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
17:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.1 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them2 in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself,3 that they also may be sanctified4 in truth.
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
[1] 17:15
[2] 17:17
[3] 17:19
[4] 17:19
(ESV)
Ever since college, I have driven a pickup truck. And I love my truck. After all, it comes in handy for so many things. Time for a fishing excursion? Throw the gear in the back of the truck and head out. Need to tow a boat? That's what a trailer hitch is for! Need to haul a leaky cooler full of fish back home after a successful trip? Just throw it in the back. That way, there's no mess in the cab. Yes, trucks are terrific.
Owning a truck, however, comes with a certain level of responsibility. For example, I have never owned, managed, or worked for a moving company. Nor do I intend to ever do so. And yet, I'm always getting requests for my moving services. Why? Because I own a truck.
A couple of weeks back, I was at my mother-in-law's house helping her move some of her things into storage. Why? Because I own a truck, of course. And not only was I there, so were many members of my mother-in-law's family. And they were sorting through kitchen items and pictures and keepsakes, deliberately and gently wrapping and packing each item into their respective boxes. And after several minutes of being a mere spectator to all of this, I began to try to help. I would throw this item into this box and that item into that box. But I never seemed to throw the right item into the right box. "This doesn't go here, it goes there," came the gentle reprimand. "And you need to wrap this. You can't just throw it in there. It'll break. In fact, why don't you just let us sort and pack everything, and then you can do the heavy lifting once we get everything packed. That's why you're here. So that you and your truck can do the heavy lifting."
Heavy lifting with me and my truck. That's what I'm good for. And, oddly enough, this is what takes us to our reading for today from John 17. In theological parlance, this chapter is known as Jesus' "High Priestly Prayer." In it, Jesus, immediately before he is arrested and condemned to death, prays for his disciples, already well aware of the trials and persecutions they will endure for the sake of his name. And in the face of such suffering, one of the things that Jesus prays is, "For my disciples I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified" (verse 19). The Greek word for "sanctified" here is hagiazo, meaning "holy," or "saintly." Tellingly, a cognate of this word is used elsewhere when Scripture describes people, not as sanctified and holy, but as "lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy" (2 Timothy 3:2). The people of the world are unholy. That is Scripture's stinging indictment. The disciples, then, are being called to holiness in an unholy world.
But make sure you don't miss the subtle shift that Jesus makes in his words in verse 19! He begins by saying, "For my disciples I sanctify myself... " Jesus actively sanctifies himself. That is, he actively lives a holy life. He never sins. He never breaks his Father's commandments. He never has an evil thought, word, or deed. Jesus is actively holy.
Sadly, the same cannot be said for his disciples. For his disciples do not actively sanctify themselves. They do not actively live in holiness. Judas betrays Jesus (cf. John 18:2-3). Peter denies Jesus (cf. John 18:15-18, 25-27). And the rest of the disciples desert Jesus (cf. Matthew 26:56). The disciples sin against Jesus. That's why, as Jesus continues his prayer, he says, "For my disciples, I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified" (verse 19). Jesus actively sanctifies himself. But when he talks about his disciples, he switches from an active sanctification to a passive sanctification. For Jesus knows that the disciples cannot sanctify themselves. They are far too sinful for that. And so, rather than commanding his disciples to make themselves holy, Jesus gives them a promise: "By my holiness, I make you holy. I sanctify myself so that I can share my sanctification with you." In other words, Jesus does the "heavy lifting" of holiness so that we don't have to. He carries the heavy burden of perfection for us so that we don't have to break our backs under the weight of God's commands. As the Psalmist says, "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens" (Psalm 68:19). Jesus bears the heavy burden of holiness so that we can rejoice in the light load of God's grace. Jesus does the heavy lifting for us. Even when that heavy lifting is a cross. No pickup truck needed. Remember to give thanks to God for the heavy burden of holiness that Jesus bore. After all, he bore it for you.
1:1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.
4 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7 But the LORD said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8 Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the LORD.”
9 Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me,
“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
11 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond1 branch.” 12 Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”
13 The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” 14 Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north disaster2 shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. 17 But you, dress yourself for work;3 arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18 And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.”
2:1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD,
“I remember the devotion of your youth,
your love as a bride,
how you followed me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
3 Israel was holy to the LORD,
the firstfruits of his harvest.
All who ate of it incurred guilt;
disaster came upon them,
declares the LORD.”
[1] 1:11
[2] 1:14
[3] 1:17
(ESV)
Jeremiah was from the tribe of Benjamin. He served the Lord from the time of his youth beginning in 627 BC under the reign of good King Josiah, and continuing through the exile under King Zedekiah in 586 BC. Jeremiah was called by God and set apart or consecrated to be His prophet before he was born. Thus, verse 5 clearly teaches that life begins in the womb at the moment of conception. Like Moses, Jeremiah at first protested when he received his call. "Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth." The word "youth" [na'ar in Hebrew] most often refers to a young man or adolescent. God reassured Jeremiah that he could take God's Word to all he was sent to, "for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord." God reached out and touched the prophet's lips and told Jeremiah, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth," an awesome privilege and responsibility. God added to Jeremiah's assurance with two visions that served as object lessons. The almond branch was a sign that like this "awakened" tree (the meaning of almond) God was awake and watching to perform His Word. The boiling pot facing away from the north was a sign that God would bring disaster from the north on His own people because they had forsaken Him. God warned Jeremiah not to be dismayed by the resistance he would meet. God promised to make him like a fortified city, an iron pillar, or a bronze wall. Jeremiah's enemies would not prevail against him. The first proclamation God gave His prophet was to remind God's people of their early devotion to the LORD as they followed Him in the wilderness, having been set apart for God. Jeremiah declared that Israel was holy or set apart, like the choicest of the first fruits devoted to the LORD, so that God brought disaster on any who tried to "eat" of them. Thus, Jeremiah's prophecy begins with Gospel, the good news of God's love for them and their close bond with Him. Just as Jesus' love for us in His death on the cross for our sins moves us to repentance, so Jeremiah's reminder of God's love for Israel was intended to move them to repentance.
55:1 Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
3 because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they drop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7 yes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hurry to find a shelter
from the raging wind and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues;
for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
11 ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
do not depart from its marketplace.
[1] 55:1
(ESV)