Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

²And after He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

³And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

⁴But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT COMES OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ ”

⁵Then the devil *took Him along into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,

⁶and he *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written: ‘HE WILL GIVE HIS ANGELS ORDERS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their hands they will lift YOU UP, SO THAT YOU DO NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’ ”

⁷Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written: ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’ ”

⁸Again, the devil *took Him along to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;

⁹and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰Then Jesus *said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, ANDSERVE HIM ONLY.’ ”

¹¹Then the devil *left Him; and behold, angels came and began to serve Him.

¹²Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee;

¹³and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.

¹⁴This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled:

¹⁵“THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES—

¹⁶THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”

¹⁷From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heavenis at hand.”

¹⁸Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.

¹⁹And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.”

²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

²¹Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them.

²²Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

²³Jesus was going about in all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.

²⁴And the news about Him spread throughout Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and severe pain, demon-possessed, people with epilepsy, and people who were paralyzed; and He healed them.

²⁵Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

¹Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have obtained a male child with the help of the LORD.”

²And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a cultivator of the ground.

³So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the ground.

⁴Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering;

⁵but for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his face was gloomy.

⁶Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why is your face gloomy?

⁷If you do well, will your face not be cheerful? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

⁸Cain talked to his brother Abel; and it happened that when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

⁹Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰Then He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground.

¹¹Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

¹²When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth.”

¹³Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is too great to endure!

¹⁴Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and I will be hidden from Your face, and I will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵So the LORD said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him seven times as much.” And the LORD placed a mark on Cain, so that no one finding him would kill him.

¹⁶Then Cain left the presence of the LORD, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city, and named the city Enoch, after the name of his son.

¹⁸Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.

¹⁹Lamech took two wives for himself: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.

²⁰Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and have livestock.

²¹His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and flute.

²²As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

²³Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, Listen to my voice, You wives of Lamech, Pay attention to my words, For I have killed a man for wounding me; And a boy for striking me!

²⁴If Cain is avenged seven times, Then Lamech seventy-seven times!”

²⁵Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, “God has appointed me another child in place of Abel, because Cain killed him.”

²⁶To Seth also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then people began to call upon the name of the LORD.

¹What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?

²For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God.

³For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

⁴Now to the one who works, the wages are not credited as a favor, but as what is due.

⁵But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

⁶just as David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁷“BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED.

⁸BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.”

⁹Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

¹⁰How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised;

¹¹and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them,

¹²and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.

¹³For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.

¹⁴For if those who are of the Law are heirs, then faith is made void and the promise is nullified;

¹⁵for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.

¹⁶For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

¹⁷(as it is written: “I HAVE MADE YOU A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, that is, God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that do not exist.

¹⁸In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.”

¹⁹Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb;

²⁰yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,

²¹and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

²²Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

²³Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him,

²⁴but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

²⁵He who was delivered over because of our wrongdoings, and was raised because of our justification.

¹Finally then, brothers and sisters, we request and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel even more.

²For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

³For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;

⁴that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,

⁵not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;

⁶and that no one violate the rights and take advantage of his brother or sister in the matter, because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you previously and solemnly warned you.

⁷For God has not called us for impurity, but in sanctification.

⁸Therefore, the one who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

⁹Now as to the love of the brothers and sisters, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;

¹⁰for indeed you practice it toward all the brothers and sisters who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to excel even more,

¹¹and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we instructed you,

¹²so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.

¹³But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope.

¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.

¹⁵For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

¹⁶For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

¹⁷Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

¹⁸Therefore, comfort one another with these words.

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,

²“If one ventures a word with you, will you become impatient? But who can refrain from speaking?

³Behold, you have taught many, And you have strengthened weak hands.

⁴Your words have helped the stumbling to stand, And you have strengthened feeble knees.

⁵But now it comes to you, and you are impatient; It touches you, and you are horrified.

⁶Is your fear of God not your confidence, And the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷“Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed?

⁸According to what I have seen, those who plow wrongdoing And those who sow trouble harvest it.

⁹By the breath of God they perish, And by the blast of His anger they come to an end.

¹⁰The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion, And the teeth of the young lions are broken out.

¹¹The lion perishes for lack of prey, And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹²“Now a word was brought to me secretly, And my ear received a whisper of it.

¹³Amid disquieting thoughts from visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on people,

¹⁴Dread came upon me, and trembling, And made all my bones shake.

¹⁵Then a spirit passed by my face; The hair of my flesh stood up.

¹⁶Something was standing still, but I could not recognize its appearance; A form was before my eyes; There was silence, then I heard a voice:

¹⁷‘Can mankind be righteous before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?

¹⁸He puts no trust even in His servants; And He accuses His angels of error.

¹⁹How much more those who live in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!

²⁰Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces; Unregarded, they perish forever.

²¹Is their tent-cord not pulled out within them? They die, yet without wisdom.’

¹Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.

²You sons of man, how long will my honor be treated as an insult? How long will you love what is worthless and strive for a lie? Selah

³But know that the LORD has set apart the godly person for Himself; The LORD hears when I call to Him.

⁴Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah

⁵Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And trust in the LORD.

⁶Many are saying, “Who will show us anything good?” Lift up the light of Your face upon us, LORD!

⁷You have put joy in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine are abundant.

⁸In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, LORD, have me dwell in safety.

¹Listen, my sons, to the instruction of a father, And pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

²For I give you good teaching; Do not abandon my instruction.

³When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

⁴He taught me and said to me, “Let your heart take hold of my words; Keep my commandments and live;

⁵Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

⁶Do not abandon her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you.

⁷The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your possessions, acquire understanding.

⁸Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her.

⁹She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

¹⁰Listen, my son, and accept my sayings, And the years of your life will be many.

¹¹I have instructed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; And if you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.

¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil people.

¹⁵Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on.

¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

²¹They are not to escape from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, And healing to all their body.

²³Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

²⁴Rid yourself of a deceitful mouth And keep devious speech far from you.

²⁵Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

²⁶Watch the path of your feet, And all your ways will be established.

²⁷Do not turn to the right or to the left; Turn your foot from evil.

¹Now when the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,

²“Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe,

³and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firmly, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the encampment where you will spend the night.’ ”

⁴So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe;

⁵and Joshua said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

⁶This shall be a sign among you; when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

⁷then you shall say to them, ‘That the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”

⁸So the sons of Israel did exactly as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the LORD spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the encampment and put them down there.

⁹Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.

¹⁰For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed;

¹¹and when all the people had finished crossing, then the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed in front of the people.

¹²The sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle formation before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them;

¹³about forty thousand equipped for war, crossed for battle before the LORD to the desert plains of Jericho.

¹⁴On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, so that they revered him, just as they had revered Moses all the days of his life.

¹⁵Now the LORD said to Joshua,

¹⁶“Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony that they come up from the Jordan.”

¹⁷So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.”

¹⁸It came about when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks as before.

¹⁹Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal, on the eastern edge of Jericho.

²⁰As for those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set them up at Gilgal.

²¹And he said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’

²²then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’

²³For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed;

²⁴so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

¹For seven women will take hold of one man on that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our disgrace!”

²On that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the beauty of the survivors of Israel.

³And it will come about that the one who is left in Zion and remains behind in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem.

⁴When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning,

⁵then the LORD will create over the entire area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy.

⁶And there will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain.

¹As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them,

²being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

³And they laid hands on them and put them in prison until the next day, for it was already evening.

⁴But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

⁵On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem;

⁶and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent.

⁷When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”

⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people,

⁹if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well,

¹⁰let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.

¹¹He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE.

¹²And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.”

¹³Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

¹⁴And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.

¹⁵But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another,

¹⁶saying, “What are we to do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

¹⁷But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let’s warn them not to speak any longer to any person in this name.”

¹⁸And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, make your own judgment;

²⁰for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

²¹When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened;

²²for the man on whom this miracle of healing had been performed was more than forty years old.

²³When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported everything that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

²⁴And when they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind and said, “Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND EVERYTHING THAT IS IN THEM,

²⁵who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ‘WHY WERE THE NATIONS INSOLENT, AND THE PEOPLES PLOTTING IN VAIN?

²⁶THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.’

²⁷For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

²⁸to do whatever Your hand and purpose predestined to occur.

²⁹And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant it to Your bond-servants to speak Your word with all confidence,

³⁰while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

³²And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.

³³And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

³⁴For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales

³⁵and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each to the extent that any had need.

³⁶Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement),

³⁷owned a tract of land. So he sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.