“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
In 21 short chapters you meet Jesus up close: His signs, His long conversations with ordinary people, His death and His resurrection. Some of the best-loved verses in the Bible are here, John 3:16 among them.
2. Mark. Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, 16 chapters, and it moves fast: in the King James Version the words straightway and immediately come up 36 times. Where John lingers over long conversations, Mark keeps moving from one scene to the next. Reading a second Gospel right after the first shows you the same Jesus from another angle.
3. Genesis. Once you know where the story is going, go back to where it began. Genesis tells how the world was made, how it went wrong, and how God began to put it right through one family: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. The rest of the Bible keeps coming back to these people and promises, so reading Genesis early makes everything after it clearer.
4. The Psalms. The 150 psalms are prayers and songs, honest about every feeling: thanks, fear, grief, anger and joy. They teach you to bring your whole self to God, not only your good days. The year plan below reads them in three stretches, so they come back every few months.
A 30-day starter plan
One chapter a day: the whole Gospel of John, then the first nine chapters of Mark. Day 1 can be January 1 or any day you choose.
| Day | Reading |
|---|---|
| 1 | John 1 (the Word becomes flesh; the first disciples) |
| 2 | John 2 (water into wine) |
| 3 | John 3 (Nicodemus comes by night) |
| 4 | John 4 (the woman at the well) |
| 5 | John 5 (a man healed at the pool) |
| 6 | John 6 (five thousand fed; the bread of life) |
| 7 | John 7 (Jesus at the feast in Jerusalem) |
| 8 | John 8 (the light of the world) |
| 9 | John 9 (a man born blind sees) |
| 10 | John 10 (the good shepherd) |
| 11 | John 11 (Lazarus raised) |
| 12 | John 12 (the King rides into Jerusalem) |
| 13 | John 13 (Jesus washes His disciples' feet) |
| 14 | John 14 (Jesus, the way to the Father) |
| 15 | John 15 (the vine and the branches) |
| 16 | John 16 (the promise of the Spirit) |
| 17 | John 17 (Jesus prays for His followers) |
| 18 | John 18 (the arrest and the trial) |
| 19 | John 19 (the cross) |
| 20 | John 20 (the empty tomb) |
| 21 | John 21 (breakfast by the sea) |
| 22 | Mark 1 (baptism, the wilderness, the first disciples) |
| 23 | Mark 2 (a man let down through the roof) |
| 24 | Mark 3 (the twelve chosen) |
| 25 | Mark 4 (the sower; the storm stilled) |
| 26 | Mark 5 (a man set free; Jairus' daughter) |
| 27 | Mark 6 (five thousand fed; walking on the sea) |
| 28 | Mark 7 (what makes a person unclean; a mother's faith) |
| 29 | Mark 8 (Peter says who Jesus is) |
| 30 | Mark 9 (the transfiguration) |
If you start on January 1, 2027, day 30 is January 30. Day 31 picks up with Mark 10 in the year plan below.
A chapter a day Bible reading plan for the whole year
After the first 30 days, keep going at one chapter a day. The order below takes turns between the New Testament, the story and wisdom of the Old Testament, and the Psalms, so you are never in one kind of book for long.
A word about the math. The Bible has 1,189 chapters, so at one chapter a day the whole of it takes about three and a quarter years. This plan reads 365 of them in 2027, close to a third of the Bible: all four Gospels, Acts, Romans and 1 John, with Genesis, Exodus, Proverbs and the first 106 psalms. That is a strong first year, and in 2028 you can carry on from where you stopped.
Bible reading plan 2027: days 31 to 365
| Days | Reading | If you start on January 1 |
|---|---|---|
| 31-37 | Mark 10-16 (finish Mark) | January 31 to February 6 |
| 38-87 | Genesis 1-50 | February 7 to March 28 |
| 88-128 | Psalms 1-41 | March 29 to May 8 |
| 129-152 | Luke 1-24 | May 9 to June 1 |
| 153-180 | Acts 1-28 | June 2 to June 29 |
| 181-220 | Exodus 1-40 | June 30 to August 8 |
| 221-251 | Psalms 42-72 | August 9 to September 8 |
| 252-267 | Romans 1-16 | September 9 to September 24 |
| 268-298 | Proverbs 1-31 | September 25 to October 25 |
| 299-326 | Matthew 1-28 | October 26 to November 22 |
| 327-360 | Psalms 73-106 | November 23 to December 26 |
| 361-365 | 1 John 1-5 | December 27 to December 31 |
Each row is one chapter a day: days 38 to 87, for example, are Genesis 1 to 50.
Luke, then Acts. Both books are written to the same man, Theophilus (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1), and Acts picks up where Luke ends: the risen Jesus, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the first churches.
Exodus. The story of Genesis goes on: slavery in Egypt, the rescue, the Ten Commandments. When the chapters slow down for the building of the tabernacle (Exodus 25 to 31 and 35 to 40), read for the big idea, which God gives in His own words: “that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8, KJV).
Romans, Proverbs and Matthew. Romans is Paul's fullest explanation of the good news the Gospels tell. Proverbs, 31 chapters long, is wisdom for ordinary days. Matthew shows Jesus as the promised King and gathers His teaching into long sermons, among them the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 to 7).
1 John. The year ends with a short letter about love and assurance, written “that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:13, KJV). It is a fitting place to finish a year that began with the Gospel of John.
Want to read the whole Bible in a year?
Then plan on three or four chapters a day. The Bible's 1,189 chapters over 365 days come to just over three and a quarter a day: about 9 to 12 minutes of reading at an average adult pace, or closer to 15 if you read slowly and stop to think, which is a good way to read.
The outline below reads the Old and New Testaments side by side, so the Gospels are never months away. Each month, read the Old Testament books in the first column and the New Testament books in the second. Most days that means two or three chapters from the Old Testament and one from the New.
The Bible in 365 days: a month-by-month outline
| Month | Old Testament | New Testament | Chapters |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | Genesis, Exodus | Matthew 1-22 | 112 |
| February | Leviticus, Numbers | Matthew 23-28, Mark | 85 |
| March | Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges | Luke | 103 |
| April | Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings | John | 102 |
| May | 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 1-17 | Acts | 99 |
| June | 2 Chronicles 18-36, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job 1-25 | Romans | 93 |
| July | Job 26-42, Psalms 1-62 | 1 Corinthians | 95 |
| August | Psalms 63-150 | 2 Corinthians, Galatians | 107 |
| September | Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah 1-16 | Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon | 103 |
| October | Isaiah 17-66, Jeremiah 1-29 | Hebrews | 92 |
| November | Jeremiah 30-52, Lamentations, Ezekiel | James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, Jude | 97 |
| December | Daniel, then the twelve shorter prophets, Hosea to Malachi | Revelation | 101 |
1,189 chapters in all, in Bible order. If a month runs long, finish it in the first days of the next. If the pace starts to feel like a race, switch to a chapter a day: reading slowly is still reading.
How to keep going
Same time, same place. Tie your reading to something you already do every day: the first coffee, the commute, the last ten minutes before bed. Then you do not have to remember it; the habit remembers for you.
Listen when you cannot sit down. A chapter takes only a few minutes to hear. Open each day's chapter in Faithero to read it or have it read aloud, verse by verse, even with your screen locked.
Keep a simple streak. Print the tables on this page, or use a paper calendar, and tick off each day. A growing row of ticks is a small, real encouragement on the days you do not feel like reading.
Give yourself grace when you miss a day. You will miss some. Do not try to make them all up at once; read today's chapter and carry on, or read two on a quiet day. A plan is a help, not a test. For a simple way to pray through what you read, see our guide to a daily devotional.
Read with someone. Ask a friend, your spouse or your small group to read the same chapter, and send each other one line that stood out.
Frequently asked
How long does it take to read the Bible?
The Bible has 1,189 chapters. At one chapter a day, reading all of it takes about three and a quarter years; at three or four chapters a day, about a year. In hours, the King James Version comes to roughly 55 hours of reading at an average adult pace, or about 70 hours read aloud. Spread over a year, that is about 9 to 12 minutes of reading a day.
Which book should a beginner read first?
The Gospel of John. John says he wrote it so that readers would believe that Jesus is the Christ and have life through His name (John 20:31), and in 21 short chapters it brings you face to face with Jesus. Mark, the shortest Gospel, makes a good second book. After that, Genesis gives you the beginning of the story, and the Psalms teach you to pray.
Is it OK to listen instead of reading?
Yes. Much of the Bible was written to be heard. Paul asked for his letters to be read aloud to the churches (Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27), and Revelation opens with a blessing on “he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy” (Revelation 1:3, KJV). Listening is a good way to keep going on busy days. Listen where you can pay attention, and read along when you can.
Can I start the plan later than January 1?
Yes. The plan is numbered by days, not dates. Start at day 1 whenever you begin, and use the dates in the year table only if you started on January 1. If you start in the spring, you will simply finish in the spring of the next year.
What is the best Bible reading plan for beginners?
The one you will keep. For most beginners that means a short reading every day that starts with a Gospel, which is why this plan is one chapter a day beginning with John. Once the habit is steady, reading the whole Bible in a year makes a good next goal.
A tree, not a sprint
Psalm 1 pictures the person who delights in God's word as a tree, “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season” (Psalm 1:3, KJV). Trees do not grow in a day. They grow by staying planted by the water, season after season.
A chapter a day can feel too small to matter. It is not. Five minutes a day, kept up for a year, adds up to 365 chapters, the four Gospels among them. You do not need to understand everything you read, and you do not need to finish fast. You only need to open the Bible again tomorrow. Start with John 1.
Where to start: a Bible reading plan for beginners
You can start at Genesis 1 and read straight through, and many people do. But if you have never read the Bible before, there is a gentler way in: start with Jesus, then go back to the beginning. Here is the order this plan follows, and why.
1. John. John says plainly why he wrote his Gospel: