Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.

²And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

³Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

⁴ Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.

⁵Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’

⁶And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.

⁷And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.

⁸Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.

⁹Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

¹⁰But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,

¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’

¹²I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

¹³ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

¹⁴ But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

¹⁵And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.

¹⁶ “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

¹⁷The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”

¹⁸And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

¹⁹Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.

²⁰ Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

²¹In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

²² All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

²³Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!

²⁴For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

²⁵And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”

²⁷And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

²⁸And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

²⁹But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.

³¹Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.

³²So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

³³But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.

³⁴He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

³⁵And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’

³⁶Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”

³⁷He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

³⁸Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

³⁹And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.

⁴⁰But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”

⁴¹But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,

⁴²but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

¹Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you.’”

²The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.”

³And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it.

⁴But the LORD said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail” — so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand —

⁵“that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

⁶Again, the LORD said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow.

⁷Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh.

⁸“If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign.

⁹If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

¹⁰But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”

¹¹Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

¹²Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”

¹³But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”

¹⁴Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

¹⁵You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do.

¹⁶He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him.

¹⁷And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”

¹⁸Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

¹⁹And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.”

²⁰So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

²¹And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

²²Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son,

²³and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”

²⁴At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death.

²⁵Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!”

²⁶So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

²⁷The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.

²⁸And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do.

²⁹Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel.

³⁰Aaron spoke all the words that the LORD had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people.

³¹And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

¹For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles —

²assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you,

³how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.

⁴When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ,

⁵which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.

⁶This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

⁷Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power.

⁸To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

⁹and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things,

¹⁰so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

¹¹This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,

¹²in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

¹³So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

¹⁶that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith — that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

¹⁸may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

¹Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there,

²but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.

³And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

⁴These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

⁵And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed.

⁶They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.

⁷And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them,

⁸and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

⁹For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb,

¹⁰and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.

¹¹But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

¹²Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.

¹³And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

¹⁵Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

¹⁶And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God,

¹⁷saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.

¹⁸The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

¹⁹Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

¹Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;

²before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain,

³in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed,

⁴and the doors on the street are shut — when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low —

⁵they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets —

⁶before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern,

⁷and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

⁸Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

⁹Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care.

¹⁰The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

¹¹The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd.

¹²My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

¹³The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

¹⁴For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

¹O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might.

²O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

³For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life; they do not set God before themselves. Selah

⁴Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.

⁵He will return the evil to my enemies; in your faithfulness put an end to them.

⁶With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.

⁷For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

¹When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you,

²and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.

³Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.

⁴Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.

⁵When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

⁶Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies,

⁷for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

⁸You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words.

⁹Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.

¹⁰Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless,

¹¹for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.

¹²Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

¹⁴If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.

¹⁶My inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.

¹⁸Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way.

²⁰Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat,

²¹for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.

²²Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

²⁵Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.

²⁶My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well.

²⁸She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

³⁰Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine.

³¹Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.

³²In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.

³³Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things.

³⁴You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast.

³⁵“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink.”

¹When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

²Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon.

³And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place.

⁴But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.

⁵This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

⁶The hand of the LORD was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.

⁷And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god.”

⁸So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” So they brought the ark of the God of Israel there.

⁹But after they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them.

¹⁰So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But as soon as the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people.”

¹¹They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there.

¹²The men who did not die were struck with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

¹“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married,” says the LORD.

²“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.

³For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities.

⁴“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

⁵For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.

⁶For the LORD has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God.

⁷For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you.

⁸In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD, your Redeemer.

⁹“This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you.

¹⁰For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

¹¹“O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires.

¹²I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones.

¹³All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.

¹⁴In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

¹⁵If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you.

¹⁶Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy;

¹⁷no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD.”

¹So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

²“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews,

³especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews.

⁵They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee.

⁶And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers,

⁷to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king!

⁸Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

⁹“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.

¹¹And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

¹²“In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.

¹³At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.

¹⁴And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

¹⁶But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,

¹⁷ delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles — to whom I am sending you

¹⁸ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

¹⁹“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

²⁰but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

²¹For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

²²To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass:

²³that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.”

²⁵But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.

²⁶For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.

²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”

²⁸And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”

²⁹And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am — except for these chains.”

³⁰Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them.

³¹And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.”

³²And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”