Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,

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

³He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money — not even an extra tunic.

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

⁵Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

⁶They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.

⁷Now Herod the ruler heard about all that had taken place, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead,

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

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

¹⁰On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida.

¹¹When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured.

¹²The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.”

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

¹⁴For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”

¹⁵They did so and made them all sit down.

¹⁶And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

¹⁷And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

¹⁸Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

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

²⁰He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.”

²¹He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone,

²²saying, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

²³Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

²⁴For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.

²⁵What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?

²⁶Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

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

²⁸Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.

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

³⁰Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him.

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

³²Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

³³Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” — not knowing what he said.

³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.

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

³⁶When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

³⁷On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him.

³⁸Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child.

³⁹Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him.

⁴⁰I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”

⁴¹Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.”

⁴²While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

⁴³And all were astounded at the greatness of God. Jesus Again Foretells His Death While everyone was amazed at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples,

⁴⁴“Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.”

⁴⁵But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

⁴⁶An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest.

⁴⁷But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side,

⁴⁸and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.”

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

⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.”

⁵¹When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

⁵²And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him;

⁵³but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.

⁵⁴When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

⁵⁵But he turned and rebuked them.

⁵⁶Then they went on to another village.

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

⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

⁵⁹To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”

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

¹Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

²There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.

³Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.”

⁴When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

⁵Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

⁶He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

⁷Then the LORD said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings,

⁸and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

⁹The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.

¹⁰So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

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

¹²He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”

¹³But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

¹⁴God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

¹⁵God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.

¹⁶Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying: I have given heed to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt.

¹⁷I declare that I will bring you up out of the misery of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.’

¹⁸They will listen to your voice; and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; let us now go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’

¹⁹I know, however, that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.

²⁰So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will perform in it; after that he will let you go.

²¹I will bring this people into such favor with the Egyptians that, when you go, you will not go empty-handed;

²²each woman shall ask her neighbor and any woman living in the neighbor’s house for jewelry of silver and of gold, and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters; and so you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

¹You were dead through the trespasses and sins

²in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.

³All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us

⁵even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved —

⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

⁷so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God —

⁹not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

¹⁰For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

¹¹So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” — a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands —

¹²remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

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

¹⁴For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.

¹⁵He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,

¹⁶and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.

¹⁷So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near;

¹⁸for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.

¹⁹So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,

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

²¹In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;

²²in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

¹And 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, and his legs like pillars of fire.

²He held a little scroll open in his hand. Setting his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,

³he gave a great shout, like a lion roaring. And when he shouted, the seven thunders sounded.

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

⁵Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and the land raised his right hand to heaven

⁶and swore by him 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 be no more delay,

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

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

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

¹⁰So I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it; it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.

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

¹Send out your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will get it back.

²Divide your means seven ways, or even eight, for you do not know what disaster may happen on earth.

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

⁴Whoever observes the wind will not sow; and whoever regards the clouds will not reap.

⁵Just as you do not know how the breath comes to the bones in the mother’s womb, so you do not know the work of God, who makes everything.

⁶In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hands be idle; for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

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

⁸Even those who live many years should rejoice in them all; yet let them remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.

⁹Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

¹⁰Banish anxiety from your mind, and put away pain from your body; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

¹Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they commit abominable acts; there is no one who does good.

²God looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.

³They have all fallen away, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one.

⁴Have they no knowledge, those evildoers, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God?

⁵There they shall be in great terror, in terror such as has not been. For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly; they will be put to shame, for God has rejected them.

⁶O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

¹A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.

²The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.

³The clever see danger and hide; but the simple go on, and suffer for it.

⁴The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; the cautious will keep far from them.

⁶Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.

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

⁸Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of anger will fail.

⁹Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.

¹⁰Drive out a scoffer, and strife goes out; quarreling and abuse will cease.

¹¹Those who love a pure heart and are gracious in speech will have the king as a friend.

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

¹³The lazy person says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!”

¹⁴The mouth of a loose woman is a deep pit; he with whom the LORD is angry falls into it.

¹⁵Folly is bound up in the heart of a boy, but the rod of discipline drives it far away.

¹⁶Oppressing the poor in order to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich, will lead only to loss.

¹⁷The words of the wise: Incline your ear and hear my words, and apply your mind to my teaching;

¹⁸for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.

¹⁹So that your trust may be in the LORD, I have made them known to you today — yes, to you.

²⁰Have I not written for you thirty sayings of admonition and knowledge,

²¹to show you what is right and true, so that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

²²Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate;

²³for the LORD pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.

²⁴Make no friends with those given to anger, and do not associate with hotheads,

²⁵or you may learn their ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

²⁶Do not be one of those who give pledges, who become surety for debts.

²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?

²⁸Do not remove the ancient landmark that your ancestors set up.

²⁹Do you see those who are skillful in their work? They will serve kings; they will not serve common people.

¹And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. The Ark of God Captured In those days the Philistines mustered for war against Israel, and Israel went out to battle against them; they encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek.

²The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle was joined, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle.

³When the troops came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD put us to rout today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, so that he may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”

⁴So the people sent to Shiloh, and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵When the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded.

⁶When the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” When they learned that the ark of the LORD had come to the camp,

⁷the Philistines were afraid; for they said, “Gods have come into the camp.” They also said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before.

⁸Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness.

⁹Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, in order not to become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.”

¹⁰So the Philistines fought; Israel was defeated, and they fled, everyone to his home. There was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.

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

¹²A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with earth upon his head.

¹³When he arrived, Eli was sitting upon his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out.

¹⁴When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man came quickly and told Eli.

¹⁵Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set, so that he could not see.

¹⁶The man said to Eli, “I have just come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” He said, “How did it go, my son?”

¹⁷The messenger replied, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great slaughter among the troops; your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

¹⁸When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

¹⁹Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. When she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth; for her labor pains overwhelmed her.

²⁰As she was about to die, the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or give heed.

²¹She named the child Ichabod, meaning, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

²²She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for 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?

²For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

³He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.

⁴Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.

⁵But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.

⁶All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

⁷He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

⁸By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.

⁹They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.

¹¹Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

¹²Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

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

²where the chief priests and the leaders of the Jews gave him a report against Paul. They appealed to him

³and requested, as a favor to them against Paul, to have him transferred to Jerusalem. They were, in fact, planning an ambush to kill him along the way.

⁴Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, and that he himself intended to go there shortly.

⁵“So,” he said, “let those of you who have the authority come down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them accuse him.”

⁶After he had stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.

⁷When he arrived, the Jews who had gone down from Jerusalem surrounded him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove.

⁸Paul said in his defense, “I have in no way committed an offense against the law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against the emperor.”

⁹But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and be tried there before me on these charges?”

¹⁰Paul said, “I am appealing to the emperor’s tribunal; this is where I should be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you very well know.

¹¹Now if I am in the wrong and have committed something for which I deserve to die, I am not trying to escape death; but if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can turn me over to them. I appeal to the emperor.”

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

¹³After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to welcome Festus.

¹⁴Since they were staying there several days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man here who was left in prison by Felix.

¹⁵When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me about him and asked for a sentence against him.

¹⁶I told them that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone before the accused had met the accusers face to face and had been given an opportunity to make a defense against the charge.

¹⁷So when they met here, I lost no time, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought.

¹⁸When the accusers stood up, they did not charge him with any of the crimes that I was expecting.

¹⁹Instead they had certain points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.

²⁰Since I was at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wished to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges.

²¹But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of his Imperial Majesty, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to the emperor.”

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

²³So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then Festus gave the order and Paul was brought in.

²⁴And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all here present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish community petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.

²⁵But I found that he had done nothing deserving death; and when he appealed to his Imperial Majesty, I decided to send him.

²⁶But I have nothing definite to write to our sovereign about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write —

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