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
14:1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, 2 and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 3 For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,1 4 because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. 6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, 7 so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. 10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, 11 and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.
13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way2 from the land,3 beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night4 he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind,5 he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
34 And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick 36 and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
[1] 14:3
[2] 14:24
[3] 14:24
[4] 14:25
[5] 14:30
(ESV)
The fame was just too much for her to manage. It's not really surprising, though. After all, going from an unknown British homemaker to a world wide superstar in the scope of one performance would be an overwhelming roller coaster of success for anyone. And it certainly was for Susan Boyle.
Her opening audition, when Susan sang "I Dreamed A Dream" on Britain's Got Talent, was quickly uploaded to YouTube where it amassed almost 100 million hits in its first nine days, making her performance the most popular video ever on YouTube. And the question du jour of Britain, and of this country, almost instantaneously became, "Have you heard Susan Boyle sing? She's incredible!" But then, the bottom dropped out. After losing the competition to the British dance troupe Diversity, Boyle checked herself into a London psychiatric clinic, exhausted and depressed.
Fame has a dangerous way of taking its toll on a person. What many desire becomes what many more cannot handle.
If there ever was a famous person in the first century, it was Jesus of Nazareth. Long before talent shows and YouTube videos, the question afoot in ancient Palestine was, "Have you heard of Jesus? His miracles are incredible!" Indeed, in our reading for today from Matthew 14, we learn that Jesus' fame spread even to the ruler of all Galilee and Perea, Herod Antipas: "At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus" (verse 1). Herod was so enamored by Jesus, in fact, that he could hardly contain his elation when he finally got the chance to meet him, even if it was only right before his death: "When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle" (Luke 23:8). Interestingly, this is not the first time that the family of Herod had heard of Jesus. It was Herod Antipas' father, Herod the Great, who first heard of Jesus from the Magi: "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.' When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him" (Matthew 2:1-3). Herod the Great, it seems, was not nearly as impressed by what he heard of Jesus as his son was.
Tragically, for all that Herod Antipas had heard about Jesus, and for all of his curiosity concerning his miracles, he never has what is most important when it comes to Christ: faith. For time and time again, the biblical authors call upon people not only to hear of Jesus, but to believe in him. "Many who heard the message of the gospel believed" (Acts 4:4). "God gives you his Spirit and work miracles among you because... you believe what you heard" (Galatians 3:5). To merely hear about Jesus does a person no good, he must believe what he has heard.
Sadly, many people treat Jesus as they do Susan Boyle. He's someone they've heard of. He's someone they're curious about. They may even watch a YouTube video about him. But to believe in him as the Son of God? That's a line many will not cross. Yet, that is the very line that we are invited to cross: to believe in Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior of our souls. And by the way, the faith that Jesus invites us to is not meant to be a heroic feat, nor is it meant to be an irrational devotion; instead, the faith that Jesus calls us is often a "little faith," as Jesus says of his disciple Peter's faith in verse 31 of today's reading. Yet, it is faith nonetheless. And, as Jesus himself promises, even the littlest faith is a salvific faith: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life" (John 5:24). So today, take time to listen to Jesus as he speaks through his Word. And as he speaks, don't just hear his voice, believe it.
43:1 When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the LORD their God, with which the LORD their God had sent him to them, 2 Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The LORD our God did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’ 3 but Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.” 4 So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the LORD, to remain in the land of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven—6 the men, the women, the children, the princesses, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. 7 And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the LORD. And they arrived at Tahpanhes.
8 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes: 9 “Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah, 10 and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. 11 He shall come and strike the land of Egypt, giving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword. 12 I shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. 13 He shall break the obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.’”
(ESV)
Jeremiah was clearly a genuine prophet of God, for all the things God had told him to say thus far had, in fact, come true. Therefore, the arrogance of Johanan and the other leaders of the people was brazen when they said, "You are lying." They accused Jeremiah's scribe Baruch of inciting Jeremiah against them. Johanan and the other commanders then proceeded to lead all of the people, including Jeremiah and Baruch, on a forced journey to Tahpanhes, a city on the northeastern border of Egypt. After they came there, God spoke to Jeremiah, commanding him to visually demonstrate what would happen because of their disobedience to God's command to stay in Judah. Jeremiah then placed large stones in the pavement outside of Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes to indicate the future layout of the throne of the King of Babylon, when he would come down from the north as God's servant to dominate and plunder Egypt. Jeremiah repeated the notice he had previously given that God would send pestilence, captivity and the sword to those who refused to trust in Him, and instead sought harbor in Egypt. God's judgment would come upon Egypt and her idols, as well as on those who looked to Egypt.
24 My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25 I will set his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
27 And I will make him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
and my covenant will stand firm1 for him.
29 I will establish his offspring forever
and his throne as the days of the heavens.
30 If his children forsake my law
and do not walk according to my rules,2
31 if they violate my statutes
and do not keep my commandments,
32 then I will punish their transgression with the rod
and their iniquity with stripes,
33 but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
or be false to my faithfulness.
34 I will not violate my covenant
or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
35 Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;
I will not lie to David.
36 His offspring shall endure forever,
his throne as long as the sun before me.
37 Like the moon it shall be established forever,
a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah
(ESV)