A Bible reading plan for beginners: one chapter a day
A free Bible reading plan for beginners, one chapter a day for 90 days, about three minutes each, starting with Mark. Plus what comes next, and missed days.
The short answer
A good first plan is one chapter a day for 90 days. Read the Gospel of Mark, then John, Acts, Philippians and James, and finish with Genesis 1 to 16, from creation to Abraham. An average day takes about three minutes of silent reading, and the whole plan about five hours. If you miss a day, read the next chapter rather than two at once. Afterward, the same chapter a day reads the rest of the New Testament in about six months.
In this guide
Many lists of beginner Bible reading plans point you to someone else’s plan, and few of them say how long a day takes or what happens when you miss one. So here is one Bible reading plan for beginners, set out in full: 90 chapters, one a day, timed from our own word count. If you have never kept to a plan before, you are far from alone: in a 2016 Lifeway Research survey of 1,000 Americans, 22 percent said they read a little of the Bible each day in a systematic way.
- 90 daysone chapter each day
- 3 to 4 minan average day, silent to relaxed
- 5 hoursthe whole plan, at an average silent pace
- 74 of 260New Testament chapters read by day 90
What makes a good first Bible reading plan
A good first plan is small enough to keep on a busy day, starts with the story of Jesus, and never asks you to catch up. Those three things matter more than whose plan it is.
- It is small. One chapter takes about three minutes at an average reading pace. A plan sized for your best day stops fitting on the first ordinary one, and a small one still fits on the day the bus is late.
- It starts with a Gospel. Much of the advice for new readers begins with one of the four accounts of Jesus’ life, and the Gospels are the same in every Christian Bible. If you would rather choose the first book yourself, our guide to where to start reading the Bible compares four good ones.
- It has an end in sight. A plan whose last day you can see from the first is easier to begin than one that runs to the end of the Bible. You can decide what comes next once you know what a daily reading feels like.
- Nothing piles up. A missed day is a day, not a debt. More on that below.
The 90-day Bible reading plan for beginners, week by week
The plan is one chapter a day through six books: Mark (16 chapters), John (21), Acts (28), Philippians (4), James (5) and the first 16 chapters of Genesis, 90 in all. Day 1 is Mark 1, day 90 is Genesis 16, and every day in between is simply the next chapter. It opens where Mark does:
The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mark 1:1, World English Bible
| Week | Read | What happens | Minutes a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (days 1–7) | Mark 1–7 | Jesus’ baptism, the first disciples, the parable of the sower, five thousand fed | 3½ |
| 2 (days 8–14) | Mark 8–14 | Peter’s “You are the Christ”, the entry into Jerusalem, the last supper and the arrest | 4 |
| 3 (days 15–21) | Mark 15–16, John 1–5 | The cross and the empty tomb; “In the beginning was the Word”, Nicodemus, the woman at the well | 3½ |
| 4 (days 22–28) | John 6–12 | The bread of life, the man born blind, the good shepherd, Lazarus | 4½ |
| 5 (days 29–35) | John 13–19 | Jesus’ last evening with his disciples, the trial and the cross | 3½ |
| 6 (days 36–42) | John 20–21, Acts 1–5 | The resurrection; Pentecost and the first church in Jerusalem | 3½ |
| 7 (days 43–49) | Acts 6–12 | Stephen, Philip and the Ethiopian official, Saul on the Damascus road, Peter and Cornelius | 3½ |
| 8 (days 50–56) | Acts 13–19 | Paul’s travels, from Cyprus to Philippi, Athens, Corinth and Ephesus | 3½ |
| 9 (days 57–63) | Acts 20–26 | Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem and his trials before two governors and a king | 3½ |
| 10 (days 64–70) | Acts 27–28, Philippians 1–4, James 1 | A shipwreck and Rome; a joyful letter written from prison | 2½ |
| 11 (days 71–77) | James 2–5, Genesis 1–3 | Faith and works; creation and the garden | 2 |
| 12 (days 78–84) | Genesis 4–10 | Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood | 2 |
| 13 (days 85–90) | Genesis 11–16 | The tower of Babel, the call of Abram, a covenant, Hagar and Ishmael | 2 |
Minutes are for silent reading at 238 words a minute, the adult average for non-fiction in a 2019 review of reading-rate research, over our own word count of the World English Bible, a modern public-domain translation. At a relaxed pace, add about a fifth.
The order is a common one in beginner advice: a Gospel, a second Gospel, Acts to see what happened next, two short letters, and then back to the beginning with Genesis, now with the story of Jesus already behind you. To keep it on paper, the table is the whole plan; copy the weeks onto a card, or print our free Bible reading tracker, which has a box for every chapter of the Bible, these 90 included.
How long each day takes
Most days take about three minutes at an average silent pace and closer to four at a relaxed one. By our count the whole plan is about 69,000 words: a little under five hours of reading, or about five and three quarters at a relaxed pace.
- The Gospels run longest. Chapters in Mark and John average about 3¾ minutes each, and Acts about 3½.
- The longest day is Mark 14, the night of the arrest, at about 6½ minutes, with John 6 close behind at about 6. Only five of the 90 days take more than five minutes.
- The shortest is Acts 6, at under a minute and a half, and James 3 and 4 take about the same.
- The plan gets lighter as it goes. The last four weeks, from the end of Acts through Philippians, James and early Genesis, average a little over two minutes a day.
One chapter is the plan, not a limit. Read two chapters on a day you have the time, and the plan simply ends sooner.
If you miss a day
Read the next chapter. There is no need to read two the following day, and no need to go back to the start of the week.
Numbered days, not dates
This plan has no calendar. Day 23 means the 23rd chapter you read, whenever that is, so a week away moves the last day back a week and changes nothing else. Doubling up turns one quiet day into a heavier one, and a plan that grows heavier every time life gets busy is a hard one to keep.
If you would like to finish by a particular date, the short chapters near the end (Philippians, James and early Genesis, about two minutes each) are the easiest place to read two in a sitting. For plans that do come with dates, our guide to catching up on a Bible reading plan covers what to do when the calendar has moved on without you.
What to read after the first 90 days
After day 90 you have read 90 of the Protestant Bible’s 1,189 chapters, about 8 percent, and 74 of the New Testament’s 260. What comes next depends mostly on how many minutes a day you have:
| With | Read next | Chapters a day | Finishes in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 4 minutes a day | The rest of the New Testament | 1 | about 6 months (186 days) |
| 5 minutes a day | The rest of the Bible | 1½ | about 2 years |
| 10 minutes a day | The rest of the Bible | 3 | about a year |
| 15 minutes a day | The rest of the Bible | 4½ | about 8 months |
Minutes here are at about 3.3 a chapter, a comfortable pace that leaves room for the longer chapters. One and a half chapters a day means one chapter on some days and two on others.
- Keep the same chapter a day. The rest of the New Testament (Matthew, Luke, the other letters and Revelation) takes 186 days. Carry on through the whole Bible at the same pace and the 1,099 chapters left take about three years.
- Step up to the whole Bible in a year. Ten minutes a day covers the remaining chapters in about twelve months. Our guide to reading the Bible in a year goes through the pace and the harder stretches.
- Read the Old and New Testaments together. A little of each most days keeps the long passages of law and history from arriving all at once. Since you stopped at Genesis 16, the Old Testament side picks up at Genesis 17, with Abraham’s story half told.
Other beginner Bible reading plans, compared
The other common formats for beginners ask as much or more of a day, and some start somewhere other than the Gospels. Here is what each one takes:
| Plan | Chapters | A day | Minutes a day | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| This plan | 90 | 1 | 3 to 4 | Mark first, Genesis last |
| The Gospels in 30 days | 89 | 3 | 11 to 13 | Four accounts of one life, back to back |
| The New Testament on weekdays, in a year | 260 | 1 each weekday | about 3 | Weekends free |
| The whole Bible in a year, in order | 1,189 | 3 to 4 | 9 to 10 | Leviticus in the fourth week |
| The whole Bible in a year, chronological | 1,189 | 3 to 4 | 9 to 10 | The Gospels in the fall |
Minutes run from an average silent pace (238 words a minute) to a relaxed one (200).
The Gospels in 30 days. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are 89 chapters together, so a month is three a day. Reading the four side by side shows how each tells the same life differently, but it is more than three times this plan’s daily reading.
The New Testament on weekdays. A year has about 260 weekdays and the New Testament has 260 chapters, so reading it on weekdays comes to about a chapter a day, with weekends free. Ligonier Ministries’ 5x5x5 plan reads the New Testament in a year, Monday to Friday, and Ligonier calls it especially beneficial for anyone new to a daily discipline of Bible reading.
The whole Bible in a year. The Protestant Bible’s 1,189 chapters over 365 days is a little over three a day. Read in order, the laws of Leviticus begin in the fourth week, straight after Genesis and Exodus.
Chronological plans. These follow the order of events rather than the order of books, so they open with Genesis and Job. In Blue Letter Bible’s one-year chronological plan, the first Gospel reading (Luke 1 and John 1) is day 274, the first of October for a reader who starts on January 1.
Our comparison of the classic Bible reading plans sets the longer ones side by side.
A Bible reading plan for Catholic beginners
The same 90 days work in a Catholic Bible, and in every other Christian one. The Gospels, Acts, Philippians and James are in every Christian Bible, and Genesis has 50 chapters in all of them. That includes Orthodox Bibles and the Bible of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which BibleRing counts at 78 and 80 books.
The difference comes afterward. The Catholic Bible has 73 books and 1,334 chapters, including Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and 1 and 2 Maccabees, which Catholics call the deuterocanonical books and Protestants usually call the Apocrypha. After the plan, 1,244 chapters remain: about 3.4 a day for a year (around 11 minutes) or 1.7 a day for two years (around 6). The Catholic Bible reading plan covers all 73 books at any pace.
There is a seasonal reason to begin with Mark, too. The Sunday Gospel at Mass follows a three-year cycle, and Year B, the year of Mark, begins on the first Sunday of Advent, November 29, 2026.
Day 1 is Mark 1: under four minutes, and the first of 90.
Questions people ask
What is the best Bible reading plan for beginners?
The best one is small enough to keep on a busy day. A chapter a day, starting with a Gospel such as Mark or John, takes three or four minutes and puts you in the story of Jesus from the first page. Plans that cover the whole Bible in a year ask for a little over three chapters a day, and read in order they reach the laws of Leviticus within the first month.
How many chapters of the Bible should a beginner read a day?
One is plenty to start. An average chapter takes two and a half to three minutes to read silently, and a Gospel chapter closer to four. A chapter a day reads the New Testament's 260 chapters in about eight and a half months, and two a day in a little over four. Read more on days you have time, and the plan simply ends sooner.
Should a beginner try to read the Bible in a year?
It can be done at a little over three chapters a day, about 10 minutes, but read in order a one-year plan reaches the laws of Leviticus in its fourth week. Starting smaller, with a Gospel or the New Testament, and moving to the whole Bible once a daily reading feels ordinary is the gentler route.
Is a chronological Bible reading plan good for beginners?
It suits a reader who wants the history in order, but the Gospels come late. Chronological plans follow the order of events, so they open with Genesis and Job, and in Blue Letter Bible's one-year chronological plan the first Gospel reading, Luke 1 and John 1, falls on day 274. A beginner who wants to start with Jesus may prefer a Gospel first.
What should a new Christian read first?
Usually a Gospel. Billy Graham's published answer suggests John first, then Acts, then the letters of John and Philippians, then Romans, before the rest of the New Testament and then the Old. The 90-day plan here follows a similar route, with Mark and John, then Acts, Philippians and James, then the start of Genesis.
Is there a free printable Bible reading plan for beginners?
Yes. The 90-day plan here fits on one card, thirteen weeks of one chapter a day from Mark 1 to Genesis 16. For a box to tick for every chapter, the free printable Bible reading tracker on this site fits all 1,189 chapters of the Protestant Bible on one page, with versions for the Catholic, Orthodox and Ethiopian Bibles too.
Sources
- 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
- Lifeway Research (2017), Americans Are Fond of the Bible, Don't Actually Read It
- Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Where should I begin in my Bible reading?
- Ligonier Ministries, Bible Reading Plans
- Blue Letter Bible, Daily Bible Reading Program, Chronological Plan (1-Year Plan, PDF)
- Lectionary, Wikipedia
