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 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons1 of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that2 they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother3 will be liable to judgment; whoever insults4 his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell5 of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.6
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.7
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,8 let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,9 what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
[1] 5:9
[2] 5:16
[3] 5:22
[4] 5:22
[5] 5:22
[6] 5:26
[7] 5:37
[8] 5:40
[9] 5:47
(ESV)
Many Christians seem to have a special affection for trinkets and keepsakes which remind them of their faith. In our own house, for instance, we have a wall full of crosses which points us to Christ's suffering and death for our salvation. My wife Melody was the one who began the collection. After finding out that she (and by marriage, I) collected crosses, we received crosses for every conceivable holiday: Christmas, Easter, birthdays. I think we even received a cross for Valentine's Day once. We now have so many crosses that we can't fit them all on our appointed "cross wall." So, if you're looking for a gift for Melody and I, please don't buy us a cross!
Besides crosses, there's other Christian memorabilia as well like posters, statuettes, and plaques with every conceivable Bible verse etched into them. And this is where our reading for today from Matthew 5 comes in. Matthew 5-7 constitutes the most famous sermon in history: Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. And snippets of Jesus' indelible words can be found on Christian merchandise everywhere. "You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14). "Our Father who art in heaven" (Matthew 6:9). "Seek ye first the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33). And, of course, "Ask and it will given to you" (Matthew 7:7).
Another set of words that can regularly be found on countless Christian items are the words which Jesus uses to open his Sermon on the Mount, popularly known as the beatitudes: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth" (verses 3-5). These are words that have brought comfort and strength to more than one faint soul. For these are words for those who are downtrodden, weary, encumbered, and embittered by the woes and persecutions of this world. And we love these words. After all, who doesn't want to receive the kingdom of heaven when they feel poor in spirit? And who doesn't want to be comforted when they mourn? And receiving the whole earth just for being meek sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
But as many times as I have seen the words from these Beatitudes emblazoned on Christian mementos, the one beatitude I have never seen on these items is Jesus' final beatitude: "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (verses 11-12). The rub in this beatitude seems to be one word: "when." "Blessed are you," Jesus says, "when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." What? I can see being persecuted and then being blessed by God after my suffering because I endured it so nobly. I can even see myself being blessed by God in spite of my suffering as he pours "silver linings" into my dark and dreary days. But being blessed when I suffer? That almost sounds like the suffering is the blessing! And that's exactly right.
Now, to be clear, it's not that suffering is good in and of itself, it's that it's a blessing when it's used and redeemed by God to strengthen our faith and form our character. And make no mistake about it: God does indeed use suffering to do just that. As the apostle Paul reminds us: "We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope" (Romans 5:3-4). The school of suffering, it seems, can teach us things we can't learn anywhere else. Things like perseverance, character, and even hope. And so, if you are suffering, I would never be so naïve to say that you should be obnoxiously cheery in the face of pain, but I would say, "Blessed are you." For you truly are.
One of the most notable Christian "sufferers" of the 19th century was Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a great preacher from London. Although he achieved world-wide fame, he also had his vehement detractors who took every opportunity to besmirch his name and try to ruin his ministry. In her memoires, Mrs. Spurgeon writes about her husband's suffering at the hands of his enemies:
My heart alternately sorrowed over him and flamed with indignation against his detractors. For a long time I wondered how I could set continual comfort before his eyes, till, at last, I hit upon the expedient of having the following verses printed in large Old English type and enclosed in a pretty Oxford frame: "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in Heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." The text was hung up in our own room and was read over by the dear preacher every morning...fulfilling its purpose most blessedly, for it strengthened his heart and enabled him to buckle on the invisible armor, whereby he could calmly walk among men, unruffled by their calumnies, and concerned only for their best and highest interests.
I guess someone put the words of Jesus' final beatitude on a plaque after all.
This, my dear friends, is the blessing in suffering: it strengthens our hearts and enables us to buckle on the armor of Christ so that we may carry on with our duties for the sake of the gospel. And so, when we suffer, "Blessed are we."
35:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4 I brought them to the house of the LORD into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold. 5 Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7 You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9 and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10 but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Syrians.’ So we are living in Jerusalem.”
12 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the LORD. 14 The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you persistently, but you have not listened to me. 15 I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, ‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ But you did not incline your ear or listen to me. 16 The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17 Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.”
18 But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, 19 therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to stand before me.”
(ESV)
The Rechabites were the Amish people of their day. Following the command of their forefather Jonadab, they maintained a simple, ancient nomadic lifestyle. There was no divine command for them to follow, only the prohibition of their ancestor, yet they remained faithful, even when tested by Jeremiah with the offer to partake of wine in the courts of the temple. Even though he set before them bowls of wine they refused, saying "We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, 'You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever.'" When the lands where they were dwelling were overrun by Nebuchadnezzar they sought refuge in Jerusalem, but remained faithful in every way to Jonadab's decrees. Immediately upon their refusal, God told Jeremiah to contrast the obedience of the Rechabites with the disobedience of God's people Israel. The Israelites had a divine command delivered to them by the prophets over and over again. "I have spoken to you persistently, but you have not listened to me," God told them. Even though God's prophets called them to repentance repeatedly, they refused to repent of their evil ways amend their deeds. They were not even motivated to repentance by God's promise: "then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers." God's point was that He was being just in punishing Israel, which had even more reason to be faithful than the Rechabites, but refused. He would surely bring upon them all of the disasters that He had pronounced against them. On the other hand, God promised to reward the faithfulness of the Rechabites by preserving them so that, "Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to stand before me."
82:1 God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
they walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”1
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall inherit all the nations!
[1] 82:7
(ESV)