Bible reading challenge ideas for 2027, by minutes a day

The short answer

Choose a Bible reading challenge by the minutes it asks of a busy day. The five one-chapter books take about 10 minutes together, Mark about an hour in one sitting, and Proverbs in a month 2 minutes a day. Luke in Advent is a chapter a day, and the four Gospels across Lent about two. For the year, the New Testament in 2027 is one chapter each weekday, and the whole Bible is 3.3 chapters, about 9 to 10 minutes, a day.

In this guide

1. Bible reading challenge ideas for 2027, at a glance
2. Small wins: a book of the Bible in one sitting
3. Seasonal Bible reading challenges for 2027
4. A year-long goal: the New Testament or the whole Bible in 2027
5. The whole Bible in 30, 40 or 90 days
6. Challenges by book: the Gospels, Paul, the Twelve and the Pentateuch
7. Bible reading challenges for kids, teens and groups
8. Setting Bible reading goals that survive a missed day
9. Questions people ask
10. Sources

A Bible reading challenge is a goal with an edge to it: a book by a date, a season, a set number of days. Many lists of Bible reading challenge ideas stop at the idea and leave out the one figure that decides whether it fits your days, which is how long it takes. So every challenge below comes with its chapters and its minutes a day, from our own word count of the World English Bible, timed at reading speeds taken from research.

• 261weekdays in 2027, for 260 New Testament chapters
• 3.3chapters a day for the whole Bible in 2027
• 89chapters in the four Gospels, for Lent
• 10 minthe five one-chapter books, read together

Bible reading challenge ideas for 2027, at a glance

Here are fourteen challenges, from one evening to the whole year, each with the chapters, the days and the reading time a day it asks. Minutes are silent reading at the adult average of 238 words a minute and at a relaxed 200, so the lower figure is a brisk day and the higher one an unhurried one.

Two things stand out. Most of these ask under 10 minutes a day, so the choice is less about time than about what you want to read. And where a challenge has more days than chapters, as Luke in Advent does, the spare days are already built in.

Small wins: a book of the Bible in one sitting

The quickest challenge is a whole book read in one go, and a good number of books take less than a quarter of an hour. Reading a book in one sitting shows its shape in a way a chapter a day cannot: a letter reads as a letter, a story as one story. Here are books that fit one sitting, shortest first.

The five one-chapter books. Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John and Jude come to 2,254 words in the World English Bible, about 10 minutes together. It makes a good first challenge because it is finished the same evening, and it covers a prophet, a letter of Paul, two letters of John and one of Jude.

A story or a letter. Jonah, Ruth, Philippians and James each take about 5 to 10 minutes at the average pace. Galatians and Ephesians take about 13.

Mark in one sitting. The shortest Gospel takes about an hour, and read straight through, its speed comes across: by our count the World English Bible’s Mark says “immediately” 42 times, nearly as often as the other three Gospels together.

Seasonal Bible reading challenges for 2027

The church year gives a challenge a start and an end without anyone having to choose them: Luke in Advent, the Gospels in Lent, Acts from Easter to Pentecost. Here are the seasons ahead, with their dates and what fits in them.

Advent 2026: Luke, a chapter a day

Advent 2026 runs from Sunday, November 29, to Thursday, December 24: 26 days. Luke’s 24 chapters at one a day fit with two days to spare, at about 4 to 5 minutes each, and the Gospel opens with the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. Advent 2027 begins on Sunday, November 28, the Sunday closest to November 30, which gives 27 days. Our Advent Bible reading plan lays out the days.

Lent 2027: the four Gospels

Ash Wednesday 2027 falls on February 10, and Easter Sunday on March 28. That leaves 46 days, or 40 if you set aside the six Sundays, and the four Gospels’ 89 chapters come to just under 2 a day across the 46, or 2.2 across the 40: about 7 to 10 minutes. Paul’s 13 letters, at 87 chapters, fit the same span at the same pace. The Lent Bible reading plan has a version day by day.

Easter to Pentecost: the Book of Acts

From Easter Sunday, March 28, to Pentecost on May 16 is seven weeks. The Book of Acts starts in the same weeks: it opens with Jesus appearing to the apostles “over a period of forty days” (Acts 1:3), and its second chapter is the day of Pentecost. Its 28 chapters at four a week take the seven weeks exactly, about 15 minutes of reading a week.

Summer: the New Testament, or the Psalms and Proverbs

June 1 to August 31 is 92 days, which carries the New Testament’s 260 chapters at 2.8 a day, about 8 to 10 minutes. For something shorter, a month of the Psalms with a Proverb a day is a challenge of its own.

A year-long goal: the New Testament or the whole Bible in 2027

For a year, the choice is between the New Testament at under a chapter a day and the whole Bible at a little over three. Both are ordinary amounts of time.

The New Testament in 2027. The year starts on a Friday and has 261 weekdays, so the New Testament’s 260 chapters fit one chapter each weekday with a day to spare, about 3 minutes a chapter, and every weekend free. Ligonier Ministries’ list of reading plans includes one on this pattern, the 5x5x5 New Testament plan: Monday to Friday, with weekends set aside for reflection and other reading. Read every day instead, it is 0.7 chapters, about 2 minutes, a day.

The whole Bible in 2027. The 66-book Protestant Bible is 1,189 chapters at 3.26 a day: three chapters on most days and four on 94 of them, about 9 minutes at the average pace and 10 at a relaxed one. The 73-book Catholic Bible is 1,334 chapters at 3.65 a day, about 10 to 12 minutes. Our 2027 Bible reading plan gives every date, with printable versions.

The whole Bible in 30, 40 or 90 days

Reading the whole Protestant Bible in 30, 40 or 90 days asks 39.6, 29.7 or 13.2 chapters a day, which runs from about two hours of reading a day down to 35 to 42 minutes.

Thirty days is close to two hours a day, which is more a reading retreat than a habit. Ninety days is 35 to 42 minutes, a real but ordinary commitment, and the 90-day challenge has its schedule. The New Testament in 40 days is the gentlest of the five, at about 20 minutes.

Challenges by book: the Gospels, Paul, the Twelve and the Pentateuch

The Bible’s own groups of books make challenges with a natural edge: the four Gospels are 89 chapters, Paul’s letters 87, the Twelve 67 and the Pentateuch 187. Here are the main groups, with their reading time at 238 and 200 words a minute.

A few ways to pace them:

• The Twelve, one prophet a week. Twelve weeks, and the heaviest weeks, Hosea and Zechariah at 14 chapters each, are still under half an hour of reading across the week.
• A psalm a day. Started on January 1, 2027, the 150th psalm falls on May 30. Most psalms take a minute or two; Psalm 119, at 176 verses, takes about ten, and Psalm 117 is two verses. Ligonier’s list also includes the ESV A-Psalm-a-Day plan on the same pattern: 150 days, about five months.
• Paul’s letters in a month. About 3 chapters a day, and since a chapter of Paul runs shorter than the Bible’s average, about 6 to 7 minutes.
• One chapter from every book. Sixty-six days, a chapter from each book in order, which samples all eight divisions of the Bible, from the Law to Revelation, in a little over two months.
• The Pentateuch in 90 days. About 2 chapters a day. Genesis and the first half of Exodus are mostly story; Leviticus and much of Numbers are law and census lists, and can go at whatever pace they need.

Bible reading challenges for kids, teens and groups

For children, the challenges that work are short, read aloud and finished soon. Reading aloud is slower than reading silently: the research behind our 238 puts an adult reading aloud at about 183 words a minute, so a chapter of Mark takes about 5 minutes aloud and the whole Gospel 16 bedtimes. Jonah is about 7 minutes aloud, in one go, and Ruth about 13. A Bible bookshelf coloring page, with a spine to color in for each book finished, gives a child something to see fill up.

For teens, Proverbs in a month (a chapter a day, matched to the date) and one chapter from every book are both clear to follow, and Mark in one sitting is an evening.

For a family or a small group, the simplest shape is everyone reading the same book on their own through the week and talking it over once. A bingo card made from the table above adds a little play: a one-chapter book, a psalm, a prophet, a letter of Paul, a whole book in one sitting.

For a challenge counted in books, a checklist on paper works well. This one has every book in order with its chapter count and a box to tick:

Books of the Bible checklist, Protestant (US Letter)PDF · 138 KB · 66 books in order, one page Books of the Bible checklist, Protestant (A4)PDF · 138 KB · 66 books in order, one page

Setting Bible reading goals that survive a missed day

A Bible reading goal holds up best when it is measured in chapters covered rather than days in a row. A few things make that easier.

• Size it for the busy day. The minutes in the tables are for an ordinary day. The challenge worth choosing is the one a crowded day still has room for.
• Count ground, not perfect days. Luke in Advent is finished when its 24 chapters are read, whichever days they fell on. A missed day moves the last one back by a day.
• Pick challenges with slack. Luke has two spare days in Advent, and the New Testament on weekdays leaves every weekend free.
• After a missed day, carry on from where you are. Doubling up makes the challenge heaviest just when it got harder. If there is a date to make, spread the missed chapters over the following week; our guide to catching up on a reading plan goes further.
• If you count days in a row, let one quiet day pass. A run that survives a single missed day keeps its usefulness without becoming the reason to read.

When the season ends, the challenge is over, and the chapters stay read.

Questions people ask

What is a good Bible reading goal for a year?

One you could keep on a busy day. The New Testament in a year is 260 chapters, one each weekday of 2027 or about 2 minutes a day if you read daily, and suits a first year of regular reading. The whole 66-book Bible in a year is 1,189 chapters at 3.3 a day, about 9 to 10 minutes. The 73-book Catholic Bible is 3.7 chapters a day, about 10 to 12 minutes.

How many chapters a day is a 90-day Bible reading challenge?

For the 66-book Protestant Bible, 13.2 chapters a day, which by our word count is about 35 minutes of silent reading at the average adult pace and 42 at a relaxed one. The 73-book Catholic Bible asks 14.8 chapters a day. A 90-day challenge on the New Testament alone is 2.9 chapters a day, about 8 to 10 minutes.

What should I do if I miss a day of a Bible reading challenge?

Carry on from where you are. A challenge counted in chapters is finished when the chapters are read, whichever days they fell on, so a missed day only moves the last day a little later. If the end date matters, as in Advent or Lent, spread the missed chapters over the following week rather than reading them all at once.

What are some easy Bible reading challenges for beginners?

Ones that end soon. The five one-chapter books (Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John and Jude) take about 10 minutes together. Mark, the shortest Gospel, takes about an hour, in one sitting or at a chapter a day for 16 days. Proverbs in a month is one chapter a day, about 2 minutes each.

Is there a free printable Bible reading challenge?

Yes. Our one-page Books of the Bible checklist lists every book with its chapter count and a box to tick, in US Letter and A4, for the Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox and Ethiopian Bibles and the Bible with the Apocrypha. It suits a challenge measured in books. For one measured in chapters, the printable tracker gives every chapter its own box.

Can you read the whole Bible in 30 days?

Yes, but it is heavy: 39.6 chapters a day for the 66-book Bible, about 1¾ to 2 hours of reading every day for a month. Forty days is 29.7 chapters, about 80 to 95 minutes a day. For a month-long challenge with room in it, the New Testament in 30 days is 8.7 chapters a day, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Sources

1. 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.
2. World English Bible, verse-per-line edition (public domain), eBible.org
3. King James Version, verse-per-line edition (public domain), eBible.org
4. USCCB: Advent (the season's dates, November 29 to December 24, 2026)
5. USCCB: Daily readings for Ash Wednesday, February 10, 2027
6. Wikipedia: List of dates for Easter (Western and Orthodox Easter, 2027)
7. Wikipedia: Pentecost (Western and Eastern dates, 2027)
8. Ligonier Ministries: Bible reading plans (the 5x5x5 New Testament and A-Psalm-a-Day plans)