The Bible Reading Plan

Genesis Chapter 1

¹At the beginning, God created-from-nothing the sky and the ground. ²The earth was wild and waste. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God's Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

³God said, "Light is!" and light became! ⁴God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light "day", and he called the darkness "night". There was evening and there was morning, day one.

⁶God said, "There is an expanse in the middle of the waters, and it divides the waters from the waters." ⁷God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and so it was. ⁸God called the expanse "sky". There was evening and there was morning, day two.

⁹God said, "The waters under the sky are gathered together to one place, and dry land appears;" and so it was. ¹⁰God called the dry land "earth", and he called the gathering together of the waters "seas". God saw that it was good. ¹¹God said, "The earth sprouts grass, plants yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kind, with their seeds in them, on the earth;" and so it was. ¹²The earth produced grass and plants yielding seed according to their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in them, according to their kind; and God saw that it was good. ¹³There was evening and there was morning, day three.

¹⁴God said, "There are lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night. They are for signs to mark seasons, days, and years. ¹⁵They are for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth;" and so it was. ¹⁶God made the two great lights. The greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth, ¹⁸and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. ¹⁹There was evening and there was morning, day four.

²⁰God said, "The waters teem with living creatures, and birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of sky." ²¹God created-from-nothing the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, which the waters teemed with, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. God saw that it was good. ²²God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." ²³There was evening and there was morning, day five.

Joshua Chapter 1

¹After the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh, Yahweh spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' servant, saying, ²"Moses my servant is dead. So arise, go across this Jordan, you and all these people, to the land I'm giving them, even to the children of Israel. ³I have given you every place that the sole of your foot will tread on, as I told Moses. ⁴From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border. ⁵No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you.

⁶"Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. ⁷Only be strong and courageous! Be very careful to obey all of the law that Moses my servant gave you. Don't turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. ⁸This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do exactly as is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. ⁹Haven't I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don't be afraid. Don't be dismayed. For Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go."

¹⁰Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, ¹¹"Pass through the middle of the camp, and command the people, saying, 'Prepare food; for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which Yahweh your God is giving you to possess.'"

¹²Joshua spoke to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, saying, ¹³"Remember the word which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, saying, 'Yahweh your God gives you rest, and will give you this land. ¹⁴Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall live in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan; but you shall pass over before your brothers armed, all the mighty men of valor, and shall help them ¹⁵until Yahweh has given your brothers rest, as he has given you, and they have also possessed the land which Yahweh your God gives them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and possess it, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.'"

¹⁶They answered Joshua, saying, "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. ¹⁷Just as we listened to Moses in all things, so we will listen to you. Only may Yahweh your God be with you, as he was with Moses. ¹⁸Whoever rebels against your commandment, and doesn't listen to your words in all that you command him, he shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous."

Joshua Chapter 2

¹Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out of Shittim as spies, saying, "Go, view the land, including Jericho." They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and slept there.

²The king of Jericho was told, "Behold, men of the children of Israel came in here tonight to spy out the land."

³The king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered into your house; for they have come to spy out all the land."

⁴The woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I didn't know where they came from. ⁵About the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, the men went out. Where the men went, I don't know. Pursue them quickly; you may catch up with them." ⁶But she had brought them up to the roof, and hidden them under the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof. ⁷The men pursued them along the way to the fords of the Jordan. As soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.

Ruth Chapter 1

¹In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to live in the country of Moab with his wife and his two sons. ²The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. They came into the country of Moab and lived there. ³Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. ⁴They took for themselves wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years. ⁵Mahlon and Chilion both died, and the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband. ⁶Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country of Moab how Yahweh had visited his people in giving them bread. ⁷She left the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. ⁸Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of you to your mother's house. May Yahweh deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. ⁹May Yahweh grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband." Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices, and wept. ¹⁰They said to her, "No, but we will return with you to your people."

¹¹Naomi said, "Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? ¹²Go back, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, 'I have hope,' if I should even have a husband tonight, and should also bear sons, ¹³would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, I am seriously grieved for your sakes, since the hand of Yahweh has gone out against me."

¹⁴They lifted up their voices and wept again; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth stayed with her. ¹⁵She said, "Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Follow your sister-in-law."

¹⁶Ruth said, "Don't urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. ¹⁷Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh so deal with me, and even more, if anything but death parts you and me."

¹⁸When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking.

Matthew Chapter 1

¹The book of the genealogy of Jesus AnointedOne, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

²Abraham fathered Isaac. Isaac fathered Jacob. Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers. ³Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar. Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered Ram. ⁴Ram fathered Amminadab. Amminadab fathered Nahshon. Nahshon fathered Salmon. ⁵Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab. Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth. Obed fathered Jesse. ⁶Jesse fathered King David. David the King fathered Solomon by her who had been Uriah's wife. ⁷Solomon fathered Rehoboam. Rehoboam fathered Abijah. Abijah fathered Asa. ⁸Asa fathered Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat fathered Joram. Joram fathered Uzziah. ⁹Uzziah fathered Jotham. Jotham fathered Ahaz. Ahaz fathered Hezekiah. ¹⁰Hezekiah fathered Manasseh. Manasseh fathered Amon. Amon fathered Josiah. ¹¹Josiah fathered Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

¹²After the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah fathered Shealtiel. Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel. ¹³Zerubbabel fathered Abiud. Abiud fathered Eliakim. Eliakim fathered Azor. ¹⁴Azor fathered Zadok. Zadok fathered Achim. Achim fathered Eliud. ¹⁵Eliud fathered Eleazar. Eleazar fathered Matthan. Matthan fathered Jacob. ¹⁶Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called AnointedOne.

¹⁷So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to AnointedOne, fourteen generations.

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus AnointedOne was like this: After his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Her man Joseph, being righteous and not willing to make her a public example, intended to set her free secretly. ²⁰But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of ForeverOne appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take to yourself Mary as your wife, for what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their shortcomings."

²²Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by ForeverOne through the prophet, saying,
²³"Behold, the virgin shall be pregnant,
and shall give birth to a son.
They shall call his name Immanuel,"
which means "God with us."

²⁴Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of ForeverOne commanded him, and took [her as] his wife; ²⁵and didn't know her [sexually] until she had given birth to her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.