Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate.

²And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”

³And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.”

⁴Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.”

⁵But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”

⁶When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean.

⁷And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.

⁸When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him.

⁹So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer.

¹⁰The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him.

¹¹And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate.

¹²And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

¹³Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people,

¹⁴and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him.

¹⁵Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him.

¹⁶I will therefore punish and release him.”

¹⁷

¹⁸But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas” —

¹⁹a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder.

²⁰Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus,

²¹but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!”

²²A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.”

²³But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed.

²⁴So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.

²⁵He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.

²⁶And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.

²⁷And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.

²⁸But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

²⁹For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’

³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’

³¹For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

³²Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.

³³And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.

³⁴And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

³⁵And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”

³⁶The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine

³⁷and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

³⁸There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

³⁹One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

⁴⁰But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

⁴¹And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

⁴²And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

⁴³And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

⁴⁴It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,

⁴⁵while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.

⁴⁶Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

⁴⁷Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”

⁴⁸And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.

⁴⁹And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

⁵⁰Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man,

⁵¹who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God.

⁵²This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

⁵³Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.

⁵⁴It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.

⁵⁵The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.

⁵⁶Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

¹All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

²Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?”

³But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

⁴So Moses cried to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

⁵And the LORD said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.

⁶Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

⁷And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

⁸Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.

⁹So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”

¹⁰So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

¹¹Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.

¹²But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

¹³And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

¹⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”

¹⁵And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner,

¹⁶saying, “A hand upon the throne of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

¹Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

²For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,

³how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

⁴while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

⁵For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.

⁶It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?

⁷You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,

⁸putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.

⁹But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

¹⁰For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

¹¹For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

¹²saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

¹³And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

¹⁴Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

¹⁵and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

¹⁶For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.

¹⁷Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

¹⁸For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

¹“Call now; is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?

²Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.

³I have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.

⁴His children are far from safety; they are crushed in the gate, and there is no one to deliver them.

⁵The hungry eat his harvest, and he takes it even out of thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

⁶For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground,

⁷but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.

⁸“As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause,

⁹who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number:

¹⁰he gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields;

¹¹he sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

¹²He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.

¹³He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.

¹⁴They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope at noonday as in the night.

¹⁵But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the mighty.

¹⁶So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.

¹⁷“Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.

¹⁸For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal.

¹⁹He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you.

²⁰In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

²¹You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue, and shall not fear destruction when it comes.

²²At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.

²³For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

²⁴You shall know that your tent is at peace, and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.

²⁵You shall know also that your offspring shall be many, and your descendants as the grass of the earth.

²⁶You shall come to your grave in ripe old age, like a sheaf gathered up in its season.

²⁷Behold, this we have searched out; it is true. Hear, and know it for your good.”

¹May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

²that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.

³Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!

⁴Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

⁵Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!

⁶The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.

⁷God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!

¹My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding,

²that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge.

³For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil,

⁴but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol;

⁶she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.

⁷And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house,

⁹lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless,

¹⁰lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,

¹¹and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed,

¹²and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!

¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.

¹⁴I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets?

¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth,

¹⁹a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.

²⁰Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?

²¹For a man's ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths.

²²The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

²³He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray.

¹As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

²And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house.

³Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.

⁴And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.

⁵And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

⁶As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.

⁷And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”

⁸And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?”

⁹And Saul eyed David from that day on.

¹⁰The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand.

¹¹And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice.

¹²Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul.

¹³So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people.

¹⁴And David had success in all his undertakings, for the LORD was with him.

¹⁵And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him.

¹⁶But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.

¹⁷Then Saul said to David, “Here is my elder daughter Merab. I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD's battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

¹⁸And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father's clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?”

¹⁹But at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife.

²⁰Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.

²¹Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall now be my son-in-law.”

²²And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king's son-in-law.’”

²³And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?”

²⁴And the servants of Saul told him, “Thus and so did David speak.”

²⁵Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king's enemies.’” Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

²⁶And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. Before the time had expired,

²⁷David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife.

²⁸But when Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him,

²⁹Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David's enemy continually.

³⁰Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle, and as often as they came out David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed.

¹The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,

²to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

³It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

⁴Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁵“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

⁶Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”

⁷But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.

⁸Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.”

⁹Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

¹⁰See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

¹¹And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch.”

¹²Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”

¹³The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.”

¹⁴Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁵For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah.

¹⁶And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.

¹⁷But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them.

¹⁸And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.

¹⁹They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.”

¹Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying,

³“You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

⁴But Peter began and explained it to them in order:

⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me.

⁶Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air.

⁷And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’

⁸But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’

¹⁰This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven.

¹¹And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea.

¹²And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house.

¹³And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter;

¹⁴he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’

¹⁵As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning.

¹⁶And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

¹⁷If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?”

¹⁸When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

¹⁹Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.

²⁰But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus.

²¹And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

²²The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

²³When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose,

²⁴for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.

²⁵So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,

²⁶and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

²⁷Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

²⁸And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).

²⁹So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.

³⁰And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.