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
5:1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
7 Be patient, therefore, brothers,1 until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.2 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
[1] 5:7
[2] 5:16
(ESV)
One of my favorite movie lines of all time comes from 1995's "Tommy Boy," starring the late Chris Farley. Farley plays a clumsy, dimwitted, but lovable college student named Thomas R. Callahan III, a.k.a. "Tommy Boy," who returns home to work at his father's auto parts plant. Upon his arrival, Tommy's father reveals to him that he is newly engaged and that Tommy will soon have a stepbrother named Paul. The first time Paul meets Tommy, he tries to coldly introduce himself to Tommy with a handshake, but Tommy will have none of it. Tommy exclaims, "Brothers don't shake hands, brothers gotta hug!" and embraces Paul with a suffocating bear hug.
The ties of brotherhood were created to be strong. Brothers express their affection for each other with heartfelt hugs and sincere sacrifices, not hollow handshakes and polite pleasantries.
The apostle James understands the ties of brotherhood well. In fact, he refers to his readers as "brothers" no fewer than fifteen times over the course of his little letter. Indeed, his whole epistle is addressed to his Jewish brothers in Christ who are "scattered among the nations" (James 1:1), that is, except for one section. And that section comes at the beginning of our reading for today from James 5.
Whereas James customarily opens each section of his letter by speaking to his brothers, he does not do so here. Instead, he opens chapter 5:
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you. (verses 1-6)
As I read these words, I can almost see James wagging his finger at these wealthy aristocrats: "Now listen here, you affluent snobs! You may be rich, but you're not my brothers! No, you're wayward, hateful sinners! And you're really going to get it from God in the end! He's going to slaughter you in judgment!"
Now why would James level such harsh condemnation against the wealthy of his day? Is James some kind of bumbling, backwater indigent who has something against rich people because he's poor? Hardly. James has nothing against wealth itself, but the way in which these people use their wealth. They hoard it. They fail to pay their workers. They live for their own self-indulgence. They even murder the innocent. James declares that such wickedness will not go unpunished by God.
It's not as if those in James' band of brothers are without sin. James warns his readers against temptation to sin (1:13-15), favoritism (2:1-4), action-less faith (2:14-17), and malicious talk (3:9-12). James' brothers surely fall short of God's standards, but they are still his brothers - his brothers in Christ. And that makes all the difference. For no matter what differences, grievances, and concerns he may have with them, they still share the foundation of Christ on which they can stand together.
Finally, James' hope is that even the rich people whom he roundly condemns might join him in Christian brotherhood. As James writes at the end of his book, "My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins" (verses 19-20). By condemning the sins of these rich oppressors, James hopes to lead these who have wandered from the truth to repentance so that their sins might be covered and they might become his brothers in Christ.
So today, which brother or sister in Christ can you thank God for? Is there anyone who has strayed from the brotherhood of faith whom you can seek to gently restore? For having restoring a brother in Christ means seeing another sinner forgiven. And a forgiven sinner is a joy that deserves a hug. So hug a brother or sister in Christ today. It's only appropriate.
21:1 1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries.2 Prophesy against the land of Israel 3 and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. 4 Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. 5 And all flesh shall know that I am the LORD. I have drawn my sword from its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again.
6 “As for you, son of man, groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan before their eyes. 7 And when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,’” declares the Lord GOD.
8 And the word of the LORD came to me: 9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say:
“A sword, a sword is sharpened
and also polished,
10 sharpened for slaughter,
polished to flash like lightning!
(Or shall we rejoice? You have despised the rod, my son, with everything of wood.)3 11 So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer. 12 Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Strike therefore upon your thigh. 13 For it will not be a testing—what could it do if you despise the rod?”4 declares the Lord GOD.
14 “As for you, son of man, prophesy. Clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yes, three times,5 the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them, 15 that their hearts may melt, and many stumble.6 At all their gates I have given the glittering sword. Ah, it is made like lightning; it is taken up7 for slaughter. 16 Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed. 17 I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the LORD have spoken.”
18 The word of the LORD came to me again: 19 “As for you, son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to a city. 20 Mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, into Jerusalem the fortified. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim;8 he looks at the liver. 22 Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers. 23 But to them it will seem like a false divination. They have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, that they may be taken.
[1] 21:1
[2] 21:2
[3] 21:10
[4] 21:13
[5] 21:14
[6] 21:15
[7] 21:15
[8] 21:21
(ESV)
God continued to warn His people about His wrath being unleashed. He told Ezekiel to prophesy against Jerusalem and Israel. The LORD was going to unsheathe His sword. God's people knew what that meant for their enemies in the past, and now He was going to wield it against them. God commanded Ezekiel to groan and wail in order to illustrate the grief that Israel would experience at the hand of the LORD. God warned that the hearts of the people would melt in fear at the coming of God's judgment. As a further dramatic illustration, Ezekiel brandished a sharp sword as he spoke. Because they despised the rod with which God attempted to chastise them, now He would come after them with the blade of the sword. God also told Ezekiel to make a signpost to show the way for the sword of the LORD to go in order to cut through the city. He was also to diagram the path of destruction in a map on the ground. God told Israel that the King of Babylon would use divination to determine the methods of attack that would be required to defeat Jerusalem, including ramps, battering rams and siege towers. But the people of Jerusalem would ignore the threats, believing Nebuchadnezzar's divination to be false. Both the exiles with Ezekiel and the Israelites remaining in Jerusalem refused to believe that God would bring down the full measure of His wrath against His chosen people.
33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes;
and I will keep it to the end.1
34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
35 Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
36 Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain!
37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways.
38 Confirm to your servant your promise,
that you may be feared.
39 Turn away the reproach that I dread,
for your rules are good.
40 Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life!
41 Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD,
your salvation according to your promise;
42 then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me,
for I trust in your word.
43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
for my hope is in your rules.
44 I will keep your law continually,
forever and ever,
45 and I shall walk in a wide place,
for I have sought your precepts.
46 I will also speak of your testimonies before kings
and shall not be put to shame,
47 for I find my delight in your commandments,
which I love.
48 I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.
[1] 119:33
(ESV)