Bible Reading Plans
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton
I don't want to miss a thing
I use Bible Reading Plans because I don't want to miss a thing.I just worked out my Bible Reading Plan for the next while. I don’t put a time limit on my Bible reading, I especially do not try to cram the whole Bible into a single year. That means reading 3 or 4 chapters a day and some of those chapters have really meaty chunks to digest. I am a voracious reader, but the Bible I ponder, I savor, I think about and talk things over with my father. I don’t want to miss a thing so I don’t try to hurry through the chapters. I don’t want to.
So what I do is I list the books of the Bible and how many chapters each book has and I mark them off as I read them.
Biblical Order: Genesis through Revelation
The books of the Bible are put together in groups:
The books Moses wrote
Old Testament History
Wisdom
Major Prophets
Minor Prophets
The Gospels
New Testament History
The letters written by Paul
The letters not written by Paul
Revelation
The Psalms are special
The very first time I set out to read the whole Bible I noticed that Psalms has 150 chapters, which was a little daunting, even for me so I divided Psalms into 65 chunks and stuffed the chunks in between the other books of the Bible. I’ve never read Psalms as a book from beginning to end. I’ve read every Psalm, but I read them in chunks – small chunks.
That was my first reading plan, Genesis through Revelation with the Psalms stuffed in between each book, and it took me nearly 3 years to finish it.
Chronological Order
Now Genesis speaks of the beginning of things and Revelation speaks of the end of all things but the books in between overlap all over themselves. So my second reading plan was chronological. I read the books in the order in which the events of the books occurred.
This is a great link that talks about the how and the why of reading the Bible in chronological order.
This one took me a little over three years to get through because I kept flipping back and forth between the pieces.
Comparative Versions of the Bible
I have never read two versions side by side but I have looked through several versions while chewing over a particularly difficult passage. And I have read through several versions of the Bible. Three, actually: The King James Version, The Living Bible and The New International Version. There are others and each has its own merits. But once I begin a new reading plan I choose which version to read and stick with it through the entire list.
Study Bibles
My New International Version Study Bible has notes on nearly every verse. If you read all the notes then you are doubling your reading. This is exactly what I did through my last reading plan. I read a chapter and then read the chapter notes. This was well worth the effort but it was time consuming, by that I mean it took me nearly 4 years to work my way through the reading list.
A plan of my own design
Now I’m starting a new reading plan. Same books, different order. But I have a list. It took me a whole day to decide what order I was going to use and then write the whole order out. This time I not only sandwiched the Psalms in between books, but Isaiah as well.
So what I do is I list the books of the Bible and how many chapters each book has and I mark them off as I read them.
Biblical Order: Genesis through Revelation
The books of the Bible are put together in groups:
The books Moses wrote
Old Testament History
Wisdom
Major Prophets
Minor Prophets
The Gospels
New Testament History
The letters written by Paul
The letters not written by Paul
Revelation
The Psalms are special
The very first time I set out to read the whole Bible I noticed that Psalms has 150 chapters, which was a little daunting, even for me so I divided Psalms into 65 chunks and stuffed the chunks in between the other books of the Bible. I’ve never read Psalms as a book from beginning to end. I’ve read every Psalm, but I read them in chunks – small chunks.
That was my first reading plan, Genesis through Revelation with the Psalms stuffed in between each book, and it took me nearly 3 years to finish it.
Chronological Order
Now Genesis speaks of the beginning of things and Revelation speaks of the end of all things but the books in between overlap all over themselves. So my second reading plan was chronological. I read the books in the order in which the events of the books occurred.
This is a great link that talks about the how and the why of reading the Bible in chronological order.
This one took me a little over three years to get through because I kept flipping back and forth between the pieces.
Comparative Versions of the Bible
I have never read two versions side by side but I have looked through several versions while chewing over a particularly difficult passage. And I have read through several versions of the Bible. Three, actually: The King James Version, The Living Bible and The New International Version. There are others and each has its own merits. But once I begin a new reading plan I choose which version to read and stick with it through the entire list.
Study Bibles
My New International Version Study Bible has notes on nearly every verse. If you read all the notes then you are doubling your reading. This is exactly what I did through my last reading plan. I read a chapter and then read the chapter notes. This was well worth the effort but it was time consuming, by that I mean it took me nearly 4 years to work my way through the reading list.
A plan of my own design
Now I’m starting a new reading plan. Same books, different order. But I have a list. It took me a whole day to decide what order I was going to use and then write the whole order out. This time I not only sandwiched the Psalms in between books, but Isaiah as well.
Isaiah has 66 chapters so I will read one chapter of Isaiah and 2 or 3 chapters of Psalms in between every other book. I’m starting with the book of Mark so my list looks like this
Mark – 16 chapters
Isaiah chapter 41 (because Mark is the 41st book in biblical order)
Psalms 96-99 (because I divided the Psalms between the books before I shuffled the books)
It will take me roughly 21 days to read these 21 chapters then I will move on to the next set.
Genesis – 50 chapters
Isaiah chapter 1
Psalms 1-3
I shuffled the books around and shuffled Isaiah and Psalms into the mix. The point is that even though I am traveling though the Bible in a round about way I do not intend to miss any stop along the way. That is why I have a list that covers every book. If I intend to read partial books, like Isaiah and Psalms then the chapters are listed individually, otherwise I just list the total number of chapters per book.
I have a trail map. I may not follow it exactly but as long as I have it I can always adjust my route and wind my way back to any destinations I may have missed.
Like I said – I don’t want to miss a thing.
What does your trail may look like? Do you have a reading plan? What will you say when you get to heaven and Habakkuk asks you if you read his book?
Simple – Ain’t – Easy
But it is interesting
Wendy
Mark – 16 chapters
Isaiah chapter 41 (because Mark is the 41st book in biblical order)
Psalms 96-99 (because I divided the Psalms between the books before I shuffled the books)
It will take me roughly 21 days to read these 21 chapters then I will move on to the next set.
Genesis – 50 chapters
Isaiah chapter 1
Psalms 1-3
I shuffled the books around and shuffled Isaiah and Psalms into the mix. The point is that even though I am traveling though the Bible in a round about way I do not intend to miss any stop along the way. That is why I have a list that covers every book. If I intend to read partial books, like Isaiah and Psalms then the chapters are listed individually, otherwise I just list the total number of chapters per book.
I have a trail map. I may not follow it exactly but as long as I have it I can always adjust my route and wind my way back to any destinations I may have missed.
Like I said – I don’t want to miss a thing.
What does your trail may look like? Do you have a reading plan? What will you say when you get to heaven and Habakkuk asks you if you read his book?
Simple – Ain’t – Easy
But it is interesting
Wendy
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