This Bible reading plan takes you through most of the Holy Scriptures each weekday of the year. Each day has three Bible readings:
You're welcome to read one, two, or all three of the readings every weekday. And if you fall behind, don't worry! You can either use the weekends to catch up or you can simply dive in to the reading for that day, even if you've missed a few days, weeks, or even months!
You can download a foldable bookmark here: 2026
3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,1
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics2 is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son;3 with you I am well pleased.”4
23 Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,5 the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
[1] 3:4
[2] 3:11
[3] 3:22
[4] 3:22
[5] 3:27
(ESV)
In December of 1122, Pope Calixtus II convened the First Lateran Council, the ninth in a series of so-called ecumenical councils in the West. At issue was the relationship between the church and its laypeople and what privileges laypeople could exercise within the church as well as the relationship between the church and state and what authority the state could exercise over the church. As pressing as those issues may have been at the time, however, the First Lateran Council is most famously remembered for the declaration of its twenty-first canon: "We absolutely forbid priests, deacons, subdeacons, and monks to have concubines or to contract marriage. We decree in accordance with the definitions of the sacred canons, that marriages already contracted by such persons must be dissolved, and that the persons be condemned to do penance." Thus began the practice of the clerical celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church.
Of course, official canonical law doesn't always translate into actual practice, even among the popes who authorize and enforce such law. Subsequent to the First Lateran Council's imposition of celibacy on clergy, several popes still managed to father children. Pope Alexander VI, who was pope from 1492-1503, was widely known as a philanderer and fathered four children by his mistress. Then there was Pope Julius III, pontiff from 1550-1555, who was rumored to have had an ongoing affair with his teenage adopted nephew.
Such scandals, as indicated by the sordid side of church history, are nothing new to our day and age. Indeed, there were many similar scandals among other popes, secular rulers, and even first century biblical characters. Even first century biblical characters like Jesus.
Jesus' origin was certainly a source of much calumny among his detractors. In our reading for today from Luke 3, the doctor tips us off to the controversy which surrounded Jesus' birth: "He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph" (verse 23). But there were rumors to the contrary.
In Mark 6, Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth to teach in the synagogue. After demonstrating himself to be a brilliant teacher, the people around him ask:
Where did this man get these things? What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us? (Mark 6:2-3)
In this society, it was standard practice to trace someone's family origin through their father, not their mother. But in this instance, they trace Jesus' lineage through his mother, Mary. Why? Because there were rumors afoot as to the true identity of Jesus' father. And rumor had it that it wasn't Joseph. That is why, immediately following their questioning of Jesus' origin, Mark says, "And they took offense at him" (Mark 6:3). They took offense at his shady pedigree.
We, as believers in Christ, know Jesus' true origin. True enough, he is not the natural son of Joseph, but he is the only Son of God. Interestingly, right before Luke delineates Jesus' earthly family tree in verse 23-37 and calls him the "son, so it was thought, of Joseph" (verse 23), he proudly proclaims Jesus' true divine origins:
When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." (verses 21-22)
Jesus may have not been the son of Joseph, but he was most definitely the Son of God.
As Christians, whatever our earthly roots, be they wholesome or scandalous, boring or broken, we too have a heavenly family tree - a heavenly family tree into which God has adopted us as his children. As Saint John writes, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are" (1 John 3:1)! Through our baptisms, God has said to us, "You are my child, whom I love. In light of Christ's cross, I am well pleased." So today, give thanks not only for your earthly relatives, but for your brothers and sisters from different mothers. For these are your brothers and sisters in Christ.
36 The LORD said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. 37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even offered up1 to them for food the children whom they had borne to me. 38 Moreover, this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths. 39 For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, this is what they did in my house. 40 They even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments. 41 You sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil. 42 The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards2 were brought from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on the hands of the women, and beautiful crowns on their heads.
43 “Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her!’3 44 For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, lewd women! 45 But righteous men shall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.”
46 For thus says the Lord GOD: “Bring up a vast host against them, and make them an object of terror and a plunder. 47 And the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses. 48 Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. 49 And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.”
24:1 In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. 3 And utter a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD:
“Set on the pot, set it on;
pour in water also;
4 put in it the pieces of meat,
all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder;
fill it with choice bones.
5 Take the choicest one of the flock;
pile the logs4 under it;
boil it well;
seethe also its bones in it.
6 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice.5 7 For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on the bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust. 8 To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. 9 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great. 10 Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices,6 and let the bones be burned up. 11 Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, that its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. 12 She has wearied herself with toil;7 its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion! 13 On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, you shall not be cleansed anymore till I have satisfied my fury upon you. 14 I am the LORD. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord GOD.”
[1] 23:37
[2] 23:42
[3] 23:43
[4] 24:5
[5] 24:6
[6] 24:10
[7] 24:12
(ESV)
The sins of Oholah and Oholibah are now reckoned as one, and their idolatry is condemned jointly. Not only did they commit adultery against the LORD with their idolatrous worship, they even sacrificed their own children to pagan gods, and then had the gall to enter the temple to worship the LORD with the blood of their children still on their hands. It is hard to imagine how such a privileged people who had received so much from the LORD could stoop so low. Their sin would not go unpunished. In fact, God always pays the wages that sin earn: "The wages of sin is death," and death is exactly what came upon the people of Samaria and Jerusalem because of their wicked rebellion against the LORD. As chapter after chapter of Ezekiel portrays the iniquity and impurity of Israel, we may be tempted to say, "Enough already!" But God's prophet goes on and on because the sins of Israel were continuous and she was completely corrupt. May God spare us from ever becoming so rebellious! God then told Ezekiel to tell his fellow exiles: "The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day." Previously the false prophets had used the imagery of meat in a cooking pot to try and give the people false hope. Now God would use that same imagery to announce judgment. The people of God were like the choicest pieces of meat being cooked to death in a cauldron. The meat and bones were to be pulled out and piled up like the bodies of the people of Jerusalem when the siege was over and King Nebuchadnezzar's victory was complete. Then the cauldron itself, corroded as it was, was to be melted down in the fire until nothing was left. This was a powerful description of the fate of the city of Jerusalem, which would be burned and leveled. There could be no more doubt about the final outcome of the Southern Kingdom. "I am the LORD. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent!"
97 Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the aged,1
for I keep your precepts.
101 I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
102 I do not turn aside from your rules,
for you have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
to keep your righteous rules.
107 I am severely afflicted;
give me life, O LORD, according to your word!
108 Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD,
and teach me your rules.
109 I hold my life in my hand continually,
but I do not forget your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me,
but I do not stray from your precepts.
111 Your testimonies are my heritage forever,
for they are the joy of my heart.
112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes
forever, to the end.2
(ESV)