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!
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20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’1 head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic,2 “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews,3 Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,4 was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
[1] 20:7
[2] 20:16
[3] 20:19
[4] 20:24
(ESV)
I ride an amazing bike, a bike I could have never hoped to own or ride except that it was presented to me as a gift by wonderful people of God who wanted to thank their pastor for his ministry. Becuase I'm a big man, it's a big bike. When I tell people that I can pick it up with just one finger they frequently don't believe me, but my Trek Madone is made almost entirely of carbon fiber. When I actually take my forefinger, place it under the top tube, lift the whole bike off the ground and hold it there, they are amazed! Then they immediately want to feel for themselves how light the bike is, by picking it up. Again they are amazed! But now they believe.
Thomas heard some amazing things from his fellow disciples. He heard that even though Jesus had died on the cross, was buried in the tomb and laid there until the third day, that now he was alive! That's not only amazing, it's incredible! It's unbelievable! Suppose you saw a close friend die in a horrible accident, that you attended his funeral and watched him be buried. Suppose that mutual friends told you a couple days later that your friend was alive again. How would you react?
Truth be told, you would react exactly as Thomas did. "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." (John 20:25) Too often we refer to this hapless disciple as "Doubting Thomas." In fact, we should probably call him "Normal Thomas." He reacted exactly as the rest of the disciples did to the news that Jesus was alive. Until he saw with his own eyes he could not bring himself to believe the unbelievable.
When Jesus finally appeared to Thomas he said, Because you have seen me you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29) With those words, Jesus calls you and me "blessed." We have not seen the risen Christ with our own eyes, and yet we believe. Peter tells us just how wonderful that is: "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (1 Peter 1:8-9)
Does that make us better than Thomas? Not at all! We're no different than Thomas, or the other disciples, or people who want to pick up my bike for themselves. We do believe without having seen Jesus but we don't believe without having seen the evidence.
We believe because there is no better explanation for the empty tomb than the resurrection. We believe because we have seen and read the eyewitness testimony of dozens of people who saw the risen Christ with their own two eyes. We believe because we have seen the evidence of lives transformed by the salvation that Jesus' resurrection has brought. We believe because we have seen the evidence of people who staked their lives on the the truth of the Gospel, and willingly laid their lives down to proclaim the Good News of the resurrection.
Yes, we believe the amazing, incredible, unbelievable truth that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and we do so without having seen him with our own eyes. But we don't believe without evidence. Thank God that he has given us so much credible evidence (just as Jesus did for Thomas when he showed him his hands and side) for the truth of the resurrection. And thank God that he has given us the faith to believe that evidence. Our faith gives us peace, just as Jesus gave his disciples when he appeared to them risen from the dead. And our faith gives us hope, hope that just as Jesus lives, we too shall live also. And that is amazing!
19 “‘I said,
How I would set you among my sons,
and give you a pleasant land,
a heritage most beautiful of all nations.
And I thought you would call me, My Father,
and would not turn from following me.
20 Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband,
so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel,
declares the LORD.’”
21 A voice on the bare heights is heard,
the weeping and pleading of Israel’s sons
because they have perverted their way;
they have forgotten the LORD their God.
22 “Return, O faithless sons;
I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to you,
for you are the LORD our God.
23 Truly the hills are a delusion,
the orgies1 on the mountains.
Truly in the LORD our God
is the salvation of Israel.
24 “But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our fathers labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”
4:1 “If you return, O Israel,
declares the LORD,
to me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
and do not waver,
2 and if you swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then nations shall bless themselves in him,
and in him shall they glory.”
3 For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Break up your fallow ground,
and sow not among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of the evil of your deeds.”
5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
“Blow the trumpet through the land;
cry aloud and say,
‘Assemble, and let us go
into the fortified cities!’
6 Raise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from the north,
and great destruction.
7 A lion has gone up from his thicket,
a destroyer of nations has set out;
he has gone out from his place
to make your land a waste;
your cities will be ruins
without inhabitant.
8 For this put on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for the fierce anger of the LORD
has not turned back from us.”
9 “In that day, declares the LORD, courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, 12 a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them.”
13 Behold, he comes up like clouds;
his chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are swifter than eagles—
woe to us, for we are ruined!
14 O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil,
that you may be saved.
How long shall your wicked thoughts
lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares from Dan
and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim.
16 Warn the nations that he is coming;
announce to Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come from a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.
17 Like keepers of a field are they against her all around,
because she has rebelled against me,
declares the LORD.
18 Your ways and your deeds
have brought this upon you.
This is your doom, and it is bitter;
it has reached your very heart.”
[1] 3:23
(ESV)
God's desire was to have a close, loving, and familial relationship with His chosen people, but they proved entirely unfaithful. God's people cried out in repentance and He promised, "I will heal your faithlessness." Only God can heal us from our sinful rebellion against Him. In response to His promise of healing, God's people said, "Behold, we come to you for you are the Lord our God." They recognized that the idols they served on the high places were a delusion, and confessed their sinful disobedience to the LORD. God commanded them to return to Him in genuineness, not swearing by the idols they had served, but swearing "'as the LORD lives,' in truth, in justice and in righteousness." God commanded them to pursue a circumcision that was not simply of the flesh, but to "circumcise your hearts." Paul used this picture to describe the new birth that God's Holy Spirit gives to believers in Christ. On the other hand, God warned that if they refused to repent, His wrath would come upon them like fire and "burn with none to quench it." Sadly, Jeremiah had to go on to predict that disaster would indeed come upon Judah from the north. God's people were to lament in sackcloth because God's fierce anger had not turned away. It seemed to kings, priests and prophets alike—Jeremiah himself included—that God had deceived them with His promise of healing, but, in fact, there was not widespread genuine repentance, and instead the people listened to the false prophets who promised peace when there was none. God reminded His people that it was not His fault that He could not offer them the healing He had promised. Rather God said, "Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your doom, and it is bitter; it has reached your very heart."
57:1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
4 My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
6 They set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
7 My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
8 Awake, my glory!2
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
(ESV)