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 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we1 have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith2 into this grace in which we stand, and we3 rejoice4 in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men5 because all sinned—13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore, as one trespass6 led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness7 leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[1] 5:1
[2] 5:2
[3] 5:2
[4] 5:2
[5] 5:12
[6] 5:18
[7] 5:18
(ESV)
In 1992, one of the most memorable series of television commercials of all time hit the airwaves. These commercials featured children singing, playing, smiling, and drinking a well-known sports drink, all the while gazing with awe and wonder at a six foot six giant of a man who wore a jersey with the number twenty three emblazoned on it: Michael Jordan. The song that these children sang to this prince of basketball was simple, yet catchy: "I want to be like Mike." And the tag of the commercial was unapologetically straightforward: "Be like Mike. Drink Gatorade."
Growing up, we all have people we want to "be like." And in many ways, this is perfectly healthy and normal. For we all need mentors who inspire our hearts and motivate us to reach new heights. However, sometimes the drive to be like someone can turn dangerous and sinister. Take, for instance, history's first sin. Satan comes to Adam and Eve with this allurement: "When you eat of the fruit of this tree, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). Satan asks, "You want to be like God? Don't drink Gatorade; instead, eat this fruit in spite of God's prohibition" (cf. Genesis 2:17). So Adam and Eve eat of the forbidden fruit. And sin comes into the world.
Although we are perfectly free to try to "be like" many people, the one person we are not free to try to "be like" is God. Yes, we are called to imitate God's moral character, but we are strictly prohibited from seeking to usurp God's authority or claim for ourselves his essence and nature. For God is utterly unique. No mortal is like him. As the Psalmist rhetorically asks: "Who is like the LORD our God, enthroned on high" (Psalm 113:5)? The understood answer, of course, is "no one." No one can "be like" the Lord.
In our reading for today from Romans 5, Paul revisits and reminds us of the devastating effects wreaked by those who would try to be like God: "Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned" (verse 12). Paul says that it is not just Adam who sinned and tried to be like God, rather, we all have sinned and tried to be like God. How have we done this? Whenever we have broken God's ways to go our own ways, for then we assume that we know better than God. Whenever we have belligerently sought to control our own destiny rather than leaving our destiny in the Divine's hands, for then we assume that we assume that our power over the future is greater than God's. Any time we try to usurp God's authority, we try to be like God. Indeed, we are trying to be beyond God, more powerful and wise than he, which, of course, is utter silliness and lunacy.
It is into the context of this supercilious desire to be beyond God that Paul writes, "Adam was a pattern of the one to come" (verse 14). The "one to come," of course, is Jesus Christ. Thus, for people who would try to be like God, God decides that he will take on human flesh and be like us. This is why Paul calls Adam a "pattern." God looks at Adam, and all of us sinful, broken people, and uses us as a "pattern" for his work in Christ. It is in Christ that God decides to be like us. As Paul writes elsewhere, "Christ was found in appearance as a man" (Philippians 2:8).
Unlike us, however, God does not decide that he will be like us out of his own selfish ambition or so that he can control or condemn us; instead, he decides that he will be like us so that he can love and save us. Paul says as much when he writes, "God's grace... came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ" (verse 15).
Thus, the call of Romans 5 is to stop trying to be like God and start being ourselves: creatures so precious in God's sight that even God himself would be like us so that he can save us. And who would want to be anything else but that?
16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”
18 For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
19 Behold, the storm of the LORD!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intents of his heart.
In the latter days you will understand it clearly.
21 “I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
and they would have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their deeds.
23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD.
33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,1 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.’ 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man’s own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up2 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”
(ESV)
God spoke through Jeremiah to condemn the false prophets of Jerusalem. They did not speak for the LORD, but instead spoke visions from their own minds. They falsely offered rebellious people comfort, promising "It shall be well with you," and "No disaster shall come upon you." Rather than speaking lies of what they hoped would be, they should have stood in the council of the LORD and paid attention to His Word. The same thing happens today. Have you ever heard someone say, "Well I don't know what the Bible says, but I think... ." God's wrath would come upon them like a sudden storm, and His anger would not turn back. If the prophets of Jerusalem would have spoken God's Word to His people, they might have turned from their evil ways and been spared. Instead of speaking the truth they lied saying, "I have dreamed," but their dreams were merely the deceit of their own hearts. God's Word is like a hammer to break rock into pieces. The Law of the LORD will shatter hardened hearts, bringing repentance and peace. But the lying prophets of Jerusalem said, "... declares the LORD," only to lead people astray. Sometimes a prophet would characterize a message from God as "the burden of the LORD." However, Jeremiah told the false prophets and priests that they were a burden to the LORD, a burden that He would cast off. Their lying lips which sought to give the people a false security brought them everlasting reproach and perpetual shame. This is why in his explanation to the second commandment Luther said that we must not "lie or deceive by God's name."
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength1 of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.
[1] 73:26
(ESV)