Over the last couple of days, I’ve put together a simple Bible reading plan to get me through the Bible in a year. It was really just designed for my own use, so it’s tailored to what I want from a Bible reading plan. But I thought it was worth sharing in case it helps anyone else.

Why another Bible reading plan when there are so many out there (see below)? What makes this one different? Basically, I wanted something that would allow me to get through the Bible by concentrating on one book at a time (rather than reading a single chapter from multiple books each day). I also wanted something that deliberately did NOT start at Genesis and end at Revelation, but rather moved around from genre to genre throughout the year (blame YouTube for ruining my attention span, but I think this method has a better chance of keeping me engaged throughout the year).

Here is a PDF of my plan (Colour-coded Version | Black & White Version)

To get through the whole Bible, I’ve basically allocated three chapters a day, plus a Psalm roughly every second day (with 18 days left blank for catching up). This plan won’t be for everyone. It’s deliberately eclectic and there is little rhyme or reason as to why I’ve jumped between books in the exact way I have. But if it’s any help, please take it and use it. According to this website, my plan should get through the Bible with an average of about 15 minutes reading per day.

Of course, there are plenty of other excellent Bible reading plans out there. Here are some of the most popular ones:

• A two-year Bible reading plan, including multiple catch-up days
• A blog to get you through the OT once and the NT twice per year, including daily comments by Don Carson
• A colour-coded chart to get you through the Bible however you choose (courtesy of Mark Barry’s brilliant website)
• A plan to take you through the Bible in chronological order
• A plan to get you through the whole Bible in three years (from Tim Chester)
• This plan looks interesting: it allocates certain books to each month, but doesn’t allocate daily (or even weekly) readings
• The well-named Bible reading plan for Shirkers and Slackers

While I’m here, here are two other resources you should grab:

• The ESV Audio Bible, absolutely free (in January 2014 only) from ChristianAudio.com (I plan to use this for a lot of my Bible ‘reading’ this year). This resource normally costs US$30, so it’s a very generous offer. Grab it!
• The PrayerMate app, free to download until March 31, 2014 (I’ve not used this before, but plan to give it a go)