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
4:1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in1 him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness2 of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
(ESV)
To study to become a pastor, I went to seminary in St. Louis. And over the course of my educational career, beginning in grade school and stretching all the way through seminary, I always looked forward to my academic breaks with a sense of eager anticipation. This was especially true in seminary, because I was a long way from my home in Austin. And I can still remember, the first day of every extended break, waking up at 3:30 am, hopping in my truck, and hitting the road for a thirteen and half hour trek home.
Because I drove this route from St. Louis to Austin many times, I became quite familiar with it. I had appointed stops and would even buy the same snack foods every time I made my journey. I also noticed that things seem to change slower in the country, even if that country has an interstate racing through it, than in the city. This was especially true of billboards. There was one billboard in Missouri on I-44 which, over my four years in seminary, never changed. It read, "Waiting for a sign from God? Here it is."
More than one person, especially in a time of trial or crisis of faith, has asked God for a sign. Disappointingly, I have heard far fewer stories about how God did deliver a sign than stories of how he didn't. Indeed, many of us intuitively know that it is dangerous for us to ask for some heavenly omen because, more often than not, we'll be disappointed.
The animated cartoon character Homer Simpson, who, although not a particularly astute theologian, is funnily folksy, once offered this prayer: "Dear Lord, the gods have been good to me. For the first time in my life, everything is absolutely perfect just the way it is. So here's the deal. You freeze everything the way it is, and I won't ask for anything more. If that is okay, please give me absolutely no sign. Okay, deal. In gratitude, I present you this offering of cookies and milk. If you want me to eat them for you, give me no sign. Thy will be done." Although we would never pray such a crass prayer as this, this is the way many of us by default operate: God is not in the business of giving signs.
In our reading for today from Romans 4, Paul argues that a person is made righteous not by what he does, but by faith in Christ's salvific work alone. Indeed, Paul says that even those before Christ were justified by their faith and not by their works. For instance, Abraham: "What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about - but not before God. What does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness'" (verses 1-3). Abraham's faith, Paul says, not his good works, made him righteous in God's sight.
In order to bolster his argument, Paul continues by noting that Abraham was declared righteous by God before he himself had done anything righteous. Thus, Abraham's righteousness could not have come from anything he had done: "Under what circumstances was Abraham's righteousness credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before" (verse 10)!
In first century Jewish society, circumcision was the ultimate "sign" that a person was a child of God. As Paul says, "Abraham received the sign of circumcision" (verse 11). But now, in Romans 4, Paul is arguing for a new sign that a person is a child of God. And this is a sign that is not done by human hands as some righteous work, as is circumcision, this is a sign that is effected by God himself: the sign of faith. This is why Paul writes, "Abraham is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them" (verse 11). Paul says, in order to be a righteous child of God, the sign you really need is faith in Jesus Christ.
So perhaps it isn't such a bad thing to ask for a sign from God after all. But this sign will probably not come in an experience that rends the heavens or in a voice that rumbles into your soul. It probably won't even come in large words plastered on a billboard along some country boulevard. No, the sign from God that you most need is a sign that you already have: faith in your heart. Thank God for that most precious sign today.
23:1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD.
5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’
7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me;
all my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the LORD
and because of his holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;
because of the curse the land mourns,
and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course is evil,
and their might is not right.
11 “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
even in my house I have found their evil,
declares the LORD.
12 Therefore their way shall be to them
like slippery paths in the darkness,
into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
in the year of their punishment,
declares the LORD.
13 In the prophets of Samaria
I saw an unsavory thing:
they prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrible thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies;
they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his evil;
all of them have become like Sodom to me,
and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
15 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:
“Behold, I will feed them with bitter food
and give them poisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
[1] 23:8
(ESV)
God placed prophets, priests and kings over His people to guide and protect them, like a shepherd cares for his flock. These leaders of Israel, however, proved to be wicked shepherds who scattered and destroyed the flock. God promised to punish them for the evil they had done, but more importantly, He promised to gather a remnant of His people from all the nations into which they were exiled, and bring them back to their pasture where they would flourish. God was determined that His promise to bless all nations through Abraham would not be broken. To accomplish His plan, God would raise up for David, a righteous King, who would be called, "The LORD is our righteousness." This promise of the Messiah was fulfilled when "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21) By His death on the cross Jesus became our righteousness. All this was possible because God preserved a remnant for Himself of His rebellious people. The return of this remnant would become celebrated in Israel, just as the Exodus was before. In the remaining verses, Jeremiah condemned the false prophets, who desecrated their office by lying words, the spiritual adultery of idol worship and immoral living. God promised that they would slip and fall into disastrous punishment. Their evil ways led astray the people of Jerusalem and therefore they would be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. Jesus Christ is our true Prophet, Priest and King who as the Good Shepherd, brought us back to God and restored us to a right relationship with Him.
73:1 Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.1
11 And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
[1] 73:10
(ESV)