Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.

²The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe.

³And they kept coming up to him and saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and were slapping his face.

⁴Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you to let you know I find no grounds for charging him.”

⁵Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

⁶When the chief priests and the temple servants saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate responded, “Take him and crucify him yourselves, since I find no grounds for charging him.”

⁷“We have a law,” the Jews replied to him, “and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”

⁸When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever.

⁹He went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer.

¹⁰So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?”

¹¹“You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

¹²From that moment Pilate kept trying to release him. But the Jews shouted, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar!”

¹³When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge’s seat in a place called the Stone Pavement (but in Aramaic, Gabbatha).

¹⁴It was the preparation day for the Passover, and it was about noon. Then he told the Jews, “Here is your king!”

¹⁵They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?” “We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.

¹⁶Then he handed him over to be crucified. Then they took Jesus away.

¹⁷Carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

¹⁸There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.

¹⁹Pilate also had a sign made and put on the cross. It said: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

²⁰Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.

²¹So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’”

²²Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written.”

²³When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from the top.

²⁴So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who gets it.” This happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled that says: They divided my clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing. This is what the soldiers did.

²⁵Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

²⁶When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”

²⁷Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

²⁸After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.”

²⁹A jar full of sour wine was sitting there; so they fixed a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it up to his mouth.

³⁰When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

³¹Since it was the preparation day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special day). They requested that Pilate have the men’s legs broken and that their bodies be taken away.

³²So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with him.

³³When they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs since they saw that he was already dead.

³⁴But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.

³⁵He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth.

³⁶For these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken.

³⁷Also, another Scripture says: They will look at the one they pierced.

³⁸After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus — but secretly because of his fear of the Jews — asked Pilate that he might remove Jesus’s body. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and took his body away.

³⁹Nicodemus (who had previously come to him at night) also came, bringing a mixture of about seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes.

⁴⁰They took Jesus’s body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the fragrant spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews.

⁴¹There was a garden in the place where he was crucified. A new tomb was in the garden; no one had yet been placed in it.

⁴²They placed Jesus there because of the Jewish day of preparation and since the tomb was nearby.

¹Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood, forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high.

²He overlaid it with pure gold inside and out and made a gold molding all around it.

³He cast four gold rings for it, for its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other side.

⁴He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

⁵He inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark for carrying the ark.

⁶He made a mercy seat of pure gold, forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide.

⁷He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat,

⁸one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end. At each end, he made a cherub of one piece with the mercy seat.

⁹They had wings spread out. They faced each other and covered the mercy seat with their wings. The faces of the cherubim were looking toward the mercy seat.

¹⁰He constructed the table of acacia wood, thirty-six inches long, eighteen inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high.

¹¹He overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold molding all around it.

¹²He made a three-inch frame all around it and made a gold molding all around its frame.

¹³He cast four gold rings for it and attached the rings to the four corners at its four legs.

¹⁴The rings were next to the frame as holders for the poles to carry the table.

¹⁵He made the poles for carrying the table from acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

¹⁶He also made the utensils that would be on the table out of pure gold: its plates and cups, as well as its bowls and pitchers for pouring drink offerings.

¹⁷Then he made the lampstand out of pure hammered gold. He made it all of one piece: its base and shaft, its ornamental cups, and its buds and petals.

¹⁸Six branches extended from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side and three branches of the lampstand from the other side.

¹⁹There were three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a bud and petals, on one branch, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a bud and petals, on the next branch. It was this way for the six branches that extended from the lampstand.

²⁰There were four cups shaped like almond blossoms on the lampstand shaft along with its buds and petals.

²¹For the six branches that extended from it, a bud was under the first pair of branches from it, a bud under the second pair of branches from it, and a bud under the third pair of branches from it.

²²Their buds and branches were of one piece with it. All of it was a single hammered piece of pure gold.

²³He also made its seven lamps, snuffers, and firepans of pure gold.

²⁴He made it and all its utensils of seventy-five pounds of pure gold.

²⁵He made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, eighteen inches long and eighteen inches wide; it was thirty-six inches high. Its horns were of one piece with it.

²⁶He overlaid it, its top, all around its sides, and its horns with pure gold. Then he made a gold molding all around it.

²⁷He made two gold rings for it under the molding on two of its sides; he put these on opposite sides of it to be holders for the poles to carry it with.

²⁸He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

²⁹He also made the holy anointing oil and the pure, fragrant, and expertly blended incense.

¹I speak the truth in Christ  — I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit  —

²that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

³For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood.

⁴They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises.

⁵The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ, who is God over all, praised forever. Amen.

⁶Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

⁷Neither are all of Abraham’s children his descendants. On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac.

⁸That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring.

⁹For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.

¹⁰And not only that, but Rebekah conceived children through one man, our father Isaac.

¹¹For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand —

¹²not from works but from the one who calls — she was told, The older will serve the younger.

¹³As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.

¹⁴What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not!

¹⁵For he tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

¹⁶So then, it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy.

¹⁷For the Scripture tells Pharaoh, I raised you up for this reason so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in the whole earth.

¹⁸So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

¹⁹You will say to me, therefore, “Why then does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”

²⁰But who are you, a mere man, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”

²¹Or has the potter no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor?

²²And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction?

²³And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory on objects of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory  —

²⁴on us, the ones he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

²⁵As it also says in Hosea, I will call Not My People, My People, and she who is Unloved, Beloved.

²⁶And it will be in the place where they were told, you are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God.

²⁷But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, Though the number of Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved;

²⁸since the Lord will execute his sentence completely and decisively on the earth.

²⁹And just as Isaiah predicted: If the Lord of Hosts had not left us offspring, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.

³⁰What should we say then? Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness — namely the righteousness that comes from faith.

³¹But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not achieved the righteousness of the law.

³²Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.

³³As it is written, Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and the one who believes on him will not be put to shame.

¹Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother: To Philemon our dear friend and coworker,

²to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your home.

³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I always thank my God when I mention you in my prayers,

⁵because I hear of your love for all the saints and the faith that you have in the Lord Jesus.

⁶I pray that your participation in the faith may become effective through knowing every good thing that is in us for the glory of Christ.

⁷For I have great joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.

⁸For this reason, although I have great boldness in Christ to command you to do what is right,

⁹I appeal to you, instead, on the basis of love. I, Paul, as an elderly man and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus,

¹⁰appeal to you for my son, Onesimus. I became his father while I was in chains.

¹¹Once he was useless to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me.

¹²I am sending him back to you — I am sending my very own heart.

¹³I wanted to keep him with me, so that in my imprisonment for the gospel he might serve me in your place.

¹⁴But I didn’t want to do anything without your consent, so that your good deed might not be out of obligation, but of your own free will.

¹⁵For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a brief time, so that you might get him back permanently,

¹⁶no longer as a slave, but more than a slave — as a dearly loved brother. He is especially so to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would me.

¹⁸And if he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.

¹⁹I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it — not to mention to you that you owe me even your very self.

²⁰Yes, brother, may I benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.

²¹Since I am confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

²²Meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, since I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you.

²³Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings, and so do

²⁴Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my coworkers.

²⁵The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²Dominion and dread belong to him, the one who establishes harmony in his heights.

³Can his troops be numbered? Does his light not shine on everyone?

⁴How can a human be justified before God? How can one born of woman be pure?

⁵If even the moon does not shine and the stars are not pure in his sight,

⁶how much less a human, who is a maggot, a son of man, who is a worm!

¹A psalm of the sons of Korah. A song. [1] The city he founded is on the holy mountains.

²The LORD loves Zion’s city gates more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

³Glorious things are said about you, city of God. Selah

⁴“I will make a record of those who know me: Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush — each one was born there.”

⁵And it will be said of Zion, “This one and that one were born in her.” The Most High himself will establish her.

⁶When he registers the peoples, the LORD will record, “This one was born there.” Selah

⁷Singers and dancers alike will say, “My whole source of joy is in you.”

¹These too are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of King Hezekiah of Judah, copied.

²It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to investigate a matter.

³As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be investigated.

⁴Remove impurities from silver, and material will be produced for a silversmith.

⁵Remove the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Don’t boast about yourself before the king, and don’t stand in the place of the great;

⁷for it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here!” than to demote you in plain view of a noble.

⁸Don’t take a matter to court hastily. Otherwise, what will you do afterward if your opponent humiliates you?

⁹Make your case with your opponent without revealing another’s secret;

¹⁰otherwise, the one who hears will disgrace you, and you’ll never live it down.

¹¹A word spoken at the right time is like gold apples in silver settings.

¹²A wise correction to a receptive ear is like a gold ring or an ornament of gold.

¹³To those who send him, a trustworthy envoy is like the coolness of snow on a harvest day; he refreshes the life of his masters.

¹⁴The one who boasts about a gift that does not exist is like clouds and wind without rain.

¹⁵A ruler can be persuaded through patience, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.

¹⁶If you find honey, eat only what you need; otherwise, you’ll get sick from it and vomit.

¹⁷Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house; otherwise, he’ll get sick of you and hate you.

¹⁸A person giving false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Trusting an unreliable person in a difficult time is like a rotten tooth or a faltering foot.

²⁰Singing songs to a troubled heart is like taking off clothing on a cold day or like pouring vinegar on soda.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;

²²for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

²³The north wind produces rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.

²⁴Better to live on the corner of a roof than to share a house with a nagging wife.

²⁵Good news from a distant land is like cold water to a parched throat.

²⁶A righteous person who yields to the wicked is like a muddied spring or a polluted well.

²⁷It is not good to eat too much honey or to seek glory after glory.

²⁸A person who does not control his temper is like a city whose wall is broken down.

¹When the king had settled into his palace and the LORD had given him rest on every side from all his enemies,

²the king said to the prophet Nathan, “Look, I am living in a cedar house while the ark of God sits inside tent curtains.”

³So Nathan told the king, “Go and do all that is on your mind, for the LORD is with you.”

⁴But that night the word of the LORD came to Nathan:

⁵“Go to my servant David and say, ‘This is what the LORD says: Are you to build me a house to dwell in?

⁶From the time I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today I have not dwelt in a house; instead, I have been moving around with a tent as my dwelling.

⁷In all my journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever spoken a word to one of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, asking: Why haven’t you built me a house of cedar?’

⁸“So now this is what you are to say to my servant David: ‘This is what the LORD of Armies says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, to be ruler over my people Israel.

⁹I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a great name for you like that of the greatest on the earth.

¹⁰I will designate a place for my people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they have done

¹¹ever since the day I ordered judges to be over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. “‘The LORD declares to you: The LORD himself will make a house for you.

¹²When your time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

¹³He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

¹⁴I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and blows from mortals.

¹⁵But my faithful love will never leave him as it did when I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

¹⁶Your house and kingdom will endure before me forever, and your throne will be established forever.’”

¹⁷Nathan reported all these words and this entire vision to David.

¹⁸Then King David went in, sat in the LORD’s presence, and said, Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my house that you have brought me this far?

¹⁹What you have done so far was a little thing to you, Lord GOD, for you have also spoken about your servant’s house in the distant future. And this is a revelation for mankind, Lord GOD.

²⁰What more can David say to you? You know your servant, Lord GOD.

²¹Because of your word and according to your will, you have revealed all these great things to your servant.

²²This is why you are great, Lord GOD. There is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, as all we have heard confirms.

²³And who is like your people Israel? God came to one nation on earth in order to redeem a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to perform for them great and awesome acts, driving out nations and their gods before your people you redeemed for yourself from Egypt.

²⁴You established your people Israel to be your own people forever, and you, LORD, have become their God.

²⁵Now, LORD God, fulfill the promise forever that you have made to your servant and his house. Do as you have promised,

²⁶so that your name will be exalted forever, when it is said, “The LORD of Armies is God over Israel.” The house of your servant David will be established before you

²⁷since you, LORD of Armies, God of Israel, have revealed this to your servant when you said, “I will build a house for you.” Therefore, your servant has found the courage to pray this prayer to you.

²⁸Lord GOD, you are God; your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.

²⁹Now, please bless your servant’s house so that it will continue before you forever. For you, Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing your servant’s house will be blessed forever.

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah, asking,

²“Inquire of the LORD on our behalf, since King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the LORD will perform for us something like all his past wondrous works so that Nebuchadnezzar will withdraw from us.”

³But Jeremiah answered, “This is what you are to say to Zedekiah:

⁴‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I am about to repel the weapons of war in your hands, those you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall, and I will bring them into the center of this city.

⁵I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a strong arm, with anger, rage, and intense wrath.

⁶I will strike the residents of this city, both people and animals. They will die in a severe plague.

⁷Afterward — this is the LORD’s declaration — King Zedekiah of Judah, his officers, and the people — those in this city who survive the plague, the sword, and the famine — I will hand over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, to their enemies, yes, to those who intend to take their lives. He will put them to the sword; he won’t spare them or show pity or compassion.’

⁸“But tell this people, ‘This is what the LORD says: Look, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.

⁹Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and will retain his life like the spoils of war.

¹⁰For I have set my face against this city to bring disaster and not good  — this is the LORD’s declaration. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, who will burn it.’

¹¹“And to the house of the king of Judah say this: ‘Hear the word of the LORD!

¹²House of David, this is what the LORD says: Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from his oppressor, or my anger will flare up like fire and burn unquenchably because of your evil deeds.

¹³Beware! I am against you, you who sit above the valley, you atop the rocky plateau — this is the LORD’s declaration — you who say, “Who can come down against us? Who can enter our hiding places?”

¹⁴I will punish you according to what you have done  — this is the LORD’s declaration. I will kindle a fire in your forest that will consume everything around it.’”

¹Now Peter and John were going up to the temple for the time of prayer at three in the afternoon.

²A man who was lame from birth was being carried there. He was placed each day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so that he could beg from those entering the temple.

³When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple, he asked for money.

⁴Peter, along with John, looked straight at him and said, “Look at us.”

⁵So he turned to them, expecting to get something from them.

⁶But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

⁷Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong.

⁸So he jumped up and started to walk, and he entered the temple with them — walking, leaping, and praising God.

⁹All the people saw him walking and praising God,

¹⁰and they recognized that he was the one who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. So they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him.

¹¹While he was holding on to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astonished, ran toward them in what is called Solomon’s Colonnade.

¹²When Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk by our own power or godliness?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied before Pilate, though he had decided to release him.

¹⁴You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you.

¹⁵You killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead; we are witnesses of this.

¹⁶By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in front of all of you.

¹⁷“And now, brothers and sisters, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your leaders also did.

¹⁸In this way God fulfilled what he had predicted through all the prophets — that his Messiah would suffer.

¹⁹Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out,

²⁰that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah.

²¹Heaven must receive him until the time of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about through his holy prophets from the beginning.

²²Moses said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers and sisters. You must listen to everything he tells you.

²³And everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be completely cut off from the people.

²⁴“In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also foretold these days.

²⁵You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, And all the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.

²⁶God raised up his servant and sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”