Advent Bible reading plan 2026: five ways through the season
Advent 2026 runs November 29 to December 24, 26 days. Five reading plans sized to it, from Luke a chapter a day to the New Testament, plus the Sunday readings.
The short answer
Advent 2026 begins on Sunday, November 29 and runs to Thursday, December 24, which is 26 days. The classic plan reads the 24 chapters of Luke, one a day from December 1, at about 4 minutes each. Matthew and Luke together are 52 chapters, exactly two a day from November 29. Isaiah fits at three a day, and the whole New Testament at ten a day, about 28 minutes. Families can read the Christmas story in eight short passages from December 17.
In this guide
- When does Advent start in 2026?
- Five Advent Bible reading plans for 2026, compared
- Read Luke in Advent: a chapter a day
- Three more plans for the 26 days
- An Advent reading plan for families
- Advent scripture readings 2026: the four Sundays
- The Orthodox Nativity Fast: a 40-day plan
- When Advent gets busy
- Questions people ask
- Sources
Most Advent Bible reading plans start on December 1 and run for 24 days, like the doors of an Advent calendar. The season itself starts on a Sunday, and in 2026 that Sunday is November 29, which gives 26 days. Every plan below is sized to those days, with the chapters and minutes worked out from our own count, so you can choose by the time you actually have.
- 26 daysAdvent 2026, November 29 to December 24
- 24chapters in Luke, one a day from December 1
- 52chapters in Matthew and Luke, two a day all season
- 4 minan average chapter of Luke, read silently
When does Advent start in 2026?
Advent 2026 begins on Sunday, November 29 and ends on Thursday, December 24, the day before Christmas. The rule, as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops gives it, is that Advent begins on the Sunday that falls on or closest to November 30 and ends before the first evening prayer of Christmas. That gives 2026 four Sundays of Advent: November 29, December 6, December 13 and December 20.
Because the first Sunday can land anywhere from November 27 to December 3, Advent lasts between 22 and 28 days. Here are the next five seasons:
| Year | Advent begins | Days through December 24 |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Sunday, November 29 | 26 |
| 2027 | Sunday, November 28 | 27 |
| 2028 | Sunday, December 3 | 22 |
| 2029 | Sunday, December 2 | 23 |
| 2030 | Sunday, December 1 | 24 |
A December 1 to 24 plan matches the season exactly only in a year like 2030. In 2026 it leaves two spare days at the start, which is no bad thing in a busy month. The bishops’ conference also notes that the weekdays from December 17 to 24 turn more directly toward Christmas, which is why the family plan further down starts on the 17th.
Five Advent Bible reading plans for 2026, compared
The five plans run from a few minutes a day to about half an hour. Each uses books that the Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox and Ethiopian Bibles all carry with the same number of chapters, so they work the same in any of them.
| Plan | Dates in 2026 | What you read | A day | About |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luke, a chapter a day | December 1–24 | 24 chapters | 1 chapter | 4 min |
| Matthew and Luke | November 29–December 24 | 52 chapters | 2 chapters | 8 min |
| Isaiah, then the birth stories | November 29–December 24 | 70 chapters | 3 chapters, then 1 | 7 min |
| The New Testament | November 29–December 24 | 260 chapters | 10 chapters | 28 min |
| The Christmas story, for families | December 17–24 | 8 short passages | 1 passage | under 3 min aloud |
The times come from our word count of the World English Bible at 238 words a minute, the average adult’s silent reading speed for non-fiction in a 2019 review of 190 studies. Read aloud, at that review’s 183 words a minute, they take about 30 percent longer.
Read Luke in Advent: a chapter a day
One of the simplest Advent plans reads the Gospel of Luke, one chapter a day from December 1 to Christmas Eve. It fits because Luke has exactly 24 chapters, and because its first two chapters (132 verses) give the longest account of Jesus’s birth and early years in any Gospel. A chapter of Luke takes 3 to 6 minutes to read silently, about 4 on average; Luke 1, at 80 verses, is the longest.
| Day | Read | In it |
|---|---|---|
| Tue, December 1 | Luke 1 | Gabriel comes to Zechariah, then to Mary |
| Wed, December 2 | Luke 2 | Jesus is born; the shepherds |
| Thu, December 3 | Luke 3 | John the Baptist at the Jordan |
| Fri, December 4 | Luke 4 | Forty days in the wilderness; the synagogue at Nazareth |
| Sat, December 5 | Luke 5 | The fishermen are called |
| Sun, December 6 | Luke 6 | “Blessed are you who are poor” |
| Mon, December 7 | Luke 7 | The centurion’s servant; the widow’s son |
| Tue, December 8 | Luke 8 | The sower; the storm on the lake |
| Wed, December 9 | Luke 9 | Five thousand fed; the transfiguration |
| Thu, December 10 | Luke 10 | The good Samaritan; Martha and Mary |
| Fri, December 11 | Luke 11 | “Lord, teach us to pray” |
| Sat, December 12 | Luke 12 | The rich fool; “Consider the ravens” |
| Sun, December 13 | Luke 13 | The fig tree; the narrow door |
| Mon, December 14 | Luke 14 | The great supper |
| Tue, December 15 | Luke 15 | The lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son |
| Wed, December 16 | Luke 16 | The rich man and Lazarus |
| Thu, December 17 | Luke 17 | Ten men with leprosy |
| Fri, December 18 | Luke 18 | The widow and the judge; the Pharisee and the tax collector |
| Sat, December 19 | Luke 19 | Zacchaeus; the ride into Jerusalem |
| Sun, December 20 | Luke 20 | Questions in the temple |
| Mon, December 21 | Luke 21 | The widow’s two coins |
| Tue, December 22 | Luke 22 | The Last Supper and the arrest |
| Wed, December 23 | Luke 23 | The crucifixion |
| Thu, December 24 | Luke 24 | The empty tomb; the road to Emmaus |
Because it is a whole Gospel, the plan reaches the empty tomb on Christmas Eve rather than the manger. Start on November 29 instead and you finish on December 22, with two days in hand for a busy week or for reading Luke 2 again on Christmas Eve. If Luke is your first Gospel, our guide to which Gospel to read first suggests where to go after it.
Three more plans for the 26 days
Three longer plans use all 26 days of Advent 2026: Matthew and Luke at two chapters a day, Isaiah at three, and the whole New Testament at ten.
Matthew and Luke: two chapters a day
Only Matthew and Luke tell of Jesus’s birth: Mark opens with John the Baptist, and John with the Word. Together they are 52 chapters, which is exactly two a day across the 26 days of Advent 2026, about 8 minutes. Reading Matthew first puts its birth chapters on the first Sunday and Luke’s on the third, Gaudete Sunday.
| Week | Dates | Read |
|---|---|---|
| First | November 29–December 5 | Matthew 1–14 |
| Second | December 6–12 | Matthew 15–28 |
| Third | December 13–19 | Luke 1–14 |
| Fourth | December 20–24 | Luke 15–24 |
Matthew’s opening chapters tell what Luke’s do not: Joseph’s dream, the wise men and the flight to Egypt.
Isaiah, then the birth stories
Isaiah supplies seven of the twelve Advent Sunday first readings in the Catholic lectionary’s three-year cycle. In 2026, three of the four come from Isaiah (chapters 64, 40 and 61) in both the Revised Common Lectionary and the Catholic lectionary, and the fourth from 2 Samuel 7. Isaiah’s chapters are short, about 530 words on average against Luke’s 1,000, so three a day takes about 7 minutes and finishes the book on December 20, the fourth Sunday. The last four days go to the birth chapters.
| Dates | Read |
|---|---|
| November 29–December 5 | Isaiah 1–21 |
| December 6–12 | Isaiah 22–42 |
| December 13–19 | Isaiah 43–63 |
| Sunday, December 20 | Isaiah 64–66 |
| December 21–24 | Matthew 1, Matthew 2, Luke 1, Luke 2, one a day |
The first reading on the second Sunday begins:
“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.
Isaiah 40:1, World English Bible
The New Testament: ten chapters a day
The 27 books of the New Testament have 260 chapters, so Advent 2026 takes exactly ten a day. That averages about 28 minutes, but the load is heavier at the start, because Gospel chapters run long and letters run short.
| Week | Dates | Read | About |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | November 29–December 5 | Matthew 1 to John 2 | 38 min a day |
| Second | December 6–12 | John 3 to 1 Corinthians 7 | 32 min a day |
| Third | December 13–19 | 1 Corinthians 8 to Hebrews 6 | 20 min a day |
| Last five days | December 20–24 | Hebrews 7 to Revelation 22 | 22 min a day |
A middle way is the four Gospels alone: 89 chapters at three or four a day, about 13 minutes. Our guide to how long it takes to read the New Testament has the times book by book.
An Advent reading plan for families
For families, a lighter plan reads the Christmas story in eight short passages, one an evening from December 17 to Christmas Eve. A whole chapter can be a lot to read aloud (Luke 1 runs to 80 verses), but none of these passages is longer than 21 verses, and none takes more than three minutes.
| Date | Passage | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, December 17 | Luke 1:5–25 | Zechariah in the temple |
| Friday, December 18 | Luke 1:26–38 | Gabriel comes to Mary |
| Saturday, December 19 | Luke 1:39–45 | Mary visits Elizabeth |
| Sunday, December 20 | Luke 1:46–56 | Mary’s song |
| Monday, December 21 | Luke 1:57–66 | John is born and named |
| Tuesday, December 22 | Luke 1:67–80 | Zechariah’s song |
| Wednesday, December 23 | Matthew 1:18–25 | Joseph’s dream |
| Thursday, December 24 | Luke 2:1–20 | The birth, and the shepherds |
The order is close to the one Catholic weekday Masses follow on the same days, which read Matthew 1:1–17 and 1:18–25 and then Luke 1 in nearly the same six parts. This version leaves out the genealogy, moves Joseph’s dream later and ends with the birth on Christmas Eve. The story carries on after Christmas with Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:21–40) and the wise men (Matthew 2:1–12). Before the 17th, the Sunday Gospel is plenty for a week. For reading as a household, see Bible reading plans for couples and families.
Advent scripture readings 2026: the four Sundays
The Sunday readings for Advent 2026 come from Year B of the three-year cycle, in both the Catholic lectionary and the Revised Common Lectionary, which many Protestant churches use, among them the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the United Methodist Church. The two choose the same passages, often with different verses. Each cell gives the first reading, the psalm, the second reading and the Gospel.
| Sunday | Revised Common Lectionary | Catholic Mass |
|---|---|---|
| First, November 29 | Isaiah 64:1–9 · Psalm 80:1–7, 17–19 · 1 Corinthians 1:3–9 · Mark 13:24–37 | Isaiah 63:16b–17, 19b; 64:2–7 · Psalm 80:2–3, 15–16, 18–19 · 1 Corinthians 1:3–9 · Mark 13:33–37 |
| Second, December 6 | Isaiah 40:1–11 · Psalm 85:1–2, 8–13 · 2 Peter 3:8–15a · Mark 1:1–8 | Isaiah 40:1–5, 9–11 · Psalm 85:9ab, 10–14 · 2 Peter 3:8–14 · Mark 1:1–8 |
| Third, December 13 (Gaudete) | Isaiah 61:1–4, 8–11 · Psalm 126 or Luke 1:46b–55 · 1 Thessalonians 5:16–24 · John 1:6–8, 19–28 | Isaiah 61:1–2a, 10–11 · Luke 1:46–50, 53–54 · 1 Thessalonians 5:16–24 · John 1:6–8, 19–28 |
| Fourth, December 20 | 2 Samuel 7:1–11, 16 · Luke 1:46b–55 or Psalm 89:1–4, 19–26 · Romans 16:25–27 · Luke 1:26–38 | 2 Samuel 7:1–5, 8b–12, 14a, 16 · Psalm 89:2–5, 27, 29 · Romans 16:25–27 · Luke 1:26–38 |
Read in order, the Gospels move from Jesus telling his disciples to keep alert (Mark 13), to John the Baptist (Mark 1 and John 1), to Gabriel’s visit to Mary on the last Sunday.
The Orthodox Nativity Fast: a 40-day plan
Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians prepare for Christmas with the Nativity Fast, also called Philip’s Fast because it begins the day after the feast of the apostle Philip on November 14. It runs 40 days, from November 15 to December 24, in the Eastern Catholic churches and in Orthodox churches on the Revised Julian calendar. Orthodox churches that keep the Julian calendar, among them the Russian, Serbian and Georgian churches, begin on November 28 and celebrate Christmas on January 7. The Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo churches keep the Fast of the Prophets from November 24 to their Christmas, also on January 7.
Forty days suit the four Gospels: 89 chapters is two a day, with three on nine of the days, about 8 minutes. The whole New Testament comes to 6½ chapters a day, about 18 minutes. From November 24 to January 6 is 44 days, which puts the Gospels at two a day with a single day of three.
| Book | Chapters | Verses | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew | 28 | 1,071 | 1 hour 36 min |
| Mark | 16 | 678 | 1 hour |
| Luke | 24 | 1,151 | 1 hour 43 min |
| John | 21 | 879 | 1 hour 19 min |
Verses as the King James Version numbers them. Words are our own count of the World English Bible, a public-domain modern translation. Reading time is silent reading at 238 words a minute, the adult average.
The Gospels have the same chapters in the Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Bibles and in the 80-book Ethiopian Bible, so these figures hold whichever of them you read.
When Advent gets busy
On any of these plans, a day missed in a busy December leaves only that day’s chapters to read, and there are gentle ways to carry on:
- Carry on from where you are. Three quiet days on the Luke plan means finishing on December 27, and Luke read by the 27th is still the whole of Luke.
- Build in slack. Starting Luke on November 29 leaves two spare days before Christmas Eve.
- Read a little more on a quiet evening, rather than doubling every day after a gap.
- Change to a lighter plan. The New Testament plan and the Matthew and Luke plan both open with Matthew, so if ten chapters a day turns out to be too many, you can switch without losing a chapter.
Our guide to catching up on a reading plan has more, and the free printable Bible reading tracker gives every chapter of Luke, Isaiah and the rest a box to tick.
If Advent leaves you wanting to keep going, a year’s plan can start on January 1: the 2027 Bible reading plan lays it out day by day.
Questions people ask
When does Advent start in 2026?
On Sunday, November 29, 2026. Advent begins on the Sunday that falls on or closest to November 30 and runs to December 24, so in 2026 it has four Sundays and 26 days. In 2027 it begins on November 28, and in 2028 on December 3.
Why isn't Advent always 24 days long?
Because it starts on a Sunday rather than on a date. The first Sunday of Advent can fall anywhere from November 27 to December 3, so the season lasts from 22 to 28 days. Plans that run December 1 to 24 match it exactly only in years like 2030, when the first Sunday is December 1.
Why do people read Luke during Advent?
Luke has 24 chapters, one for each day from December 1 to Christmas Eve, and its first two chapters give the longest account of Jesus's birth in any Gospel, with Zechariah and Elizabeth, Gabriel's visit to Mary, the shepherds, and Simeon and Anna in the temple. A chapter takes about four minutes to read silently.
What are the Sunday Gospel readings for Advent 2026?
The 2026–27 cycle is Year B. In the Revised Common Lectionary the Gospels are Mark 13:24–37 on November 29, Mark 1:1–8 on December 6, John 1:6–8, 19–28 on December 13 and Luke 1:26–38 on December 20. The Catholic lectionary reads the same Gospels, with a shorter Mark 13:33–37 on the first Sunday.
What do the Advent wreath candles mean?
In Catholic practice the four candles stand for the four weeks of Advent. Three are purple, for the prayer, penance, sacrifices and good works of the season, and one is rose, lit on the third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of rejoicing. Lighting one more each week stands for the expectation and hope of Christ's coming. White candles can be used too.
Is there an Orthodox version of Advent?
Yes, the Nativity Fast, also called Philip's Fast. It runs 40 days, November 15 to December 24, in Eastern Catholic churches and in Orthodox churches on the Revised Julian calendar. Orthodox churches on the Julian calendar begin on November 28 and keep Christmas on January 7. The Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo churches keep the Fast of the Prophets from November 24.
Sources
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: Advent
- Revised Common Lectionary, Year B (2026–27), Vanderbilt Divinity Library
- Consultation on Common Texts: Worldwide usage of the Revised Common Lectionary
- Felix Just, S.J.: Lectionary, Advent Sundays (US lectionary)
- Felix Just, S.J.: Lectionary, weekdays of Advent and Christmas (US lectionary)
- Nativity Fast, Wikipedia
- Brysbaert, M. (2019). How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate. Journal of Memory and Language, 109, 104047.
- World English Bible, verse-per-line edition (public domain), eBible.org
- King James Version, verse-per-line edition (public domain), eBible.org
