Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Summoning the Twelve, he gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.

²Then he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

³“Take nothing for the road,” he told them, “no staff, no traveling bag, no bread, no money; and don’t take an extra shirt.

⁴Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.

⁵If they do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”

⁶So they went out and traveled from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing everywhere.

⁷Herod the tetrarch heard about everything that was going on. He was perplexed, because some said that John had been raised from the dead,

⁸some that Elijah had appeared, and others that one of the ancient prophets had risen.

⁹“I beheaded John,” Herod said, “but who is this I hear such things about?” And he wanted to see him.

¹⁰When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus all that they had done. He took them along and withdrew privately to a town called Bethsaida.

¹¹When the crowds found out, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.

¹²Late in the day, the Twelve approached and said to him, “Send the crowd away, so that they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are in a deserted place here.”

¹³“You give them something to eat,” he told them. “We have no more than five loaves and two fish,” they said, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

¹⁴(For about five thousand men were there.) Then he told his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”

¹⁵They did what he said, and had them all sit down.

¹⁶Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke them. He kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

¹⁷Everyone ate and was filled. They picked up twelve baskets of leftover pieces.

¹⁸While he was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹They answered, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, that one of the ancient prophets has come back.”

²⁰“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

²¹But he strictly warned and instructed them to tell this to no one,

²²saying, “It is necessary that the Son of Man suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.”

²³Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

²⁴For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it.

²⁵For what does it benefit someone if he gains the whole world, and yet loses or forfeits himself?

²⁶For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and that of the Father and the holy angels.

²⁷Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

²⁸About eight days after this conversation, he took along Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.

²⁹As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.

³⁰Suddenly, two men were talking with him — Moses and Elijah.

³¹They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem.

³²Peter and those with him were in a deep sleep, and when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who were standing with him.

³³As the two men were departing from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it’s good for us to be here. Let us set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” — not knowing what he was saying.

³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud appeared and overshadowed them. They became afraid as they entered the cloud.

³⁵Then a voice came from the cloud, saying: “This is my Son, the Chosen One; listen to him!”

³⁶After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They kept silent, and at that time told no one what they had seen.

³⁷The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him.

³⁸Just then a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, because he’s my only child.

³⁹A spirit seizes him; suddenly he shrieks, and it throws him into convulsions until he foams at the mouth; severely bruising him, it scarcely ever leaves him.

⁴⁰I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

⁴¹Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”

⁴²As the boy was still approaching, the demon knocked him down and threw him into severe convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

⁴³And they were all astonished at the greatness of God. While everyone was amazed at all the things he was doing, he told his disciples,

⁴⁴“Let these words sink in: The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.”

⁴⁵But they did not understand this statement; it was concealed from them so that they could not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

⁴⁶An argument started among them about who was the greatest of them.

⁴⁷But Jesus, knowing their inner thoughts, took a little child and had him stand next to him.

⁴⁸He told them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me welcomes him who sent me. For whoever is least among you — this one is great.”

⁴⁹John responded, “Master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he does not follow us.”

⁵⁰“Don’t stop him,” Jesus told him, “because whoever is not against you is for you.”

⁵¹When the days were coming to a close for him to be taken up, he determined to journey to Jerusalem.

⁵²He sent messengers ahead of himself, and on the way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for him.

⁵³But they did not welcome him, because he determined to journey to Jerusalem.

⁵⁴When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”

⁵⁵But he turned and rebuked them,

⁵⁶and they went to another village.

⁵⁷As they were traveling on the road someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

⁵⁸Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

⁵⁹Then he said to another, “Follow me.” “Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.”

⁶⁰But he told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.”

⁶²But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

¹Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

²Then the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed.

³So Moses thought, “I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?”

⁴When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” “Here I am,” he answered.

⁵“Do not come closer,” he said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

⁶Then he continued, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷Then the LORD said, “I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors. I know about their sufferings,

⁸and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey  — the territory of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

⁹So because the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them,

¹⁰therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

¹¹But Moses asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹²He answered, “I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I am the one who sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain.”

¹³Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?”

¹⁴God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”

¹⁵God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

¹⁶“Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt.

¹⁷And I have promised you that I will bring you up from the misery of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites — a land flowing with milk and honey.

¹⁸They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.

¹⁹“However, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, even under force from a strong hand.

²⁰But when I stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my miracles that I will perform in it, after that, he will let you go.

²¹And I will give these people such favor with the Egyptians that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.

²²Each woman will ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry, and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”

¹And you were dead in your trespasses and sins

²in which you previously lived according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.

³We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us,

⁵made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

⁶He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,

⁷so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift —

⁹not from works, so that no one can boast.

¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

¹¹So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh — called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands.

¹²At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.

¹³But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh,

¹⁵he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace.

¹⁶He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.

¹⁷He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

¹⁸For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father.

¹⁹So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household,

²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

²¹In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

²²In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

¹Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun, his legs were like pillars of fire,

²and he held a little scroll opened in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea, his left on the land,

³and he called out with a loud voice like a roaring lion. When he cried out, the seven thunders raised their voices.

⁴And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down!”

⁵Then the angel that I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven.

⁶He swore by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it: “There will no longer be a delay,

⁷but in the days when the seventh angel will blow his trumpet, then the mystery of God will be completed, as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

⁸Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take and eat it; it will be bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

¹⁰Then I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stomach became bitter.

¹¹And they said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”

¹Send your bread on the surface of the water, for after many days you may find it.

²Give a portion to seven or even to eight, for you don’t know what disaster may happen on earth.

³If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or the north, the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

⁴One who watches the wind will not sow, and the one who looks at the clouds will not reap.

⁵Just as you don’t know the path of the wind, or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman, so also you don’t know the work of God who makes everything.

⁶In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hand rest, because you don’t know which will succeed, whether one or the other, or if both of them will be equally good.

⁷Light is sweet, and it is pleasing for the eyes to see the sun.

⁸Indeed, if someone lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, since they will be many. All that comes is futile.

⁹Rejoice, young person, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the desire of your eyes; but know that for all of these things God will bring you to judgment.

¹⁰Remove sorrow from your heart, and put away pain from your flesh, because youth and the prime of life are fleeting.

¹For the choir director: on . A of David. [1] The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.” They are corrupt, and they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good.

²God looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God.

³All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.

⁴Will evildoers never understand? They consume my people as they consume bread; they do not call on God.

⁵Then they will be filled with dread — dread like no other  — because God will scatter the bones of those who besiege you. You will put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

⁶Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

¹A good name is to be chosen over great wealth; favor is better than silver and gold.

²Rich and poor have this in common: the LORD makes them all.

³A sensible person sees danger and takes cover, but the inexperienced keep going and are punished.

⁴Humility, the fear of the LORD, results in wealth, honor, and life.

⁵There are thorns and snares on the way of the crooked; the one who guards himself stays far from them.

⁶Start a youth out on his way; even when he grows old he will not depart from it.

⁷The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender.

⁸The one who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

⁹A generous person will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

¹⁰Drive out a mocker, and conflict goes too; then quarreling and dishonor will cease.

¹¹The one who loves a pure heart and gracious lips — the king is his friend.

¹²The LORD’s eyes keep watch over knowledge, but he overthrows the words of the treacherous.

¹³The slacker says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!”

¹⁴The mouth of the forbidden woman is a deep pit; a man cursed by the LORD will fall into it.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound to the heart of a youth; a rod of discipline will separate it from him.

¹⁶Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich — both lead only to poverty.

¹⁷Listen closely, pay attention to the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge.

¹⁸For it is pleasing if you keep them within you and if they are constantly on your lips.

¹⁹I have instructed you today — even you — so that your confidence may be in the LORD.

²⁰Haven’t I written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge,

²¹in order to teach you true and reliable words, so that you may give a dependable report to those who sent you?

²²Don’t rob a poor person because he is poor, and don’t crush the oppressed at the city gate,

²³for the LORD will champion their cause and will plunder those who plunder them.

²⁴Don’t make friends with an angry person, and don’t be a companion of a hot-tempered one,

²⁵or you will learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

²⁶Don’t be one of those who enter agreements, who put up security for loans.

²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay, even your bed will be taken from under you.

²⁸Don’t move an ancient boundary marker that your fathers set up.

²⁹Do you see a person skilled in his work? He will stand in the presence of kings. He will not stand in the presence of the unknown.

¹And Samuel’s words came to all Israel. Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped at Ebenezer while the Philistines camped at Aphek.

²The Philistines lined up in battle formation against Israel, and as the battle intensified, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men on the battlefield.

³When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the LORD defeat us today before the Philistines? Let’s bring the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Shiloh. Then it will go with us and save us from our enemies.”

⁴So the people sent men to Shiloh to bring back the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵When the ark of the covenant of the LORD entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a loud shout that the ground shook.

⁶The Philistines heard the sound of the war cry and asked, “What’s this loud shout in the Hebrews’ camp?” When the Philistines discovered that the ark of the LORD had entered the camp,

⁷they panicked. “A god has entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us, nothing like this has happened before.

⁸Woe to us, who will rescue us from these magnificent gods? These are the gods that slaughtered the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.

⁹Show some courage and be men, Philistines! Otherwise, you’ll serve the Hebrews just as they served you. Now be men and fight!”

¹⁰So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was severe — thirty thousand of the Israelite foot soldiers fell.

¹¹The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

¹²That same day, a Benjaminite man ran from the battle and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn, and there was dirt on his head.

¹³When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair beside the road watching, because he was anxious about the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the entire city cried out.

¹⁴Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” The man quickly came and reported to Eli.

¹⁵At that time Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes didn’t move because he couldn’t see.

¹⁶The man said to Eli, “I’m the one who came from the battle. I fled from there today.” “What happened, my son?” Eli asked.

¹⁷The messenger answered, “Israel has fled from the Philistines, and also there was a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

¹⁸When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off the chair by the city gate, and since he was old and heavy, his neck broke and he died. Eli had judged Israel forty years.

¹⁹Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news about the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth because her labor pains came on her.

²⁰As she was dying, the women taking care of her said, “Don’t be afraid. You’ve given birth to a son!” But she did not respond or pay attention.

²¹She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and to the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.

²²“The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “because the ark of God has been captured.”

¹Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

²He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him.

³He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him.

⁴Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.

⁵But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.

⁶We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the LORD has punished him for the iniquity of us all.

⁷He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth.

⁸He was taken away because of oppression and judgment; and who considered his fate? For he was cut off from the land of the living; he was struck because of my people’s rebellion.

⁹He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.

¹⁰Yet the LORD was pleased to crush him severely. When you make him a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and by his hand, the LORD’s pleasure will be accomplished.

¹¹After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities.

¹²Therefore I will give him the many as a portion, and he will receive the mighty as spoil, because he willingly submitted to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet he bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.

¹Three days after Festus arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.

²The chief priests and the leaders of the Jews presented their case against Paul to him; and they appealed,

³asking for a favor against Paul, that Festus summon him to Jerusalem. They were, in fact, preparing an ambush along the road to kill him.

⁴Festus, however, answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself was about to go there shortly.

⁵“Therefore,” he said, “let those of you who have authority go down with me and accuse him, if he has done anything wrong.”

⁶When he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea. The next day, seated at the tribunal, he commanded Paul to be brought in.

⁷When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him and brought many serious charges that they were not able to prove.

⁸Then Paul made his defense: “Neither against the Jewish law, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I sinned in any way.”

⁹But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, replied to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to be tried before me there on these charges?”

¹⁰Paul replied: “I am standing at Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as even you yourself know very well.

¹¹If then I did anything wrong and am deserving of death, I am not trying to escape death; but if there is nothing to what these men accuse me of, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

¹²Then after Festus conferred with his council, he replied, “You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you will go.”

¹³Several days later, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea and paid a courtesy call on Festus.

¹⁴Since they were staying there several days, Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There’s a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix.

¹⁵When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews presented their case and asked that he be condemned.

¹⁶I answered them that it is not the Roman custom to give someone up before the accused faces the accusers and has an opportunity for a defense against the charges.

¹⁷So when they had assembled here, I did not delay. The next day I took my seat at the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought in.

¹⁸The accusers stood up but brought no charge against him of the evils I was expecting.

¹⁹Instead they had some disagreements with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, a dead man Paul claimed to be alive.

²⁰Since I was at a loss in a dispute over such things, I asked him if he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding these matters.

²¹But when Paul appealed to be held for trial by the Emperor, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I could send him to Caesar.”

²²Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow you will hear him,” he replied.

²³So the next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the auditorium with the military commanders and prominent men of the city. When Festus gave the command, Paul was brought in.

²⁴Then Festus said: “King Agrippa and all men present with us, you see this man. The whole Jewish community has appealed to me concerning him, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he should not live any longer.

²⁵I found that he had not done anything deserving of death, but when he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him.

²⁶I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore, I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this examination is over, I may have something to write.

²⁷For it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner without indicating the charges against him.”