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
9:1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.1 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.
7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.2
12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.
13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire3 and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
[1] 9:1
[2] 9:11
[3] 9:17
(ESV)
It seems that if you want to make a good horror movie, a fine place to start is with a terrifying title. And what could be more terrifying than the title, "Attack of the Giant... " and then you name the foreboding creature which will surely spell humanity's demise? In a moment of idle curiosity, I googled "Attack of the Giant... " Here's what I found: "Attack of the Giant Leeches," "Attack of the Giant Squid," "Attack of the Giant Baby," "Attack of the Giant Gila Monster," "Attack of the Giant Shrews," "Attack of the Giant Ants," "Attack of the Giant Spiders," "Attack of the Giant Woman," "Attack of the Giant Crabs," and, last but not least, "Attack of the Giant Midget." Wait a second. That last one doesn't even make sense. It's kind of like enduring an attack from a jumbo shrimp. But I digress.
I must confess that on first read, Revelation 9 sounds like a scene out of a low-budget, b-list horror movie:
And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. (verses 3, 7-10)
What in the world could John possibly be talking about here? Is he planning on producing a corny horror flick: "Attack of the Giant Locusts"?
John's imagery of these giant locusts isn't nearly as esoteric and absurd as it first sounds. For the plagues which accompany the trumpets often find their origins in the famed ten plagues which God sent against Egypt. So it is with these locusts. Just as locusts once attacked the godless Egyptians (cf. Exodus 10:1-18), locusts again attack the godless people of the earth. And just as God protected the Israelites throughout the course of the ten plagues (cf. Exodus 8:22-23), God also protects his people during this devastating disaster (cf. verse 4). The character of the locusts in Revelation, however, seems to be much different from the character of the locusts in Exodus.
John's locusts, it appears, are demonic in nature. For they rise from the Abyss (cf. verse 2). Thus, these locusts are not to be taken as literal physical creatures, but as harrowing demons who sadistically bring trouble, trial, and tribulation on those who refuse to trust in the Lamb of God. And just like Pharaoh, who had a "hardened heart, and would not let the Israelites go" (Exodus 10:20), the people who suffer under the weight of these apocalyptic locusts "still do not repent of the work of their hands; they do not stop worshiping demons" (verse 20). With great irony, then, John informs us that the very demonic locusts who assail these unrepentant sufferers are the very demons who these unrepentant sufferers continue to worship. They worship the very things which harm them.
I often wonder how often we don't do the same thing as the sad people who suffer under these oppressive locusts. I wonder how many times we don't worship the very things which harm us. The bottle robs of us our liver. And yet we worship at the altar of our local bar. The career robs us of our family. And yet we worship at the altar of our desk. The lover robs us of our integrity. And yet we worship at the altar of our bed. We worship the very things which harm us. And Satan's demonic locusts get the best of us.
Is there any harmful thing which, in spite of your better sense, you nevertheless worship? Now is the time to repent and worship the true God who loves you, protects you, and saves you. Now is the time to declare freedom from the locusts that lacerate your soul. Now is the time to worship not the locusts of sin, but the Lamb of salvation. For he promises "to turn back the enemies who would wound you and instead be with you. And when the Lord is with you, never again will you fear any harm" (Zephaniah 3:15, paraphrase). And that's a promise no locust could ever make.
5:1 “And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it as a barber’s razor and pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. 2 A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. 3 And you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. 4 And of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.
5 “Thus says the Lord GOD: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not1 even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, 8 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments2 in your midst in the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. 11 Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw.3 My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12 A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.
13 “Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the LORD—that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them. 14 Moreover, I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. 15 You shall be4 a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations all around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious rebukes—I am the LORD; I have spoken—16 when I send against you5 the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply6 of bread. 17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the LORD; I have spoken.”
[1] 5:7
[2] 5:8
[3] 5:11
[4] 5:15
[5] 5:16
[6] 5:16
(ESV)
God's instruction of His people by way of demonstration continued when Ezekiel was commanded to take a sharp sword and use it as a razor to shave his head and his beard. He was to take a balance and weigh the hair into thirds. One third was to be burned, one third he was to strike with the sword and one third was to be scattered to the wind. Only a few strands of hair were to be tucked into the folds of his robe, and even a few of these were to be taken out and cast into the fire. This was to illustrate the fate of the people of Jerusalem. God explained that it was because of the wickedness of His chosen people who rebelled against him and who were more sinful than the nations that surrounded them. God was going to punish his people in a manner never seen before, and never to be seen again. Conditions would be so horrible that survivors would be forced to eat the flesh of their dead family members to stay alive. Thus, famine and disease would consume one third of them, while another third would die by the sword. One third would be scattered to the wind into exile and there the sword would pursue them. This is how they would experience the Lord's jealous anger as He spent His fury on them. They would become a reproach ("Don't be like Israel!") and a taunt ("I'm going to do to you what God did to Israel!") to the nations around them. Between the famine that would ravish them and the wild beasts that would consume their children, the death and destruction would be unimaginable. Israel would learn that their God was not a harmless idol of wood or stone and that, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:31).
106:1 Praise the LORD!
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD,
or declare all his praise?
3 Blessed are they who observe justice,
who do righteousness at all times!
4 Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people;
help me when you save them,1
5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that I may glory with your inheritance.
6 Both we and our fathers have sinned;
we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
that he might make known his mighty power.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry,
and he led them through the deep as through a desert.
10 So he saved them from the hand of the foe
and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.
11 And the waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them was left.
12 Then they believed his words;
they sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot his works;
they did not wait for his counsel.
14 But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,
and put God to the test in the desert;
15 he gave them what they asked,
but sent a wasting disease among them.
16 When men in the camp were jealous of Moses
and Aaron, the holy one of the LORD,
17 the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
and covered the company of Abiram.
18 Fire also broke out in their company;
the flame burned up the wicked.
[1] 106:4
(ESV)