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
4:1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions1 are at war within you?2 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people!3 Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.4 The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
[1] 4:1
[2] 4:1
[3] 4:4
[4] 4:11
(ESV)
"Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi." I was seven years old and learning my books of the Bible in Sunday School. Some sections of the Bible's book list were easy: "Matthew, Mark, Luke, John." I could handle the gospels. But the so-called "minor prophets," tucked away at the end of the Old Testament, were brutal to memorize. I thought I never would be able to remember all of them much less be able to remember all of them in order so that I could get one of those coveted Sunday School gold stars. But I kept walking around the house repeating to myself: "Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah... Obadiah... What comes after Obadiah?!"
Even though it took me a while, I am proud to say that I wrote the listing of minor prophets at the beginning of this blog from memory. I may have had a difficult time memorizing these books, but once I did, I never forgot them.
In our reading for today from James 4, the apostle chastises his readers for their wicked ways:
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? (verses 4-5)
The grammar of verse 5 is quite interesting. The NIV takes this verse to mean that our fallen human spirits envy others, engaging in sinful behavior. The ESV translates this verse, "God yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us," meaning that God is jealous for our spirits, not wanting them to belong to Satan. Either way, James' message is clear: We ought to flee from wickedness, be it the wickedness of envy or otherwise, and flee toward the arms of God who jealously guards our spirits.
How are we to flee from wickedness and flee toward God? James gives us the answer in the following verses:
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (verses 7-10)
Notice that James rapidly fires verbs at his readers in a staccato fashion: "Submit, Resist, Come Near, Wash, Purify, Grieve, Mourn, Wail, Change, Humble." Ten verbs in the scope of four verses.
Although memorizing this list of verbs may seem about as appealing as memorizing the final twelve books of the Old Testament, can I appeal to you to commit these ten verbs to memory? For they are invaluable when striving against the allures of sin. Submit to God's perfect will rather than following your own broken will. Resist Satan's temptations. Come near to God and rest in his true joy rather than the cheap thrills of sin. Wash and purify your soul in Jesus' blood of forgiveness. Grieve, mourn, wail, and change when you do fall prey to sin - for you will fall prey to sin - and you will then need this language of repentance. Finally, even as you do resist sin, do not become haughty in your own righteousness; rather, remain humble, relying on God's righteousness. For his righteousness is your one and only hope. This is James' guidance in the face of sin's enticements.
Lest we despair over our inability to memorize this list of ten verbs much less live them, let us not forget how James sets up his verb list: "God gives us more grace" (verse 6). It is grace that undergirds and empowers these verbs. Without God's grace to fuel our actions and forgive us for our rebellion, these verbs stand as impossible ideals. With God's grace, however, these verbs guide us in our Christian lives. I hope these verbs will guide you today... and every day.
30 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go whoring after their detestable things? 31 When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire,1 you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you.
32 “What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.’
33 “As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out I will be king over you. 34 I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out. 35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. 36 As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD. 37 I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38 I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me. I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
39 “As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord GOD: Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.
40 “For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. There I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings. 41 As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. 42 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers. 43 And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. 44 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”
45 2 And the word of the LORD came to me: 46 “Son of man, set your face toward the southland;3 preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb. 47 Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it. 48 All flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.” 49 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not a maker of parables?’”
[1] 20:31
[2] 20:45
[3] 20:46
(ESV)
Once again, God reiterated His refusal to be inquired of by the faithless exiles who were already in Babylon with Ezekiel. These were people who prostituted themselves to the same idols as their forefathers, even to the point of sacrificing their children. God would not let them hypocritically seek knowledge of Him, since all they wanted was a word of peace and security for themselves and their fellow Israelites still in Jerusalem and Judea. God warned His people that they would not escape His wrath. God used the language of the Exodus to describe how He was going to send His people into exile in Babylon, which He described as "the wilderness of the peoples." God did this because He was not going to let His people lose their unique status as His chosen people. He would enter into judgment with them "face to face" and purge the rebels from among them, even as a shepherd would separate his own sheep from others and would bring only his own sheep into the fold. In this way God was going to bring His people into the bond of the New Covenant so that, "my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols." Following their exile in "the wilderness of the peoples" God would bring His people back to Israel, and "there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land." Then, purged of their idolatry, God would once again require of them the gifts and offerings they owed Him. God promised that He would manifest His holiness among them "in the sight of the nations." God's people would come to loathe themselves for the wickedness of their previous ways, but God would deal with them by grace for His name's sake, and not according to their corrupt deeds. This prophecy of hope was tempered, however, by the reminder that God was still going to pour out His wrath on Judah and Jerusalem, "the forest of the Negeb," as He described it. The blazing flame of God's wrath could not be quenched. Still the people refused to listen to Ezekiel's prophecy, and said "Isn't he just telling parables?"
17 Deal bountifully with your servant,
that I may live and keep your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
19 I am a sojourner on the earth;
hide not your commandments from me!
20 My soul is consumed with longing
for your rules1 at all times.
21 You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments.
22 Take away from me scorn and contempt,
for I have kept your testimonies.
23 Even though princes sit plotting against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24 Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors.
25 My soul clings to the dust;
give me life according to your word!
26 When I told of my ways, you answered me;
teach me your statutes!
27 Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
28 My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word!
29 Put false ways far from me
and graciously teach me your law!
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your rules before me.
31 I cling to your testimonies, O LORD;
let me not be put to shame!
32 I will run in the way of your commandments
when you enlarge my heart!2
[1] 119:20
[2] 119:32
(ESV)