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
16:1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered them,1 “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.
5 When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” 8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? 9 Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 11 How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock2 I will build my church, and the gates of hell3 shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed4 in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord!5 This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance6 to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life7 will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
[1] 16:2
[2] 16:18
[3] 16:18
[4] 16:19
[5] 16:22
[6] 16:23
[7] 16:25
(ESV)
I live in a gated community. Or so I like to say. Actually, I live in a gated apartment complex. Gates are things which apartments and communities alike like to boast about. When I first perused the brochure for my complex, one of the amenities proudly touted was, "Gated for your safety and convenience." Of course, sometimes, the gate to my apartment complex gets stuck wide open, leaving the complex completely vulnerable. Other times, I pull into my complex only to find someone idling in the front parking lot, waiting for a tenet to open the gate so that they can get in. I have been followed through the gate many a time. Indeed, sometimes, the person even darts out in front of truck and gets in before I do. Perhaps the gate isn't as secure as it seems.
In our text for today from Matthew 16, Jesus leads his disciples into the region of "Caesarea Philippi" (verse 13). Caesarea Philippi was named so by Philip the Tetrarch, ruler of that region and one of Herod the Great's sons, who modestly renamed this region from Paneas to a name in honor of himself and Caesar Augustus. This city had a long and sordid history or paganism and debauchery. It was originally the center of Baal worship, the deplorable Canaanite fertility god. The site later became the religious center for Pan, a Greek god whose worship included cultic prostitution between humans and goats. Caesarea Philippi was especially notable because it stood at the base of a cliff where spring water flowed from the mouth of a cave set in the bottom of the cliff. Common pagan belief held that fertility gods, such as Pan, would ride the river in and out of the cave, which the pagans believed to be the opening to the underworld. Thus, to the pagan mind, Caesarea Philippi was located at the very gates to the underworld, known by its proper name as Hades.
It is at this spot that Jesus says to his disciples and especially to Peter, "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (verse 18). Jesus says, "Hades has a gate. And Hades thinks its gate offers it protection. Protection of its paganism. Protection of its sin and debauchery. Protection of its death and despondency and despair. But Hades is not as protected as it might think it is. Because right at the gates of Hades, I'm building my church. I'm building my agent of truth. I'm building my agent of righteousness and holiness. I'm building my agent of life and hope and joy. And thousands of Christians are idling in Hades' parking lot, just waiting for its gates to crack open, even if just a little, so they can storm its gates and bring my message of life into a world full of death!" This is Jesus' commission to his disciples, spoken right at the gates of Hades.
We live in a world full of gates, both literal and figurative. Gates of economics separate the rich from the poor. Gates of customs separate one culture from another. Gates of correctional facilities separate the law-breakers from the law-abiders. We live in a world full of gates. But Jesus' invitation to us is to break down those gates with his gospel! Look for those times when the gates which separate crack open, and then rush in to share the message of Christ with people who are stuck behind the gates of sin and death. And make no mistake about it, these gates do indeed crack open. Sometimes they crack open during a backyard barbeque when you can have a spiritual conversation with an unbeliever. Sometimes they crack open during a tragedy when you can bring comfort into the midst of pain. Sometimes they even crack open at the loss of a loved one when you can inject hope into a seemingly hopeless end. The gates of Hades are cracking. They cracked open at the cracking open of Jesus' tomb and they have been cracking open ever since at the sight of Jesus' church. So today, walk through those cracked gates. For those gates, no matter how strong they might seem, are no match for Jesus and his followers.
20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, men and women, all the people who had given him this answer: 21 “As for the offerings that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them? Did it not come into his mind? 22 The LORD could no longer bear your evil deeds and the abominations that you committed. Therefore your land has become a desolation and a waste and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 It is because you made offerings and because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.”
24 Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You and your wives have declared with your mouths, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made, to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! 26 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the LORD, that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the Lord GOD lives.’ 27 Behold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. All the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them. 28 And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. 29 This shall be the sign to you, declares the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for harm: 30 Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.”
45:1 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: 3 You said, ‘Woe is me! For the LORD has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.’ 4 Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD: Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land. 5 And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the LORD. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”
(ESV)
The people of Judah had everything turned on its head, but Jeremiah proceeded to set them straight. He told the people that their offerings to pagan gods were the very reason that their land had become a barren wasteland. Because of their disobedience and their willful sin, the LORD had driven them out of the land He had promised to them. Jeremiah reminded them of the vows they had made to make offerings to the queen of heaven and said, "Then confirm your vows and perform your vows!" But as a result of their pagan vows, God withdrew from them the power and privilege of prayer. "I have sworn by my great name, says the LORD, that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, 'As the Lord GOD lives." God told them that instead of watching over them for good as He had done in the past, He was now watching over them for disaster! Jeremiah warned them that the outcome of their situation would show whose word would stand, his or theirs. Since theirs was an idolatrous vow, theirs would fail, but exactly what Jeremiah threatened would take place. Only a handful of fugitives would escape death in Egypt. Jeremiah also gave them a sign as to when his words would be fulfilled—after Pharaoh Hophra was delivered into the hands of his enemies, then disaster could come on the fugitive remnant from Judah. Chapter 45 is, in effect, a footnote. It records a word of promise that God gave to Jeremiah for his scribe Baruch 15 years before the destruction of Jerusalem. This word of promise would comfort Baruch and strengthen him to serve Jeremiah faithfully in the important work that was his. God's promise to Baruch was, "I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go." Thus, Baruch knew that he would be spared the fate staring the other fugitives in the face.
90:1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place1
in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”2
4 For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
7 For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span3 is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor4 of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
[1] 90:1
[2] 90:3
[3] 90:10
[4] 90:17
(ESV)