Bible reading plans
- Thread starter Matthias
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From my X / Twitter “For you” feed this afternoon -
“Question: ‘Is reading my Bible twice a week good enough?’
Sproul: ‘No. The godly person is grounded and rooted deeply in the word of God. Twice a week will not do it. The learning of the things of God has to be a priority.’”
“Question: ‘Is reading my Bible twice a week good enough?’
Sproul: ‘No. The godly person is grounded and rooted deeply in the word of God. Twice a week will not do it. The learning of the things of God has to be a priority.’”
“John MacArthur gives advice on how best to read Scripture: ‘It’s much better to read books than to read spotty and randomly around, because when God gave us His word, He gave us books. Set a book target and keep reading it over and over.’”
I’ve neve followed that reading plan. It’s called “synthetic reading” -> reading only one book of the Bible every day for 30 days. I’m reading How to Master the English Bible (written by James M. Gray, and published in 1904). The difference between MacArthur and Gray is primarily where to start; MacArthur suggests the New Testament and Gray the Old Testament.
An excerpt from Gray’s book -
“The plan was to read and re-read each book by itself and in its order, as though there were no other in existence, until it became part of the very being.
[Sidenote: Joy and Power]
Was the task tedious and long? No more than was Jacob’s when he served Laban for his daughter Rachel. There were compensations all along the way and ever-increasing delight. No romance ever held sway over the thought and imagination in comparison with this Book of books. A better investment of time were never made by any minister; and, shut me up to-day to a choice between all the ministerial lore I ever learned elsewhere and what was learned in this synthetic reading of the Bible, and it would not take me as many minutes to decide in favour of the latter. Nor did I know until lately how closely my feeling in this respect harmonised with that of a great educator and theologian of an earlier day.
[Sidenote: Dean Burgon and Dr. Routh] Dean Burgon tells of an interview he had in 1846 with the learned president of Magdalen College, Oxford, Dr. Martin J. Routh, then aged ninety-one. He had called upon him for advice as to the best way of pursuing his theological studies.
‘I think, sir, said Dr. Routh, ‘were I you, sir - that I would - first of all - read the - the Gospel according to St. Matthew. ‘ Here he paused. ‘And after I had read the Gospel according to St. Matthew - I would - were I you, sir - go on to read - the Gospel according to St. - Mark.’
‘I looked at him,’ says Dean Burgon, ‘anxiously, to see whether he was serious. One glance was enough. He was giving me, but at a very slow rate, the outline of my future course.’
Here was a theologian of ninety-one, says the narrator of this incident, ‘who, after surveying the entire field of sacred science, had come back to the starting point, and had nothing better to advise me to read than - the Gospel!’ And thus he kept in until he had mentioned all the books of the New Testament. Sad, however, that the story should have been spoiled by his not beginning at Genesis!”
(James M. Gray, How to Master the English Bible, p. 15)
Reading a single book of the Bible, from beginning to end, 30 days in a row. Has any member of the forum used this plan?
I’m seriously thinking about trying it in 2026 - and I’ll be posting a video of a plan using this method which takes three years to complete. Do I really want to commit to a three-year intensive NT reading plan? I might.
I’ve neve followed that reading plan. It’s called “synthetic reading” -> reading only one book of the Bible every day for 30 days. I’m reading How to Master the English Bible (written by James M. Gray, and published in 1904). The difference between MacArthur and Gray is primarily where to start; MacArthur suggests the New Testament and Gray the Old Testament.
An excerpt from Gray’s book -
“The plan was to read and re-read each book by itself and in its order, as though there were no other in existence, until it became part of the very being.
[Sidenote: Joy and Power]
Was the task tedious and long? No more than was Jacob’s when he served Laban for his daughter Rachel. There were compensations all along the way and ever-increasing delight. No romance ever held sway over the thought and imagination in comparison with this Book of books. A better investment of time were never made by any minister; and, shut me up to-day to a choice between all the ministerial lore I ever learned elsewhere and what was learned in this synthetic reading of the Bible, and it would not take me as many minutes to decide in favour of the latter. Nor did I know until lately how closely my feeling in this respect harmonised with that of a great educator and theologian of an earlier day.
[Sidenote: Dean Burgon and Dr. Routh] Dean Burgon tells of an interview he had in 1846 with the learned president of Magdalen College, Oxford, Dr. Martin J. Routh, then aged ninety-one. He had called upon him for advice as to the best way of pursuing his theological studies.
‘I think, sir, said Dr. Routh, ‘were I you, sir - that I would - first of all - read the - the Gospel according to St. Matthew. ‘ Here he paused. ‘And after I had read the Gospel according to St. Matthew - I would - were I you, sir - go on to read - the Gospel according to St. - Mark.’
‘I looked at him,’ says Dean Burgon, ‘anxiously, to see whether he was serious. One glance was enough. He was giving me, but at a very slow rate, the outline of my future course.’
Here was a theologian of ninety-one, says the narrator of this incident, ‘who, after surveying the entire field of sacred science, had come back to the starting point, and had nothing better to advise me to read than - the Gospel!’ And thus he kept in until he had mentioned all the books of the New Testament. Sad, however, that the story should have been spoiled by his not beginning at Genesis!”
(James M. Gray, How to Master the English Bible, p. 15)
Reading a single book of the Bible, from beginning to end, 30 days in a row. Has any member of the forum used this plan?
I’m seriously thinking about trying it in 2026 - and I’ll be posting a video of a plan using this method which takes three years to complete. Do I really want to commit to a three-year intensive NT reading plan? I might.
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The short video (five and a half minutes) I mentioned in post #164.
Super simple Bible reading plan? Yes. (And it even comes with helpful downloadable monthly check sheets to track your progress.)
***
Grabbing a New Testament book at random - say, Philippians -> how does reading the entire epistle every day for 30 days in a row sound to you? Before moving to another book - say, Colossians, the next month and reading only it in its entirety every day for 30 days in a row. How does that sound to you? After two months of daily reading, the person following this plan will have read Philippians 30 times and Colossians 30 times. Only 25 more NT books to go …
I don’t think this Bible reading plan is for sissies, Ulysses.
Super simple Bible reading plan? Yes. (And it even comes with helpful downloadable monthly check sheets to track your progress.)
***
Grabbing a New Testament book at random - say, Philippians -> how does reading the entire epistle every day for 30 days in a row sound to you? Before moving to another book - say, Colossians, the next month and reading only it in its entirety every day for 30 days in a row. How does that sound to you? After two months of daily reading, the person following this plan will have read Philippians 30 times and Colossians 30 times. Only 25 more NT books to go …
I don’t think this Bible reading plan is for sissies, Ulysses.
MacArthur recommends starting with 1 John.
1 John on Monday. 1 John on Tuesday. 1 John on Wednesday. 1 John on Thursday. 1 John on Friday. 1 John on Saturday. 1 John on Sunday.
I’m feeling a little worn down just looking at it. … But that’s only one week. There are three more weeks of the exact same reading to go! We’re just warming up.
1 John on Monday. 1 John on Tuesday. 1 John on Wednesday. 1 John on Thursday. 1 John on Friday. 1 John on Saturday. 1 John on Sunday.
Half way finished with 1 John. Only two more weeks exactly like the last two weeks and we’ll be ready to begin reading a different book of the New Testament, in the same or similar fashion. (Longer books can be broken down to 5 chapters of the book per day.)
I can see the value of following the plan but I can also see the possibility of easily getting off schedule. (“Day 22 of 1 John. Great epistle. I’ll shampoo the Llama and then get right on it again.”)
“No pain, no gain.”
Reading the Bible shouldn’t be a painful experience.
What about modifying the plan? Instead of reading the same book 30 days in a row before moving on to another book, read the same book 7 days in a row before moving on to a another book?
I don’t know. Something to think about. Maybe something to try.
1 John on Monday. 1 John on Tuesday. 1 John on Wednesday. 1 John on Thursday. 1 John on Friday. 1 John on Saturday. 1 John on Sunday.
I’m feeling a little worn down just looking at it. … But that’s only one week. There are three more weeks of the exact same reading to go! We’re just warming up.
1 John on Monday. 1 John on Tuesday. 1 John on Wednesday. 1 John on Thursday. 1 John on Friday. 1 John on Saturday. 1 John on Sunday.
Half way finished with 1 John. Only two more weeks exactly like the last two weeks and we’ll be ready to begin reading a different book of the New Testament, in the same or similar fashion. (Longer books can be broken down to 5 chapters of the book per day.)
I can see the value of following the plan but I can also see the possibility of easily getting off schedule. (“Day 22 of 1 John. Great epistle. I’ll shampoo the Llama and then get right on it again.”)
“No pain, no gain.”
Reading the Bible shouldn’t be a painful experience.
What about modifying the plan? Instead of reading the same book 30 days in a row before moving on to another book, read the same book 7 days in a row before moving on to a another book?
I don’t know. Something to think about. Maybe something to try.
From my X / Twitter “For you” feed this morning -
“Three steps to rightly navigate the religious pluralism of our age and to glorify God:
1) Read the Bible
2) Believe the Bible
3) Obey the Bible”
The Baptist preacher makes a good point.
Why would a follower of the Messiah not want to do that every day of his or her life?
“Three steps to rightly navigate the religious pluralism of our age and to glorify God:
1) Read the Bible
2) Believe the Bible
3) Obey the Bible”
The Baptist preacher makes a good point.
Why would a follower of the Messiah not want to do that every day of his or her life?
I’m considering several different reading plans for 2026. After I watched the video that I posted this morning (see post #170) the thought crossed my mind that there is nothing prohibiting us from using more than one plan in a year, nor is there a prohibition against starting a plan and deciding after a while to discontinue it and exchange it for another plan.
The synthetic Bible reading plan advocated by Gray intrigues me. I’m giving it a trial run this week. I’m using Jonah as my guinea pig -> Monday, Jonah 1-4; Tuesday, Jonah 1-4; Wednesday, Jonah 1-4; Thursday, Jonah 1-4; Friday, Jonah 1-4; Saturday, Jonah 1-4; Sunday, Jonah 1-4. I’ll evaluate it after I finish in Sunday. (Meanwhile, I’ll also be jointly continuing with the reading plan I’ve been using for 2025.)
I’m starting the seven day trial using the Jerusalem Bible. I might decide to use one or more other translations during the trial.
The synthetic Bible reading plan advocated by Gray intrigues me. I’m giving it a trial run this week. I’m using Jonah as my guinea pig -> Monday, Jonah 1-4; Tuesday, Jonah 1-4; Wednesday, Jonah 1-4; Thursday, Jonah 1-4; Friday, Jonah 1-4; Saturday, Jonah 1-4; Sunday, Jonah 1-4. I’ll evaluate it after I finish in Sunday. (Meanwhile, I’ll also be jointly continuing with the reading plan I’ve been using for 2025.)
I’m starting the seven day trial using the Jerusalem Bible. I might decide to use one or more other translations during the trial.
Dr. Donald Whitney encourages his listeners to use a Bible reading plan.
”To have a good plan keeps us from randomly reading through the Bible … [which is] not the best way.”
His plan? Start with Genesis, Joshua, Job, Isaiah and Matthew.
Consider a plan with flexibility, which has built in opportunities to help people catch up if you miss a day or two each month.
There are many good reading plans; avoid the random reading of scripture. It’s more satisfying and edifying to read scripture in a systematic way.
There needs to be a system, an intentionality, to stick with it and avoid being derailed by the every day distractions of living.
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“There is enough dust on some of your Bibles to write ‘damnation’ with your fingers.” - C.H. Spurgeon
It shouldn’t be that way, but it’s easy to correct. It starts with making a plan.
It shouldn’t be that way, but it’s easy to correct. It starts with making a plan.
I finished the trial. I read the book of Jonah, using the New Jerusalem Bible every day, for seven days in a row. I liked the intensive reading, and I can see myself using a modified intensive reading plan in 2026, but I don’t think I would be up to reading the same book thirty days in a row. After seven days, I’m ready to focus my daily reading on other books of the Bible. I won’t do that for the remaining six weeks of this year but I’ve decided to use this method beginning in January.
“Many false teachers operate by mixing some truth with a crucial lie. This is the oldest trick of Satan. And the only way to know you’re being lied to is to know the truth well: the Bible.” - Trevor Sheatz
To know the Bible well we need to read the Bible regularly.
To know the Bible well we need to read the Bible regularly.
From my X / Twitter “For you” feed this afternoon -
“I have just finished my second complete read-through of the Bible. I’m sad to confess it took me longer than it should have.
We should all regularly be trying to read through the greatest book (collection of books) as often as we can through our short lives. Wisdom lies in those who began that work earlier in their lives than I did.
And as motivation for doing so, I offer this passage from the penultimate chapter of the Book of Revelation:
‘And he said unto me, It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.’ Revelation 21:6.
So for me, time to begin again, for the third time, with the Bible’s Alpha: The Book of Genesis. One cannot help but think that the Bible is itself its own River of Life.”
(Jeff Clark)
Is it it time for you to begin? Is is time for you to begin again? Either way, it‘s wise to begin reading the Bible regularly.
“I have just finished my second complete read-through of the Bible. I’m sad to confess it took me longer than it should have.
We should all regularly be trying to read through the greatest book (collection of books) as often as we can through our short lives. Wisdom lies in those who began that work earlier in their lives than I did.
And as motivation for doing so, I offer this passage from the penultimate chapter of the Book of Revelation:
‘And he said unto me, It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.’ Revelation 21:6.
So for me, time to begin again, for the third time, with the Bible’s Alpha: The Book of Genesis. One cannot help but think that the Bible is itself its own River of Life.”
(Jeff Clark)
Is it it time for you to begin? Is is time for you to begin again? Either way, it‘s wise to begin reading the Bible regularly.
“False teachers rely on you not knowing what the Bible says. They want you ignorant so they can fill the void with their own lies. Read your Bible constantly.” - Trevor Sheatz
Whether or not that’s what false teachers universally want, reading the Bible constantly, regularly, will always be a discipline which will always serve us well.
Whether or not that’s what false teachers universally want, reading the Bible constantly, regularly, will always be a discipline which will always serve us well.
“A man was strangled for a Christmas present.
Then burned.
His crime?
He translated the Bible into English.
1536. A prison courtyard in Belgium.
William Tyndale kneels in the dirt.
He’s been there over a year. Betrayed by a friend. Arrested for heresy. Stripped of his priesthood in a public ceremony designed to humiliate him.
The executioner stepped forward.
Rope around the neck.
Twist.
Then they set his body on fire.
His last words, shouted loud enough for the crowd to hear:
‘Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!’
Here’s what they don’t teach you:
In 1536, Scripture belonged to the priests.
Latin only.
If you wanted to know what God said, you asked a man in robes. You paid for the privilege. You believed whatever interpretation he handed you.
Tyndale said no.
He said a plowboy in a field should read the same words as the Pope in Rome.
That sentence cost him everything.
For twelve years he lived as a fugitive.
Fled England. Hid in Germany. Translated in secret. Smuggled Bibles in bales of cloth.
Every copy he printed was illegal.
Every copy that reached English shores was burned.
And still they came.
The Church hunted him like an animal.
They finally caught him through betrayal.
A man turned him over for money.
Sound familiar?
Here’s the part that wrecked me:
Two years after Tyndale was strangled and burned, King Henry VIII authorized an English Bible into every church in England.
Eighty percent of it came from Tyndale’s translation.
The King James Version on your shelf?
Tyndale is the foundation.
‘For God so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten Son …’
That’s Tyndale.
‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God …’
Tyndale wrote that in English while hiding from men who wanted him dead.
His prayer was answered.
The King’s eyes were opened.
The book he died for became the mist published book in human history.
And it’s sitting on your nightstand.
Unopened.
A man was strangled and burned so your family could read Scripture in English.
When’s the last time you opened it?”
What’s your plan?
Then burned.
His crime?
He translated the Bible into English.
1536. A prison courtyard in Belgium.
William Tyndale kneels in the dirt.
He’s been there over a year. Betrayed by a friend. Arrested for heresy. Stripped of his priesthood in a public ceremony designed to humiliate him.
The executioner stepped forward.
Rope around the neck.
Twist.
Then they set his body on fire.
His last words, shouted loud enough for the crowd to hear:
‘Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!’
Here’s what they don’t teach you:
In 1536, Scripture belonged to the priests.
Latin only.
If you wanted to know what God said, you asked a man in robes. You paid for the privilege. You believed whatever interpretation he handed you.
Tyndale said no.
He said a plowboy in a field should read the same words as the Pope in Rome.
That sentence cost him everything.
For twelve years he lived as a fugitive.
Fled England. Hid in Germany. Translated in secret. Smuggled Bibles in bales of cloth.
Every copy he printed was illegal.
Every copy that reached English shores was burned.
And still they came.
The Church hunted him like an animal.
They finally caught him through betrayal.
A man turned him over for money.
Sound familiar?
Here’s the part that wrecked me:
Two years after Tyndale was strangled and burned, King Henry VIII authorized an English Bible into every church in England.
Eighty percent of it came from Tyndale’s translation.
The King James Version on your shelf?
Tyndale is the foundation.
‘For God so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten Son …’
That’s Tyndale.
‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God …’
Tyndale wrote that in English while hiding from men who wanted him dead.
His prayer was answered.
The King’s eyes were opened.
The book he died for became the mist published book in human history.
And it’s sitting on your nightstand.
Unopened.
A man was strangled and burned so your family could read Scripture in English.
When’s the last time you opened it?”
What’s your plan?
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