Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

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

³Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,

⁴and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

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

⁶And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

⁷“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’?

⁸Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’?

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

¹⁰So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

¹¹On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.

¹²And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance

¹³and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

¹⁴When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.

¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;

¹⁶and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.

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

¹⁸Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

¹⁹And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

²⁰Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed,

²¹nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

²²And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.

²³ And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them.

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

²⁵But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

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

²⁷ They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot — they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,

²⁹ but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all —

³⁰so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

³¹On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back.

³² Remember Lot's wife.

³³ Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.

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

³⁵ There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”

³⁶

³⁷And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

¹The LORD said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely.

²Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.”

³And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people.

⁴So Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt,

⁵and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.

⁶There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.

⁷But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’

⁸And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.

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

¹⁰Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

¹Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

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

³Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

⁵Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;

⁶do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

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

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

⁹What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me — practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

¹⁰I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.

¹¹Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

¹²I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

¹³I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

¹⁴Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.

¹⁵And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only.

¹⁶Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again.

¹⁷Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.

¹⁸I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

¹⁹And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

²⁰To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

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

²²All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household.

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

¹After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory.

²And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.

³For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

⁴Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues;

⁵for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

⁶Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.

⁷As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’

⁸For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

⁹And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning.

¹⁰They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”

¹¹And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore,

¹²cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble,

¹³cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.

¹⁴“The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again!”

¹⁵The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

¹⁶“Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls!

¹⁷For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off

¹⁸and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What city was like the great city?”

¹⁹And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, “Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste.

²⁰Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!”

²¹Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more;

²²and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more,

²³and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.

²⁴And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.”

¹How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O noble daughter! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of a master hand.

²Your navel is a rounded bowl that never lacks mixed wine. Your belly is a heap of wheat, encircled with lilies.

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

⁴Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus.

⁵Your head crowns you like Carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses.

⁶How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights!

⁷Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters.

⁸I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its fruit. Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples,

⁹and your mouth like the best wine. She It goes down smoothly for my beloved, gliding over lips and teeth.

¹⁰I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me.

¹¹Come, my beloved, let us go out into the fields and lodge in the villages;

¹²let us go out early to the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love.

¹³The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and beside our doors are all choice fruits, new as well as old, which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.

¹Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer;

²from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,

³for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.

⁴Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah

⁵For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

⁶Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations!

⁷May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!

⁸So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day.

¹The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle. The man declares, I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out.

²Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man.

³I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Surely you know!

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

⁶Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

⁷Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die:

⁸Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,

⁹lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

¹⁰Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.

¹¹There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.

¹²There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth.

¹³There are those — how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift!

¹⁴There are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among mankind.

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

¹⁶Sheol, the barren womb, the land never satisfied with water, and the fire that never says, “Enough.”

¹⁷The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.

¹⁸Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand:

¹⁹the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a virgin.

²⁰This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, “I have done no wrong.”

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

²²a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is filled with food;

²³an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.

²⁴Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise:

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

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

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

²⁸the lizard you can take in your hands, yet it is in kings' palaces.

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

³⁰the lion, which is mightiest among beasts and does not turn back before any;

³¹the strutting rooster, the he-goat, and a king whose army is with him.

³²If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth.

³³For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife.

¹And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you.

²And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.

³Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.”

⁴They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand.”

⁵And he said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

⁶And Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.

⁷Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous deeds of the LORD that he performed for you and for your fathers.

⁸When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the LORD and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place.

⁹But they forgot the LORD their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them.

¹⁰And they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’

¹¹And the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety.

¹²And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the LORD your God was your king.

¹³And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the LORD has set a king over you.

¹⁴If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well.

¹⁵But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king.

¹⁶Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes.

¹⁷Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.”

¹⁸So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

¹⁹And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.”

²⁰And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.

²¹And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.

²²For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself.

²³Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.

²⁴Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.

²⁵But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”

¹The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

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

³to grant to those who mourn in Zion — to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

⁴They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

⁵Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

⁶but you shall be called the priests of the LORD; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast.

⁷Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy.

⁸For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

⁹Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed.

¹⁰I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

¹¹For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.

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

²and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.

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

⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

⁵When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.

⁶The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

⁷After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.”

⁹But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

¹⁰Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

¹²Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico.

¹³None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

¹⁴And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

¹⁵so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

¹⁶The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

¹⁷But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy

¹⁸they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

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

²⁰“Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”

²¹And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

²²But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported,

²³“We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.”

²⁴Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to.

²⁵And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”

²⁶Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

²⁷And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them,

²⁸saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.”

²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

³⁰The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.

³¹God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

³²And we are witnesses to 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 in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.

³⁵And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.

³⁶For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

³⁷After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.

³⁸So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail;

³⁹but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice,

⁴⁰and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

⁴¹Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

⁴²And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.