Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

²Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers.

³Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, and Hezron fathered Ram.

⁴Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon.

⁵Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse.

⁶Jesse fathered David the king. David fathered Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.

⁷Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, and Abijah fathered Asa.

⁸Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, and Joram fathered Uzziah.

⁹Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, and Ahaz fathered Hezekiah.

¹⁰Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, and Amon fathered Josiah.

¹¹Josiah fathered Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

¹²After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel, and Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel.

¹³Zerubbabel fathered Abihud, Abihud fathered Eliakim, and Eliakim fathered Azor.

¹⁴Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, and Achim fathered Eliud.

¹⁵Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, and Matthan fathered Jacob.

¹⁶Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

¹⁷So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.

²⁰But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

²¹She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

²²Now all this took place so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled:

²³“BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN WILL CONCEIVE AND GIVE BIRTH TO A SON, AND THEY SHALL NAME HIM IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”

²⁴And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,

²⁵but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he named Him Jesus.

¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.

³You shall place the ark of the testimony there, and you shall screen off the ark with the veil.

⁴Then you shall bring in the table and arrange what belongs on it; and you shall bring in the lampstand and mount its lamps.

⁵You shall also set the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the testimony, and set up the curtain for the doorway to the tabernacle.

⁶And you shall set the altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.

⁷Then you shall set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.

⁸You shall also set up the courtyard all around and hang up the curtain for the gate of the courtyard.

⁹Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furnishings; and it shall be holy.

¹⁰You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, and the altar shall be most holy.

¹¹And you shall anoint the basin and its stand, and consecrate it.

¹²Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.

¹³And you shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him, so that he may serve as a priest to Me.

¹⁴You shall also bring his sons and put tunics on them;

¹⁵and you shall anoint them just as you have anointed their father, so that they may serve as priests to Me; and their anointing will qualify them for a permanent priesthood throughout their generations.”

¹⁶So Moses did these things; according to all that the LORD had commanded him, so he did.

¹⁷Now in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected.

¹⁸Moses erected the tabernacle and laid its bases, and set up its boards, and inserted its bars, and erected its pillars.

¹⁹And he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on top of it, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²⁰Then he took the testimony and put it into the ark, and attached the poles to the ark, and put the atoning cover on top of the ark.

²¹He then brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up a veil for the covering, and screened off the ark of the testimony, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²²He also put the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil.

²³And he set the arrangement of bread in order on it before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²⁴Then he placed the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle.

²⁵And he lighted the lamps before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²⁶Then he placed the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the veil;

²⁷and he burned fragrant incense on it, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²⁸Then he set up the curtain for the doorway of the tabernacle.

²⁹And he set the altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

³⁰He placed the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing.

³¹From it Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet.

³²When they entered the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

³³And he erected the courtyard all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the curtain for the gate of the courtyard. So Moses finished the work.

³⁴Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

³⁵And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

³⁶Throughout their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out;

³⁷but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up.

³⁸For throughout their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.

¹Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

²And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

³For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

⁴For just as we have many parts in one body and all the body’s parts do not have the same function,

⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another.

⁶However, since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if prophecy, in proportion to one’s faith;

⁷if service, in the act of serving; or the one who teaches, in the act of teaching;

⁸or the one who exhorts, in the work of exhortation; the one who gives, with generosity; the one who is in leadership, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

⁹Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.

¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor,

¹¹not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

¹²rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

¹³contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

¹⁶Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

¹⁷Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people.

¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people.

¹⁹Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.

²⁰“BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM; IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”

²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

¹Do not become teachers in large numbers, my brothers, since you know that we who are teachers will incur a stricter judgment.

²For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to rein in the whole body as well.

³Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their whole body as well.

⁴Look at the ships too: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are nevertheless directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot determines.

⁵So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!

⁶And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our body’s parts as that which defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.

⁷For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.

⁸But no one among mankind can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people, who have been made in the likeness of God;

¹⁰from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.

¹¹Does a spring send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?

¹²Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, bear olives, or a vine bear figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.

¹³Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.

¹⁴But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.

¹⁵This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.

¹⁶For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.

¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, free of hypocrisy.

¹⁸And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

¹“Certainly there is a mine for silver And a place for refining gold.

²Iron is taken from the dust, And copper is smelted from rock.

³Man puts an end to darkness, And to the farthest limit he searches out The rock in gloom and deep shadow.

⁴He sinks a shaft away from inhabited areas, Forgotten by the foot; They hang and swing, away from people.

⁵From the earth comes food, And underneath, it is turned over like fire.

⁶Its rocks are the source of sapphires, And its dust contains gold.

⁷No bird of prey knows the path, Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.

⁸The proud animals have not trodden it, Nor has the lion passed over it.

⁹He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the base.

¹⁰He carves out channels through the rocks, And his eye sees anything precious.

¹¹He dams up the streams from flowing, And brings to light what is hidden.

¹²“But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?

¹³Mankind does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living.

¹⁴The ocean depth says, ‘It is not in me’; And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

¹⁵Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, Nor can silver be weighed as its price.

¹⁶It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx, or sapphire.

¹⁷Gold or glass cannot equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of pure gold.

¹⁸Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned; And the acquisition of wisdom is more valuable than pearls.

¹⁹The topaz of Cush cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold.

²⁰Where then does wisdom come from? And where is this place of understanding?

²¹It is hidden from the eyes of every living creature, And concealed from the birds of the sky.

²²Abaddon and Death say, ‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’

²³“God understands its way, And He knows its place.

²⁴For He looks to the ends of the earth; He sees everything under the heavens.

²⁵When He imparted weight to the wind, And assessed the waters by measure,

²⁶When He made a limit for the rain, And a course for the thunderbolt,

²⁷Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out.

²⁸And to mankind He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to turn away from evil is understanding.’ ”

¹Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

²Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

³You turn mortals back into dust And say, “Return, you sons of mankind.”

⁴For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or like a watch in the night.

⁵You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass that sprouts anew.

⁶In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it wilts and withers away.

⁷For we have been consumed by Your anger, And we have been terrified by Your wrath.

⁸You have placed our guilty deeds before You, Our hidden sins in the light of Your presence.

⁹For all our days have dwindled away in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh.

¹⁰As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is only trouble and tragedy; For it quickly passes, and we disappear.

¹¹Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?

¹²So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

¹³Do return, LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants.

¹⁴Satisfy us in the morning with Your graciousness, That we may sing for joy and rejoice all our days.

¹⁵Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil.

¹⁶Let Your work appear to Your servants And Your majesty to their children.

¹⁷May the kindness of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands.

¹The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, But the righteous are bold as a lion.

²Due to a wrongdoing of a land its leaders are many, But by a person of understanding and knowledge, so it endures.

³A poor man who oppresses the helpless Is like a driving rain which leaves no food.

⁴Those who abandon the Law praise the wicked, But those who keep the Law strive against them.

⁵Evil people do not understand justice, But those who seek the LORD understand everything.

⁶Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity, Than a person who is crooked, though he is rich.

⁷He who keeps the Law is a discerning son, But he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.

⁸One who increases his wealth by interest of any kind, Collects it for one who is gracious to the poor.

⁹One who turns his ear away from listening to the Law, Even his prayer is an abomination.

¹⁰One who leads the upright astray in an evil way Will himself fall into his own pit, But the blameless will inherit good.

¹¹The rich person is wise in his own eyes, But the poor who has understanding sees through him.

¹²When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, But when the wicked rise, people hide themselves.

¹³One who conceals his wrongdoings will not prosper, But one who confesses and abandons them will find compassion.

¹⁴How blessed is the person who fears always, But one who hardens his heart will fall into disaster.

¹⁵Like a roaring lion and a rushing bear Is a wicked ruler over a poor people.

¹⁶A leader who is a great oppressor lacks understanding, But a person who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.

¹⁷A person who is burdened with the guilt of human blood Will be a fugitive until death; no one is to support him!

¹⁸One who walks blamelessly will receive help, But one who is crooked will fall all at once.

¹⁹One who works his land will have plenty of food, But one who follows empty pursuits will have plenty of poverty.

²⁰A faithful person will abound with blessings, But one who hurries to be rich will not go unpunished.

²¹To show partiality is not good, Because for a piece of bread a man will do wrong.

²²A person with an evil eye hurries after wealth And does not know that poverty will come upon him.

²³One who rebukes a person will afterward find more favor Than one who flatters with the tongue.

²⁴He who robs his father or his mother And says, “There is no wrong done,” Is the companion of a person who destroys.

²⁵An arrogant person stirs up strife, But one who trusts in the LORD will prosper.

²⁶One who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But one who walks wisely will flee to safety.

²⁷One who gives to the poor will never lack anything, But one who shuts his eyes will have many curses.

²⁸When the wicked rise, people hide themselves; But when they perish, the righteous increase.

¹Now it happened afterward that the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place.

²Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent some of his servants to console him about his father. But when David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites,

³the commanders of the Ammonites said to their lord Hanun, “Do you think that David is simply honoring your father since he has sent you servants to console you? Has David not sent his servants to you in order to explore the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?”

⁴So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half of their beards, and cut off their robes in the middle as far as their buttocks, and sent them away.

⁵When messengers informed David, he sent servants to meet them, because the men were extremely humiliated. And the king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back, and then you shall return.”

⁶Now when the sons of Ammon saw that they had become repulsive to David, the sons of Ammon sent messengers and hired the Arameans of Beth-rehob and the Arameans of Zobah, twenty thousand foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob with twelve thousand men.

⁷When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all the army, the warriors.

⁸And the sons of Ammon came out and lined up for battle at the entrance of the city, while the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were stationed by themselves in the field.

⁹Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him at the front and at the rear, he selected warriors from all the choice men in Israel, and lined them up against the Arameans.

¹⁰But the remainder of the people he placed under the command of his brother Abishai, and he lined them up against the sons of Ammon.

¹¹And he said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to help you.

¹²Be strong, and let’s show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and the cities of our God; and may the LORD do what is good in His sight.”

¹³So Joab and the people who were with him advanced to the battle against the Arameans, and they fled from him.

¹⁴When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they assembled together.

¹⁶And Hadadezer sent word and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam; and Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer led them.

¹⁷Now when it was reported to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Arameans lined up against David and fought him.

¹⁸But the Arameans fled from Israel, and David killed seven hundred charioteers of the Arameans and forty thousand horsemen, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there.

¹⁹When all the kings, servants of Hadadezer, saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the sons of Ammon anymore.

¹After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and metalworkers from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD.

²One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness.

³Then the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs: the good figs are very good, and the bad ones, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness.”

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

⁵“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans.

⁶For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; and I will build them up and not overthrow them, and I will plant them and not uproot them.

⁷I will also give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me wholeheartedly.

⁸‘But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness,’ indeed, this is what the LORD says, ‘so will I give up Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and the ones who live in the land of Egypt.

⁹I will make them an object of terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a disgrace and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all the places where I will scatter them.

¹⁰And I will send the sword, the famine, and the plague upon them until they are eliminated from the land which I gave to them and their forefathers.’ ”

¹Now at this time, as the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint developed on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.

²So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.

³Instead, brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

⁴But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

⁵The announcement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.

⁶And they brought these men before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.

⁷The word of God kept spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

⁸And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

⁹But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen.

¹⁰But they were unable to cope with his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.

¹¹Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

¹²And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away, and brought him before the Council.

¹³They put forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop speaking against this holy place and the Law;

¹⁴for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us.”

¹⁵And all who were sitting in the Council stared at him, and they saw his face, which was like the face of an angel.