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!
5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.1 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
[1] 5:27
(ESV)
"A man has the rule of this household by nature, for the deliberative faculty of a woman is inferior, in children it does not yet exist, and in the case of slaves, it is completely absent" (1 Hezekiah 14:7). Actually, Hezekiah didn't really say this. In fact, the book of 1 Hezekiah doesn't even exist. Rather, these words were said by Arius Didymus, the great Stoic philosopher, who is here quoting Caesar Augustus' position on how a household is to be ordered. And Didymus' delineations for a household are clear, crisp, and concise: The man is at the top and everyone else is beneath him.
Such instructions were not unusual in and were widely accepted by ancient Roman society. What is unusual, however, are the instructions that Paul offers concerning the first century, and twenty-first century, household in our reading for today from Ephesians 5:
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. (verses 22-28)
Paul continues in Ephesians 6 by speaking to other members of the family:
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother" - which is the first commandment with a promise - "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. (verses 1-9)
A few things are notable about the way that Paul addresses a family's order compared to how others addressed this same order. First, Paul addresses all the members of the family, not just the father. Because it was assumed, as demonstrated by the quote from Didymus above, that only the father had the rational abilities necessary to keep his family in order, only fathers were addressed. In Paul's delineation of household duties, however, each member is addressed as a competent, rational human being who has something to contribute to the harmony of the family.
Second, Roman household structures assumed that a man was fit for command over his house simply by his natural aptitude as a male. As Aristotle says, "The male is by nature fitter for command than the female" (Politics 1.12). Paul says that a man is head over a household not because of some sort of innate superior aptitude, but because God has placed him there. Thus, a man is answerable to the God who places him in such an important position and thus ought to discharge his duties carefully and with much grace, following the lead of his heavenly Father.
Finally, we must not overlook how Paul opens his instructions concerning Christian households: "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" (verse 21). For Paul, a healthy household is built not on power, but on loving submission - a desire to consider the needs and prerogatives of others before considering your own. For this is what Christ has done with us. He willingly submitted himself to the tortures of the cross so that we could be reconciled to God and be reckoned as "fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household" (Ephesians 2:19).
So today, give thanks to God for your family and ask yourself, "How can I discharge my duties toward my family in a godly, faithful, and loving way?" It won't always be easy, but it will always be worth it. For we each have a roll to play in our families.
8:1 Set the trumpet to your lips!
One like a vulture is over the house of the LORD,
because they have transgressed my covenant
and rebelled against my law.
2 To me they cry,
“My God, we—Israel—know you.”
3 Israel has spurned the good;
the enemy shall pursue him.
4 They made kings, but not through me.
They set up princes, but I knew it not.
With their silver and gold they made idols
for their own destruction.
5 I have1 spurned your calf, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6 For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it;
it is not God.
The calf of Samaria
shall be broken to pieces.2
7 For they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
strangers would devour it.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
already they are among the nations
as a useless vessel.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
a wild donkey wandering alone;
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they hire allies among the nations,
I will soon gather them up.
And the king and princes shall soon writhe
because of the tribute.
11 Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,
they have become to him altars for sinning.
12 Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
they would be regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for my sacrificial offerings,
they sacrifice meat and eat it,
but the LORD does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
they shall return to Egypt.
14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker
and built palaces,
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
so I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour her strongholds.
9:1 Rejoice not, O Israel!
Exult not like the peoples;
for you have played the whore, forsaking your God.
You have loved a prostitute’s wages
on all threshing floors.
2 Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
and the new wine shall fail them.
3 They shall not remain in the land of the LORD,
but Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.
4 They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the LORD,
and their sacrifices shall not please him.
It shall be like mourners’ bread to them;
all who eat of it shall be defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
it shall not come to the house of the LORD.
5 What will you do on the day of the appointed festival,
and on the day of the feast of the LORD?
6 For behold, they are going away from destruction;
but Egypt shall gather them;
Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver;
thorns shall be in their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come;
Israel shall know it.
The prophet is a fool;
the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
and great hatred.
8 The prophet is the watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet a fowler’s snare is on all his ways,
and hatred in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves
as in the days of Gibeah:
he will remember their iniquity;
he will punish their sins.
(ESV)
God makes it clear that because Israel has rejected God and His goodness, the enemy will come against them in spite of their claims to know the LORD. They will be devoured like carrion by a vulture (a symbol of Assyria). Israel usurped God's reign by establishing alliances with foreign kings and their false gods, setting up golden calves in Dan and Bethel. One of the most famous Biblical expressions portrays the results of Israel's idolatry. "They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind." Whatever Israel sows will not produce, and whatever is produced will be taken by her enemies. God depicts His people's waywardness by comparing them to a wild donkey that accepts no restraints, or a prostitute who hires herself out to lovers. All the tribute they pay to their hired allies will not save them. The hypocrisy of Israel's worship was plain. What should have been altars for sin offerings had become altars for sinning. Israel despised God's Law as "a strange thing." Because of their sins they would return to Egypt as captives. Their palaces and fortresses would be of no use, as God sent fire on their cities. Their spiritual prostitution would result in hunger and deprivation. While she thought offerings to the Baals would bring her prosperity, they would only result in exile. Furthermore, God would no longer allow His people to make offerings to the LORD. They would not be able to celebrate the appointed festivals, but would die and be buried in exile, with their tents and possessions overgrown by thorns at home. Because Israel viewed God's prophets as fools, and men who spoke by the Holy Spirit as madmen, their day of judgment had come. Since the prophet was supposed to be a watchman, and Israel had rejected the prophets, God would remember their iniquity and punish their sins.
13:1 A wise son hears his father’s instruction,
but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
2 From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good,
but the desire of the treacherous is for violence.
3 Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life;
he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,
while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
5 The righteous hates falsehood,
but the wicked brings shame1 and disgrace.
6 Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless,
but sin overthrows the wicked.
7 One pretends to be rich,2 yet has nothing;
another pretends to be poor,3 yet has great wealth.
8 The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth,
but a poor man hears no threat.
9 The light of the righteous rejoices,
but the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
10 By insolence comes nothing but strife,
but with those who take advice is wisdom.
11 Wealth gained hastily4 will dwindle,
but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.
12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
13 Whoever despises the word5 brings destruction on himself,
but he who reveres the commandment6 will be rewarded.
14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.
[1] 13:5
[2] 13:7
[3] 13:7
[4] 13:11
[5] 13:13
[6] 13:13
(ESV)