
Yearly Lectionary
- By Michael Mathews
- On Jan.07.2014
Let’s start with a simple belief – the Bible is life for the Christian. It is the sanctuary where we engage our hearts, our souls and our minds with the Spirit of God who is at work in this world, making all things new. It is the quiet study where we learn to think God’s thoughts after him. It is the haven where we find rest, hope and healing from the gospel message.
Now let’s move on to the challenge – the Bible is not, nor was it ever meant to be an easy read. It wasn’t easy for the original hearers. As the Bible itself makes clear, the prophets challenged the people's understanding of God, their understanding of the world and their understanding of themselves. And if it was difficult for the original hearers, who had the benefit of comprehending the terms and rhetoric and were familiar with the customs and cultural situations, how much more difficult must it be for a people who are thousands of years removed from their worlds and worldviews? So there lies the challenge. Christians are called to engage, comprehend, trust and live by a series of ancient texts written by various authors over the course of hundreds of years. Difficult? Yes. But while we cannot make this challenge easy, we can make it easier.
The first way to make Bible reading easier is simply to read it. Like any skill it becomes easier over time. As we read it again and again and again the pieces of the story better fit together and we glean more from the fifth reading than we did the first. Another important way to make reading the Bible easier is to read the individual books quicker. To say that we should read the Bible quicker is not to say that we should speed-read through the Bible but that we should attempt to read the literary units in as few sittings as possible. Reading larger chunks in fewer sittings allows the reader to more readily grasp the themes and particular interests of the author. It allows us to see the big picture before we try to understand and apply individual verses.
The reading schedule below attempts to help the reader read the individual books quicker by dividing every book into 10 readings or fewer. With the exception of Psalms and Proverbs the books are read one at a time so that the reader's interest is not divided. The arrangement of books is designed to allow the reader to benefit from their previous reading. For instance, the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah are read immediately after Ezra because they are mentioned in the book of Ezra. There will be certain disadvantages with this approach, but hopefully it will maximize the time and effort of the person who desires to engage their heart with the Word of God. Happy reading.
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Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Weekly Psalms | |
Week 1 | Gen 1-5 | Gen 6-10 | Gen 11-15 | Gen 16-20 | Gen 21-25 | Psalm 1-4 |
Week 2 | Gen 26-30 | Gen 31-35 | Gen 34-38 | Gen 39-45 | Gen 46-50 | Psalm 5-8 |
Week 3 | Mark 1-3 | Mark 4-6 | Mark 7-9 | Mark 10-12 | Mark 13-16 | Psalms 9-12 |
Week 4 | Gal 1-3 | Gal 4-6 | 1 Thes 1-2 | 1 Thes 3-5 | 2 Thes 1-3 | Psalms 13-16 |
Week 5 | Ex 1-4 | Ex 5-8 | Ex 9-12 | Ex 13-16 | Ex 17-20 | Psalms 17-20 |
Week 6 | Ex 21-24 | Ex 25-28 | Ex 29-32 | Ex 33-36 | Ex 37-40 | Psalms 21-24 |
Week 7 | Lev 1-3 | Lev 4-6 | Lev 7-8 | Lev 9-11 | Lev 12-14 | Psalms 25-28 |
Week 8 | Lev 15-16 | Lev 17-19 | Lev 20-22 | Lev 23-25 | Lev 26-27 | Psalm 29-32 |
Week 9 | Luke 1-2 | Luke 3-5 | Luke 6-7 | Luke 8-9 | Luke 10-12 | Psalm 33-36 |
Week 10 | Luke 13-15 | Luke 16-18 | Luke 19-20 | Luke 21-22 | Luke 23-24 | Psalm 37-41 |
Week 11 | Acts 1-2 | Acts 3-5 | Acts 6-8 | Acts 9-10 | Acts 11-13 | Psalms 42-45 |
Week 12 | Acts 14-16 | Acts 17-19 | Acts 20-22 | Acts 23-25 | Acts 26-28 | Psalms 46-49 |
Week 13 | Num 1-3 | Num 4-6 | Num 7-9 | Num 10-13 | Num 14-16 | Psalms 50-53 |
Week 14 | Num 17-20 | Num 21-24 | Num 25-28 | Num 29-32 | Num 33-36 | Psalms 54-57 |
Week 15 | Deut 1-3 | Deut 4-6 | Deut 7-9 | Deut 10-12 | Deut 13-15 | Psalms 58-61 |
Week 16 | Deut 16-18 | Deut 19-21 | Deut 22-24 | Deut 25-27 | Deut 28-30 | Pslams 62-65 |
Week 17 | Heb 1-2 | Heb 3-5 | Heb 6-8 | Heb 9-10 | Heb 11-13 | Psalms 66-69 |
Week 18 | Rom 1-3 | Rom 4-6 | Rom 7-9 | Rom 10-12 | Rom 13-16 | Psalms 70-72 |
Week 19 | Josh 1-5 | Josh 6-10 | Josh 11-15 | Josh 16-20 | Josh 21-24 | Psalms 73-76 |
Week 20 | Judges 1-5 | Judges 6-12 | Judges 13-16 | Judges 17-18 | Judges 19-21 | Psalms 77-80 |
Week 21 | Ruth | 1 Sam 1-4 | 1 Sam 5-8 | 1 Sam 9-12 | 1 Sam 13-15 | Psalms 81-84 |
Week 22 | 1 Sam 16-18 | 1 Sam 19-21 | 1 Sam 22-24 | 1 Sam 25-27 | 1 Sam 27-31 | Psalms 85-89 |
Week 23 | 2 Sam 1-2 | 2 Sam 3-5 | 2 Sam 6-8 | 2 Sam 9-10 | 2 Sam 11-12 | Psalms 90-93 |
Week 24 | 2 Sam 13-14 | 2 Sam 15-17 | 2 Sam 18-20 | 2 Sam 21-22 | 2 Sam 23-24 | Psalms 94-97 |
Week 25 | 1 Cor 1-3 | 1 Cor 4-6 | 1 Cor 7-9 | 1 Cor 10-12 | 1 Cor 13-16 | Psalms 98-102 |
Week 26 | 2 Cor 1-3 | 2 Cor 4-6 | 2 Cor 7-8 | 2 Cor 9-10 | 2 Cor 11-13 | Psalms 103-106 |
Week 27 | 1 Kings 1-4 | 1 Kings 5-8 | 1 Kings 9-12 | 1 Kings 13-17 | 1 Kings 18-22 | Psalms 107-110 |
Week 28 | 2 Kings 1-5 | 2 Kings 6-10 | 2 Kings 11-15 | 2 Kings 16-20 | 2 Kings 21-25 | Psalms 111-114 |
Week 29 | Eph 1-3 | Eph 4-6 | Colossians | Philemon | Philippians | Psalms 115-118 |
Week 30 | 1 Tim 1-3 | 1 Tim 4-6 | Titus | 2 Tim 1-2 | 2 Tim 3-4 | Psalm 119 |
Week 31 | Isaiah 1-6 | Isaiah 7-12 | Isaiah 13-20 | Isaiah 21-27 | Isaiah 28-35 | Psalms 120-123 |
Week 32 | Isaiah 36-39 | Isaiah 40-48 | Isaiah 49-55 | Isaiah 56-60 | Isaiah 61-66 | Psalms 124-127 |
Week 33 | Micah | Jonah | Nahum | Zephaniah | Habakkuk | Psalms 128-131 |
Week 34 | Hos 1-5 | Hos 6-9 | Hos 10-14 | Amos 1-4 | Amos 5-9 | Psalms 132-34 |
Week 35 | Matt 1-2 | Matt 3-4 | Matt 5-7 | Matt 8-10 | Matt 11-13 | Psalms 135-138 |
Week 36 | Matt 14-16 | Matt 17-19 | Matt 20-22 | Matt 23-25 | Matt 26-28 | Psalms 139-142 |
Week 37 | 1 Chron 1-5 | 1 Chron 6-11 | 1 Chron 12-17 | 1 Chron 18-22 | 1 Chron 23-29 | Psalms 143-146 |
Week 38 | 2 Chron 1-7 | 2 Chron 8-16 | 2 Chron 17-22 | 2 Chron 23-28 | 2 Chron 29-36 | Psalms 147-150 |
Week 39 | Jer 1-5 | Jer 6-10 | Jer 11-15 | Jer 16-20 | Jer 21-26 | Prov 1-2 |
Week 40 | Jer 27-31 | Jer 32-36 | Jer 37-41 | Jer 42-46 | Jer 47-52 | Prov 3-4 |
Week 41 | Ezek 1-6 | Ezek 7-12 | Ezek 13-18 | Ezek 19-24 | Ezek 25-28 | Prov 5-6 |
Week 42 | Ezek 29-32 | Ezek 33-36 | Ezek 37-39 | Ezek 40-43 | Ezek 44-48 | Prov 7-8 |
Week 43 | Obadiah | Lamentations | Eccles 1-4 | Eccles 5-8 | Eccles 9-12 | Prov 9-10 |
Week 44 | James 1-2 | James 3-5 | Songs 1-3 | Songs 4-6 | Songs 7-8 | Prov 11-12 |
Week 45 | Job 1-4 | Job 5-8 | Job 9-12 | Job 13-16 | Job 17-21 | Prov 13-14 |
Week 46 | Job 22-25 | Job 26-30 | Job 31-34 | Job 35-38 | Job 39-42 | Prov 15-16 |
Week 47 | John 1-4 | John 5-8 | John 9-12 | John 13-17 | John 18-21 | Prov 17-18 |
Week 48 | 1 John 1-3 | 1 John 4-5 | 2 & 3 John | 1 Peter | 2 Pet & Jude | Prov 19-20 |
Week 49 | Ezra 1-5 | Ezra 6-10 | Haggai | Zech 1-7 | Zech 8-14 | Prov 21-22 |
Week 50 | Esther 1-5 | Esther 6-10 | Neh 1-5 | Neh 6-9 | Neh 10-13 | Prov 23-25 |
Week 51 | Dan 1-5 | Dan 6-9 | Dan 10-12 | Malachi | Joel | Prov 26-28 |
Week 52 | Rev 1-3 | Rev 4-7 | Rev 8-13 | Rev 14-18 | Rev 19-22 | Prov 29-31 |