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!
5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God1 will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
[1] 5:16
(ESV)
Recently, I received as a gift the new The Lutheran Study Bible. I own several study Bibles, and make regular use of them for different purposes according to their strengths. Like most study Bibles, The Lutheran Study Bible contains the biblical text on the top half of its pages with extensive notes marking the bottom half of its pages. These notes contain important interpretive commentary as well as quotes from the church fathers and even the occasional prayer to assist me as I meditate on a particular biblical text.
One of the concerns that many study Bible publishers share, including those who published The Lutheran Study Bible, is that a clear demarcation be made between the biblical text itself and the notes on the biblical text. For as helpful as study notes may be, and as salutary as the doctrine that they confess may be, a study Bible's notes are not the inspired, inerrant words of God. Another study Bible, the ESV Study Bible, explains thusly:
The ESV Study Bible contains two kinds of words. The first kind is the actual words of the Bible, which are the very words of God to us. These are printed in the larger font at the top of each page. The second kind is the study notes, which are merely human words. These are printed in the smaller font at the bottom of each page. The difference in font sizes serves to remind readers that the words of the Bible itself are infinitely more valuable than the words of the notes. The words of the Bible are the words of our Creator speaking to us. (ESV Study Bible, 10)
As valuable as notes on the Word of God might be, it is important, say the publishers of the ESV Study Bible, to distinguish between the words of man on the Word of God and the Word of God itself. For the latter are inspired and inerrant words while the former are not.
This all brings us to our reading for today from 1 John 5. For John writes about man's testimony about God over and against God's testimony about himself:
This is the one who came by water and blood - Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. (verses 6-9)
Interestingly, the King James Version of the Bible inserts another sentence immediately before verse 8 not found in the New International Version of the Bible, quoted above. The KJV includes: "There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." Why does the NIV not include this sentence?
The earliest biblical manuscript in which this sentence from the KJV appears is Minuscule 88, a twelfth century manuscript, now housed at a museum in Naples. Notably, this sentence is not included as part of the biblical text, but on the side margin, much like a study Bible note. Apparently, some early biblical interpreters took John's reference to "the Spirit, the water, and the blood" in verse 8 to be a reference to the Trinity and so inserted this note clearly proclaiming the doctrine of the Trinity. With time, this originally marginal note made its way into some manuscripts as part of the actual biblical text! The translators of the KJV used one such manuscript and so included it in their translation. More recent scholarship, however, has noted that these words were not originally penned by John as part of his letter. Thus, they are not included in more modern translations.
Do these words from the KJV concerning the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost teach false doctrine? Absolutely not! Are these words helpful in properly understanding the Trinity? Of course they are! Then why leave them out from modern translations of the Bible? Because as true and helpful as these words might be, they are finally words of man, written later, and not part of the inerrant, inspired Word of God. These words make a terrific note for a study Bible, but they are not part of the Bible itself.
More notes, commentaries, and books have been written on the Good Book than any other book in the history of the world. Many of the notes, commentaries, and books have lots of enlightening, encouraging, and true things to say. But remember, they are the words of man on the Word of God, not the Word of God itself. And nothing can displace or replace the Word of God as primary for a Christian. Thus, commit yourself to continued reading of God's Word, first and foremost. For this is the only Word in which we hear the absolute sure and certain voice of God. Everything else is just commentary. And so ends my commentary for today. Now, go and read your Bible.
3:1 “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
4 “What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.1 6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will return your payment on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the LORD has spoken.”
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Consecrate for war;2
stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
let them come up.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”
11 Hasten and come,
all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves there.
Bring down your warriors, O LORD.
12 Let the nations stir themselves up
and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
for there I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Go in, tread,
for the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
for their evil is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the LORD is near
in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
16 The LORD roars from Zion,
and utters his voice from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the LORD is a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.
17 “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God,
who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain.
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
and strangers shall never again pass through it.
18 “And in that day
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk,
and all the streambeds of Judah
shall flow with water;
and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD
and water the Valley of Shittim.
19 “Egypt shall become a desolation
and Edom a desolate wilderness,
for the violence done to the people of Judah,
because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem to all generations.
21 I will avenge their blood,
blood I have not avenged,3
for the LORD dwells in Zion.”
[1] 3:5
[2] 3:9
[3] 3:21
(ESV)
The last chapter of Joel describes the scene of final judgment, when God calls all nations to account before Him. His purpose in judgment is to "restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem." The Valley of Jehoshaphat (meaning "the LORD will judge") is where God will call people to account for everything they have done against His chosen ones. God identifies himself with His persecuted people, asking their enemies, "Are you paying me back?" We know that in Jesus, God identified himself with us completely, becoming sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. All those who have carried off riches from God's temple or have sold His people as slaves will be paid in full for their sins. Three separate pictures of judgment are presented. First, the judgment is described in terms of war. The call to arms against the LORD is the exact opposite of the peaceful effects of God's reign pictured in Micah 4:3. The nations will "stir themselves up" for war but God will "sit to judge" all of them. The second picture of judgment is that of the harvest. The nations are viewed like grapes crushed in the winepress. Finally, the judgment is seen as the point of decision, when the fate of all the nations is decided. As the LORD roars from Zion He utters judgment against evildoers, but He is "a refuge to his people." The final verses depict the glorious future of Judah and Jerusalem, which shall once again be a city set apart for God. The description of the land offers the picture of a peaceful paradise, well-watered with an abundance of good things. The enemies of God's people, however, shall be "a desolation." Thus, God will set all things right on the final Day of Judgment. He will rescue His people and establish them forever in His presence. This promise is for all of God's people, not just for the Old Testament believers to whom Joel spoke, but also for us, who are His chosen people in this generation, through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
25 The LORD tears down the house of the proud
but maintains the widow’s boundaries.
26 The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD,
but gracious words are pure.
27 Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household,
but he who hates bribes will live.
28 The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,
but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.
29 The LORD is far from the wicked,
but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart,
and good news refreshes1 the bones.
31 The ear that listens to life-giving reproof
will dwell among the wise.
32 Whoever ignores instruction despises himself,
but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.
33 The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom,
and humility comes before honor.
16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man,
but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
but the LORD weighs the spirit.2
3 Commit your work to the LORD,
and your plans will be established.
4 The LORD has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble.
5 Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD;
be assured, he will not go unpunished.
(ESV)