Reading Through the Bible - Reading Plan by Order of Size of Books

There are many ways to read the Bible and many time ordered plans to follow but if you need encouragement to even just get started reading the bible in any kind of structured way then you need a Reading Plan or List.

Perhaps you have realised that there are some Books of the Bible that you have only read parts of, then it is good to have some kind of Reading Plan to rectify that.

But the best one is a simple one that you can definitely manage to stick with and I'll give you 5 EXTRA TIPS to help you keep going.

You will also find more help about getting started and making your reading of the bible into a good daily habit in 10 Ways to Help Start A Good Daily Habit 

I know there are Books of the Bible that I have read various times and then there are some that I may only have read once.

I also know that it is more encouraging to get started if we can see some sort of goals reached quickly or some sense of satisfaction from having accomplished different steps and even be able to tick off some things from a to do list.

So I thought I would make out a Bible Reading Plan that does that, some Books of the Bible are read within a very short period of time and then when are reading others we can incorporate some of the tips at the end of this blog post.

A flexible plan, a doable plan, a very simple plan with no time limits and those 5 EXTRA TIPS so make sure to check those out at the end of the post.

Basically it all centres around 

My Order for Reading

My order for reading through the Bible is based on the length of the books starting with the shortest (chapter nos.) and a few other factors I will note throughout the way.

I am not dictating how much I will read each day or how much time I will spend reading because sometimes I know I will get bogged down in

 

1. taking notes - it always happens to me

2. writing reminders to myself that I want to make a new Bible Verse Graphic (or 2 or 3) from the chapter I am in

3. wanting to talk to Fred (my husband) about something from the day's reading

4. having less time available to read or being interrupted more that usual

5. looking up some other Bible references that may be connected or some other info.

Some Books of the bible are very short and some are very long so I'm going to go by Order of Size and start with the shortest books but use the no. of chapters for size not actual quantity of verses or word counts.

Then because of the type of person I am I will probably do most in alphabetical order but there will be a few exceptions.

MY READING LIST 

Books consisting of 1 Chapter

JUDE  -  26th Book of the NT  

OBADIAH  -  31st Book of the OT

PHILEMON  -  18th Book of the NT

Nice to have the OT Book slotted in between the two NT Books

Books consisting of 2 Chapters

HAGGAI  -  37th Book of the OT

Books consisting of 3 Chapters

HABAKKUK  -  35th Book of the OT

JOEL  -  29th Book of the OT

NAHUM -  34th Book of the OT

TITUS  -  17th Book of the NT

ZEPHANIAH -  36th Book of the OT

Good to have that one NT Book in among the OT Books to give a bit of variety especially as they were all Minor Prophets

Books consisting of 4 Chapters

COLOSSIANS -  12th Book of the NT

JONAH -  32th Book of the OT

MALACHI -  39th Book of the OT

PHILIPPIANS -  11th Book of the NT

RUTH -  8th Book of the OT

Nice mix in this grouping

Books consisting of 5 Chapters

JAMES -  20th Book of the NT

LAMENTATIONS -  25th Book of the OT

Books consisting of 6 Chapters

GALATIANS -  9th Book of the NT

EPHESIANS -  10th Book of the NT

Books consisting of 7 Chapters

1, 2 & 3 JOHN -  23rd, 24th & 25th Books of the NT

MICAH -  33rd Book of the OT

If I had stuck to the no. of chapters for each individual Epistle of John then 2nd & 3rd John would have been in the first group as they each have only one chapter but then I would have been reading them before John's first Epistle so I felt it better to combine them and read in Chronological Order.

Books consisting of 8 Chapters

1 & 2 Peter -  21st & 22nd Books of the NT

1 & 2 THESSALONIANS -  13th & 14th Books of the NT

SONG of SOLOMON -  22nd Book of the OT

As in the previous group I am combining Peter's Epistles and the Epistles to the Thessalonians to read in Chronological order.

Books consisting of 9 Chapters

AMOS  -  30th Book of the OT

Books consisting of 10 Chapters

1 & 2 TIMOTHY -  15th & 16th Books of the NT

ESTHER -  17th Book of the OT

EZRA -  15th Book of the OT

As in 2 previous groups I am combining 1st & 2nd Timothy so that they are read

 in Chronological order.

This Picture is a free printable from Children's Ministry 
check them out for this and other printables

Books consisting of 12 Chapters

DANIEL -  27th Book of the OT

ECCLESIASTES -  21st Book of the OT

Books consisting of 13 Chapters

HEBREWS -  19th Book of the NT

NEHEMIAH -  16th Book of the OT

Books consisting of 14 Chapters

HOSEA -  28th Book of the OT

ZECHARIAH -  38th Book of the OT

Books consisting of 16 Chapters

MARK -  2nd Book of the NT

ROMANS -  6th Book of the NT

Books consisting of 21 Chapters

JOHN -  4th Book of the NT

JUDGES -  7th Book of the OT

Books consisting of 22 Chapters

REVELATION -  27th Book of the NT

Books consisting of 24 Chapters

JOSHUA -  6th Book of the OT

LUKE -  3rd Book of the NT

Books consisting of 27 Chapters

LEVITICUS -  3rd Book of the OT

Books consisting of 28 Chapters

ACTS -  5th Book of the NT  

MATTHEW -  1st Book of the NT

Books consisting of 31 Chapters

PROVERBS -  20th Book of the OT

Books consisting of 34 Chapters

DEUTERONOMY -  5th Book of the OT

Books consisting of 35 Chapters

1 & 2 CORINTHIANS -  7th & 8th Books of the NT

As in 3 previous groups I am combining 1st & 2nd Corinthians so that they

 are read in Chronological order.

Books consisting of 36 Chapters

NUMBERS -  4th Book of the OT

Click Here to get a FREE PRINTABLE of the chart above

Books consisting of 40 Chapters

EXODUS -  2nd Book of the OT

Books consisting of 42 Chapters

JOB -  18th Book of the OT

Books consisting of 47 Chapters

1 & 2 KINGS -  11th & 12th Books of the OT

As in 4 previous groups I am combining 1st & 2nd Kings so that they 

are read in Chronological order.

Books consisting of 48 Chapters

EZEKIEL -  26th Book of the OT

Books consisting of 50 Chapters

GENESIS -  1st Book of the OT

Books consisting of 52 Chapters

JEREMIAH -  24th Book of the OT

Books consisting of 55 Chapters

1 & 2 SAMUEL -  9th & 10th Books of the OT

As in 5 previous groups I am combining 1st & 2nd Samuel so that they

 are read in Chronological order.

Books consisting of 65 Chapters

1 & 2 CHRONICLES -  13th & 14th Books of the OT

As in 6 previous groups I am combining 1st & 2nd Chronicles so that they

 are read in Chronological order.

Books consisting of 66 Chapters

ISAIAH -  23rd Book of the OT

Books consisting of 150 Chapters

Psalms -  19th Book of the OT

I was delighted to start with Jude as I had recently bought a book on this Epistle and of course I needed to read the actual Bible Book 

before the book written about it.

Click Here to get a FREE PRINTABLE of the chart above

For those interested in the length of time involved in reading the books of the Bible then you will find lots of interesting details on that in this post at Crossway

and even if you thought you weren't so interested you should really take a look because you will be surprised just how quickly you can read them (even the longest ones).

5 TIPS when Reading Through the Bible

• As the books start to get longer in length set yourself a reasonable goal of a small number of chapters in each reading, even only one it is not a race.

• When you are in the more complex (or more boring) books read less at each time. 

• Do not feel like you have to even read a set number of full chapters each time - perhaps the end of a timeframe, or the end of a certain story comes in the middle of a chapter and then you could end your reading to coincide with that content. 

• A good idea to help break up the longer or more complex books is to read a few Psalms or chapters of Proverbs in between the other books. (My husband is usually reading through the Psalms or Proverbs at the same time as reading other books of the Bible)

• If you are feeling like it is becoming a chore any day just read a little and then go take a break that day and sing some praise songs.

Click Here to get a FREE PRINTABLE of the 5 TIPS above

If you are already a subscriber to this blog you will find the link to all my Free Printables 

in any of the emails you have received from me.

If you want to know exactly about the ordering of size of the books of the Bible taking word count into consideration then you will find a table with that info at The Overview Bible

Chronological Bible Reading Plan

Do you follow a set Bible Reading Plan each year?

Do you try to read certain books of the Bible each year?

Do you like to try to read through the whole Bible in one, two or three years?

Tim Challies recommended a bible reading plan and this was not just a read from the beginning to the end of the bible in one, two or three years, this was a read through the bible in one year in chronological order  -  A 5 Day Bible Reading Plan


 I had already been talking with some of our family about wanting to get a chronological Bible to read through in (what I call) a logical way, so I thought I would look at this Chronological Bible Reading Plan and try it out.


The name of this plan:   
The 5 Day Bible Reading Program


The order of this plan:   
It is organised so that the reader will read through all of the Bible in Chronological order in one year.


The cost of this plan:
It is free to download but will cost you time and determination.


The structure of this plan:
It is reproduced anew each year to suit the days and dates because it is a 5 day reading plan working on a weekly basis.

This means you have only 5 days listed each week with readings allotted to them and so if you cannot read all the sections for each day you do not need to worry about getting very disheartened and giving up because you have 2 days to catch up.


The starting date of this plan:
For This Year 2020 the start date is Sunday 5th January.

This means I had the first 4 days of the year to think seriously about how I planned to do this - which days would I plan to read on and which would be my 2 catch-up days because I was sure I would need these catch-up days each week.


I enjoyed doing the Advent Reading Plan of The Gospel of Luke which included one chapter a day for the first 24 days of December.

So knowing that I would probably want to blog about this reading plan as well I know I will need a 2 day buffer each week to help with that as well so that I do not feel as if I am under too much pressure.

As I started to write this post I had not started to read any of the passages.

It is Sunday 5th January already

So I feel that I will probably not read all of the passages set for today 

  Genesis 1-2;  Psalm 19;  Mark 1
 which are clearly shown in the pic below:

NOTE:  above is for 2020 but the links take you to this year's plan

So what did I have to think about before I started?

I needed to think about which bible version I would read.

How I would take notes.

Which sections I would take notes on because I was being realistic and knew that I would not take notes on everything.

(It is a reading plan of course and not a bible study plan.)

Well I am now almost 4 weeks into the plan.

What am I using to read through the plan?

I am reading through this plan on a new Bible App on my iPad.
I had already agreed to be a beta tester for this ESV version App so felt that reading this plan on this App would be a good test of the App.

You can see the app bottom centre on my iPad screen below.

How am I taking notes?

The App is compatible with the iPad Pro pencil so using it I am taking notes in the notes section giving myself headings of one verse or a short passage.

I am also using the favourites part of this to make a note of any verses I want to make Bible Verse Graphics of later.

UPDATE:

Because this was a beta test on this app I lost all my notes on the app when it disappeared at the end of the testing time.  Lesson learnt always make sure to back up notes from apps too.

Which sections am I taking notes on?

Taking notes really adds to your reading time so I knew that choosing the old or New Testaments as a section was not a good idea.
So I would have to choose one or more individual books of the Bible instead.

My next thought was that I would take the Gospels because while I was going through the Gospel of Luke for the Advent Reading Plan I had often thought about doing a detailed comparison between the gospels.

Also scanning through the plan it appeared that only one chapter of the Gospels would be covered in any day.

This lead me to start with the Gospel of Mark (as that is the first Gospel introduced in the plan) and if this was not too time consuming I would then go on to take notes from Matthew and John.

If I was not getting overwhelmed with the note taking at the end of those 3 Gospels I would consider tackling another book later.



How am I managing so far?

Well I started off great and then we went on holiday for a week  from 16th - 23rd January which overlapped week 2 & 3.

However it was a relaxing holiday so not a lot of plans to be out and about except by the pool so I was able to keep up there.
My only problem was that my iPad got left on the plane - not entirely my fault!
This meant I had to use my old kindle to read and hence had to use a different Bible version and also had to make my notes on letter paper the hotel had in the room.

Since I came back I have been suffering badly with sinus problems and neck problems and I have to admit I am a little behind now.

By date I should be well into week 4  but I have not started Galatians yet so if you look at the plan above you will see I have not done very much of week 4 yet.



Last Question is -  Why do we use a plan to read our bible?

Everyone will probably have a different thought as they read this question but right now I'm thinking about not just now but of in previous years.

When I was a young Christian it was good to have some kind of guide to keep me reading.

When I got more disciplined I would sometimes use a plan and sometimes not because I felt like I could trust myself to read regularly.

Now I want to give myself the challenge of reading in the chronological order to understand more of the timing and setting of different parts.

Looking back I see one great reason that I probably had not really thought about so much before  -  setting a good example to our families of planning to read and structuring out thoughts.

Something to Note:

I took more detailed notes while I was away on holiday and even took notes on Genesis and the Psalms as well as Mark

UPDATE:

I did not finish the reading plan in the one year so I continued over into the second year  -  reason being that I took too many notes.

However no plan should ever make us conform exactly to it as we are all individuals and the most important thing is that we actually read all of the Bible.

I Would Still Recommend the Reading Plan

You can download the plan here  The 5 Day Bible Reading Program

What are you doing for Christmas? Advent 1

       
            

Today I am starting a short Series on 

     "What are you doing for Christmas?"

I love the way Advent starts on a Sunday but this year it is also the start of December and for anyone who knows me really well they will understand that I like things to start at proper sort of starting times, and the first of the month is definitely a proper sort of starting time.




Right now I find that I keep getting emails from different retailers telling me about the most important things about Christmas and what I really should be interested in buying.
           

Well they just don't tell me anything about the real event we are leading up to during Advent.

They might mention Santa but they hardly ever mention Jesus and when do, they never mention that Jesus is the real life and soul of Christmas.  

He's the Reason for Christmas.

I am also very hurt when I see Christmas cards which say "Season's Greetings" because they leave Christmas out so they are leaving Jesus out and anyway I could send a card saying that to someone at any time of the year because we are always in one of the four seasons of the year.
          
    It makes no sense to me at all.



So what am I doing for Christmas today?

I'm finishing off our Christmas Letter and writing Christmas cards for our friends who live all around the world, because I need to get them posted off tomorrow.
I'm also remembering that Advent is about preparing for the coming of Jesus as we celebrate on Christmas and that Advent is about preparing for the time when Jesus will return again.

How am I doing this?

I'm starting a new Bible Reading Plan with You Version called  

Good News of Great Joy 

And I'm focusing on Jesus who is my Saviour and the Saviour of the world and not focusing on the Season that the world focuses on because the world has 

no hope in that Season 

but I have Hope in Jesus who is the real

                                                      
Reason for the Season

In the first week of the reading plan I mentioned above I will be reading about how

• We need to be prepared by preparing our hearts for what God is going to do

• We have Hope because we are part of God's Plan

• We have Hope because God has provided our Salvation in Jesus

• We have Hope because God will provide for us to be in the right place with Him

• We have hope because Jesus came to earth as one of us

• We have hope because Jesus brings Peace

• We have hope because Jesus is The Messiah

I found this short video which also links in with the Hope I have been talking about

I am so thankful we can have this Hope are you?

During Advent I am going to write about what I am doing for Christmas. 

 "Big Christmas Event"  

or the  

"Festive treats in store"  

Not for me.