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
9:1 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, knowing1 their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
10 And as Jesus2 reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast,3 but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
18 While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. 20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly4 the woman was made well. 23 And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went through all that district.
27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” 28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be done to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” 31 But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.
32 As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”
35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
[1] 9:4
[2] 9:10
[3] 9:14
[4] 9:22
(ESV)
If you've read my blog you've probably seen the picture at the bottom of the page. It's a picture of the fantastic bike that I ride as often as possible. It'a bike I could have never hoped to own. That 2008 Trek Madone 6.5 is a VERY expensive bike. It was a gift from my congregation in Tacoma, WA. I continually tell people about this gift. It's one of the greatest gifts I've ever received in my whole life. Totally unexpected. Totally over the top. Totally wonderful to enjoy for many, many years. I just can't keep it to myself.
Matthew 9 tells us about a number of people who experienced that same sort of gift from Jesus, one they just couldn't keep quiet about. "When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men." (v. 8) "After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that region." (vv. 25-26) "Jesus warned them sternly, 'See that no one knows about this.' But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region." (vv. 30-31) "And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." (v. 33)
Notice in particular how Jesus warned the blind men not to say anything, but they couldn't help themselves. It's actually in Mark's Gospel that we learn that Jesus instructed Jairus and his wife not to say anthing about their daughter being raised from the dead. (Mark 5:43) He gave them "strict orders" not to let anyone know about this. Yet Matthew tells us "News of this spread through all that region." They couldn't help themselves.
For years I've loved a song by Don Francisco that tells the story of the raising of Jairus' daughter. At the end of the song is this passionate chorus, sung over and over again.
I got to tell somebody, I got tell somebody
I got to tell somebody, what Jesus did for me...
You know he gave me life when my hope was dead
When there was grief he brought joy instead
I got to tell somebody, what Jesus did for me...
I think it captures beautifully what Jairus and his wife must have felt. They couldn't help themselves. They just had to tell somebody what Jesus did for them.
I hope that the same is true for you and me. I hope that we cannot help but tell others what Jesus has done for us. I hope that we display his grace in our lives to others over and over again. Because there is no greater gift than the grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!
7 When Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate—8 Ebed-melech went from the king’s house and said to the king, 9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe in the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern by ropes. 12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so. 13 Then they drew Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me.” 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” 16 Then King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18 But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.” 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me.” 20 Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is the vision which the LORD has shown to me: 22 Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and were saying,
“‘Your trusted friends have deceived you
and prevailed against you;
now that your feet are sunk in the mud,
they turn away from you.’
23 All your wives and your sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire.”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. 25 If the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then you shall say to them, ‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been overheard. 28 And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.
(ESV)
God works in unusual ways sometimes, and this was one of them. When Jeremiah was stuck in the mud at the bottom of a cistern, left there to starve to death, help came from an unexpected source. An Ethiopian eunuch in the king's court named Ebed-melech approached the king and pleaded on Jeremiah's behalf. When confronted with Jeremiah's almost certain death, the same king who allowed the officials to do with Jeremiah as they wished dispatched a contingent from his royal guard to rescue Jeremiah from the cistern. With rags under his arms, Jeremiah was pulled up by ropes and returned to the royal court as a prisoner of the king. Once again Zedekiah consulted with Jeremiah, hoping against hope for a different message from the LORD. Jeremiah protested, "If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me." The king swore to protect Jeremiah, and in return Jeremiah repeated the Word of the LORD that he had so often proclaimed. "If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire." On the other hand, God's threat was not an empty one. If Zedekiah refused God's Word then the city would be captured and destroyed. Unfortunately, Zededkiah was more afraid of men than he was of God. He thought that if he surrendered to the Chaldeans they would hand him over to the officials who had already surrendered, and they would mistreat him because he had not listened to the Word of the LORD and surrendered earlier. Proverbs 29:25 says: "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe." Zedekiah would not listen to Jeremiah's warnings about the consequences of unbelief. Sadly, Zedekiah was so afraid of the court officials that he threatened Jeremiah's life if he told them anything about their conversation, beyond the simple request of Jeremiah not to be sent back to the dungeon. Jeremiah obeyed Zedekiah's instructions and remained under house arrest in the court of the royal guard.
86:1 Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my life, for I am godly;
save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
3 Be gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all the day.
4 Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
6 Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
for you answer me.
8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours.
9 All the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.
10 For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
and they do not set you before them.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me;
give your strength to your servant,
and save the son of your maidservant.
17 Show me a sign of your favor,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.
(ESV)