A good Bible reading plan for beginners is short, specific and forgiving. Start with one Gospel, such as Mark, read one chapter a day, and build a few catch-up days into every month. Below you will find an example 30-day plan, a plain comparison of chapter-a-day and Bible-in-a-year plans, and how to restart after missed days.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), which is in the public domain.
The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) tell the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, who is the center of the Christian faith. Starting there gives you the heart of the story before you tackle the rest. Mark even opens with a summary of what it is about: "The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mark 1:1, WEB).
Mark is also the shortest Gospel, with 16 chapters. Matthew has 28, Luke 24 and John 21. At one chapter a day, you can finish Mark in a little over two weeks, which gives you an early win.
Why not start at Genesis? You can, and some people love it. But many readers who begin at page one get stuck in books like Numbers or 1 and 2 Chronicles, as Mike Leake notes in a Crosswalk article on reading challenges. Starting with a Gospel and coming back to the Old Testament later avoids that early wall. If John appeals to you more than Mark, start there instead.
This is an example plan. Adjust it to your life. It has 25 readings and 5 flex days. The idea of building in spare days comes from The Navigators, whose reading plans include 25 readings a month so you have a few free days to catch up.
Days 1 to 6: Mark 1, Mark 2, Mark 3, Mark 4, Mark 5, then a flex day.
Days 7 to 12: Mark 6, Mark 7, Mark 8, Mark 9, Mark 10, then a flex day.
Days 13 to 18: Mark 11, Mark 12, Mark 13, Mark 14, Mark 15, then a flex day.
Days 19 to 24: Mark 16, Philippians 1, Philippians 2, Philippians 3, Philippians 4, then a flex day.
Days 25 to 30: Psalm 1, Psalm 23, Psalm 27, Psalm 103, Psalm 139, then a flex day.
Use a flex day to catch up on a missed reading, or to reread a chapter that stood out. Philippians is only four chapters long, and the Psalms are prayers and songs you can pray back to God in your own words.
Each day, try three quick questions after you read:
What happened, or what is being said?
What does this show me about God or about Jesus?
What is one thing I can carry into today?
Write one sentence for each. That is enough.
Once you finish your first month, you will want a longer plan. Here is how the two most common approaches compare.
Time: about five minutes a day.
Pace: The Navigators 5x5x5 plan reads one New Testament chapter a day, five days a week, and covers all 260 chapters of the New Testament in a year.
Best for: beginners, busy seasons, and anyone who wants to think about one passage.
Time: longer each day. A typical English Bible has 1,189 chapters, so reading it in a year means a little over three chapters a day.
Pace: many plans combine two or more readings a day, such as the Navigators Book-at-a-Time plan or the plan developed by Scottish preacher Robert Murray McCheyne.
Best for: people who already have a daily habit and want to see the whole story.
Another simple option: Proverbs has 31 chapters, so you can read the chapter that matches today's date each month.
Every reader misses days. The plan is a tool to help you meet with God, not a scoreboard. These habits help you restart quickly:
Do not try to catch up all at once. Reading six chapters to "make up" for a week can make reading feel like a punishment. Use your flex days, or simply pick up where you stopped.
Shrink the goal. If one chapter feels like too much, read half a chapter. A small win beats a skipped day.
Tie it to something you already do. Read with your morning coffee, at lunch, or before you look at your phone at night.
Restart with grace. "his mercies don’t fail. They are new every morning" (Lamentations 3:22-23, WEB). Your standing with God does not rest on a reading streak.
For help choosing a translation and setting up a daily routine, see this sister guide on how to start reading the Bible.
One chapter a day from a single Gospel, such as Mark, is about as simple as it gets. Add a flex day each week so a missed day does not knock you off course.
A little over three. A typical English Bible has 1,189 chapters, and 1,189 divided by 365 is about 3.3.
Yes. Plans like the Navigators 5x5x5 cover only the New Testament, and the Gospels introduce Jesus. You can read the Old Testament next with more context.
Try John or Luke for another view of Jesus' life, then Acts to see what happened next in the early church.
FORGED: Daily Bible for Men is a 90-day Bible plan with roughly ten-minute daily sessions, each pairing a challenge, a Scripture passage and prayer, and its home screen shows your next step. It also has twelve beginner Bible Basics sessions and a Bible Words glossary of over 100 terms. Day 1, Bible Basics and Bible Words are free, while Days 2 to 90 need a subscription or lifetime purchase.
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