2022 and 2023 Bible Reading Plans

C

Claudiu

Puritan Board Junior
What reading plan did you use this year? How did you like it? What plan will you use in 2023?

I've been using a modified Grant Horner plan where I read from the following sections: Pentateuch, History, Wisdom/Poetry, Prophets, Gospels, Epistles. However, I found myself some days reading only 1-2 chapters and another day 20. This year I plan to have more consistency by using the M'Cheyne Reading Plan as my foundation. This way I know I will get through the whole bible once and the Psalms/NT twice. This plan might turn into a modified Horner plan again (by adding over the base), but I'll benefit from the base M'Cheyne keeping me on track. Another benefit is that with the popularity of the M'Cheyne, friends and family will be reading the same passages to help spur conversations.
 
I used a Chronological plan. It was my first time going through from Day One to John's final sentence on Patmos in a mostly-agreed upon linear order.

It was cool reading Psalms with historical events and aligning the Prophets with the historical passages they fit in.

The chronology of the Gospels was awe-inspiring and it was neat to intersperse the Epistles with their timeframes in Acts.

I have no idea what plan I will use for 23.
 
My 9th year for the M'Cheyne 1 Year Bible Reading Plan coming up. Martyn Lloyd-Jones did the plan for 53 years. Good enough for him, it's good enough for me :wave: Actually although when I started I thought a chapter a day in two books of the Bible morning, and evening, would not be enough.

I quickly found that I focused more on what I was reading, and my mind was less likely to wander. So using the plan I read through the OT once, the NT and Psalms twice per year. Not too shabby.
https://www.mcheyne.info/calendar.pdf
Click to expand...
 
I first found the Horner plan back in ~2009 and used it off on and on with some others in between, but it's my favorite I've found.

Inspired by it, I keep the categories and read through a minimum of 5 chapters a day, but I let myself be free to sometimes read 5 (or more) chapters straight through in a book, sometimes a book in each genre, etc. Basically a more flexible version. Since September 2018 I've been tracking each time I finish reading a book of the Bible in a spreadsheet and am nearing my 6th read through the Bible using this method.

I like the flexibility. If I ever have a day that I end up reading say, a gospel, in one day it works perfectly without messing up a "plan" (and I do this from time to time) or if I have a day where I can't get through as much then I also can stay on the plan. It keeps a wide range of Biblical revelation at hand as throughout a week I'm reading through all the major genres of the Bible.

Some are scared of Horner's reading system because if followed "by the book" it will result in reading the whole Bible through in over a year, whereas most of us aim to read the whole Bible one per year. I'd argue that you read a lot of Scripture, and the NT more often, so it's still worthwhile. Plus with my adaptation I end up reading through quicker than that anyway.
 
I'm trying something new to me this year that I'm hoping I'll like and just continue without having to reset each year. 3 chapters OT, 2 chapters NT, 1 Psalm, and 1 chapter of Proverbs each day except Sundays. On Sundays I'll take time to read through larger chunks or whole books. It will be a good way to cover the whole OT, NT and Psalms twice, and Proverbs almost 12 times within a little under a year.

I like the idea of the Horner plan, but it's a little too scattered for me, so I'm hoping this will be a good way to get a lot of exposure while still keeping track of what I'm reading.
 
I used the same plan I had for the last 20 years but decided to create my own which I finished a couple days ago. New plan goes through the Bible in 270 days and groups passages together in a way that doesn't artificially divide stories like other plans do. Average is maybe 5-6 chapters a day, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. Goal wasn't to fit into a predetermined number of days or chapters but simply divide up readings in the way I want to read the Bible - stuff that fits together one book at a time (only read from one book of the Bible every day). Psalms was a bit of a challenge - tough to decide where to place breaks.

Now I just need to read through using the plan and make refinements. I think I am going to try KJV next as I have read through the other major translations.
 
I started back on the Horner plan part of the way through the year. It's my favorite plan by far, and I intend on doing it in 2023. I couple it with a monthly reading plan of the Westminster Standards (Westminster Confession and Shorter Catechism) and the ecumenical creeds (days 1 to 10 Nicene, days 11 to 20 Apostles, days 21 to 30/31 Athanasian). I read the One Year Bible (KJV) and the WLC with my wife in the evenings. Unfortunately, the busy parts of the semester see a dip in consistency. Pray for me!
 
TheInquirer said:
New plan goes through the Bible in 270 days and groups passages together in a way that doesn't artificially divide stories like other plans do. Average is maybe 5-6 chapters a day, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. Goal wasn't to fit into a predetermined number of days or chapters but simply divide up readings in the way I want to read the Bible
Click to expand...

Did you create a doc for this?
 
Jake said:
I first found the Horner plan back in ~2009 and used it off on and on with some others in between, but it's my favorite I've found.

Inspired by it, I keep the categories and read through a minimum of 5 chapters a day, but I let myself be free to sometimes read 5 (or more) chapters straight through in a book, sometimes a book in each genre, etc. Basically a more flexible version. Since September 2018 I've been tracking each time I finish reading a book of the Bible in a spreadsheet and am nearing my 6th read through the Bible using this method.

I like the flexibility. If I ever have a day that I end up reading say, a gospel, in one day it works perfectly without messing up a "plan" (and I do this from time to time) or if I have a day where I can't get through as much then I also can stay on the plan. It keeps a wide range of Biblical revelation at hand as throughout a week I'm reading through all the major genres of the Bible.

Some are scared of Horner's reading system because if followed "by the book" it will result in reading the whole Bible through in over a year, whereas most of us aim to read the whole Bible one per year. I'd argue that you read a lot of Scripture, and the NT more often, so it's still worthwhile. Plus with my adaptation I end up reading through quicker than that anyway.
Click to expand...
This is how I've been using the Horner plan. I intend to use the M'Cheyne as a base layer so that I can be on the same minimal plan as others in my family. The benefit of Horner is reading a lot more scripture in various places. But this year I saw a significant drop in the amount I read. M'Cheyne should help discipline me with a good foundation.
 
Trying a chronological plan though I know I’ll deviate regularly. I am not going to wait months to read from the Gospels again.
 
I've tried the M'Cheyne but always felt it was a bit unbalanced. Maybe the engineer in me feels it could be optimized better but not all chapters are created equal and I found myself slogging through some very long chapters one day and breezing through some short ones the next. Sometimes it makes perfect sense to stop in the middle of a chapter (but M'Cheyne has you push all the way to the end). Plus taking a chapter a day in Proverbs is overwhelming to me.

I set out last year to engineer my own plan that would basically divide
* The Psalms into roughly 365 * 2 logical readings (e.g., Psalm 119 can be broken into 24 sections without damaging the flow)
* Proverbs into 365 readings (or 365 * 2)
* The rest of the OT into 365 equal length logical readings (natural breaks in narrative)
* The NT into 365 readings

I started work on it and then realized that the "One Year Bible" had basically already developed that plan, oh well, there goes another million-dollar idea :D

I read on Kindle so each daily reading is already laid out and I don't have to flip around or remember locations. I really liked it this past year and plan to do it again this year. There is also a podcast called "Daily Bible Reading" which is basically these readings (ESV I believe) and I have found those helpful for listening to as well.
 
I took a look at the Horner plan and it is more than I would want to commit to. The Mc'Cheyne plan has been working well for me these past 8 years and I'll be sticking with it until I go to that place where I'll finally know which translation philosophy is the 'correct' one.

MLJ did the M'Cheyne plan for 52, or 53 years, he said he could not recall which.

I've probably posted this photo on PB in one of the previous 1 year reading plan threads, but it is worth mentioning again, D.A. Carson's brief expositions of one chapter, or another, in the morning (Vol 1, and the evening Vol 2). The booklet was printed out from the link I provided in a previous post in this thread. M'Cheyne.png
 
Someone joked on Twitter the other day: "Hey, you've still got time to finish reading the Bible by the end of the year after you faded away during Leviticus last February!" It can be hard to stick to it - but it's rewarding.
 
This is the plan I referenced above:
oneyearbibleonline.com

One Year Bible Reading Plan Download

Download either the One Year Bible or One Year Chronological Bible Reading Plan or customize a One Year Bible reading plan to begin on the date you choose.
oneyearbibleonline.com oneyearbibleonline.com

They sell Kindle and physical copies of several translations, which is very convenient for not having to reference a sheet and find your place: just read the day's section which consists of a reading in each of OT, NT, Psalm, and Proverbs.
 
Anti-Babylon said:
I used a Chronological plan. It was my first time going through from Day One to John's final sentence on Patmos in a mostly-agreed upon linear order.

It was cool reading Psalms with historical events and aligning the Prophets with the historical passages they fit in.

The chronology of the Gospels was awe-inspiring and it was neat to intersperse the Epistles with their timeframes in Acts.

I have no idea what plan I will use for 23.
Click to expand...
Where did you find a chronological plan?
 
I’ll probably just use the table talk plan again. Its built into the ligonier magazines and app. Though I did grab an M’Cheyne pamphlet from church this past Lord’s day. So maybe ill change course - I didn’t realize that one was so popular.
 
I'm still working my way through a three year (ish) plan provided in Olive Tree (called Every Word In The Bible). I find reading slower fits better with where I am spiritually and my current phase of life.
 
Logan said:
This is the plan I referenced above:
oneyearbibleonline.com

One Year Bible Reading Plan Download

Download either the One Year Bible or One Year Chronological Bible Reading Plan or customize a One Year Bible reading plan to begin on the date you choose.
oneyearbibleonline.com oneyearbibleonline.com

They sell Kindle and physical copies of several translations, which is very convenient for not having to reference a sheet and find your place: just read the day's section which consists of a reading in each of OT, NT, Psalm, and Proverbs.
Click to expand...
Looks like another nice plan! Does this get through Psalms and Proverbs more than once, if you are reading them each day? What about the NT?
 
NM_Presby said:
Looks like another nice plan! Does this get through Psalms and Proverbs more than once, if you are reading them each day? What about the NT?
Click to expand...
Psalms twice. Everything else once.
It's well-balanced to be about an equal reading load each day.

Imagine taking all chapters out.
Now divide the OT into 365 equal chunks (with slight variants to end on a logical paragraph)
Same with the NT.
Same with Proverbs.
Same with Psalms, although with the Psalms a logical chunk is the entire psalm, so 150 (plus the individual chunks in Psalm 119) equates to half a year. Thus the doubling.

It's the most balanced plan I've seen.
 
Logan said:
This is the plan I referenced above:
oneyearbibleonline.com

One Year Bible Reading Plan Download

Download either the One Year Bible or One Year Chronological Bible Reading Plan or customize a One Year Bible reading plan to begin on the date you choose.
oneyearbibleonline.com oneyearbibleonline.com

They sell Kindle and physical copies of several translations, which is very convenient for not having to reference a sheet and find your place: just read the day's section which consists of a reading in each of OT, NT, Psalm, and Proverbs.
Click to expand...
I'm really bummed out that they don't have that plan for the NASB95 on kindle. I'd really like to try it out.
 
I've always read the Bible through Genesis to Revelation plainly through, sometimes mixing up the OT and NT. A congregant of ours recently recommended trying the M'Cheyne reading plan, and lately I've been enjoying it. I thought it would be a difficult to juggle being in 4 books at once, but it's actually been nice seeing how redemptive history is tied together in unison.
 
Logan said:
Psalms twice. Everything else once.
It's well-balanced to be about an equal reading load each day.

Imagine taking all chapters out.
Now divide the OT into 365 equal chunks (with slight variants to end on a logical paragraph)
Same with the NT.
Same with Proverbs.
Same with Psalms, although with the Psalms a logical chunk is the entire psalm, so 150 (plus the individual chunks in Psalm 119) equates to half a year. Thus the doubling.

It's the most balanced plan I've seen.
Click to expand...
That’s probably really nice taking Proverbs so slowly!
 
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