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
21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place1 of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,2 and God himself will be with them as their God.3 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.4 Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits5 by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
[1] 21:3
[2] 21:3
[3] 21:3
[4] 21:16
[5] 21:17
(ESV)
For several weeks over the summer, Melody and I had the opportunity to "cat-sit" two cats for a friend of ours. I love cats. Melody, however, is not nearly so affectionate toward the frolicking felines. And frolicking these two cats were. Usually in the middle of the night. Melody and I would be fast asleep, only to be jolted awake by the scurry of two cats playfully chasing each other directly into our bedroom. This flurry of activity was often followed by a loud thump, coming from something which the cats had inadvertently knocked over in the middle of their antics. "Get those cats out of here!" my wife would exclaim, clearly frustrated by their raucous nocturnal rowdiness. So, I would get up, usher the cats out of our room, and then shut our door. "There. Now maybe we can finally get some shut eye," I would think to myself. But it never took long. Minutes after I would shut our bedroom door to bar the cats from entering, a paw would appear, reaching through the crack between the floor and the door. And then I'd hear, "Meow. Meow." I couldn't help myself. I would always melt with delight. "Ah. How cute," came my reflexive response. Melody was not so amused.
In our reading for today from Revelation 21, we catch a glimpse into the new Jerusalem, that is, the new creation which God will usher in on the Last Day. In John's description of this cosmic metropolis, I find this to be especially notable: "On no day will Jerusalem's gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there" (verse 25). Like I would shut our bedroom door at night to keep out the cats, ancient cities would often shut their gates at night to keep out nefarious invaders. For example, when the city of Jericho learns that the Israelites are drawing near to attack, the book of Joshua notes, "Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in" (Joshua 6:1). Ancient cities closed their gates. The new Jerusalem will not.
Why is this? Because unlike the municipalities of antiquity, the new Jerusalem will have no foes of which to be afraid. For all of the city's enemies will have been conquered, even as John says: "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur" (verse 8). Thus, Jesus opens the city's doors.
Jesus is in the business of opening doors. As Jesus himself says, "Knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7). Paul, after a mission tour through Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe rejoices that God "had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles" (Acts 14:27). He later prays "that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains" (Colossians 4:3). Christ's desire is to open doors for his followers. Even at the beginning of Revelation, Jesus exclaims to the church at Philadelphia, "See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut (Revelation 3:8).
There's an old, oft-repeated, and tired Christian cliché: "Whenever God closes one door, he always opens a window." The premise of this statement is that God will make a way, even when things don't turn out how you might expect or want them to. As much as I appreciate the general sentiment, I'm not so sure that the specific imagery is accurate. For when it comes to this specific image of a door, Scripture portrays God as one who opens doors rather than closing them. If we run up against a roadblock, before we blame God for slamming a door in our face, perhaps we should ask ourselves if the door was ever open in the first place. Or perhaps we should ask ourselves if it was our own sinfulness that closed a door rather than God. In fact, the only time that God is portrayed as closing a door is in Luke 13:23-28 when someone asks Jesus:
"Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'
But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!' There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth."
The door out of hell, it seems, will be locked up tight by Christ so that the gates of the new Jerusalem can be left open, free from the fear of God's enemies.
So today, rather than bemoaning the "closed doors" in your life, why don't you thank God for the ones he has opened for you? For they are many. He has opened the door to his knowledge through the pages of Scripture. He has opened the door to forgiveness through his Son, Jesus Christ. And he has opened the gates of his new Jerusalem so that we may come in. I can't wait to walk through.
30 “How sick is your heart,1 declares the Lord GOD, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, 31 building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, because you scorned payment. 32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. 34 So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.
35 “Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD: 36 Thus says the Lord GOD, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, 37 therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from every side and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. 38 And I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. 39 And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your vaulted chamber and break down your lofty places. They shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful jewels and leave you naked and bare. 40 They shall bring up a crowd against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 And they shall burn your houses and execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. I will make you stop playing the whore, and you shall also give payment no more. 42 So will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry. 43 Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, I have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations?
44 “Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ 45 You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 46 And your elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. 47 Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways. 48 As I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. 49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it. 51 Samaria has not committed half your sins. You have committed more abominations than they, and have made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed. 52 Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have intervened on behalf of your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.
[1] 16:30
(ESV)
Ezekiel continued to speak the Word of God, exposing in lurid detail the sinful acts that the people of Jerusalem and Judah engaged in. God's people actually did worse than "play the harlot," for prostitutes are compensated for their services. Israel and Judah, however, gave gifts to all their lovers to bribe them to come and engage in sin with them. Judah was an adulterous wife who had nothing to do with her Husband, the LORD, but who received strangers with idols into her bedroom instead. Because of her sinful lust, God warned that Judah would be stripped naked in the presence of all her lovers and utterly disgraced. The people of Judah would be punished like a woman who committed adultery and shed blood. They would be stoned or put to death by the sword. All of this was well deserved as God explained, "I have returned your deeds upon your head." Judah was like a sister to her pagan neighbors, becoming even more corrupt than they were. Though the sins of Sodom and Samaria were great, they were not half what the people of God engaged in. Of course, the reason that the sins of Judah were so much greater was because she had every advantage—being the chosen one of God, in a covenant relationship with Him, knowing His Law and His Word, hearing the Word of the prophets and their calls to repentance, and yet rejecting it all for the sensual pleasures of pagan idolatry. There could be no excuse for such a complete rejection of God's loving kindness. Thus, the worst punishment imaginable was well deserved by God's rebellious children. We should be reminded of the warning in Hebrews 6:4-6: "For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt." May we never presume on the grace of God and rebel against Him like God's people of old!
114:1 When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
3 The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
5 What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.
(ESV)