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Many people routinely read through the entire Bible in a calendar year, and that is an incredibly worthy goal. But it’s hard to do, especially if you’ve never read the Bible before. And if you’ve never read the Old Testament specifically, it can be extremely difficult to simply start at Genesis and attempt to plow through it from beginning to end. Also, reading the OT is often more enjoyable after having read (or at least being familiar with) the New Testament stories about Jesus of Nazareth. So rather than trying to tackle the entire OT right off the bat, especially as it is presented in most English Bibles, I recommend working up to it over the course of five years (if you’re completely new to the Bible, that is). If you are already very familiar with the NT, then you might start with the abridged OT reading. And if you’re already familiar with the story of the entire Bible already, both OT and NT, then you might find it enjoyable to start with the condensed chronological reading. Finally, if you are a parent and you would like to begin to introduce your children to the practice of reading the Bible, you can find a reading schedule of chronological Bible stories on the Children’s Bible page. This reading plan follows the church liturgical year, which makes it really fun for kids!
48 selected stories from the entire Bible, Genesis to Revelation. [351 chapters]
YEAR TWO –– An Abridged Old Testament
24 selected narrative readings from the OT, Genesis to Chronicles. [325 chapters]
YEAR THREE –– A Chronological Reading of the OT (condensed)
A condensed reading of OT literature in chronological order. [752 chapters]
YEAR FOUR –– A Canonical Reading of the OT
A complete reading of the OT books as arranged in the oldest Hebrew manuscript. [931 chapters]
YEAR FIVE –– A Literary Reading of the OT
A complete reading of the OT books as arranged in most English translations. [931 chapters]
Reading the Old Testament 