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
1:1 Jude, a servant1 of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for2 Jesus Christ:
2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved3 a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire,4 serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” 10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs5 at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They6 said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment7 stained by the flesh.
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time8 and now and forever. Amen.
[1] 1:1
[2] 1:1
[3] 1:5
[4] 1:7
[5] 1:12
[6] 1:18
[7] 1:23
[8] 1:25
(ESV)
In the early 1970's, this nation became embroiled in what is perhaps its most enduring national scandal: the Watergate scandal. On June 17, 1972, five men broke into the Watergate Hotel, which at that time served as the offices for the Democratic National Convention. They were convicted on burglary and wiretapping charges and were soon revealed to have close ties to President Nixon. As more and more information was disseminated, it became evident that this break in was linked directly to the president. And so the press became vociferous in its search for the truth behind the scandal, which led to many tense and awkward moments with Nixon's press secretary, Ron Ziegler, who loyally tried to defend the President. In one exchange with the White House Press Corps, after Ziegler was caught in a bald-faced lie, he issued a modified statement, retracting a previous statement, by saying, "This is the operative statement. The others are inoperative."
If only it was really that simple. "These statements are inoperative. Please ignore them." But it's not really that simple. For there are not just "operative" and "inoperative" statements, there are truths and there are lies. And lies can be disastrous, diseasing, and damning things.
In our reading for today from the book of Jude, the brother of Jesus warns us against the dangers of lies and the false teachers who tell them:
Certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home - these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. (verses 4-7)
Certain men of Jude's day were denying the Lordship of Christ. And the lies that these men were teaching were far worse than the lies told by the White House during the Watergate scandal. For these lies were not merely matters of politics, they were matters of salvation.
Jude continues by giving three examples of the kinds of judgments which await these false teachers, each successive judgment becoming more intense. First, he recalls that the Israelites were "destroyed" because they did not believe. The Greek word for "destroy" is apollumi, meaning "to damn." This, then, was God's hellish judgment on these wicked Israelites. Indeed, Jude says exactly that when he then speaks of the rebellious angels who are being held in hell for their final judgment on the Last Day. But it is Jude's final example that is perhaps most striking: the judgment on these false teachers will be the same as that of Sodom and Gomorrah as they will "suffer the punishment of eternal fire." Interestingly, like the fires of hell, the fires of Sodom and Gomorrah were thought by the ancient Jews to be eternal. The first century Jewish historian Philo writes of these fires: "Unprecedented destruction... fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah in the ruins, and ashes, and sulfur, and smoke, and dusky flame which still is sent up from the ground as of a fire smoldering beneath" (Philo, Life of Moses, II:56). Apparently, the fires of Sodom and Gomorrah were still smoldering from some 2,000 years earlier even in the first century. This is the intensity of the judgment that awaits those who teach falsely.
How are we to guard ourselves against such false and destructive teaching? Jude answers, "Contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (verse 3). The Greek word for "contend" is epagonizomai, from whence we get our English word "agony." Jude challenges us to fight so valiantly and vigilantly for the true doctrines of our faith that we agonize over orthodoxy. We should be determined to allow not even the slightest lie to creep in. And we should honestly address truth and falsehood in terms more straightforward than "operative" and "inoperative."
Do you heed Jude's call? Do you carefully distinguish truth from falsehood? Do you agonize over the true doctrines of our precious faith? I hope you do. Because this truth isn't just the truth about a politician, it's the truth about God. And that's truth that we should all be deeply interested in... and excited about.
24 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand. 25 And you, O profane1 wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of your final punishment, 26 thus says the Lord GOD: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted. 27 A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.
28 “And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say, A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter. It is polished to consume and to flash like lightning—29 while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment. 30 Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. 31 And I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of brutish men, skillful to destroy. 32 You shall be fuel for the fire. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall be no more remembered, for I the LORD have spoken.”
22:1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations. 3 You shall say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! 4 You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, the appointed time of2 your years has come. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult.
6 “Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7 Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. 8 You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths. 9 There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst. 10 In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11 One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter. 12 In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit3 and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.
13 “Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst. 14 Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it. 15 I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you. 16 And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the LORD.”
[1] 21:25
[2] 22:4
[3] 22:12
(ESV)
God's warning about Israel's guilt is a powerful one: "because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand." The LORD told Israel that their transgressions were uncovered. Nothing was hidden from God, and unless we repent of our transgressions, the LORD will remember them and punish them. Only if we confess our sins and turn from them will He forgive and forget them. With the disgraceful death of King Zedekiah the house and line of David would come to and end. Not until the Messiah comes again, "the one to whom judgment belongs," would the house of David be restored. God then promised that the Ammonites, who were rejoicing in Israel's ruin, would also feel the fire of God's wrath. In Chapter 22, God turned Ezekiel into Jerusalem's prosecutor. He named her offenses against both God and men. Idolatry and bloodshed would be the cause of her condemnation. The nations around Jerusalem would mock and reproach her because of her sin, just as Jesus was mocked when He bore our sins. Ezekiel then went on to name the specifics of Jerusalem's sin; bloodshed, contempt for parents, extorting immigrants, taking advantage of widows and orphans, despising the Sabbath, slander, idolatry involving sexual immorality, adultery, bribery, overcharging interest, and other sins were all listed. God then renewed His threat of the exile, a scattering of His chosen people throughout the nations, to purge them of their sinful inclinations. They would no longer be "holy" or set apart for the LORD, but profaned and defiled by their own sins.
49 Remember your word to your servant,
in which you have made me hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life.
51 The insolent utterly deride me,
but I do not turn away from your law.
52 When I think of your rules from of old,
I take comfort, O LORD.
53 Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,
who forsake your law.
54 Your statutes have been my songs
in the house of my sojourning.
55 I remember your name in the night, O LORD,
and keep your law.
56 This blessing has fallen to me,
that I have kept your precepts.
57 The LORD is my portion;
I promise to keep your words.
58 I entreat your favor with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to your promise.
59 When I think on my ways,
I turn my feet to your testimonies;
60 I hasten and do not delay
to keep your commandments.
61 Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,
I do not forget your law.
62 At midnight I rise to praise you,
because of your righteous rules.
63 I am a companion of all who fear you,
of those who keep your precepts.
64 The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love;
teach me your statutes!
(ESV)