Top 5 Bible Reading Plans for 2025

How will you spend time in God’s Word in the weeks and months ahead? Daily Bible reading can feel intimidating to many Christians, but it doesn’t have to be so intimidating. When you have a solid Bible reading plan, you spend less time wondering where to read each day.

Some are scared off by a Bible reading plan because it feels too rigid or “legalistic.” But, while your mileage may vary when it comes to the effectiveness of Bible reading plans, having a plan in place to spend time in God’s Word isn’t inherently rigid or legalistic. In fact, having a sound plan for daily time in God’s Word can be quite freeing. It frees us of the confusion and intimidating that can come with flopping open our Bible in the morning unsure of where to read next.

We are all so busy, and it is so easy to neglect Bible reading amid all the other constraints on our time and our minds. But daily Bible reading is a vital part of the Christian life.

You can make the most of your Bible study in a bunch of different ways. One way is to use some Bible study supplies like highlighters and sticky notes as you read. However and whenever you read the Bible, the important part is just to read it. God wants to meet us in his Word, but we have to be willing to open it and hear from him.

Here are five Bible reading plans that can help you meet God in his word in the next year.

Top 5 Bible Reading Plans for 2025

1. 52 Weeks in the Word With Trillia Newbell

Trillia Newbell’s 52 Weeks in the Word: A Companion for Reading Through the Bible in a Year was published a couple years ago now, and tens of thousands of people have used her resource to help them read the Bible more consistently. In 52 Weeks in the Word, you’ll find the following:

• A reading plan—not too big or too small
• 52 Reflections—one per week
• Prayer prompts for each Scripture reading
• Built in rest and catch-up days
• Space for your own reflection or study
• Easy instructions so you can begin throughout the year!

This is the Bible reading plan included with that book, and you’re welcome to give it a try! Purchase the book for companion devotionals and prayer prompts. Can’t go wrong here, to be sure.

2. The Five Day Bible Reading Plan

The Five Day Bible Reading Plan was created by someone who just wanted to help himself and others be more consistent with Bible reading. He and his wife worked together to build the plan, and it helps users read the whole Bible in a year reading just five days per week.

Of course, because this plan has readers engaging with the whole Bible in a year with just five days of reading per week, each day’s reading assignment is a bit longer than many other Bible-in-a-year plans. However, the benefit of the Five Day Bible Reading Plan is that many people have a different routine on Saturdays and Sundays, and being able to skip those days (or use them as makeup days for missed readings during the week) help keep them on track.

I have used this Bible reading plan more in the last decade than any other one out there, and I love it. I highly recommend it if it doesn’t look too intimidating to you!

There is grace built into this reading plan, and though each day has a lot of reading, it provides space to make up or take a break if you need.

3. The Navigators Bible Reading Plan

This Bible reading plan from The Navigators has readings from both the Old Testament and the New Testament each day. Here are some of the features of the plan, as explained on The Navigators website:

• Provides flexibility with our new and refreshed format, you can begin whenever you like. You don’t have to wait for January 1 to start this plan; you can start whenever you like.
• Offers three to six free days per month. You’ll have 25 readings each month, which provides the space to catch up, if needed. Or you can return to passages where you want to spend more time.
• Adds variety in your daily readings as you daily journey through the Old and New Testament, offering four scripture passages daily. No more dragging your feet through a section of the Bible you find difficult to understand before you can move forward.
• Adapts to your Bible study needs. Does reading the entire Bible in a year feel like too much? This plan promotes creating sacred space for you and the Lord to spend time together.
• Strengthens your next steps. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105, ESV). Through His Word He will illuminate the path in every area of your life.

Perhaps that plan would be great for you in the next year!

4. The ESV Psalm-a-Day Bible Reading Plan

If you’re looking for something perhaps a little less intimidating than some of the others on this list, be sure to look at Crossway’s Psalm-a-Day Bible reading plan. I am making daily readings in the Psalms with the ESV one of the pillars of my Bible reading plan in the next year (in fact, here’s the spiral-bound journaling Bible I’m using), and this simple guide can help you with such a plan if that sounds interesting to you.

Not everyone can necessarily make time for reading many chapters a day as some of these other plans suggest, and doing just one chapter per day can be a lot easier of a plan for many. Consider this plan if you need a simpler start to the year for your Bible reading, and then maybe once you’re done you could transition into one of the other plans listed.

God is not measuring you by how much you can read the Bible in a given day. He just wants to meet you in his Word, and this plan can help you do that.

5. The Gospel Coalition’s Daily Devotional Reading Plan

Without a doubt, this is probably the most intense Bible reading plan in this list. But because it is based on the M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan, which is historically one of the most popular, it deserves a mention!

This Bible reading plan leads the reader to, over the course of a year, read the New Testament and Psalms twice and the rest of the Bible just once. It is pretty demanding, and there are no days off! This Bible reading plan is likely not for the new Bible reader or the person trying to establish a consistent reading routine for the first time. But, if you’ve been at this Bible reading thing for a while and you’re looking to push yourself, consider this plan.