Regularly reading through the Bible in a systematic, organized manner is a helpful way to repeatedly take in all the Bible has to teach us, and to see how God has worked to progressively communicate himself to His people throughout time.
Many Options to Assist
Below are many Bible reading plans you can take advantage of. Select a plan that is manageable but will challenge you. For example, if you’ve never read all the way through the Bible, or if you don’t see yourself as a steady reader, you may want a two-year plan to read through the Bible (that’s about 2 chapters a day and about 10-15 minutes of reading).
If you aren’t sure how the Bible fits together, or how God has worked throughout history to accomplish redemption for His people, the Redemptive Historical Plan may be helpful for you.
There are plenty of options here. I would suggest taking 10-minutes to look through the summaries below, prayerfully make a selection, print it off, and begin reading today.
A Word of Caution
Bible reading plans are a wonderful assistance. However, sometimes strict adherence to a plan—especially when we fall behind or are confronted by less-than-familiar passages—can turn the delight of fellowshipping with the Lord in His Word into dull, fatiguing labor.
A solution! Use a plan if it’s helpful to you and if you fall behind, you have freedom to skip to catch up with the current date! Reading through the Bible in a year—or two—does not make you a better or more faithful Christian.
Printed and scheduled Bible reading plans are just to assist.
Wisdom from Newton
John Newton suggested one that is particularly simple: Start at the beginning, and keep reading all the way until the end. Then, do it again.
I know not a better rule of reading the Scripture, than to read it through from beginning to end; and, when we have finished it once, to begin it again. We shall meet with many passages which we can make little improvement of, but not so many in the second reading as in the first, and fewer in the third than in the second.1
The Best Kind of Reading Plan
Newton’s point was not that reading through the Bible for the sake of it is the end goal. No, our aim us to see Christ more clearly as we become more and more familiar with the Bible’s cohesive message. As Tony Reinke says regarding this very point in Newton on the Christian Life:
Rereading the Bible over and over will help you make sense of Scripture. And reviewing Scripture over and over will help you see more of Christ. To see Christ on every page requires a familiarity with the entire Bible.
So identify a way to help yourself read through the Bible consistently. Whether that takes a year or three is not the point. The goal is to know God better so we know his good commands well. The Psalmist said well,
Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding (insight) than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.” (Psalm 119:97-101).
Enjoy the Lord through His Word this year. I know you—we all—will be blessed for it.
- Newton as quoted by Tony Reinke in Newton on the Christian Life: To Live Is Christ. ↵
The plans below were originally curated by Ligonier Ministries.
52-Week Bible Reading Plan
Read through the Bible in a year with each day of the week dedicated to a different genre: epistles, the law, history, Psalms, poetry, prophecy, and Gospels.
Duration:Â One year |Â Download:Â PDF
5x5x5 New Testament Bible Reading Plan
Read through the New Testament in a year, reading Monday to Friday. Weekends are set aside for reflection and other reading. This plan is especially beneficial if you’re new to a daily discipline of Bible reading.
Duration:Â One year |Â Download:Â PDF
A Bible Reading Chart
Read through the Bible at your own pace. Use this minimalistic yet beautifully designed chart to track your reading throughout the year.
Duration:Â Flexible |Â Download:Â PDF
Chronological Bible Reading Plan
Read through the Bible in the order the events occurred chronologically.
Duration:Â One year |Â Download:Â PDF
The Navigators Bible Reading Plan
Four daily readings beginning in Genesis, Psalms, Matthew, and Acts.
Duration:Â One year |Â Download:Â PDF
The Navigators Book-at-a-Time Bible Reading Plan
Two daily readings, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. Complete an entire book in each testament before moving on.
Duration:Â One year |Â Download:Â PDF
ESV Daily Bible Reading Plan
Four daily readings taken from four lists: Psalms and wisdom literature, Pentateuch and history of Israel, Chronicles and prophets, and Gospels and epistles.
Duration:Â One year |Â Download:Â PDF
ESV 6-Month New Testament Reading Plan
Read straight through the New Testament in six months by focusing on a short section each day.
Duration:Â Six months |Â Download:Â PDF
ESV A-Psalm-a-Day Reading Plan
Read through the book of Psalms in 150 days with this chapter-a-day reading plan.
Duration:Â Five months |Â Download:Â PDF
Every Word in the Bible
Read through the Bible one chapter at a time. Readings alternate between the Old and New Testaments.
Duration:Â Three years |Â Download:Â PDF
Historical Bible Reading Plan
The Old Testament readings are ordered similarly to Israel’s Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament readings attempt to follow the order in which the books were authored.
Duration:Â One year |Â Download:Â PDF
An In-Depth Study of Matthew
A year-long study in the Gospel of Matthew from Tabletalk magazine and R.C. Sproul.
Duration: One year | App: Accessible on YouVersion. Download the app.
Bible in a Year
This plan takes you through the entire Bible with two readings each day: one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament.
Duration: One year | App: Accessible on YouVersion. Download the app.
Professor Grant Horner’s Bible Reading System
Reading ten chapters a day, in the course of a year you’ll read the Gospels four times, the Pentateuch twice, Paul’s letters four to five times, the Old Testament wisdom literature six times, the Psalms at least twice, Proverbs and Acts a dozen times, and the Old Testament history and prophetic books about one and a half times.
Duration:Â Ongoing |Â Download:Â PDF
Redemptive-Historical Bible Reading Plan
This plan curates key chapters of the Old and New Testaments that help frame the flow of
redemptive history—how God has worked in history to bring about his plan of salvation. It is designed to help you gain a solid grounding in the entire message of the Bible.
Duration:Â Ongoing |Â Download:Â PDF
Robert Murray M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Read the New Testament and Psalms twice and the Old Testament once.
Duration:Â One or two years |Â Download:Â Website
Straight-through-the-Bible Reading Plan
Read straight through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
Duration:Â One year |Â Download:Â PDF
Tabletalk Bible Reading Plan
This Bible reading plan includes two readings each day, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. By the end of the plan, you’ll have read through the entire Bible in one year.
Duration:Â One year |Â Download:Â PDF
The Legacy Reading Plan
This plan does not have set readings for each day. Instead, it has set books for each month and a set number of Proverbs and Psalms for each week. It aims to give you more flexibility while grounding you in specific books of the Bible.
Duration:Â One year |Â Download:Â PDF
Two-Year Bible Reading Plan
Read the Old and New Testaments once and Psalms and Proverbs four times.
Duration:Â Two years |Â Download:Â PDF
