Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,

²and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

³For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.’ ”

⁴Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

⁵Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him

⁶and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

⁸Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,

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

¹⁰And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

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

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.

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

¹⁵But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

¹⁶When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.

¹⁷And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

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

²And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;

³but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

⁴Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.

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

⁶So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave 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 coverings.

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

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

¹⁰So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

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

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

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

¹⁴So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.

¹⁵And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

¹⁶To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”

¹⁷Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.

¹⁸Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.

¹⁹In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

²⁰And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

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

²²Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—

²³therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.

²⁴So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

¹What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision?

²Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.

³For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?

⁴Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.”

⁵But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.)

⁶Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?

⁷For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?

⁸And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.

⁹What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.

¹⁰As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;

¹¹There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.

¹²They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”

¹³“Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”;

¹⁴“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”

¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶Destruction and misery are in their ways;

¹⁷And the way of peace they have not known.”

¹⁸“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

²⁰Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

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

²²even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;

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

²⁴being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

²⁵whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,

²⁶to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

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

²⁸Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

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

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

³¹Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

¹Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone,

²and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith,

³that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this.

⁴For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know.

⁵For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain.

⁶But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you—

⁷therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith.

⁸For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.

⁹For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God,

¹⁰night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith?

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

¹²And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you,

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

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

²And Job spoke, and said:

³“May the day perish on which I was born, And the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’

⁴May that day be darkness; May God above not seek it, Nor the light shine upon it.

⁵May darkness and the shadow of death 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.

⁷Oh, may that night be barren! May no joyful shout come into it!

⁸May those curse it who curse the day, Those who are ready to arouse Leviathan.

⁹May the stars of its morning be dark; May it look for light, but have none, And not see the dawning of the day;

¹⁰Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb, Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.

¹¹“Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?

¹²Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?

¹³For now I would have lain still and been quiet, I would have been asleep; Then I would have been at rest

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

¹⁵Or with princes who had gold, Who filled their houses with silver;

¹⁶Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, Like infants who never saw light?

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

¹⁸There the prisoners rest together; They do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

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

²⁰“Why is light given to him who is in misery, And life to the bitter of soul,

²¹Who long for death, but it does not come, And search for it more than hidden treasures;

²²Who rejoice exceedingly, And are glad when they can find the grave?

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

²⁴For my sighing comes before I eat, And my groanings pour out like water.

²⁵For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me.

²⁶I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes.”

¹A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. [1] LORD, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.

²Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah

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

⁴I cried to the LORD with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah

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

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

⁷Arise, O LORD; Save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.

⁸Salvation belongs to the LORD. Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah

¹My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands;

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

³Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart,

⁴And so find favor and high esteem In the sight of God and man.

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

⁶In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

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

⁸It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

⁹Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase;

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

¹¹My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction;

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

¹³Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding;

¹⁴For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.

¹⁶Length of days is in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor.

¹⁷Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace.

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

¹⁹The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens;

²⁰By His knowledge the depths were broken up, And clouds drop down the dew.

²¹My son, let them not depart from your eyes— Keep sound wisdom and discretion;

²²So they will be life to your soul And grace to your neck.

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

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

²⁵Do not be afraid of sudden terror, 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 the power of your hand to do so.

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

²⁹Do not devise evil against your neighbor, For he dwells by you for safety’s sake.

³⁰Do not strive with a man without cause, If he has done you no harm.

³¹Do not envy the oppressor, And choose none of his ways;

³²For the perverse person is an abomination to the LORD, But His secret counsel is with the upright.

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

³⁴Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble.

³⁵The wise shall inherit glory, But shame shall be the legacy of fools.

¹Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over.

²So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp;

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

⁴Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.”

⁵And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”

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

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

⁸You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.’ ”

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

¹⁰And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites:

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

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

¹³And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.”

¹⁴So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,

¹⁵and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest),

¹⁶that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho.

¹⁷Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

¹For behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, Takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah The stock and the store, The whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water;

²The mighty man and the man of war, The judge and the prophet, And the diviner and the elder;

³The captain of fifty and the honorable man, The counselor and the skillful artisan, And the expert enchanter.

⁴“I will give children to be their princes, And babes shall rule over them.

⁵The people will be oppressed, Every one by another and every one by his neighbor; The child will be insolent toward the elder, And the base toward the honorable.”

⁶When a man takes hold of his brother In the house of his father, saying, “You have clothing; You be our ruler, And let these ruins be under your power,”

⁷In that day he will protest, saying, “I cannot cure your ills, For in my house is neither food nor clothing; Do not make me a ruler of the people.”

⁸For Jerusalem stumbled, And Judah is fallen, Because their tongue and their doings Are against the LORD, To provoke the eyes of His glory.

⁹The look on their countenance witnesses against them, And they declare their sin as Sodom; They do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves.

¹⁰“Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, For they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

¹¹Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, For the reward of his hands shall be given him.

¹²As for My people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, And destroy the way of your paths.”

¹³The LORD stands up to plead, And stands to judge the people.

¹⁴The LORD will enter into judgment With the elders of His people And His princes: “For you have eaten up the vineyard; The plunder of the poor is in your houses.

¹⁵What do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the faces of the poor?” Says the Lord GOD of hosts.

¹⁶Moreover the LORD says: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, And walk with outstretched necks And wanton eyes, Walking and mincing as they go, Making a jingling with their feet,

¹⁷Therefore the Lord will strike with a scab The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, And the LORD will uncover their secret parts.”

¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away the finery: The jingling anklets, the scarves, and the crescents;

¹⁹The pendants, the bracelets, and the veils;

²⁰The headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands; The perfume boxes, the charms,

²¹and the rings; The nose jewels,

²²the festal apparel, and the mantles; The outer garments, the purses,

²³and the mirrors; The fine linen, the turbans, and the robes.

²⁴And so it shall be: Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench; Instead of a sash, a rope; Instead of well-set hair, baldness; Instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth; And branding instead of beauty.

²⁵Your men shall fall by the sword, And your mighty in the war.

²⁶Her gates shall lament and mourn, And she being desolate shall sit on the ground.

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

²And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple;

³who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms.

⁴And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.”

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

⁶Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”

⁷And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

⁸So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.

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

¹⁰Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

¹¹Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed.

¹²So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.

¹⁴But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,

¹⁵and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.

¹⁶And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

¹⁷“Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

¹⁸But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.

¹⁹Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

²⁰and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before,

²¹whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

²²For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.

²³And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

²⁴Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days.

²⁵You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

²⁶To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”