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
11:1 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit1 will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically2 is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
and begun to reign.
18 The nations raged,
but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name,
both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings,3 peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
(ESV)
"Can I get a witness?" Everyone from Marvin Gaye to Run DMC has spoken these words. The origin of this phrase dates back to nineteenth century African American Christian congregations. In the midst of a culture that sorely oppressed them, African Americans would often rise to offer testimonies concerning God's work in their lives. After hearing their sometimes moving, sometimes miraculous, sometimes breathtaking stories, the pastor would then ask his congregation, "Can I get a witness?" With these words, the pastor was asking his congregation to praise God, to affirm his work, and to support their brothers and sisters in Christ, since many of them worked as slaves and were victimized by heinous discrimination and marginalization. It never took the congregation long to respond. "Amen!" they would boisterously shout. For they, in the midst of their trials, desired to be a witness and support to those testifying.
Revelation 11 opens with a story of oppression. The enemies of God are "trampling on the holy city for 42 months" (verse 2). The interpretations of what these 42 months refer to are legion. Especially notable, however, is that this time period mirrors that of the drought experienced by Israel under the reign of the wicked king Ahab. As the prophet Elijah declares to Ahab: "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word" (1 Kings 17:1). Jesus later specifies the precise length of this drought: "In Elijah's time, the sky was shut for three and half years and there was a sever famine throughout the land" (Luke 4:25). Three and half years, of course, is 42 months. Thus, for three and a half years, John says, there is a time of misery similar to that experienced by Israel during its terrible drought. But in the middle of this terrible drought, there appear two witnesses. As God declares:
And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want. (verses 3-6)
The actions of these two witnesses are remarkable. They can call forth fire to devour God's enemies, much like Elijah did with pagan prophets in 1 Kings 18:22-40. They can also call for drought conditions just as Elijah did with King Ahab's Israel. Not only that, but they can also turn waters into blood and call down plagues, intentionally echoing Moses' actions in the exodus. In the midst of oppression, God gives his people a witness to his great work. Indeed, he even gives them witnesses. That is why John calls them "lampstands" in verse 4. For their mission is to shine God's light in a dark world.
Perhaps you are suffering oppression and tragedy right now. Maybe you are living through a period of "42 months." Indeed, many scholars believe this reference to 42 months simply refers to the time span between Jesus' ascension into heaven and return on the Last Day, during which the people of God are regularly persecuted and oppressed by those who hate them. If you know the sting of persecution and oppression because you are ridiculed at work or scorned at school or ostracized even by your own family because of your faith, then you probably want a witness. You probably want someone to recognize, affirm, and sympathize with you in your pain. You probably want someone who can relay to you God's great works. You probably cry out, "Can I get a witness?" The good news of Revelation 11 is that God's answer is, "Yes. I will give you Christian brothers and sisters - lampstands in a dark world - to stand beside you and celebrate my might works. You can have a witness. Indeed, you can even have witnesses. You are not alone." Praise be to God.
5 “Thus says the Lord GOD: Disaster after disaster!1 Behold, it comes. 6 An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes. 7 Your doom2 has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come; the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting on the mountains. 8 Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. 9 And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the LORD, who strikes.
10 “Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! Your doom has come; the rod has blossomed; pride has budded. 11 Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be preeminence among them.3 12 The time has come; the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all their multitude.4 13 For the seller shall not return to what he has sold, while they live. For the vision concerns all their multitude; it shall not turn back; and because of his iniquity, none can maintain his life.5
14 “They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but none goes to battle, for my wrath is upon all their multitude. 15 The sword is without; pestilence and famine are within. He who is in the field dies by the sword, and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour. 16 And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity. 17 All hands are feeble, and all knees turn to water. 18 They put on sackcloth, and horror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and baldness on all their heads. 19 They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity. 20 His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore I make it an unclean thing to them. 21 And I will give it into the hands of foreigners for prey, and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and they shall profane it. 22 I will turn my face from them, and they shall profane my treasured6 place. Robbers shall enter and profane it.
23 “Forge a chain!7 For the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence. 24 I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the strong, and their holy places8 shall be profaned. 25 When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there shall be none. 26 Disaster comes upon disaster; rumor follows rumor. They seek a vision from the prophet, while the law9 perishes from the priest and counsel from the elders. 27 The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.”
[1] 7:5
[2] 7:7
[3] 7:11
[4] 7:12
[5] 7:13
[6] 7:22
[7] 7:23
[8] 7:24
[9] 7:26
(ESV)
"All good things must come to an end," is an old and familiar saying frequently used to wrap up some enjoyable or joyful occasion that people have shared. Now Ezekiel announces an end to Israel, the End, in fact. All joyful shouting on the mountains that once accompanied their pagan rituals was over. Disaster was upon them and doom had come. The abominations that they copied from the heathen nations surrounding them had caught up with them, for the LORD was about to strike. The image of the rod that had blossomed may be something like Jesus' words to his disciples in Luke 21:29-31: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near." Ezekiel was telling Israel that in the events that were unfolding, they could see the end was near. Since all commerce would cease in Jerusalem, neither could the buyer rejoice in a bargain, nor the seller mourn a loss. The trumpet was sounding, but it was not a battle cry. It signaled death by sword or famine, or plague. If any survivors escaped, they would feebly mourn in shame. The silver and gold they once used to cast their idols and make ornaments for themselves would be as though it were unclean, and rather than purchasing their rescue, it would be given into the hands of their enemies. Anyone living today who might be tempted to put their hope in stockpiles of gold, should take Ezekiel's words to heart. Even the genuine treasure of the LORD's temple would be profaned and stripped bare. Those who would seek peace would find none, only disaster after disaster followed by rumors of more. No relief would be found in prophets, priests or kings. Only the One who is our true Prophet, Priest and King, only Jesus can ever rescue us from the fate we deserve for our sins.
34 They did not destroy the peoples,
as the LORD commanded them,
35 but they mixed with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
36 They served their idols,
which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons;
38 they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus they became unclean by their acts,
and played the whore in their deeds.
40 Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people,
and he abhorred his heritage;
41 he gave them into the hand of the nations,
so that those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them,
and they were brought into subjection under their power.
43 Many times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their purposes
and were brought low through their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he heard their cry.
45 For their sake he remembered his covenant,
and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
46 He caused them to be pitied
by all those who held them captive.
47 Save us, O LORD our God,
and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
48 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the LORD!
(ESV)