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
Sign up to get the readings sent to your email daily below
6:1 Brothers,1 if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5 For each will have to bear his own load.
6 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which2 the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
(ESV)
Maybe you did this when you were in junior high as well. During my pre-pubescent years, reputation and status became increasingly important to me and my peers. This means that we would, often in very awkward and sometimes comical ways, regularly boast to each other concerning achievements and accomplishments which had little or no basis in reality. I can remember one time when I was fighting with a friend of mine over whose father made more money - mine or his. After some verbal sparring that began in the $50,000 a year range, our fathers' respective salaries quickly skyrocketed well into the six and even seven figure stratosphere, well beyond the limits of what we both knew our fathers actually made. Finally, after several rounds of bickering over paternal salaries, I said to my friend, "Well I live in a mansion! What do you live in?" To which my friend replied, "You don't live in a mansion! I've been over to your house before." Apparently, I had gotten so caught up in the heat of the moment that I forgot that my friend knew where I really lived. So much for my attempt to impress my friend with affluence I didn't have.
In our reading for today from Galatians 6, Paul warns the Christians at Galatia against some religious folks "who want to make a good impression outwardly and are trying to compel you to be circumcised" (verse 12). The Greek word for "make a good impression" is euprosopeo, meaning literally "to give a good face." These religious folks, it seems, were trying to "save face," as it were, among their Jewish colleagues for whom circumcision was a mandatory rite, meant to mark one off as a person of God. They feared persecution from these Jews (cf. verse 12) and so tried to compel as many Galatian Christians as possible to become circumcised. Whatever success they had, they then quickly boasted about in an attempt to further galvanize their Jewish friends.
Paul, however, is not impressed by these religious folks' attempt to bolster their status and reputation among the Jews by boasting in the number of circumcisions they can claim. "May I never boast," Paul exclaims, "except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (verse 14). Paul feels no need to try to euprosopeo with anyone. He will not boast in how much money his father makes. And he will not boast in how many people he has circumcised. Instead, he boasts in Christ and Christ alone.
It is all too easy, whether in puberty or as an adult, to seek to impress others by our affluence, accolades, and accomplishments. But in the end, all of these supposedly "boast-worthy" resume-builders are worthless. As Paul says concerning circumcision, "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything" (verse 15). For "what is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight" (Luke 16:15). As Christians, we are called to boast not in what we do, but in a bloodied, bruised, and beaten Savior, so seemingly unimpressive and even appalling to the world, yet precious to God. Indeed, Jesus' work on the cross is altogether salvific and sanctifying.
So today, when you're tempted to boast in yourself, no matter how little or how slyly, instead, lift high the cross of Christ. After all, in the eternal scheme of things, Christ's work is much more impressive than any work we could ever hope to do. So if we're going to boast in something, we might as well boast in something really good. We might as well boast in the best. And so, we boast in Christ.
4 Let everyone beware of his neighbor,
and put no trust in any brother,
for every brother is a deceiver,
and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
5 Everyone deceives his neighbor,
and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
they weary themselves committing iniquity.
6 Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,
they refuse to know me, declares the LORD.
7 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts:
“Behold, I will refine them and test them,
for what else can I do, because of my people?
8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceitfully;
with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor,
but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.
9 Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
10 “I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,
and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness,
because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard;
both the birds of the air and the beasts
have fled and are gone.
11 I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
a lair of jackals,
and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
without inhabitant.”
12 Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13 And the LORD says: “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, 14 but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. 15 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them poisonous water to drink. 16 I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”
17 Thus says the LORD of hosts:
“Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;
send for the skillful women to come;
18 let them make haste and raise a wailing over us,
that our eyes may run down with tears
and our eyelids flow with water.
19 For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How we are ruined!
We are utterly shamed,
because we have left the land,
because they have cast down our dwellings.’”
20 Hear, O women, the word of the LORD,
and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;
teach to your daughters a lament,
and each to her neighbor a dirge.
21 For death has come up into our windows;
it has entered our palaces,
cutting off the children from the streets
and the young men from the squares.
22 Speak: “Thus declares the LORD,
‘The dead bodies of men shall fall
like dung upon the open field,
like sheaves after the reaper,
and none shall gather them.’”
23 Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”
25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh—26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”
(ESV)
God warns Israel that their treachery has become so horrendous that no one should trust his neighbor. They have all become like their deceiving forefather Jacob who tricked his brother Esau out of his birthright and blessing. Their worst deceit lay in convincing themselves that they didn't need God. God promises, therefore, to refine and punish His people whose tongues have become deadly arrows—speaking peace, and then planning an ambush. God's judgment prompts mourning from Jeremiah once again, because he understands that God's intent is to make Jerusalem a desolation. Jeremiah longs for the people to be wise enough to understand why this is happening. He wants them to make the connection between their own sinful disobedience and the suffering that they are about to undergo. God will give them the wages of sin, which is death, feeding them "bitter food" and "poisonous water." He will scatter them among the nations so that they are no longer set apart for Him as His chosen nation. In those days it was not unusual to hire professional mourners to express grief at a funeral. Now God tells Israel to hire professionals to mourn for them. He urges them to teach their children how to mourn, since death is on the way. God warns that their bodies will litter the fields, like grain that has been cut but never gathered. This solemn warning concludes with a brief note of hope for those who will trust in the LORD, rather than in their own wisdom, strength or riches. For the LORD "practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord." However, God warns that He will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh but in the heart are unrepentant, even if they are of the house of Israel.
64:1 Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
from the throng of evildoers,
3 who whet their tongues like swords,
who aim bitter words like arrows,
4 shooting from ambush at the blameless,
shooting at him suddenly and without fear.
5 They hold fast to their evil purpose;
they talk of laying snares secretly,
thinking, “Who can see them?”
6 They search out injustice,
saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”
For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.
7 But God shoots his arrow at them;
they are wounded suddenly.
8 They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them;
all who see them will wag their heads.
9 Then all mankind fears;
they tell what God has brought about
and ponder what he has done.
10 Let the righteous one rejoice in the LORD
and take refuge in him!
Let all the upright in heart exult!
(ESV)