Subscribe to feedI have just finished my six-month trek through the Bible and am about to set off through it again. Last time around my reading plan was somewhat haphazard. This time I have organized it a little better. I have not yet decided how long I will take to read through the Bible this time, but here is the order I will go. Each day I will have readings from: The Old Testament, the Psalms, the Gospels, and the New Testament. This last time around I also read through Romans each month, following the advice of Martin Luther. At this time I don’t plan to do that with this plan, though I may change my mind and add either it or Hebrews later.
In the New Testament I am following the canonical order, but I am changing things up a little for the Old Testament. Below is the order I will follow:
Ecclesiastes
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy 31-34
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
Job
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
Song of Solomon
1 Kings
2 Kings
Deuteronomy 1-30
Jonah
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Proverbs
Ezekiel
Daniel
Esther
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
This is roughly chronological, with some exceptions. I begin with Ecclesiastes, it seems good to start my trip through the Bible with a reminder to fear God and keep his commandments. The other poetic and wisdom books (except Psalms which I will read each day) – Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Job, are interspersed throughout the plan. I have split up Deuteronomy. The last acts of Moses are kept at the end of the Pentateuch reading but I have moved the bulk of Deuteronomy to just before the period when the prophets start to foretell judgment on Israel. In Deuteronomy Moses recalls for the people all that the Lord has done for them and warns them that judgment will come if they stray. That judgment is fulfilled during the time of the prophets so Deuteronomy will be a good lead-in. I could have shuffled around 1 and 2 Chron but the books were written for the people of Judah that were returning from exile. It reminded them of God’s promise to his people and how the people had violated the requirements of God, resulting in exile. On the whole the focus is on the faithfulness of God. The people may have been crushed during exile, but God will keep his promises to them, primarily the Messianic prophecies through the descendants of David.
Once again I will use the Bible reading module of Logos Bible Software to keep track of my daily reading. I occasionally read the text straight from Logos but I usually prefer to read it in my print copy where I can underline and jot little notes. I always do my reading from the ESV simply as a matter of preference. On the whole it is a great translation that communicates the meaning of the Bible without doing too much fiddling with the text. Some fiddling is necessary at times to bring ancient notions into modern language and culture but too much fiddling runs the risk of distorting the original meaning of the text. The ESV translators have struck a good balance that keeps the translation “essentially literal”.
I don’t know what’s more impressive – reading through in six months, or reading Romans each month.
The hard part of each of those is to maintain focus in reading. I think there is merit for doing a “quick read” of the Bible while also having more detailed study of something or other from the Bible. A quick read helps get the whole thing into the head but it is altogether too easy to look at the words without actually reading them. For Romans, the challenge was studying something I had already read several times.
But the work is well worth it.