New Year's resolutions: Read more of the Bible

I’m sure you end up making the same resolutions every year.

One that I make frequently is to read more of the Bible. New year is a good time to make that resolution, because if it becomes your aim to read the whole Bible in a year (or two years, or four), then January 1st is as good a day as any to begin.

I highly recommend McCheyne’s Bible reading plan – I blogged on it this time last year. Have a read of that post for some of the pluses and minuses of his Bible reading scheme. Or, if you want, just download the Bible reading plan

It does have some drawbacks. One drawback is that the length of the passage he suggests for any given day can vary quite wildly, so that you can end up with a very long reading one day and a much shorter one the next.

Another drawback is that he gives you 4 passages per day. Personally, I’d rather read only two passages (one from the OT, one from the NT), and have them slightly longer. I could get around this with McCheyne’s scheme, by reading two day’s worth at a time from just two of his channels, but combine that with the other drawback and you potentially end up with some very long passages. (So, for example, one day’s reading is Luke 22, another is Luke 23. Put them together you end up with the whole of Luke 22-23, a much longer than average reading).

One big advantage of using McCheyne is that lots of people use it, so you are all reading the same passages every day. Nice – gives you something to talk about. So to branch off on your own loses that advantage. But still…

I have written some software that will draw up any Bible reading scheme you ask it to. It’s pretty crude, and at some point I’ll try and upload the software here in case anyone wants to play with it. [Edit: Now made less crude, and available for download] Basically, it will devise a scheme for you to read the Bible books you ask for, over the number of days you ask for. It tries to balance out the fact that it’s good to read similar length portions each day, with the fact that it’s nice when you start and stop in sensible places.

In case anyone wants to try a different scheme, here is what it came up with when you ask it for a scheme to read the Bible in 300 days, covering the OT once and the NT + Psalms twice in that time. Either download a printable version of it or you can find it below

New Testament and Psalms

day	Month 1	Month 2	Month 3	Month 4	Month 5	Month 6	day
1	Matt 1:1-3:12	Mk 14:53-16:8	Jn 11:28-12:36	Rom 8:31-11:10	Tit 1:5-3:15; Phlm	Ps 25-30	1
2	Matt 3:13-5:37	Lk 1	Jn 12:37-14:14	Rom 11:11-14:12	Heb 1:1-4:13	Ps 31-34	2
3	Matt 5:38-7:23	Lk 2:1-3:22	Jn 14:15-16:24	Rom 14:13-16:27	Heb 4:14-7:28	Ps 35-37	3
4	Matt 7:24-9:26	Lk 3:23-4:44	Jn 16:25-18:24	1 Co 1-3	Heb 8:1-10:18	Ps 38-42	4
5	Matt 9:27-11:19	Lk 5:1-6:23	Jn 18:25-19:42	1 Co 4:1-7:16	Heb 10:19-11:38	Ps 43-48	5
6	Matt 11:20-13:9	Lk 6:24-7:35	Jn 20-21	1 Co 7:17-9:27	Heb 11:39-13:25	Ps 49-54	6
7	Matt 13:10-14:12	Lk 7:36-8:39	Acts 1:1-2:41	1 Co 10:1-12:11	Jas 1-3	Ps 55-59	7
8	Matt 14:13-16:4	Lk 8:40-9:48	Acts 2:42-4:31	1 Co 12:12-14:40	Jas 4-5; 1 Pet 1:1-2:12	Ps 60-66	8
9	Matt 16:5-18:14	Lk 9:49-11:13	Acts 4:32-6:15	1 Co 15-16	1 Pet 2:13-5:14	Ps 67:1-69:33	9
10	Matt 18:15-20:16	Lk 11:14-12:21	Acts 7	2 Co 1:1-4:6	2 Pet	Ps 69:34-73:28	10
11	Matt 20:17-21:46	Lk 12:22-13:21	Acts 8:1-9:25	2 Co 4:7-7:16	1 Jn 1:1-3:10	Ps 74:1-78:16	11
12	Matt 22:1-23:26	Lk 13:22-15:10	Acts 9:26-10:48	2 Co 8-10	1 Jn 3:11-5:21	Ps 78:17-80:19	12
13	Matt 23:27-24:51	Lk 15:11-17:6	Acts 11:1-13:12	2 Co 11-13	2 Jn; 3 Jn; Jude	Ps 81-87	13
14	Matt 25:1-26:25	Lk 17:7-18:43	Acts 13:13-14:28	Gal 1:1-3:14	Rev 1-2	Ps 88-90	14
15	Matt 26:26-27:14	Lk 19:1-20:26	Acts 15:1-16:24	Gal 3:15-6:10	Rev 3-5	Ps 91-97	15
16	Matt 27:15-28:20	Lk 20:27-22:23	Acts 16:25-18:17	Gal 6:11-18; Eph 1-3	Rev 6:1-9:6	Ps 98-103	16
17	Mk 1:1-2:22	Lk 22:24-23:25	Acts 18:18-20:6	Eph 4-6	Rev 9:7-12:6	Ps 104:1-106:5	17
18	Mk 2:23-4:29	Lk 23:26-24:53	Acts 20:7-21:26	Phil 1-2	Rev 12:7-14:20	Ps 106:6-108:13	18
19	Mk 4:30-6:13	Jn 1:1-2:22	Acts 21:27-23:11	Phil 3-4; Col 1:1-23	Rev 15:1-18:3	Ps 109-115	19
20	Mk 6:14-7:23	Jn 2:23-4:30	Acts 23:12-25:12	Col 1:24-4:18	Rev 18:4-20:6	Ps 116:1-119:48	20
21	Mk 7:24-9:13	Jn 4:31-5:47	Acts 25:13-27:12	1 Thess 1-4	Rev 20:7-22:21	Ps 119:49-152	21
22	Mk 9:14-10:31	Jn 6	Acts 27:13-28:31	1 Th 5; 2 Th 1:1-3:15	Ps 1-7	Ps 119:153-129:8	22
23	Mk 10:32-12:12	Jn 7:1-8:30	Rom 1:1-3:20	2 Th 3:16ff; 1 Tim 1:1-5:2	Ps 8-14	Ps 130-137	23
24	Mk 12:13-13:27	Jn 8:31-9:34	Rom 3:21-6:14	1 Tim 5:3ff; 2 Tim 1	Ps 15-18	Ps 138-143	24
25	Mk 13:28-14:52	Jn 9:35-11:27	Rom 6:15-8:30	2 Tim 2-4; Tit 1:1-4	Ps 19-24	Ps 144-150	25

Old Testament (First half)

day	Month 1	Month 2	Month 3	Month 4	Month 5	Month 6	day
1	Gen 1-3	Exod 13:3-15:21	Num 1:1-3:10	Deut 18:15-21:14	Jdg 17:1-19:9	2 Sam 19:9-20:22	1
2	Gen 4:1-7:16	Exod 15:22-17:16	Num 3:11-4:33	Deut 21:15-23:25	Jdg 19:10-20:36	2 Sam 20:23-22:51	2
3	Gen 7:17-10:32	Exod 18-20	Num 4:34-6:21	Deut 24-26	Jdg 20:37-21:25; Ruth 1	2 Sam 23-24	3
4	Gen 11:1-14:16	Exod 21:1-23:9	Num 6:22-7:83	Deut 27:1-28:44	Ruth 2-4	1 Ki 1:1-2:12	4
5	Gen 14:17-18:8	Exod 23:10-25:30	Num 7:84-10:10	Deut 28:45-30:10	1 Sam 1-2	1 Ki 2:13-3:28	5
6	Gen 18:9-19:38	Exod 25:31-28:5	Num 10:11-12:16	Deut 30:11-32:22	1 Sam 3:1-6:9	1 Ki 4:1-6:22	6
7	Gen 20-22	Exod 28:6-29:30	Num 13:1-14:38	Deut 32:23-34:12	1 Sam 6:10-9:14	1 Ki 6:23-7:51	7
8	Gen 23:1-24:49	Exod 29:31-32:6	Num 14:39-16:19	Jos 1-3	1 Sam 9:15-12:5	1 Ki 8:1-61	8
9	Gen 24:50-26:35	Exod 32:7-34:9	Num 16:20-18:24	Jos 4:1-6:21	1 Sam 12:6-14:23	1 Ki 8:62-10:29	9
10	Gen 27:1-28:9	Exod 34:10-36:13	Num 18:25-21:9	Jos 6:22-8:23	1 Sam 14:24-15:23	1 Ki 11:1-12:15	10
11	Gen 28:10-30:24	Exod 36:14-38:31	Num 21:10-22:41	Jos 8:24-10:15	1 Sam 15:24-17:27	1 Ki 12:16-13:34	11
12	Gen 30:25-31:55	Exod 39-40	Num 23-25	Jos 10:16-12:6	1 Sam 17:28-18:30	1 Ki 14:1-15:32	12
13	Gen 32:1-34:24	Lev 1:1-4:12	Num 26-27	Jos 12:7-15:12	1 Sam 19-20	1 Ki 15:33-17:24	13
14	Gen 34:25-37:11	Lev 4:13-6:13	Num 28-29	Jos 15:13-18:10	1 Sam 21-23	1 Ki 18:1-19:18	14
15	Gen 37:12-39:23	Lev 6:14-8:17	Num 30:1-32:5	Jos 18:11-21:8	1 Sam 24:1-25:42	1 Ki 19:19-21:16	15
16	Gen 40-41	Lev 8:18-10:20	Num 32:6-33:56	Jos 21:9-22:29	1 Sam 25:43-28:19	1 Ki 21:17-22:53	16
17	Gen 42:1-43:25	Lev 11:1-13:17	Num 34-36	Jos 22:30-24:33	1 Sam 28:20-31:13	2 Ki 1:1-3:12	17
18	Gen 43:26-45:28	Lev 13:18-14:20	Deut 1:1-2:25	Jdg 1:1-3:6	2 Sam 1-2	2 Ki 3:13-4:44	18
19	Gen 46-47	Lev 14:21-15:30	Deut 2:26-4:14	Jdg 3:7-5:11	2 Sam 3:1-5:16	2 Ki 5:1-6:23	19
20	Gen 48-50	Lev 15:31-17:16	Deut 4:15-5:27	Jdg 5:12-6:40	2 Sam 5:17-7:29	2 Ki 6:24-8:15	20
21	Exod 1-3	Lev 18:1-20:9	Deut 5:28-7:26	Jdg 7:1-8:28	2 Sam 8:1-11:21	2 Ki 8:16-9:37	21
22	Exod 4:1-6:13	Lev 20:10-22:33	Deut 8:1-10:11	Jdg 8:29-9:57	2 Sam 11:22-13:22	2 Ki 10:1-12:3	22
23	Exod 6:14-8:32	Lev 23-24	Deut 10:12-12:28	Jdg 10-11	2 Sam 13:23-15:12	2 Ki 12:4-14:22	23
24	Exod 9-10	Lev 25:1-26:13	Deut 12:29-15:23	Jdg 12-14	2 Sam 15:13-17:14	2 Ki 14:23-16:16	24
25	Exod 11:1-13:2	Lev 26:14-27:34	Deut 16:1-18:14	Jdg 15-16	2 Sam 17:15-19:8	2 Ki 16:17-18:18	25

Old Testament (Second half)

day	Month 1	Month 2	Month 3	Month 4	Month 5	Month 6	day
1	2 Ki 18:19-19:37	2 Chr 31:11-33:9	Prov 1-4	Isa 44:9-46:13	Jer 44:1-46:13	Ezek 42:1-44:14	1
2	2 Ki 20:1-22:7	2 Chr 33:10-34:33	Prov 5-8	Isa 47-49	Jer 46:14-48:47	Ezek 44:15-46:18	2
3	2 Ki 22:8-23:30	2 Chr 35-36	Prov 9:1-13:14	Isa 50-53	Jer 49:1-50:20	Ezek 46:19-48:35	3
4	2 Ki 23:31-25:30	Ezr 1-3	Prov 13:15-16:26	Isa 54-57	Jer 50:21-51:37	Dan 1:1-2:45	4
5	1 Chr 1:1-4:23	Ezr 4:1-6:12	Prov 16:27-20:17	Isa 58-60	Jer 51:38-52:34	Dan 2:46-4:27	5
6	1 Chr 4:24-6:70	Ezr 6:13-8:23	Prov 20:18-24:14	Isa 61-64	Lam 1:1-3:27	Dan 4:28-6:15	6
7	1 Chr 6:71-9:34	Ezr 8:24-10:44	Prov 24:15-28:10	Isa 65-66	Lam 3:28-5:22; Ezek 1:1-21	Dan 6:16-8:14	7
8	1 Chr 9:35-12:18	Neh 1-3	Prov 28:11-31:31	Jer 1:1-3:5	Ezek 1:22-4:17	Dan 8:15-10:21	8
9	1 Chr 12:19-15:29	Neh 4:1-7:4	Eccl 1-4	Jer 3:6-5:13	Ezek 5:1-7:22	Dan 11-12	9
10	1 Chr 16:1-18:13	Neh 7:5-9:15	Eccl 5-8	Jer 5:14-7:20	Ezek 7:23-10:22	Hos 1-4	10
11	1 Chr 18:14-22:1	Neh 9:16-11:24	Eccl 9-12; Song 1:1-2:7	Jer 7:21-9:26	Ezek 11:1-13:7	Hos 5:1-9:15	11
12	1 Chr 22:2-24:31	Neh 11:25-13:31	Song 2:8-8:14	Jer 10-12	Ezek 13:8-16:14	Hos 9:16-14:9	12
13	1 Chr 25-27	Est 1-3	Isa 1:1-4:1	Jer 13:1-15:9	Ezek 16:15-17:15	Joel; Amos 1:1-1	13
14	1 Chr 28-29	Est 4-7	Isa 4:2-7:9	Jer 15:10-17:27	Ezek 17:16-20:8	Amos 1:2-5:17	14
15	2 Chr 1:1-5:1	Est 8-10	Isa 7:10-10:4	Jer 18-20	Ezek 20:9-21:17	Amos 5:18-9:15	15
16	2 Chr 5:2-6:40	Job 1:1-5:16	Isa 10:5-13:22	Jer 21:1-23:8	Ezek 21:18-23:21	Obad; Jon 1-3	16
17	2 Chr 6:41-9:12	Job 5:17-9:35	Isa 14-17	Jer 23:9-25:14	Ezek 23:22-24:27	Jon 4; Mic 1:1-4:5	17
18	2 Chr 9:13-12:16	Job 10-14	Isa 18-21	Jer 25:15-27:15	Ezek 25:1-27:25	Mic 4:6-7:20	18
19	2 Chr 13-16	Job 15-19	Isa 22-25	Jer 27:16-29:32	Ezek 27:26-29:21	Nah; Hab 1:1-2:5	19
20	2 Chr 17-19	Job 20:1-23:7	Isa 26-28	Jer 30-31	Ezek 30:1-32:18	Hab 2:6-3:19; Zeph 1-2	20
21	2 Chr 20-21	Job 23:8-28:28	Isa 29-31	Jer 32:1-33:13	Ezek 32:19-34:10	Zeph 3; Hag	21
22	2 Chr 22:1-24:19	Job 29-31	Isa 32-35	Jer 33:14-35:19	Ezek 34:11-36:21	Zech 1:1-6:8	22
23	2 Chr 24:20-26:23	Job 32-35	Isa 36-37	Jer 36:1-38:6	Ezek 36:22-38:13	Zech 6:9-10:12	23
24	2 Chr 27:1-29:19	Job 36:1-39:8	Isa 38:1-41:20	Jer 38:7-40:16	Ezek 38:14-40:16	Zech 11-14	24
25	2 Chr 29:20-31:10	Job 39:9-42:17	Isa 41:21-44:8	Jer 41-43	Ezek 40:17-41:26	Mal	25

table Lk 3:23-4:44 td
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