Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking,

²“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

³King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.

⁴He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”

⁵“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:

⁶‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ ”

⁷Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared.

⁸Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”

⁹After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.

¹⁰When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!

¹¹They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹²When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

¹³After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

¹⁴That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother,

¹⁵and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”

¹⁶Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.

¹⁷Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

¹⁸“A cry was heard in Ramah — weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.”

¹⁹When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.

²⁰“Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.”

²¹So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother.

²²But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee.

²³So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

¹“Remember that the Levitical priests — that is, the whole of the tribe of Levi — will receive no allotment of land among the other tribes in Israel. Instead, the priests and Levites will eat from the special gifts given to the LORD, for that is their share.

²They will have no land of their own among the Israelites. The LORD himself is their special possession, just as he promised them.

³“These are the parts the priests may claim as their share from the cattle, sheep, and goats that the people bring as offerings: the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach.

⁴You must also give to the priests the first share of the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, and the wool at shearing time.

⁵For the LORD your God chose the tribe of Levi out of all your tribes to minister in the LORD’s name forever.

⁶“Suppose a Levite chooses to move from his town in Israel, wherever he is living, to the place the LORD chooses for worship.

⁷He may minister there in the name of the LORD his God, just like all his fellow Levites who are serving the LORD there.

⁸He may eat his share of the sacrifices and offerings, even if he also receives support from his family.

⁹“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there.

¹⁰For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft,

¹¹or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead.

¹²Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the LORD your God will drive them out ahead of you.

¹³But you must be blameless before the LORD your God.

¹⁴The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the LORD your God forbids you to do such things.”

¹⁵Moses continued, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.

¹⁶For this is what you yourselves requested of the LORD your God when you were assembled at Mount Sinai. You said, ‘Don’t let us hear the voice of the LORD our God anymore or see this blazing fire, for we will die.’

¹⁷“Then the LORD said to me, ‘What they have said is right.

¹⁸I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him.

¹⁹I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf.

²⁰But any prophet who falsely claims to speak in my name or who speaks in the name of another god must die.’

²¹“But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the LORD?’

²²If the prophet speaks in the LORD’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the LORD did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared.

¹This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.

²All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia.

³May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

⁴Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.

⁵All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.

⁶I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News

⁷but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.

⁸Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you.

⁹I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.

¹⁰Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.

¹¹Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning.

¹²I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.

¹³You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion — how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it.

¹⁴I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.

¹⁵But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him

¹⁶to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles. When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being.

¹⁷Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus.

¹⁸Then three years later I went to Jerusalem to get to know Peter, and I stayed with him for fifteen days.

¹⁹The only other apostle I met at that time was James, the Lord’s brother.

²⁰I declare before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie.

²¹After that visit I went north into the provinces of Syria and Cilicia.

²²And still the churches in Christ that are in Judea didn’t know me personally.

²³All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy!”

²⁴And they praised God because of me.

¹This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.

²May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.

³By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

⁴And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

⁵In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge,

⁶and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,

⁷and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

⁸The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

¹⁰So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.

¹¹Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

¹²Therefore, I will always remind you about these things — even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught.

¹³And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live.

¹⁴For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life,

¹⁵so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone.

¹⁶For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes

¹⁷when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”

¹⁸We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

¹⁹Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place — until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts.

²⁰Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding,

²¹or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.

¹There is another serious tragedy I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity.

²God gives some people great wealth and honor and everything they could ever want, but then he doesn’t give them the chance to enjoy these things. They die, and someone else, even a stranger, ends up enjoying their wealth! This is meaningless — a sickening tragedy.

³A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old. But if he finds no satisfaction in life and doesn’t even get a decent burial, it would have been better for him to be born dead.

⁴His birth would have been meaningless, and he would have ended in darkness. He wouldn’t even have had a name,

⁵and he would never have seen the sun or known of its existence. Yet he would have had more peace than in growing up to be an unhappy man.

⁶He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment. And since he must die like everyone else — well, what’s the use?

⁷All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough.

⁸So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others?

⁹Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless — like chasing the wind.

¹⁰Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.

¹¹The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they?

¹²In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?

¹Justice — do you rulers know the meaning of the word? Do you judge the people fairly?

²No! You plot injustice in your hearts. You spread violence throughout the land.

³These wicked people are born sinners; even from birth they have lied and gone their own way.

⁴They spit venom like deadly snakes; they are like cobras that refuse to listen,

⁵ignoring the tunes of the snake charmers, no matter how skillfully they play.

⁶Break off their fangs, O God! Smash the jaws of these lions, O LORD!

⁷May they disappear like water into thirsty ground. Make their weapons useless in their hands.

⁸May they be like snails that dissolve into slime, like a stillborn child who will never see the sun.

⁹God will sweep them away, both young and old, faster than a pot heats over burning thorns.

¹⁰The godly will rejoice when they see injustice avenged. They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.

¹¹Then at last everyone will say, “There truly is a reward for those who live for God; surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.”

¹Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting — and conflict.

²A wise servant will rule over the master’s disgraceful son and will share the inheritance of the master’s children.

³Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the LORD tests the heart.

⁴Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip; liars pay close attention to slander.

⁵Those who mock the poor insult their Maker; those who rejoice at the misfortune of others will be punished.

⁶Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged; parents are the pride of their children.

⁷Eloquent words are not fitting for a fool; even less are lies fitting for a ruler.

⁸A bribe is like a lucky charm; whoever gives one will prosper!

⁹Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.

¹⁰A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool.

¹¹Evil people are eager for rebellion, but they will be severely punished.

¹²It is safer to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than to confront a fool caught in foolishness.

¹³If you repay good with evil, evil will never leave your house.

¹⁴Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate, so stop before a dispute breaks out.

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

¹⁶It is senseless to pay to educate a fool, since he has no heart for learning.

¹⁷A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.

¹⁸It’s poor judgment to guarantee another person’s debt or put up security for a friend.

¹⁹Anyone who loves to quarrel loves sin; anyone who trusts in high walls invites disaster.

²⁰The crooked heart will not prosper; the lying tongue tumbles into trouble.

²¹It is painful to be the parent of a fool; there is no joy for the father of a rebel.

²²A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.

²³The wicked take secret bribes to pervert the course of justice.

²⁴Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.

²⁵Foolish children bring grief to their father and bitterness to the one who gave them birth.

²⁶It is wrong to punish the godly for being good or to flog leaders for being honest.

²⁷A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered.

²⁸Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.

¹King Hiram of Tyre had always been a loyal friend of David. When Hiram learned that David’s son Solomon was the new king of Israel, he sent ambassadors to congratulate him.

²Then Solomon sent this message back to Hiram:

³“You know that my father, David, was not able to build a Temple to honor the name of the LORD his God because of the many wars waged against him by surrounding nations. He could not build until the LORD gave him victory over all his enemies.

⁴But now the LORD my God has given me peace on every side; I have no enemies, and all is well.

⁵So I am planning to build a Temple to honor the name of the LORD my God, just as he had instructed my father, David. For the LORD told him, ‘Your son, whom I will place on your throne, will build the Temple to honor my name.’

⁶“Therefore, please command that cedars from Lebanon be cut for me. Let my men work alongside yours, and I will pay your men whatever wages you ask. As you know, there is no one among us who can cut timber like you Sidonians!”

⁷When Hiram received Solomon’s message, he was very pleased and said, “Praise the LORD today for giving David a wise son to be king of the great nation of Israel.”

⁸Then he sent this reply to Solomon: “I have received your message, and I will supply all the cedar and cypress timber you need.

⁹My servants will bring the logs from the Lebanon mountains to the Mediterranean Sea and make them into rafts and float them along the coast to whatever place you choose. Then we will break the rafts apart so you can carry the logs away. You can pay me by supplying me with food for my household.”

¹⁰So Hiram supplied as much cedar and cypress timber as Solomon desired.

¹¹In return, Solomon sent him an annual payment of 100,000 bushels of wheat for his household and 110,000 gallons of pure olive oil.

¹²So the LORD gave wisdom to Solomon, just as he had promised. And Hiram and Solomon made a formal alliance of peace.

¹³Then King Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel.

¹⁴He sent them to Lebanon in shifts, 10,000 every month, so that each man would be one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of this labor force.

¹⁵Solomon also had 70,000 common laborers, 80,000 quarry workers in the hill country,

¹⁶and 3,600 foremen to supervise the work.

¹⁷At the king’s command, they quarried large blocks of high-quality stone and shaped them to make the foundation of the Temple.

¹⁸Men from the city of Gebal helped Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders prepare the timber and stone for the Temple.

¹Then all the military leaders, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, approached

²Jeremiah the prophet. They said, “Please pray to the LORD your God for us. As you can see, we are only a tiny remnant compared to what we were before.

³Pray that the LORD your God will show us what to do and where to go.”

⁴“All right,” Jeremiah replied. “I will pray to the LORD your God, as you have asked, and I will tell you everything he says. I will hide nothing from you.”

⁵Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD your God be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to obey whatever he tells us to do!

⁶Whether we like it or not, we will obey the LORD our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For if we obey him, everything will turn out well for us.”

⁷Ten days later the LORD gave his reply to Jeremiah.

⁸So he called for Johanan son of Kareah and the other military leaders, and for all the people, from the least to the greatest.

⁹He said to them, “You sent me to the LORD, the God of Israel, with your request, and this is his reply:

¹⁰‘Stay here in this land. If you do, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you. For I am sorry about all the punishment I have had to bring upon you.

¹¹Do not fear the king of Babylon anymore,’ says the LORD. ‘For I am with you and will save you and rescue you from his power.

¹²I will be merciful to you by making him kind, so he will let you stay here in your land.’

¹³“But if you refuse to obey the LORD your God, and if you say, ‘We will not stay here;

¹⁴instead, we will go to Egypt where we will be free from war, the call to arms, and hunger,’

¹⁵then hear the LORD’s message to the remnant of Judah. This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and live there,

¹⁶the very war and famine you fear will catch up to you, and you will die there.

¹⁷That is the fate awaiting every one of you who insists on going to live in Egypt. Yes, you will die from war, famine, and disease. None of you will escape the disaster I will bring upon you there.’

¹⁸“This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as my anger and fury have been poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so they will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will be an object of damnation, horror, cursing, and mockery. And you will never see your homeland again.’

¹⁹“Listen, you remnant of Judah. The LORD has told you: ‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Don’t forget this warning I have given you today.

²⁰For you were not being honest when you sent me to pray to the LORD your God for you. You said, ‘Just tell us what the LORD our God says, and we will do it!’

²¹And today I have told you exactly what he said, but you will not obey the LORD your God any better now than you have in the past.

²²So you can be sure that you will die from war, famine, and disease in Egypt, where you insist on going.”

¹“Brothers and esteemed fathers,” Paul said, “listen to me as I offer my defense.”

²When they heard him speaking in their own language, the silence was even greater.

³Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today.

⁴And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison.

⁵The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the followers of the Way from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished.

⁶“As I was on the road, approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me.

⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

⁸“‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting.’

⁹The people with me saw the light but didn’t understand the voice speaking to me.

¹⁰“I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ “And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are to do.’

¹¹“I was blinded by the intense light and had to be led by the hand to Damascus by my companions.

¹²A man named Ananias lived there. He was a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all the Jews of Damascus.

¹³He came and stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And that very moment I could see him!

¹⁴“Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak.

¹⁵For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’

¹⁷“After I returned to Jerusalem, I was praying in the Temple and fell into a trance.

¹⁸I saw a vision of Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹“‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.

²⁰And I was in complete agreement when your witness Stephen was killed. I stood by and kept the coats they took off when they stoned him.’

²¹“But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”

²²The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, “Away with such a fellow! He isn’t fit to live!”

²³They yelled, threw off their coats, and tossed handfuls of dust into the air.

²⁴The commander brought Paul inside and ordered him lashed with whips to make him confess his crime. He wanted to find out why the crowd had become so furious.

²⁵When they tied Paul down to lash him, Paul said to the officer standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried?”

²⁶When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”

²⁷So the commander went over and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I certainly am,” Paul replied.

²⁸“I am, too,” the commander muttered, “and it cost me plenty!” Paul answered, “But I am a citizen by birth!”

²⁹The soldiers who were about to interrogate Paul quickly withdrew when they heard he was a Roman citizen, and the commander was frightened because he had ordered him bound and whipped.

³⁰The next day the commander ordered the leading priests into session with the Jewish high council. He wanted to find out what the trouble was all about, so he released Paul to have him stand before them.