Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,

²“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

³For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “THE VOICE OF ONE CALLING OUT IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!’ ”

⁴Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

⁵At that time Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan;

⁶and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

⁸Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance;

⁹and do not assume that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham.

¹⁰And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

¹²His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹³Then Jesus *arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him.

¹⁴But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?”

¹⁵But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *allowed Him.

¹⁶After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and settling on Him,

¹⁷and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

¹Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

²The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;

³but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”

⁴The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die!

⁵For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.

⁷Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings.

⁸Now they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

⁹Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

¹¹And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”

¹²The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

¹³Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴Then the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all the livestock, And more than any animal of the field; On your belly you shall go, And dust you shall eat All the days of your life;

¹⁵And I will make enemies Of you and the woman, And of your offspring and her Descendant; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise Him on the heel.”

¹⁶To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you shall deliver children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”

¹⁷Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; With hard labor you shall eat from it All the days of your life.

¹⁸Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; Yet you shall eat the plants of the field;

¹⁹By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, Until you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

²⁰Now the man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

²¹And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

²²Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take fruit also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—

²³therefore the LORD God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

²⁴So He drove the man out; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

¹Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

²Great in every respect. First, that they were entrusted with the actual words of God.

³What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?

⁴Far from it! Rather, God must prove to be true, though every person be found a liar, as it is written: “SO THAT YOU ARE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.”

⁵But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking from a human viewpoint.)

⁶Far from it! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?

⁷But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?

⁸And why not say (just as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let’s do evil that good may come of it”? Their condemnation is deserved.

⁹What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;

¹⁰as it is written: “THERE IS NO RIGHTEOUS PERSON, NOT EVEN ONE;

¹¹THERE IS NO ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NO ONE WHO SEEKS OUT GOD;

¹²THEY HAVE ALL TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME CORRUPT; THERE IS NO ONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

¹³“THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE VENOM OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;

¹⁴“THEIR MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”;

¹⁵“THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,

¹⁶DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,

¹⁷AND THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN THE WAY OF PEACE.”

¹⁸“THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;

²⁰because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin.

²¹But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

²²but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction,

²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

²⁴being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,

²⁵whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished;

²⁶for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷Where then is boasting? It has been excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

²⁸For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

²⁹Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,

³⁰since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

³¹Do we then nullify the Law through faith? Far from it! On the contrary, we establish the Law.

¹Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it best to be left behind, alone at Athens,

²and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the benefit of your faith,

³so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we have been destined for this.

⁴For even when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it happened, as you know.

⁵For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be for nothing.

⁶But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you,

⁷for this reason, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith;

⁸for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.

⁹For what thanks can we give to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice because of you before our God,

¹⁰as we keep praying most earnestly night and day that we may see your faces, and may complete what is lacking in your faith?

¹¹Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you;

¹²and may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you;

¹³so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.

¹Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

²And Job said,

³“May the day on which I was to be born perish, As well as the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’

⁴May that day be darkness; May God above not care for it, Nor light shine on it.

⁵May darkness and black gloom claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it.

⁶As for that night, may darkness seize it; May it not rejoice among the days of the year; May it not come into the number of the months.

⁷Behold, may that night be barren; May no joyful shout enter it.

⁸May those curse it who curse the day, Who are prepared to disturb Leviathan.

⁹May the stars of its twilight be darkened; May it wait for light but have none, And may it not see the breaking dawn;

¹⁰Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb, Or hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹“Why did I not die at birth, Come out of the womb and pass away?

¹²Why were the knees there in front of me, And why the breasts, that I would nurse?

¹³For now I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,

¹⁴With kings and counselors of the earth, Who rebuilt ruins for themselves;

¹⁵Or with rulers who had gold, Who were filling their houses with silver.

¹⁶Or like a miscarriage which is hidden, I would not exist, As infants that never saw light.

¹⁷There the wicked cease from raging, And there the weary are at rest.

¹⁸The prisoners are at ease together; They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

¹⁹The small and the great are there, And the slave is free from his master.

²⁰“Why is light given to one burdened with grief, And life to the bitter of soul,

²¹Who long for death, but there is none, And dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

²²Who are filled with jubilation, And rejoice when they find the grave?

²³Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, And whom God has shut off?

²⁴For my groaning comes at the sight of my food, And my cries pour out like water.

²⁵For what I fear comes upon me, And what I dread encounters me.

²⁶I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”

¹LORD, how my enemies have increased! Many are rising up against me.

²Many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah

³But You, LORD, are a shield around me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head.

⁴I was crying out to the LORD with my voice, And He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah

⁵I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustains me.

⁶I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me all around.

⁷Arise, LORD; save me, my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheek; You have shattered the teeth of the wicked.

⁸Salvation belongs to the LORD; May Your blessing be upon Your people! Selah

¹My son, do not forget my teaching, But have your heart comply with my commandments;

²For length of days and years of life And peace they will add to you.

³Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴So you will find favor and a good reputation In the sight of God and man.

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.

⁶In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

⁷Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

⁸It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.

⁹Honor the LORD from your wealth, And from the first of all your produce;

¹⁰Then your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.

¹¹My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD Or loathe His rebuke,

¹²For whom the LORD loves He disciplines, Just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.

¹³Blessed is a person who finds wisdom, And one who obtains understanding.

¹⁴For her profit is better than the profit of silver, And her produce better than gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than jewels, And nothing you desire compares with her.

¹⁶Long life is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honor.

¹⁷Her ways are pleasant ways, And all her paths are peace.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are those who hold on to her.

¹⁹The LORD founded the earth by wisdom, He established the heavens by understanding.

²⁰By His knowledge the ocean depths were burst open, And the clouds drip with dew.

²¹My son, see that they do not escape from your sight; Comply with sound wisdom and discretion,

²²And they will be life to your soul And adornment to your neck.

²³Then you will walk in your way securely, And your foot will not stumble.

²⁴When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

²⁵Do not be afraid of sudden danger, Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;

²⁶For the LORD will be your confidence, And will keep your foot from being caught.

²⁷Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in your power to do it.

²⁸Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it to you,” When you have it with you.

²⁹Do not devise harm against your neighbor, While he lives securely beside you.

³⁰Do not contend with a person for no reason, If he has done you no harm.

³¹Do not envy a violent person, And do not choose any of his ways.

³²For the devious are an abomination to the LORD; But He is intimate with the upright.

³³The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the home of the righteous.

³⁴Though He scoffs at the scoffers, Yet He gives grace to the needy.

³⁵The wise will inherit honor, But fools increase dishonor.

¹Then Joshua got up early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they spent the night there before they crossed.

²Then at the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp;

³and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.

⁴However, there shall be a distance between you and it of about two thousand cubits by measurement. Do not come near it, so that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”

⁵Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do miracles among you.”

⁶And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.

⁷Now the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they will know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you.

⁸So you shall command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’ ”

⁹Then Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God.”

¹⁰And Joshua said, “By this you will know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly drive out from you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite.

¹¹Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan.

¹²Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.

¹³And it will come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, that is, the waters which are flowing down from above; and they will stand in one heap.”

¹⁴So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people,

¹⁵and when those who were carrying the ark came up to the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark stepped down into the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest),

¹⁶then the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho.

¹⁷And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

¹For behold, the Lord GOD of armies is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah Both supply and support, the entire supply of bread And the entire supply of water;

²The mighty man and the warrior, The judge and the prophet, The diviner and the elder,

³The captain of fifty and the esteemed person, The counselor and the expert artisan, And the skillful enchanter.

⁴And I will make mere boys their leaders, And mischievous children will rule over them,

⁵And the people will be oppressed, Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; The youth will assault the elder, And the contemptible person will assault the one honored.

⁶When a man lays hold of his brother in his father’s house, saying, “You have a cloak, you shall be our ruler! And these ruins will be under your authority,”

⁷He will protest on that day, saying, “I will not be your healer, For in my house there is neither bread nor cloak; You should not appoint me ruler of the people.”

⁸For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, Because their speech and their actions are against the LORD, To rebel against His glorious presence.

⁹The expression of their faces testifies against them, And they display their sin like Sodom; They do not even conceal it. Woe to them! For they have done evil to themselves.

¹⁰Say to the righteous that it will go well for them, For they will eat the fruit of their actions.

¹¹Woe to the wicked! It will go badly for him, For what he deserves will be done to him.

¹²My people! Their oppressors treat them violently, And women rule over them. My people! Those who guide you lead you astray And confuse the direction of your paths.

¹³The LORD arises to contend, And stands to judge the people.

¹⁴The LORD enters into judgment with the elders and leaders of His people, “It is you who have devoured the vineyard; The goods stolen from the poor are in your houses.

¹⁵What do you mean by crushing My people And oppressing the face of the poor?” Declares the Lord GOD of armies.

¹⁶Moreover, the LORD said, “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty And walk with heads held high and seductive eyes, And go along with mincing steps And jingle the anklets on their feet,

¹⁷The Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs, And the LORD will make their foreheads bare.”

¹⁸On that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments,

¹⁹dangling earrings, bracelets, veils,

²⁰headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets,

²¹finger rings, nose rings,

²²festive robes, outer garments, shawls, purses,

²³papyrus garments, undergarments, headbands, and veils.

²⁴Now it will come about that instead of balsam oil there will be a stench; Instead of a belt, a rope; Instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp; Instead of fine clothes, a robe of sackcloth; And branding instead of beauty.

²⁵Your men will fall by the sword And your mighty ones in battle.

²⁶And her gates will lament and mourn, And she will sit deserted on the ground.

¹Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.

²And a man who had been unable to walk from birth was being carried, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order for him to beg for charitable gifts from those entering the temple grounds.

³When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple grounds, he began asking to receive a charitable gift.

⁴But Peter, along with John, looked at him intently and said, “Look at us!”

⁵And he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

⁶But Peter said, “I do not have silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!”

⁷And grasping him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.

⁸And leaping up, he stood and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

⁹And all the people saw him walking and praising God;

¹⁰and they recognized him as being the very one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg for charitable gifts, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

¹¹While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the portico named Solomon’s, completely astonished.

¹²But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why are you staring at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you handed over and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.

¹⁴But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,

¹⁵but put to death the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.

¹⁶And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

¹⁷“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers also did.

¹⁸But the things which God previously announced by the mouths of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has fulfilled in this way.

¹⁹Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

²⁰and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,

²¹whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things, about which God spoke by the mouths of His holy prophets from ancient times.

²²Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR COUNTRYMEN; TO HIM YOU SHALL LISTEN regarding everything He says to you.

²³And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

²⁴And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and his successors onward, have also announced these days.

²⁵It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’

²⁶God raised up His Servant for you first, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”