Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

²After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

³The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.

⁶“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

⁷Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.

⁹“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

¹¹Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

¹²When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee.

¹³Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—

¹⁴to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

¹⁶the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

¹⁷From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

¹⁸As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

¹⁹“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

²⁰At once they left their nets and followed him.

²¹Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,

²²and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

²³Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

²⁴News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.

²⁵Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

¹Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.”

²Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.

³In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD.

⁴And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,

⁵but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

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

⁷If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

⁸Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

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

¹⁰The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.

¹¹Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

¹²When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

¹³Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is more than I can bear.

¹⁴Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵But the LORD said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.

¹⁶So Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷Cain made love to his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch.

¹⁸To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

¹⁹Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.

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

²¹His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes.

²²Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.

²³Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me.

²⁴If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.”

²⁵Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”

²⁶Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the LORD.

¹What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter?

²If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.

³What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

⁴Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.

⁵However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

⁶David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁷“Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

⁸Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

⁹Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.

¹⁰Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!

¹¹And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.

¹²And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

¹³It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

¹⁴For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless,

¹⁵because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

¹⁷As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

¹⁸Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

¹⁹Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.

²⁰Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

²¹being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

²²This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

²³The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone,

²⁴but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

²⁵He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

¹As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.

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

³It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;

⁴that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable,

⁵not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God;

⁶and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before.

⁷For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.

⁸Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

⁹Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

¹⁰And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more,

¹¹and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you,

¹²so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

¹³Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

¹⁴For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

¹⁵According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

¹⁷After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

²“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?

³Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands.

⁴Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees.

⁵But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed.

⁶Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?

⁷“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?

⁸As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.

⁹At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more.

¹⁰The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.

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

¹²“A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it.

¹³Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people,

¹⁴fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.

¹⁵A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.

¹⁶It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice:

¹⁷‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?

¹⁸If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error,

¹⁹how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!

²⁰Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever.

²¹Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’

¹For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David. Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

²How long will you people turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods

³Know that the LORD has set apart his faithful servant for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him.

⁴Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.

⁵Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the LORD.

⁶Many, LORD, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?” Let the light of your face shine on us.

⁷Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.

⁸In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.

¹Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.

²I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching.

³For I too was a son to my father, still tender, and cherished by my mother.

⁴Then he taught me, and he said to me, “Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live.

⁵Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them.

⁶Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.

⁷The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.

⁸Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you.

⁹She will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown.”

¹⁰Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many.

¹¹I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.

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

¹³Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.

¹⁴Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers.

¹⁵Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way.

¹⁶For they cannot rest until they do evil; they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.

¹⁷They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

¹⁹But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words.

²¹Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;

²²for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.

²³Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

²⁴Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

²⁵Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.

²⁶Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.

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

¹When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua,

²“Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe,

³and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

⁴So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,

⁵and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,

⁶to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’

⁷tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

⁸So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down.

⁹Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.

¹⁰Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over,

¹¹and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched.

¹²The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them.

¹³About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war.

¹⁴That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.

¹⁵Then the LORD said to Joshua,

¹⁶“Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant law to come up out of the Jordan.”

¹⁷So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”

¹⁸And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.

¹⁹On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.

²⁰And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.

²¹He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’

²²tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’

²³For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.

²⁴He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.”

¹In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!”

²In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.

³Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem.

⁴The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.

⁵Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy.

⁶It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.

¹The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.

²They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

³They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.

⁴But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.

⁵The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem.

⁶Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family.

⁷They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

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

⁹If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed,

¹⁰then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.

¹¹Jesus is “ ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’

¹²Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

¹³When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

¹⁴But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.

¹⁵So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.

¹⁶“What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it.

¹⁷But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”

¹⁸Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges!

²⁰As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

²¹After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.

²²For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.

²³On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

²⁴When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.

²⁵You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “ ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

²⁶The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.’

²⁷Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.

²⁸They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

²⁹Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

³⁰Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

³²All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.

³³With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all

³⁴that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales

³⁵and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

³⁶Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”),

³⁷sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.