How to read the Bible in a year
The Bible has 1,189 chapters, so reading it in a year takes a little over three chapters a day, about fifteen to twenty minutes. Follow a simple plan, read at the same time each day, and if you fall behind, just pick up again.
Every January many people decide that this will be the year they read the whole Bible. It is a good goal. When you read the Bible from beginning to end, you see the whole story: creation and the fall, God’s promises to Abraham and Israel, the coming of Jesus and the hope of a new creation. Verses you have known for years find their place in the bigger picture.
The goal is within reach for almost anyone. It does not take special knowledge, only a plan and a few minutes every day.
About three or four chapters a day
The Bible has 66 books and 1,189 chapters: 929 in the Old Testament and 260 in the New. Divide that by 365 days and you get a little more than three chapters a day. Some days it will be three, some days four. For most people that is fifteen to twenty minutes of reading.
The very first psalm describes a person who delights in God’s Word and meditates on it day and night:
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Ps 1:1–3 · King James Version (1769)
John Wesley explains day and night as “not seldom and slightly, but diligently, and constantly.” Matthew Henry adds that no time is wrong for it: God’s Word is to be the rule of our actions and the spring of our comforts. The picture is a tree planted by streams of water. It does not grow in a day, but its roots keep drinking, and in time it bears fruit and its leaf does not wither. Wesley notes that this happiness is not short-lived, like trees that stay green and flourishing.
A simple plan, month by month
There are many reading plans: straight through from Genesis to Revelation, in chronological order, or a few chapters from different parts of the Bible each day. The plan below is one of the simplest. You read the Old Testament in order through the whole year, and from February you add a little of the New Testament alongside it. July is for the Psalms alone: there are 150 of them, but most are short.
| Month | Old Testament | New Testament | Start |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | Genesis, Exodus | — | Genesis 1 |
| February | Leviticus, Numbers | Matthew | Leviticus 1, Matthew 1 |
| March | Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth | Mark | Deuteronomy 1, Mark 1 |
| April | 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 Kings | Luke | 1 Samuel 1, Luke 1 |
| May | 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles | John | 2 Kings 1, John 1 |
| June | Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job | Acts | Ezra 1, Acts 1 |
| July | Psalms | — | Psalm 1 |
| August | Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon | Romans, 1 Corinthians | Proverbs 1, Romans 1 |
| September | Isaiah | 2 Corinthians – 2 Thessalonians | Isaiah 1, 2 Corinthians 1 |
| October | Jeremiah, Lamentations | 1 Timothy – Hebrews | Jeremiah 1, 1 Timothy 1 |
| November | Ezekiel, Daniel | James – Jude | Ezekiel 1, James 1 |
| December | Hosea – Malachi | Revelation | Hosea 1, Revelation 1 |
To get the daily portion, divide the month’s chapters by its days. In January, for example, Genesis and Exodus have 90 chapters together, which is about three a day. If you start in another month, begin with the first row anyway and count the months from your own start. It also helps to keep a simple list of the books and tick off each one as you finish it.