Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.

²And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe.

³They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.

⁴Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”

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

⁶When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.”

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

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

⁹He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.

¹⁰So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?”

¹¹Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

¹²From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

¹³So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha.

¹⁴Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

¹⁵They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

¹⁶So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. The Crucifixion So they took Jesus,

¹⁷and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

¹⁸There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.

¹⁹Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

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

²¹So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’”

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

²³When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom,

²⁴so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things,

²⁵but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

²⁶When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”

²⁷Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

²⁸After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”

²⁹A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.

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

³¹Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.

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

³³But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

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

³⁵He who saw it has borne witness — his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth — that you also may believe.

³⁶For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”

³⁷And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

³⁸After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.

³⁹Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.

⁴⁰So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

⁴¹Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.

⁴²So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

¹Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height.

²And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it.

³And he cast for it four rings of gold for its four feet, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side.

⁴And he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold

⁵and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark.

⁶And he made a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.

⁷And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat,

⁸one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends.

⁹The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.

¹⁰He also made the table of acacia wood. Two cubits was its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height.

¹¹And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made a molding of gold around it.

¹²And he made a rim around it a handbreadth wide, and made a molding of gold around the rim.

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

¹⁴Close to the frame were the rings, as holders for the poles to carry the table.

¹⁵He made the poles of acacia wood to carry the table, and overlaid them with gold.

¹⁶And he made the vessels of pure gold that were to be on the table, its plates and dishes for incense, and its bowls and flagons with which to pour drink offerings.

¹⁷He also made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers were of one piece with it.

¹⁸And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it;

¹⁹three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch — so for the six branches going out of the lampstand.

²⁰And on the lampstand itself were four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers,

²¹and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out of it.

²²Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole of it was a single piece of hammered work of pure gold.

²³And he made its seven lamps and its tongs and its trays of pure gold.

²⁴He made it and all its utensils out of a talent of pure gold.

²⁵He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. Its length was a cubit, and its breadth was a cubit. It was square, and two cubits was its height. Its horns were of one piece with it.

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

²⁷and made two rings of gold on it under its molding, on two opposite sides of it, as holders for the poles with which to carry it.

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

²⁹He made the holy anointing oil also, and the pure fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer.

¹I am speaking the truth in Christ — I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit —

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

³For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

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

⁵To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

⁶But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,

⁷and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

⁸This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

⁹For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”

¹⁰And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,

¹¹though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad — in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls —

¹²she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”

¹³As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

¹⁴What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!

¹⁵For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

¹⁶So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

¹⁷For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

¹⁸So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

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

²⁰But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

²¹Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?

²²What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,

²³in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory —

²⁴even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

²⁵As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”

²⁶“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

²⁷And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved,

²⁸for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.”

²⁹And as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.”

³⁰What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith;

³¹but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.

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

³³as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

¹Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker

²and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:

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

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

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

⁶and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.

⁷For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

⁸Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required,

⁹yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you — I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus —

¹⁰I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment.

¹¹(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.)

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

¹³I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel,

¹⁴but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord.

¹⁵For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever,

¹⁶no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother — especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me.

¹⁸If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.

¹⁹I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it — to say nothing of your owing me even your own self.

²⁰Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.

²¹Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

²²At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.

²³Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you,

²⁴and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

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

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

²“Dominion and fear are with God; he makes peace in his high heaven.

³Is there any number to his armies? Upon whom does his light not arise?

⁴How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure?

⁵Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes;

⁶how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!”

¹On the holy mount stands the city he founded;

²the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

³Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God. Selah

⁴Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush — “This one was born there,” they say.

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

⁶The LORD records as he registers the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah

⁷Singers and dancers alike say, “All my springs are in you.”

¹These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied.

²It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.

³As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.

⁴Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel;

⁵take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great,

⁷for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. What your eyes have seen

⁸do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame?

⁹Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another's secret,

¹⁰lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end.

¹¹A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

¹²Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.

¹³Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters.

¹⁴Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.

¹⁵With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.

¹⁶If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.

¹⁷Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.

¹⁸A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.

²⁰Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him bread 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 brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.

²⁴It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.

²⁵Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

²⁶Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

²⁷It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory.

²⁸A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

¹Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,

²the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.”

³And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.”

⁴But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan,

⁵“Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in?

⁶I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.

⁷In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’

⁸Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.

⁹And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.

¹⁰And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly,

¹¹from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.

¹²When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

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

¹⁴I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men,

¹⁵but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.

¹⁶And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”

¹⁷In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

¹⁸Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?

¹⁹And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD. You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD!

²⁰And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD!

²¹Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it.

²²Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

²³And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods?

²⁴And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O LORD, became their God.

²⁵And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken.

²⁶And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you.

²⁷For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.

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

²⁹Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

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

²“Inquire of the LORD for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”

³Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah,

⁴‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. And I will bring them together into the midst of this city.

⁵I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath.

⁶And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence.

⁷Afterward, declares the LORD, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’

⁸“And to this people you shall say: ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

⁹He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war.

¹⁰For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’

¹¹“And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD,

¹²O house of David! Thus says the LORD: “‘Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of your evil deeds.’”

¹³“Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, O rock of the plain, declares the LORD; you who say, ‘Who shall come down against us, or who shall enter our habitations?’

¹⁴I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds, declares the LORD; I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is around her.”

¹Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

²And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple.

³Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms.

⁴And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.”

⁵And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.

⁶But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

⁷And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

⁸And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

⁹And all the people saw him walking and praising God,

¹⁰and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

¹¹While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's.

¹²And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.

¹⁴But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,

¹⁵and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.

¹⁶And his name — by faith in his name — has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

¹⁷“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

¹⁸But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.

¹⁹Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,

²⁰that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,

²¹whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

²²Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.

²³And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’

²⁴And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.

²⁵You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’

²⁶God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”