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
2:1 My brothers,1 show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good2 is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
(ESV)
One of my favorite series of commercials was for DirecTV. The commercials feature board members for Cable Corp Inc., a fictional high powered cable company, sitting around a posh board room table trying to figure out ways to compete with DirecTV whose products, prices, and services are apparently killing their business. In one commercial, a board member is bemoaning that customers love DirecTV because they can watch movies in "full 1080p," to which another board member responds, "Yes, but they can't watch movies in 1,000,080p." The rest of the board, completely confused because Cable Corp Inc. doesn't broadcast in 1,000,080p, asks him to explain. In his mind, it's quite simple: Cable Corp Inc. doesn't broadcast in 1,000,080p and DirecTV doesn't broadcast in 1,000,080p. The two companies, then, are on equal footing. Thus, he responds to his board members' inquiry: "Oops! Look like someone's just leveled the playing field!"
The humor of this commercial, of course, lies in the fact that although this flamboyant board member can talk about competing with DirecTV, he takes absolutely no action toward real and meaningful competition. And this, essentially, is James' argument concerning faith and works in our reading for today from James 2:
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (verses 14-17)
To paraphrase, James says, "You can boast about the 'features' your faith has all you want. You can even try to 'level the playing field,' as it were, by making excuses as to why others' faith results in action while yours remains stagnate. But if your faith helps no one, you're merely fooling yourself. For your faith is meant not only to justify you before God apart from works (cf. Ephesians 2:8-9), your faith is meant to help others because it results in works."
James then continues by offering two examples of persons whose faith resulted in works. The first one, especially to a first century Jewish mind like James', would have been a no-brainer: Abraham. As James notes, Abraham was "called God's friend" (verse 23), was the very patriarch of the Jewish nation, and was well known for his many yeoman-like feats of faith. He was a paragon of what it looked like for faith in God to result in action toward others.
But James isn't done yet. He has another example up his sleeve: that of Rahab. Rahab? Granted, she is remembered for helping the Israelites in the book of Joshua as they sought to conquer Jericho, but she is also a Gentile rather than a Jew and she worked in the "world's oldest profession." Putting Rahab next to Abraham as an example of faith being put into action hardly seems fair. For the two are scores apart in their level of piety, Rahab being much lower on the scale. Why would James do such a thing?
Finally, it is faith, not their works, which made both of these people a part of God's Kingdom. Indeed, their faith is the only thing which Abraham and Rahab seem to have in common. But their faith did indeed result in some sort of action, even if Abraham's actions are remembered as much more numerous and much more precious than are Rahab's. And that's fine. For James' point is not the amount of action that a person's faith results in, but that a person's faith does indeed result in some sort of righteous action.
In James' mind, it is fruitless and futile to compare our actions of faith to another's actions of faith. We don't need to try to "level the playing field." Instead, we need simply to press ahead, content with the actions that God himself has prepared for us, as Paul says: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10). God has works of faith for each one of us. There's no need to compare ourselves to others and try to outdo one another.
So today, what work of faith does God have for you? Comforting a mourner? Caring for someone who's sick? Assisting an elder? The possibilities are endless. My prayer for you today is that you cheerfully put your faith into action. For this not only pleases God, it helps others. And we can all use a little help.
19:1 And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2 and say:
What was your mother? A lioness!
Among lions she crouched;
in the midst of young lions
she reared her cubs.
3 And she brought up one of her cubs;
he became a young lion,
and he learned to catch prey;
he devoured men.
4 The nations heard about him;
he was caught in their pit,
and they brought him with hooks
to the land of Egypt.
5 When she saw that she waited in vain,
that her hope was lost,
she took another of her cubs
and made him a young lion.
6 He prowled among the lions;
he became a young lion,
and he learned to catch prey;
he devoured men,
7 and seized1 their widows.
He laid waste their cities,
and the land was appalled and all who were in it
at the sound of his roaring.
8 Then the nations set against him
from provinces on every side;
they spread their net over him;
he was taken in their pit.
9 With hooks they put him in a cage2
and brought him to the king of Babylon;
they brought him into custody,
that his voice should no more be heard
on the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard3
planted by the water,
fruitful and full of branches
by reason of abundant water.
11 Its strong stems became
rulers’ scepters;
it towered aloft
among the thick boughs;4
it was seen in its height
with the mass of its branches.
12 But the vine was plucked up in fury,
cast down to the ground;
the east wind dried up its fruit;
they were stripped off and withered.
As for its strong stem,
fire consumed it.
13 Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty land.
14 And fire has gone out from the stem of its shoots,
has consumed its fruit,
so that there remains in it no strong stem,
no scepter for ruling.
This is a lamentation and has become a lamentation.
20:1 In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me. 2 And the word of the LORD came to me: 3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD, Is it to inquire of me that you come? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you. 4 Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Let them know the abominations of their fathers, 5 and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore5 to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; I swore to them, saying, I am the LORD your God. 6 On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands. 7 And I said to them, ‘Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.’ 8 But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.
“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
[1] 19:7
[2] 19:9
[3] 19:10
[4] 19:11
[5] 20:5
(ESV)
God used many different types of literature in Scripture to communicate His truth to us. In Chapter 19 God had His prophet Ezekiel compose a funeral dirge in order to lament the downfall and death of Israel's princes (or kings). From the content of this lamentation the identity of three kings who were spoken of can be discerned, although they were not named directly. The first was Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, who was taken captive to Egypt. The second was Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, who was taken into exile in Babylon. The third prince was Zedekiah, the final king of Judah at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. He too was blinded and taken captive to Babylon. As the dirge unfolds the song mourns the downfall of a prince whose mother was a lioness. Although he should have been strong, he was caught in the enemy's pit. Another was ensnared with a net. The other allegory employed was that of a strong and fruitful vine that was plucked up, stripped of its fruit, withered and consumed by fire. Even while the people of Judah engaged in idolatry and wickedness of all kinds, the elders of the people continued to approach Ezekiel to inquire of the LORD through His prophet. God gave a harsh reply to them, telling them "I will not be inquired of by you." Remember, that this was taking place after these people were already in exile, and the end of Jerusalem had been prophesied. The year was 591 BC, just four years before the Temple was destroyed. They should have seen what was happening and repented of their evil. Instead, they sought the LORD only in the false hope that He would relent and not send the further punishment that He was threatening through His prophets. God reiterated His past faithfulness to make them His own, to bring them out of slavery in Egypt, and to give them the Promised Land, and He reminded them how He had repeatedly called on them to "Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on," but they refused. They never gave up their idolatry, so why should the LORD waste His Words on them when they hypocritically came to consult with Him?
15 Glad songs of salvation
are in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the LORD does valiantly,
16 the right hand of the LORD exalts,
the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!”
17 I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the LORD.
18 The LORD has disciplined me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.1
23 This is the LORD’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we pray, O LORD!
O LORD, we pray, give us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!
We bless you from the house of the LORD.
27 The LORD is God,
and he has made his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
up to the horns of the altar!
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
29 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
[1] 118:22
(ESV)