Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹At that time, some people came and reported to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

²And he responded to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all the other Galileans because they suffered these things?

³No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well.

⁴Or those eighteen that the tower in Siloam fell on and killed — do you think they were more sinful than all the other people who live in Jerusalem?

⁵No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well.”

⁶And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it and found none.

⁷He told the vineyard worker, ‘Listen, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it even waste the soil?’

⁸“But he replied to him, ‘Sir, leave it this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.

⁹Perhaps it will produce fruit next year, but if not, you can cut it down.’”

¹⁰As he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath,

¹¹a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for over eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.

¹²When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, “Woman, you are free of your disability.”

¹³Then he laid his hands on her, and instantly she was restored and began to glorify God.

¹⁴But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded by telling the crowd, “There are six days when work should be done; therefore come on those days and be healed and not on the Sabbath day.”

¹⁵But the Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you untie his ox or donkey from the feeding trough on the Sabbath and lead it to water?

¹⁶Satan has bound this woman, a daughter of Abraham, for eighteen years — shouldn’t she be untied from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”

¹⁷When he had said these things, all his adversaries were humiliated, but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things he was doing.

¹⁸He said, therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like, and what can I compare it to?

¹⁹It’s like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.”

²⁰Again he said, “What can I compare the kingdom of God to?

²¹It’s like leaven that a woman took and mixed into fifty pounds of flour until all of it was leavened.” 

²²He went through one town and village after another, teaching and making his way to Jerusalem.

²³“Lord,” someone asked him, “are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them,

²⁴“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to enter and won’t be able

²⁵once the homeowner gets up and shuts the door. Then you will stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up for us! ’ He will answer you, ‘I don’t know you or where you’re from.’

²⁶Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’

²⁷But he will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you’re from. Get away from me, all you evildoers!’

²⁸There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown out.

²⁹They will come from east and west, from north and south, to share the banquet in the kingdom of God.

³⁰Note this: Some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.”

³¹At that time some Pharisees came and told him, “Go, get out of here. Herod wants to kill you.”

³²He said to them, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I’m driving out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will complete my work.’

³³Yet it is necessary that I travel today, tomorrow, and the next day, because it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem.

³⁴“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

³⁵See, your house is abandoned to you. I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say,’ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’!”

¹The LORD answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.

²You must say whatever I command you; then Aaron your brother must declare it to Pharaoh so that he will let the Israelites go from his land.

³But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.

⁴Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put my hand into Egypt and bring the military divisions of my people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.

⁵The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the Israelites from among them.”

⁶So Moses and Aaron did this; they did just as the LORD commanded them.

⁷Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

⁹“When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh. It will become a serpent.’”

¹⁰So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.

¹¹But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers — the magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices.

¹²Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs.

¹³However, Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

¹⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard: He refuses to let the people go.

¹⁵Go to Pharaoh in the morning. When you see him walking out to the water, stand ready to meet him by the bank of the Nile. Take in your hand the staff that turned into a snake.

¹⁶Tell him: The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness, but so far you have not listened.

¹⁷This is what the LORD says: Here is how you will know that I am the LORD. Watch. I am about to strike the water in the Nile with the staff in my hand, and it will turn to blood.

¹⁸The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from it.”

¹⁹So the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt — over their rivers, canals, ponds, and all their water reservoirs — and they will become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.”

²⁰Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, he raised the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile was turned to blood.

²¹The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad the Egyptians could not drink water from it. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt.

²²But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

²³Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and didn’t take even this to heart.

²⁴All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink because they could not drink the water from the river.

²⁵Seven days passed after the LORD struck the Nile.

¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right.

²Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise,

³so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.

⁴Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

⁵Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ.

⁶Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart.

⁷Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people,

⁸knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord.

⁹And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

¹⁰Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength.

¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.

¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

¹³For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.

¹⁴Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest,

¹⁵and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.

¹⁶In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit  — which is the word of God.

¹⁸Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

¹⁹Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.

²⁰For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.

²¹Tychicus, our dearly loved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me so that you may be informed.

²²I am sending him to you for this very reason, to let you know how we are and to encourage your hearts.

²³Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴Grace be with all who have undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

²I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of cascading waters and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was like harpists playing on their harps.

³They sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, but no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

⁴These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, since they remained virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed from humanity as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb.

⁵No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

⁶Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, with the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth — to every nation, tribe, language, and people.

⁷He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

⁸And another, a second angel, followed, saying, “It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen. She made all the nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath.”

⁹And another, a third angel, followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,

¹⁰he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb,

¹¹and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or anyone who receives the mark of its name.

¹²This calls for endurance from the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”

¹³Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they will rest from their labors, since their works follow them.”

¹⁴Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and one like the Son of Man was seated on the cloud, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

¹⁵Another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one who was seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.”

¹⁶So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

¹⁷Then another angel who also had a sharp sickle came out of the temple in heaven.

¹⁸Yet another angel, who had authority over fire, came from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because its grapes have ripened.”

¹⁹So the angel swung his sickle at the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.

²⁰Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses’ bridles for about 180 miles.

¹In my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him, but did not find him.

²I will arise now and go about the city, through the streets and the plazas. I will seek the one I love. I sought him, but did not find him.

³The guards who go about the city found me. I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love?”

⁴I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held on to him and would not let him go until I brought him to my mother’s house  — to the chamber of the one who conceived me.

⁵Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and the wild does of the field, do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time.

⁶Who is this coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from every fragrant powder of the merchant?

⁷Look! Solomon’s bed surrounded by sixty warriors from the mighty men of Israel.

⁸All of them are skilled with swords and trained in warfare. Each has his sword at his side to guard against the terror of the night.

⁹King Solomon made a carriage for himself with wood from Lebanon.

¹⁰He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, and its seat of purple. Its interior is inlaid with love by the young women of Jerusalem.

¹¹Go out, young women of Zion, and gaze at King Solomon, wearing the crown his mother placed on him on the day of his wedding  — the day of his heart’s rejoicing.

¹For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.” A of David. When he fled before Saul into the cave. [1] Be gracious to me, God, be gracious to me, for I take refuge in you. I will seek refuge in the shadow of your wings until danger passes.

²I call to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

³He reaches down from heaven and saves me, challenging the one who tramples me. Selah God sends his faithful love and truth.

⁴I am surrounded by lions; I lie down among devouring lions — people whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.

⁵God, be exalted above the heavens; let your glory be over the whole earth.

⁶They prepared a net for my steps; I was despondent. They dug a pit ahead of me, but they fell into it! Selah

⁷My heart is confident, God, my heart is confident. I will sing; I will sing praises.

⁸Wake up, my soul! Wake up, harp and lyre! I will wake up the dawn.

⁹I will praise you, Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.

¹⁰For your faithful love is as high as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches the clouds.

¹¹God, be exalted above the heavens; let your glory be over the whole earth.

¹Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor is inappropriate for a fool.

²Like a flitting sparrow or a fluttering swallow, an undeserved curse goes nowhere.

³A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools.

⁴Don’t answer a fool according to his foolishness or you’ll be like him yourself.

⁵Answer a fool according to his foolishness or he’ll become wise in his own eyes.

⁶The one who sends a message by a fool’s hand cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.

⁷A proverb in the mouth of a fool is like lame legs that hang limp.

⁸Giving honor to a fool is like binding a stone in a sling.

⁹A proverb in the mouth of a fool is like a stick with thorns, brandished by the hand of a drunkard.

¹⁰The one who hires a fool or who hires those passing by is like an archer who wounds everyone.

¹¹As a dog returns to its vomit, so also a fool repeats his foolishness.

¹²Do you see a person who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

¹³The slacker says, “There’s a lion in the road — a lion in the public square!”

¹⁴A door turns on its hinges, and a slacker, on his bed.

¹⁵The slacker buries his hand in the bowl; he is too weary to bring it to his mouth!

¹⁶In his own eyes, a slacker is wiser than seven who can answer sensibly.

¹⁷A person who is passing by and meddles in a quarrel that’s not his is like one who grabs a dog by the ears.

¹⁸Like a madman who throws flaming darts and deadly arrows,

¹⁹so is the person who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”

²⁰Without wood, fire goes out; without a gossip, conflict dies down.

²¹As charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.

²²A gossip’s words are like choice food that goes down to one’s innermost being.

²³Smooth lips with an evil heart are like glaze on an earthen vessel.

²⁴A hateful person disguises himself with his speech and harbors deceit within.

²⁵When he speaks graciously, don’t believe him, for there are seven detestable things in his heart.

²⁶Though his hatred is concealed by deception, his evil will be revealed in the assembly.

²⁷The one who digs a pit will fall into it, and whoever rolls a stone — it will come back on him.

²⁸A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.

¹When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.

²His firstborn son’s name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba.

³However, his sons did not walk in his ways — they turned toward dishonest profit, took bribes, and perverted justice.

⁴So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah.

⁵They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.”

⁶When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand wrong, so he prayed to the LORD.

⁷But the LORD told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king.

⁸They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to me, since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning me and worshiping other gods.

⁹Listen to them, but solemnly warn them and tell them about the customary rights of the king who will reign over them.”

¹⁰Samuel told all the LORD’s words to the people who were asking him for a king.

¹¹He said, “These are the rights of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and put them to his use in his chariots, on his horses, or running in front of his chariots.

¹²He can appoint them for his use as commanders of thousands or commanders of fifties, to plow his ground and reap his harvest, or to make his weapons of war and the equipment for his chariots.

¹³He can take your daughters to become perfumers, cooks, and bakers.

¹⁴He can take your best fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his servants.

¹⁵He can take a tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give them to his officials and servants.

¹⁶He can take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, and your donkeys and use them for his work.

¹⁷He can take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves can become his servants.

¹⁸When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, but the LORD won’t answer you on that day.”

¹⁹The people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us.

²⁰Then we’ll be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us, and fight our battles.”

²¹Samuel listened to all the people’s words and then repeated them to the LORD.

²²“Listen to them,” the LORD told Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.” Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Each of you, go back to your city.”

¹The righteous person perishes, and no one takes it to heart; the faithful are taken away, with no one realizing that the righteous person is taken away because of evil.

²He will enter into peace — they will rest on their beds  — everyone who lives uprightly.

³But come here, you witch’s sons, offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute!

⁴Who are you mocking? Who are you opening your mouth and sticking out your tongue at? Isn’t it you, you rebellious children, you offspring of liars,

⁵who burn with lust among the oaks, under every green tree, who slaughter children in the wadis below the clefts of the rocks?

⁶Your portion is among the smooth stones of the wadi; indeed, they are your lot. You have even poured out a drink offering to them; you have offered a grain offering; should I be satisfied with these?

⁷You have placed your bed on a high and lofty mountain; you also went up there to offer sacrifice.

⁸You have set up your memorial behind the door and doorpost. For away from me, you stripped, went up, and made your bed wide, and you have made a bargain for yourself with them. You have loved their bed; you have gazed on their genitals.

⁹You went to the king with oil and multiplied your perfumes; you sent your envoys far away and sent them down even to Sheol.

¹⁰You became weary on your many journeys, but you did not say, “It’s hopeless!” You found a renewal of your strength; therefore you did not grow weak.

¹¹Who was it you dreaded and feared, so that you lied and didn’t remember me or take it to heart? I have kept silent for a long time, haven’t I? So you do not fear me.

¹²I will announce your righteousness, and your works — they will not profit you.

¹³When you cry out, let your collection of idols rescue you! The wind will carry all of them off, a breath will take them away. But whoever takes refuge in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.

¹⁴He said, “Build it up, build it up, prepare the way, remove every obstacle from my people’s way.”

¹⁵For the High and Exalted One, who lives forever, whose name is holy, says this: “I live in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the oppressed.

¹⁶For I will not accuse you forever, and I will not always be angry; for then the spirit would grow weak before me, even the breath, which I have made.

¹⁷Because of his sinful greed I was angry, so I struck him; I was angry and hid; but he went on turning back to the desires of his heart.

¹⁸I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,

¹⁹creating words of praise.” The LORD says, “Peace, peace to the one who is far or near, and I will heal him.

²⁰But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its water churns up mire and muck.

²¹There is no peace for the wicked,” says my God.

¹I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach

²until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

³After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

⁴While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about;

⁵for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.”

⁶So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”

⁷He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.

⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

⁹After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

¹⁰While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them.

¹¹They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”

¹²Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem — a Sabbath day’s journey away.

¹³When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

¹⁴They all were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

¹⁵In those days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters  — the number of people who were together was about a hundred and twenty — and said:

¹⁶“Brothers and sisters, it was necessary that the Scripture be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David foretold about Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

¹⁷For he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”

¹⁸Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst, his body burst open and his intestines spilled out.

¹⁹This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field is called Hakeldama (that is, Field of Blood).

²⁰“For it is written in the Book of Psalms: Let his dwelling become desolate; let no one live in it; and Let someone else take his position.

²¹“Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us —

²²beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us — from among these, it is necessary that one become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

²³So they proposed two: Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.

²⁴Then they prayed, “You, Lord, know everyone’s hearts; show which of these two you have chosen

²⁵to take the place in this apostolic ministry that Judas left to go where he belongs.”

²⁶Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias and he was added to the eleven apostles.