Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹He said to his disciples, “Offenses will certainly come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

²It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

³Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

⁴And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and comes back to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

⁶“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,” the Lord said, “you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

⁷“Which one of you having a servant tending sheep or plowing will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?

⁸Instead, will he not tell him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink’?

⁹Does he thank that servant because he did what was commanded?

¹⁰In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are worthless servants; we’ve only done our duty.’”

¹¹While traveling to Jerusalem, he passed between Samaria and Galilee.

¹²As he entered a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance

¹³and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

¹⁴When he saw them, he told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And while they were going, they were cleansed.

¹⁵But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God.

¹⁶He fell facedown at his feet, thanking him. And he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?

¹⁸Didn’t any return to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

¹⁹And he told him, “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.”

²⁰Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable;

²¹no one will say, ‘See here! ’ or ‘There! ’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

²²Then he told the disciples: “The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you won’t see it.

²³They will say to you, ‘See there! ’ or ‘See here! ’ Don’t follow or run after them.

²⁴For as the lightning flashes from horizon to horizon and lights up the sky, so the Son of Man will be in his day.

²⁵But first it is necessary that he suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

²⁶“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man:

²⁷People went on eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah boarded the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot: People went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building.

²⁹But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all.

³⁰It will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

³¹On that day, a man on the housetop, whose belongings are in the house, must not come down to get them. Likewise the man who is in the field must not turn back.

³²Remember Lot’s wife!

³³Whoever tries to make his life secure will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.

³⁴I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left.

³⁵Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”

³⁶

³⁷“Where, Lord?” they asked him. He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”

¹The LORD said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you out of here.

²Now announce to the people that both men and women should ask their neighbors for silver and gold items.”

³The LORD gave the people favor with the Egyptians. In addition, Moses himself was very highly regarded in the land of Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and the people.

⁴So Moses said, “This is what the LORD says: About midnight I will go throughout Egypt,

⁵and every firstborn male in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the servant girl who is at the grindstones, as well as every firstborn of the livestock.

⁶Then there will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before or ever will be again.

⁷But against all the Israelites, whether people or animals, not even a dog will snarl, so that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

⁸All these officials of yours will come down to me and bow before me, saying: Get out, you and all the people who follow you. After that, I will get out.” And he went out from Pharaoh’s presence fiercely angry.

⁹The LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

¹⁰Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his land.

¹So then, my dearly loved and longed for brothers and sisters, my joy and crown, in this manner stand firm in the Lord, dear friends.

²I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord.

³Yes, I also ask you, true partner, to help these women who have contended for the gospel at my side, along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers whose names are in the book of life.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

⁵Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.

⁶Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things.

⁹Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

¹⁰I rejoiced in the Lord greatly because once again you renewed your care for me. You were, in fact, concerned about me but lacked the opportunity to show it.

¹¹I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself.

¹²I know both how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content — whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.

¹³I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

¹⁴Still, you did well by partnering with me in my hardship.

¹⁵And you Philippians know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone.

¹⁶For even in Thessalonica you sent gifts for my need several times.

¹⁷Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that is increasing to your account.

¹⁸But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided — a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

¹⁹And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

²⁰Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²¹Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you greetings.

²²All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.

²³The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

¹After this I saw another angel with great authority coming down from heaven, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor.

²He called out in a mighty voice: It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen! She has become a home for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, and a haunt for every unclean and despicable beast.

³For all the nations have drunk the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath. The kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from her sensuality and excess.

⁴Then I heard another voice from heaven: Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins or receive any of her plagues.

⁵For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.

⁶Pay her back the way she also paid, and double it according to her works. In the cup in which she mixed, mix a double portion for her.

⁷As much as she glorified herself and indulged her sensual and excessive ways, give her that much torment and grief. For she says in her heart, “I sit as a queen; I am not a widow, and I will never see grief.”

⁸For this reason her plagues will come in just one day — death and grief and famine. She will be burned up with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is mighty.

⁹The kings of the earth who have committed sexual immorality and shared her sensual and excessive ways will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke from her burning.

¹⁰They will stand far off in fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the mighty city! For in a single hour your judgment has come.

¹¹The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any longer —

¹²cargo of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; all kinds of fragrant wood products; objects of ivory; objects of expensive wood, brass, iron, and marble;

¹³cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; wine, olive oil, fine flour, and grain; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and slaves — human lives.

¹⁴The fruit you craved has left you. All your splendid and glamorous things are gone; they will never find them again.

¹⁵The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand far off in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,

¹⁶saying, Woe, woe, the great city, dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls;

¹⁷for in a single hour such fabulous wealth was destroyed! And every shipmaster, seafarer, the sailors, and all who do business by sea, stood far off

¹⁸as they watched the smoke from her burning and kept crying out: “Who was like the great city?”

¹⁹They threw dust on their heads and kept crying out, weeping, and mourning, Woe, woe, the great city, where all those who have ships on the sea became rich from her wealth; for in a single hour she was destroyed.

²⁰Rejoice over her, heaven, and you saints, apostles, and prophets, because God has pronounced on her the judgment she passed on you!

²¹Then a mighty angel picked up a stone like a large millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, In this way, Babylon the great city will be thrown down violently and never be found again.

²²The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again; no craftsman of any trade will ever be found in you again; the sound of a mill will never be heard in you again;

²³the light of a lamp will never shine in you again; and the voice of a groom and bride will never be heard in you again. All this will happen because your merchants were the nobility of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.

²⁴In her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all those slaughtered on the earth.

¹How beautiful are your sandaled feet, princess! The curves of your thighs are like jewelry, the handiwork of a master.

²Your navel is a rounded bowl; it never lacks mixed wine. Your belly is a mound of wheat surrounded by lilies.

³Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.

⁴Your neck is like a tower of ivory, your eyes like pools in Heshbon by Bath-rabbim’s gate. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus.

⁵Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, the hair of your head like purple cloth — a king could be held captive in your tresses.

⁶How beautiful you are and how pleasant, my love, with such delights!

⁷Your stature is like a palm tree; your breasts are clusters of fruit.

⁸I said, “I will climb the palm tree and take hold of its fruit.” May your breasts be like clusters of grapes, and the fragrance of your breath like apricots.

⁹Your mouth is like fine wine  — flowing smoothly for my love, gliding past my lips and teeth!

¹⁰I am my love’s, and his desire is for me.

¹¹Come, my love, let’s go to the field; let’s spend the night among the henna blossoms.

¹²Let’s go early to the vineyards; let’s see if the vine has budded, if the blossom has opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my caresses.

¹³The mandrakes give off a fragrance, and at our doors is every delicacy, both new and old. I have treasured them up for you, my love.

¹For the choir director: on stringed instruments. Of David. [1] God, hear my cry; pay attention to my prayer.

²I call to you from the ends of the earth when my heart is without strength. Lead me to a rock that is high above me,

³for you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower in the face of the enemy.

⁴I will dwell in your tent forever and take refuge under the shelter of your wings. Selah

⁵God, you have heard my vows; you have given a heritage to those who fear your name.

⁶Add days to the king’s life; may his years span many generations.

⁷May he sit enthroned before God forever. Appoint faithful love and truth to guard him.

⁸Then I will continually sing of your name, fulfilling my vows day by day.

¹The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The pronouncement. The man’s oration to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

²I am more stupid than any other person, and I lack a human’s ability to understand.

³I have not gained wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his hands? Who has bound up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son — if you know?

⁵Every word of God is pure; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

⁶Don’t add to his words, or he will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.

⁷Two things I ask of you; don’t deny them to me before I die:

⁸Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need.

⁹Otherwise, I might have too much and deny you, saying, “Who is the LORD?” or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God.

¹⁰Don’t slander a servant to his master or he will curse you, and you will become guilty.

¹¹There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother.

¹²There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its filth.

¹³There is a generation — how haughty its eyes and pretentious its looks.

¹⁴There is a generation whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, devouring the oppressed from the land and the needy from among mankind.

¹⁵The leech has two daughters: “Give, Give!” Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough!”:

¹⁶Sheol; a childless womb; earth, which is never satisfied with water; and fire, which never says, “Enough!”

¹⁷As for the eye that ridicules a father and despises obedience to a mother, may ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures eat it.

¹⁸Three things are too wondrous for me; four I can’t understand:

¹⁹the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship at sea, and the way of a man with a young woman.

²⁰This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

²¹The earth trembles under three things; it cannot bear up under four:

²²a servant when he becomes king, a fool when he is stuffed with food,

²³an unloved woman when she marries, and a servant girl when she ousts her queen.

²⁴Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise:

²⁵ants are not a strong people, yet they store up their food in the summer;

²⁶hyraxes are not a mighty people, yet they make their homes in the cliffs;

²⁷locusts have no king, yet all of them march in ranks;

²⁸a lizard can be caught in your hands, yet it lives in kings’ palaces.

²⁹Three things are stately in their stride; four are stately in their walk:

³⁰a lion, which is mightiest among beasts and doesn’t retreat before anything;

³¹a strutting rooster; a goat; and a king at the head of his army.

³²If you have been foolish by exalting yourself or if you’ve been scheming, put your hand over your mouth.

³³For the churning of milk produces butter, and twisting a nose draws blood, and stirring up anger produces strife.

¹Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have carefully listened to everything you said to me and placed a king over you.

²Now you can see that the king is leading you. As for me, I’m old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have led you from my youth until now.

³Here I am. Bring charges against me before the LORD and his anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I wronged or mistreated? From whom have I accepted a bribe to overlook something? I will return it to you.”

⁴“You haven’t wronged us, you haven’t mistreated us, and you haven’t taken anything from anyone,” they responded.

⁵He said to them, “The LORD is a witness against you, and his anointed is a witness today that you haven’t found anything in my hand.” “He is a witness,” they said.

⁶Then Samuel said to the people, “The LORD, who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt, is a witness.

⁷Now present yourselves, so I may confront you before the LORD about all the righteous acts he has done for you and your ancestors.

⁸“When Jacob went to Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the LORD, and he sent them Moses and Aaron, who led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

⁹But they forgot the LORD their God, so he handed them over to Sisera commander of the army of Hazor, to the Philistines, and to the king of Moab. These enemies fought against them.

¹⁰Then they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, for we abandoned the LORD and worshiped the Baals and the Ashtoreths. Now rescue us from the power of our enemies, and we will serve you.’

¹¹So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel. He rescued you from the power of the enemies around you, and you lived securely.

¹²But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king reign over us’ — even though the LORD your God is your king.

¹³“Now here is the king you’ve chosen, the one you requested. Look, this is the king the LORD has placed over you.

¹⁴If you fear the LORD, worship and obey him, and if you don’t rebel against the LORD’s command, then both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God.

¹⁵However, if you disobey the LORD and rebel against his command, the LORD’s hand will be against you as it was against your ancestors.

¹⁶“Now, therefore, present yourselves and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes.

¹⁷Isn’t the wheat harvest today? I will call on the LORD, and he will send thunder and rain so that you will recognize what an immense evil you committed in the LORD’s sight by requesting a king for yourselves.”

¹⁸Samuel called on the LORD, and on that day the LORD sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

¹⁹They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so we won’t die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of requesting a king for ourselves.”

²⁰Samuel replied, “Don’t be afraid. Even though you have committed all this evil, don’t turn away from following the LORD. Instead, worship the LORD with all your heart.

²¹Don’t turn away to follow worthless things that can’t profit or rescue you; they are worthless.

²²The LORD will not abandon his people, because of his great name and because he has determined to make you his own people.

²³“As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. I will teach you the good and right way.

²⁴Above all, fear the LORD and worship him faithfully with all your heart; consider the great things he has done for you.

²⁵However, if you continue to do what is evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”

¹The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners;

²to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn,

³to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the LORD to glorify him.

⁴They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the former devastations; they will renew the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

⁵Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.

⁶But you will be called the LORD’s priests; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will eat the wealth of the nations, and you will boast in their riches.

⁷In place of your shame, you will have a double portion; in place of disgrace, they will rejoice over their share. So they will possess double in their land, and eternal joy will be theirs.

⁸For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and injustice; I will faithfully reward my people and make a permanent covenant with them.

⁹Their descendants will be known among the nations, and their posterity among the peoples. All who see them will recognize that they are a people the LORD has blessed.

¹⁰I rejoice greatly in the LORD, I exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a groom wears a turban and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

¹¹For as the earth produces its growth, and as a garden enables what is sown to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

¹But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property.

²However, he kept back part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge, and brought a portion of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

³“Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds of the land?

⁴Wasn’t it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God.”

⁵When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard.

⁶The young men got up, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him.

⁷About three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸“Tell me,” Peter asked her, “did you sell the land for this price?” “Yes,” she said, “for that price.”

⁹Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

¹⁰Instantly she dropped dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹Then great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard these things.

¹²Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles. They were all together in Solomon’s Colonnade.

¹³No one else dared to join them, but the people spoke well of them.

¹⁴Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers — multitudes of both men and women.

¹⁵As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

¹⁶In addition, a multitude came together from the towns surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

¹⁷Then the high priest rose up. He and all who were with him, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.

¹⁸So they arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

¹⁹But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said,

²⁰“Go and stand in the temple, and tell the people all about this life.”

²¹Hearing this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. When the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin — the full council of the Israelites — and sent orders to the jail to have them brought.

²²But when the servants got there, they did not find them in the jail, so they returned and reported,

²³“We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing in front of the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

²⁴As the captain of the temple police and the chief priests heard these things, they were baffled about them, wondering what would come of this.

²⁵Someone came and reported to them, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”

²⁶Then the commander went with the servants and brought them in without force, because they were afraid the people might stone them.

²⁷After they brought them in, they had them stand before the Sanhedrin, and the high priest asked,

²⁸“Didn’t we strictly order you not to teach in this name? Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

²⁹Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than people.

³⁰The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging him on a tree.

³¹God exalted this man to his right hand as ruler and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

³²We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

³³When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.

³⁴But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered the men to be taken outside for a little while.

³⁵He said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful about what you’re about to do to these men.

³⁶Some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, and all his followers were dispersed and came to nothing.

³⁷After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and attracted a following. He also perished, and all his followers were scattered.

³⁸So in the present case, I tell you, stay away from these men and leave them alone. For if this plan or this work is of human origin, it will fail;

³⁹but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even be found fighting against God.” They were persuaded by him.

⁴⁰After they called in the apostles and had them flogged, they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.

⁴¹Then they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be treated shamefully on behalf of the Name.

⁴²Every day in the temple, and in various homes, they continued teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.