One-Year Bible-Reading Plan for Late Starters
Thu., Jan. 5. 2017 6:47pm EST
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyrics for ApologetiX here again.
In the preamble section of this newsletter, I promised that I'd share the details of the Bible-reading plan I use, which would still get you through the entire Bible by the end of the year, even if you didn't start until now or sometime within the next several days.
You can read through the whole Bible in less than a year (I think it takes me about 355 days) if you just do three chapters a day, except Psalms.
The Psalms are shorter and more plentiful, so do 10 of those a day when you get to them (You might want to take a whole day for Psalm 119, though -- it's the longest chapter in the Bible.) Or just read three chapters a day plus one Psalm, and then you'll get done 15 days sooner, plus you'll have read through the Psalms almost two and a half times. The Psalms are great, and they'll really help you with your prayer life.
What works for me is to start in Genesis, reading three chapters a day, and to always end on a chapter number that's a multiple of three. I get to a book that has one chapter more than a multiple of three, I'll read four chapters on the last day I read that book. If it has two chapters more than a multiple of three, I'll read only two chapters on that day. For example, Genesis has 50 chapters, so I read the first 48 chapters in 16 days, and then I read two chapters on the 17th day. Exodus has 40 chapters, so I read the first 36 chapters in 12 days, and then I read four chapters on the 13th day.
Now what about the five books that are one chapter long and the one book that's two chapters long? When I get to the last three chapters of Amos, I also read Obadiah (one chapter) the same day. When I read Titus (three chapters), I also read Philemon (one chapter). And the way the numbers fall, the other three one-chapter books all come in a row, so I read 2 John, 3 John, and Jude on the same day. Haggai is the only two-chapter book in the Bible, so it gets a day all to itself.
Since it allows you to go through the Bible in less than a year in about 355 days (or 340, if you do that daily Psalms plan), it ensures that you'll never be in the same place at the same time. Of course, this is only one of many methods; the important thing is to do it!
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