⁸He has blocked my way so that I cannot pass through; he has veiled my paths with darkness.

⁹He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.

¹⁰He tears me down on every side so that I am ruined. He uproots my hope like a tree.

¹¹His anger burns against me, and he regards me as one of his enemies.

¹²His troops advance together; they construct a ramp against me and camp around my tent.

¹³He has removed my brothers from me; my acquaintances have abandoned me.

¹⁴My relatives stop coming by, and my close friends have forgotten me.

¹⁵My house guests and female servants regard me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight.

¹⁶I call for my servant, but he does not answer, even if I beg him with my own mouth.

¹⁷My breath is offensive to my wife, and my own family finds me repulsive.

¹⁸Even young boys scorn me. When I stand up, they mock me.

¹⁹All of my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me.

²⁰My skin and my flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.

²¹Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy, for God’s hand has struck me.

²²Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?

²³I wish that my words were written down, that they were recorded on a scroll

²⁴or were inscribed in stone forever by an iron stylus and lead!

²⁵But I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the end he will stand on the dust.

²⁶Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh.

²⁷I will see him myself; my eyes will look at him, and not as a stranger. My heart longs within me.

²⁸If you say, “How will we pursue him, since the root of the problem lies with him?”

²⁹then be afraid of the sword, because wrath brings punishment by the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.

¹A psalm of David. [1] Ascribe to the LORD, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

²Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

³The voice of the LORD is above the waters. The God of glory thunders — the LORD, above the vast water,

⁴the voice of the LORD in power, the voice of the LORD in splendor.

⁵The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon.

⁶He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion, like a young wild ox.

⁷The voice of the LORD flashes flames of fire.

⁸The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

⁹The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the woodlands bare. In his temple all cry, “Glory!”

¹⁰The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned, King forever.

¹¹The LORD gives his people strength; the LORD blesses his people with peace.

¹Better a poor person who lives with integrity than someone who has deceitful lips and is a fool.

²Even zeal is not good without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily sins.

³A person’s own foolishness leads him astray, yet his heart rages against the LORD.

⁴Wealth attracts many friends, but a poor person is separated from his friend.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.

⁶Many seek a ruler’s favor, and everyone is a friend of one who gives gifts.

⁷All the brothers of a poor person hate him; how much more do his friends keep their distance from him! He may pursue them with words, but they are not there.

⁸The one who acquires good sense loves himself; one who safeguards understanding finds success.

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies perishes.

¹⁰Luxury is not appropriate for a fool —  how much less for a slave to rule over princes!

¹¹A person’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.

¹²A king’s rage is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹³A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a wife’s nagging is an endless dripping.

¹⁴A house and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.

¹⁵Laziness induces deep sleep, and a lazy person will go hungry.

¹⁶The one who keeps commands preserves himself; one who disregards his ways will die.

¹⁷Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and he will give a reward to the lender.

¹⁸Discipline your son while there is hope; don’t set your heart on being the cause of his death.

¹⁹A person with intense anger bears the penalty; if you rescue him, you’ll have to do it again.

²⁰Listen to counsel and receive instruction so that you may be wise later in life.

²¹Many plans are in a person’s heart, but the LORD’s decree will prevail.

²²What is desirable in a person is his fidelity; better to be a poor person than a liar.

²³The fear of the LORD leads to life; one will sleep at night without danger.

²⁴The slacker buries his hand in the bowl; he doesn’t even bring it back to his mouth!

²⁵Strike a mocker, and the inexperienced learn a lesson; rebuke the discerning, and he gains knowledge.

²⁶The one who plunders his father and evicts his mother is a disgraceful and shameful son.

²⁷If you stop listening to correction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge.

²⁸A worthless witness mocks justice, and a wicked mouth swallows iniquity.

²⁹Judgments are prepared for mockers, and beatings for the backs of fools.

¹The Philistines fought against Israel, and Israel’s men fled from them and were killed on Mount Gilboa.

²The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons and killed his sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.

³When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers found him and severely wounded him.

⁴Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer would not do it because he was terrified. Then Saul took his sword and fell on it.

⁵When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him.

⁶So on that day, Saul died together with his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men.

⁷When the men of Israel on the other side of the valley and on the other side of the Jordan saw that Israel’s men had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. So the Philistines came and settled in them.

⁸The next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa.

⁹They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to spread the good news in the temples of their idols and among the people.

¹⁰Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.

¹¹When the residents of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹²all their brave men set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there.

¹³Afterward, they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

¹This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen undergarment and put it on. But do not put it in water.”

²So I bought underwear as the LORD instructed me and put it on.

³Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time:

⁴“Take the underwear that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to the Euphrates and hide it in a rocky crevice.”

⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.

⁶A long time later the LORD said to me, “Go at once to the Euphrates and get the underwear that I commanded you to hide there.”

⁷So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where I had hidden it, but it was ruined — of no use at all.

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to me:

⁹“This is what the LORD says: Just like this I will ruin the great pride of both Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁰These evil people, who refuse to listen to me, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who have followed other gods to serve and bow in worship — they will be like this underwear, of no use at all.

¹¹Just as underwear clings to one’s waist, so I fastened the whole house of Israel and of Judah to me”  — this is the LORD’s declaration — “so that they might be my people for my fame, praise, and glory, but they would not obey.

¹²“Say this to them: ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Every jar should be filled with wine.’ Then they will respond to you, ‘Don’t we know that every jar should be filled with wine?’

¹³And you will say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am about to fill all who live in this land — the kings who reign for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the residents of Jerusalem — with drunkenness.

¹⁴I will smash them against each other, fathers and sons alike — this is the LORD’s declaration. I will allow no mercy, pity, or compassion to keep me from destroying them.’”

¹⁵Listen and pay attention. Do not be proud, for the LORD has spoken.

¹⁶Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the mountains at dusk. You wait for light, but he brings darkest gloom and makes total darkness.

¹⁷But if you will not listen, my innermost being will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, for the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.

¹⁸Say to the king and the queen mother: Take a humble seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.

¹⁹The cities of the Negev are under siege; no one can help them. All of Judah has been taken into exile, taken completely into exile.

²⁰Look up and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep that were your pride?

²¹What will you say when he appoints close friends as leaders over you, ones you yourself trained? Won’t labor pains seize you, as they do a woman in labor?

²²And when you ask yourself, “Why have these things happened to me?” it is because of your great guilt that your skirts have been stripped off, your body exposed.

²³Can the Cushite change his skin, or a leopard his spots? If so, you might be able to do what is good, you who are instructed in evil.

²⁴I will scatter you like drifting chaff before the desert wind.

²⁵This is your lot, what I have decreed for you — this is the LORD’s declaration — because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies.

²⁶I will pull your skirts up over your face so that your shame might be seen.

²⁷Your adulteries and your lustful neighing, your depraved prostitution on the hills, in the fields — I have seen your abhorrent acts. Woe to you, Jerusalem! You are unclean — for how long yet?

¹After we tore ourselves away from them, we set sail straight for Cos, the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

²Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded and set sail.

³After we sighted Cyprus, passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria and arrived at Tyre, since the ship was to unload its cargo there.

⁴We sought out the disciples and stayed there seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

⁵When our time had come to an end, we left to continue our journey, while all of them, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach to pray,

⁶we said farewell to one another and boarded the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we completed our voyage from Tyre, we reached Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.

⁸The next day we left and came to Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.

⁹This man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

¹⁰After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

¹¹He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him over to the Gentiles.’”

¹²When we heard this, both we and the local people pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴Since he would not be persuaded, we said no more except, “The Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵After this we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and brought us to Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.

¹⁷When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us warmly.

¹⁸The following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

¹⁹After greeting them, he reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰When they heard it, they glorified God and said, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law.

²¹But they have been informed about you — that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to live according to our customs.

²²So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you’ve come.

²³Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have made a vow.

²⁴Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you amounts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about observing the law.

²⁵With regard to the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter containing our decision that they should keep themselves from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶So the next day, Paul took the men, having purified himself along with them, and entered the temple, announcing the completion of the purification days when the offering would be made for each of them.

²⁷When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and seized him,

²⁸shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. What’s more, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

²⁹For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.

³¹As they were trying to kill him, word went up to the commander of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in chaos.

³²Taking along soldiers and centurions, he immediately ran down to them. Seeing the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the commander approached, took him into custody, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done.

³⁴Some in the crowd were shouting one thing and some another. Since he was not able to get reliable information because of the uproar, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks.

³⁵When Paul got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd,

³⁶for the mass of people followed, yelling, “Get rid of him!”

³⁷As he was about to be brought into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “Am I allowed to say something to you?” He replied, “You know how to speak Greek?

³⁸Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led four thousand men of the Assassins into the wilderness?”

³⁹Paul said, “I am a Jewish man from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Now I ask you, let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰After he had given permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When there was a great hush, he addressed them in Aramaic: