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
17:1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin1 are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.2 3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
7 “Will any one of you who has a servant3 plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly,4 and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants;5 we have only done what was our duty.’”
11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,6 who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”7
20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”8
22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.9 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”10 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse11 is, there the vultures12 will gather.”
[1] 17:1
[2] 17:2
[3] 17:7
[4] 17:8
[5] 17:10
[6] 17:12
[7] 17:19
[8] 17:21
[9] 17:24
[10] 17:35
[11] 17:37
[12] 17:37
(ESV)
From conversations I have had with my friends, it seems to be a trauma experienced almost universally by children everywhere. Indeed, I too was traumatized by this experience in my own childhood. It usually began with an odor - a foul odor - emitting from the kitchen. I knew that trouble was imminent and so I would trot into the kitchen and ask my mother, "Mom, what's for supper?" "Liver and onions," would come her reply. Immediately my stomach began to churn and turn. "But I hate liver and onions!" I would protest. "Can't I have macaroni and cheese, or peanut butter and jelly, or beans and franks? Anything but liver and onions!"
I have never met a child who enjoys liver and onions. Yet, I have also never met a person who, when growing up, was not forced to eat this despicable dish by their menacing parents. One would think that with the unanimous disdain that liver and onions garners, parents would give up on trying to force this meal down their kids' throats. But it didn't stop my parents. And I'll bet it didn't stop your parents either.
I would arrive at the table to find my plate of liver and onions waiting for me. Mercifully, with my liver and onions also came some broccoli and potatoes. Thus, I would always eat my sides first while leaving my main dish untouched, and then ask for more potatoes to which my parents would reply, "You can have more potatoes when you finish your meat. There's plenty of food on your plate already. You don't need anymore."
In our reading for today from Luke 17, Jesus gives his disciples a hard teaching:
Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves. (verses 1-3)
A millstone was the ancient equivalent of a pair of the mafia's cement boots. If you were wearing a millstone in the water, you were preparing to meet your end. Jesus says that this should be the desired end for someone who has caused another to stumble in his faith. Now that's a tough teaching!
How do the disciples respond to such a difficult word? "Increase our faith!" they exclaim (verse 5). This is an understandable request. After all, to trust that it's better to meet your demise than to harm another person is about as easy to swallow as a plate of liver and onions. But notice how Jesus responds to his disciples' request: "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you'" (verse 6). Rather than giving his disciples increased faith, Jesus explains the value of small faith. For even small faith can do magnificent things. Essentially, Jesus is saying to his disciples, "There's plenty of faith on your plate already. Even for my hardest of teachings, you don't need anything besides the faith you already have."
One of the cries of the Protestant Reformation was sola fide, a Latin phrase meaning, "by faith alone." The reformers proudly held that a man is saved by faith in Christ alone and not by his own righteous works. Interestingly, when the disciples ask the Lord to "increase their faith," they use the Greek word prostithemi, meaning literally "to place something with." In other words, the disciples are saying, "Faith alone is not enough to receive your teachings, Jesus. We need you to place something else alongside our faith. What extra thing do you have for us so that we can properly receive your teachings?" Jesus' answer to his disciples is, "Sola fide. Faith alone is all you need. For even the smallest faith can believe my most challenging teachings."
Perhaps you have encountered a trial, tragedy, or trouble where you wondered if your faith in Christ would be enough to get you through. Couldn't Jesus add to your faith? Perhaps he could give you a divine sign or a heavenly vision or a miraculous solution. Sure, Jesus could give you those things, but most often, his reply to such requests is the same as his words to the disciples: "There's plenty of faith on your plate already. Even during your toughest times, you don't need anything besides the faith you already have. Sola fide, dear brothers and sisters. Sola fide."
May the cry of sola fide be your cry today... and always.
36:1 “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. 2 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the enemy said of you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient heights have become our possession,’ 3 therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Precisely because they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became the talk and evil gossip of the people, 4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around, 5 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey. 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the reproach of the nations. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer reproach.
8 “But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home. 9 For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. 10 And I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. 11 And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 12 I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer bereave them of children. 13 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they say to you, ‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,’ 14 therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord GOD. 15 And I will not let you hear anymore the reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord GOD.”
16 The word of the LORD came to me: 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. 18 So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it. 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them. 20 But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ 21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.
(ESV)
In stark contrast to the prophecy against Mount Seir in the land of Edom, God had Ezekiel prophesy words of hope to the mountains of Israel. Although Israel became a reproach to the surrounding nations because of its destruction at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar and the people's exile in Babylon, God promised that those neighboring nations, including Edom, would themselves suffer reproach. In contrast, God was going to restore not only His people to the land when their exile was ended, but God promised to restore the land itself. The Promised Land would once again be tilled and sown and would yield fruit for God's people. Once again the cities in the land would be inhabited and the people would multiply. Drought, famine and pestilence that plagued Israel in the past because of the sins of God's people would be no more, thus the land would no longer "bereave your nation of children." Sadly, this had come to pass because God's people had defiled the land by their violence and their idolatry. Therefore, when they were sent into exile, the name of the LORD was profaned, as the nations murmured among themselves, "These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to go out of his land." But Ezekiel's prophecy of hope to the mountains of Israel was God's way of proclaiming that His plan for the salvation of all mankind had not been ruined by Israel's disobedience. Instead, He would restore them to the land, bless and multiply them, and from them bring the One seed of Abraham through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
136:1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
4 to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
7 to him who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
15 but overthrew1 Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
17 to him who struck down great kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
18 and killed mighty kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
20 and Og, king of Bashan,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
21 and gave their land as a heritage,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
22 a heritage to Israel his servant,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
25 he who gives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
[1] 136:15
(ESV)