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
Sign up to get the readings sent to your email daily below
9:1 Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, 2 for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But I am sending1 the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4 Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift2 you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.3
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully4 will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency5 in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,
“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, they6 will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
[1] 9:3
[2] 9:5
[3] 9:5
[4] 9:6
[5] 9:8
[6] 9:13
(ESV)
Last weekend in Adult Bible Class, I made passing mention of a form of speech called an "oxymoron." An oxymoron, of course, is two terms that, though at first sight might seem contradictory, are used in concord with each other. Some oxymorons are serious. Others are more humorous. Jumbo shrimp. Numb sensation. Swiss Navy. Microsoft Works. Hmmm. Although these are of more the humorous and light-hearted variety, in today's reading from 2 Corinthians 9, we encounter a more profound and thoughtful oxymoron when Paul quotes Psalm 112:9: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever" (verse 9). Paul talks about, as he quotes the Psalmist, a righteous scattering.
In an ancient Jewish context, to talk about a righteous scattering would have appeared to be the height of absurdity. For, to be scattered was a tell-tale sign not of righteousness, but of unrighteousness. In Genesis 11, when the people of earth decide to build a tower which will reach to the heavens and pretentiously usurp the very glory of God, the Lord, in his anger, "scatters them from there over all the earth" (verse 8). In Exodus 32, when the Israelites build a brazen idol in the form of a golden calf, Moses, when he returns from meeting with God only to find this abhorrent pagan trinket, "takes the calf they had made and burns it in the fire; then he grinds it to powder, scatters it on the water and makes the Israelites drink it" (verse 20). And in Jeremiah 13, at the sight of the people's sinfulness and injustice, God promises, "I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind" (verse 24). And this indeed happens when the Israelites are carried off into exile by Assyria and Babylon. Scattering is not good.
The Greek word used for "scattered" in 2 Corinthians 9 is skorpizo. And in the New Testament, as in the aforementioned verses from the Old, this word continues to take on a very negative connotation. Jesus warns in Matthew 12:30: "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters." And again in John 10:12, "The wolf attacks the flock and scatters it." In fact, this word skorpizo is used universally in a negative way except in this one instance: "God has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."
So what gives with this oxymoronic use of this universally negative word? God, it seems, recognizes that we are a people who have been scattered by sin. Our calendars are scattered by appointments. Our brains our scattered by worries. Our deepest relationships either have been, or one day will be, scattered by death. Sin scatters our lives. So, if God is going to reach us with his love, if God is going to reach us with his grace, if God is going to reach us with his righteousness, he needs to reach us where we are. And so, he scatters. The prophet Isaiah puts it like this: "You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the LORD, have created it" (Isaiah 45:8). Droplets of God's rain of righteousness, scattered over all the earth to those who need it most. That is the picture that the prophet is painting. And that is what God gives to you and to me.
The promise, then, is that no matter how scattered your calendar, your brain, and your life may be, you are never too scattered to be out of the range God's righteousness, grace, and blessing. For he has scattered these marvelous gifts over the face of this whole earth. And this means that these gifts can, and these gifts will, find you.
43:1 But now thus says the LORD,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.
5 Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you.
6 I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
8 Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears!
9 All the nations gather together,
and the peoples assemble.
Who among them can declare this,
and show us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,
and let them hear and say, It is true.
10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
11 I, I am the LORD,
and besides me there is no savior.
12 I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God.
13 Also henceforth I am he;
there is none who can deliver from my hand;
I work, and who can turn it back?”
14 Thus says the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“For your sake I send to Babylon
and bring them all down as fugitives,
even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
15 I am the LORD, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.”
16 Thus says the LORD,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
17 who brings forth chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
18 “Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
20 The wild beasts will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself
that they might declare my praise.
22 “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,
or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
or wearied you with frankincense.
24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
you have wearied me with your iniquities.
25 “I, I am he
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
26 Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;
set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
27 Your first father sinned,
and your mediators transgressed against me.
28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,
and deliver Jacob to utter destruction
and Israel to reviling.
(ESV)
Precious words of promise begin this chapter, words that have become dear to believers throughout all time: "But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine." The God who created us has also saved us to make us His very own. God promises to be with us and never to forsake us, even though we go through severe difficulties like fire or flood. God reminds Israel that He actually rearranged nations on the stage of history for the sake of His people. God promises that after His people have been scattered He will gather them once again, for the sake of His glory. God tells His people that they are His witnesses to the nations of His divine power at work. He says, "I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior." These words were echoed by Peter when He said of Jesus, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."(Acts 4:12) God's sovereign power, which none can reverse, is at work to save His own. God tells His people that He is doing a new thing, which would culminate in the work of God's Son. God reminds His people that He did not burden them with excessive demands for offerings or sacrifices, but he tells them, "you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities." This literally came true when Christ took our sins upon Himself on the cross. "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." (Isaiah 53:4) But as a result, God says to us: "I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." Nevertheless, Isaiah warns that God people will suffer for their rebellion, that Jacob would be destroyed because of their sin, before the time of restoration and redemption through the Promised Messiah.
16 For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,
who boast against me when my foot slips!”
17 For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever before me.
18 I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
19 But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 Those who render me evil for good
accuse me because I follow after good.
21 Do not forsake me, O LORD!
O my God, be not far from me!
22 Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!
(ESV)