Read the Psalms in a month, with a Proverb a day
Five psalms and a Proverb a day reads both books every month in about 8 minutes. Two schedules timed day by day, and what to do on the 29th and 31st.
The short answer
To read the Psalms in a month, read five a day: 150 psalms over 30 days. The simplest rule is the date plus 30 (on the 1st, Psalms 1, 31, 61, 91 and 121), but it puts Psalm 119 on the 29th, a 16-minute day when most take 4 to 7. Reading straight through in blocks, as the 1662 Book of Common Prayer does, keeps every day between 4 and 8 minutes. Add the chapter of Proverbs that matches the date, about 2 minutes, and both books come round monthly.
In this guide
- How to read the Psalms in a month
- The day-of-the-month method: add 30
- Reading the Psalms straight through in 30 days
- A Proverb a day: the 31-chapter calendar
- Five psalms and a Proverb a day
- How long does it take to read Psalms and Proverbs?
- The Psalms in church tradition: monthly, every four weeks, weekly
- Psalms and Proverbs over a year
- Questions people ask
- Sources
Reading through the Psalms every month is a habit with centuries behind it (the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer of 1662 appoints it), and it takes less time than most people expect: a month of psalms averages a little under six minutes a day. The real question is which five psalms to read on which day, because the two common ways of choosing them make very different days. We timed both, along with the Proverb a day that usually goes beside them, from our own word count of a modern translation.
- 150psalms: five a day for 30 days
- 31chapters of Proverbs, one for each date
- 2 h 54 minthe whole book of Psalms, read silently
- 1 hourthe whole book of Proverbs
How to read the Psalms in a month
Read five psalms a day and all 150 take 30 days. There are two common ways to choose the five: by the date, adding 30 each time, or straight through in blocks of consecutive psalms. Both cover the whole book in a month. They differ in how even the days are, and in whether you need a chart.
| By the date (add 30) | Straight through in blocks | |
|---|---|---|
| The 1st | Psalms 1, 31, 61, 91, 121 | Psalms 1–8 (Prayer Book) |
| Needs a chart | No | Yes |
| Shortest day | about 3½ minutes | about 4 minutes |
| Longest day | about 16 minutes (the 29th) | about 8 minutes |
| Psalm 119 | whole, on the 29th | split over three days |
The times are for silent reading at 238 words a minute, the average adult pace for non-fiction found by a 2019 review of reading-rate studies, applied to our count of the World English Bible. Over 30 days both methods average about 5¾ minutes; they just spread the same reading differently.
The day-of-the-month method: add 30
On any date, read the psalm with that number, then add 30 four times. On the 1st that is Psalms 1, 31, 61, 91 and 121; on the 15th, Psalms 15, 45, 75, 105 and 135; on the 30th, Psalms 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150. There is nothing to print and nothing to lose. The date is the bookmark, and a missed day never moves the next one.
The cost is unevenness, because psalms run from 2 verses to 176 and the rule groups them blindly. The 3rd (Psalms 3, 33, 63, 93 and 123) takes about 3½ minutes. The 29th brings Psalms 29, 59, 89, 119 and 149, and Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, is 176 verses and about 10 minutes on its own, so the day comes to about 16. The 18th, with Psalms 18 and 78, is the other long one at about 11 minutes. Most of the rest fall between about 4 and 7.
Two dates fall outside the rule. February never reaches the 29th and 30th, so in most years those ten psalms come round eleven times rather than twelve, unless you double up on the last day of the month. And the 31st gets nothing of its own, which leaves it free for a favorite psalm, or for the Prayer Book’s answer below.
A menu rather than a list. Donald S. Whitney’s “Psalms of the Day,” from his book Praying the Bible, starts from the same arithmetic: the 150 psalms divided by thirty days, five a day. Instead of reading all five, you “take half a minute to quickly scan five psalms and pick one of those five to pray through.” It is a way to pray the Psalms in 30 days rather than read every word of them.
Reading the Psalms straight through in 30 days
Reading consecutive psalms, grouped so that each day is about the same length, keeps the book in order and holds every day between about 4 and 8 minutes. One such schedule is set out in the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer of 1662. It divides the Psalter into sixty portions, read in order at Morning and Evening Prayer across thirty days, and its rubric is plain: “The Psalter shall be read through once every Month, as it is there appointed, both for Morning and Evening Prayer.”
It also deals with Psalm 119 differently. Because “the 119th Psalm is divided into twenty-two portions, and is over-long to be read at one time,” the Prayer Book orders that “at one time shall not be read above four or five of the said portions,” and so spreads it over five services on the 24th, 25th and 26th.
Here are the two methods side by side. The Prayer Book column joins each day’s morning and evening portions, and both are timed in the World English Bible. The Prayer Book follows “the Division of the Hebrews,” the numbering most English Bibles use. Add the chapter of Proverbs with the same number as the day for about 2 minutes more.
| Day | By the date (add 30) | Minutes | Prayer Book, in order | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1, 31, 61, 91, 121 | 5 | 1–8 | 6 |
| 2 | 2, 32, 62, 92, 122 | 4 | 9–14 | 5 |
| 3 | 3, 33, 63, 93, 123 | 4 | 15–18 | 6 |
| 4 | 4, 34, 64, 94, 124 | 5 | 19–23 | 6 |
| 5 | 5, 35, 65, 95, 125 | 5 | 24–29 | 6 |
| 6 | 6, 36, 66, 96, 126 | 4 | 30–34 | 7 |
| 7 | 7, 37, 67, 97, 127 | 6 | 35–37 | 6 |
| 8 | 8, 38, 68, 98, 128 | 6 | 38–43 | 7 |
| 9 | 9, 39, 69, 99, 129 | 6 | 44–49 | 7 |
| 10 | 10, 40, 70, 100, 130 | 4 | 50–55 | 7 |
| 11 | 11, 41, 71, 101, 131 | 4 | 56–61 | 6 |
| 12 | 12, 42, 72, 102, 132 | 6 | 62–67 | 5 |
| 13 | 13, 43, 73, 103, 133 | 4 | 68–70 | 6 |
| 14 | 14, 44, 74, 104, 134 | 7 | 71–74 | 7 |
| 15 | 15, 45, 75, 105, 135 | 6 | 75–78 | 8 |
| 16 | 16, 46, 76, 106, 136 | 7 | 79–85 | 7 |
| 17 | 17, 47, 77, 107, 137 | 7 | 86–89 | 7 |
| 18 | 18, 48, 78, 108, 138 | 11 | 90–94 | 5 |
| 19 | 19, 49, 79, 109, 139 | 7 | 95–101 | 5 |
| 20 | 20, 50, 80, 110, 140 | 5 | 102–104 | 6 |
| 21 | 21, 51, 81, 111, 141 | 5 | 105–106 | 6 |
| 22 | 22, 52, 82, 112, 142 | 5 | 107–109 | 6 |
| 23 | 23, 53, 83, 113, 143 | 4 | 110–115 | 4 |
| 24 | 24, 54, 84, 114, 144 | 4 | 116–118, 119:1–32 | 5 |
| 25 | 25, 55, 85, 115, 145 | 6 | 119:33–104 | 4 |
| 26 | 26, 56, 86, 116, 146 | 5 | 119:105–176 | 4 |
| 27 | 27, 57, 87, 117, 147 | 4 | 120–131 | 5 |
| 28 | 28, 58, 88, 118, 148 | 6 | 132–138 | 6 |
| 29 | 29, 59, 89, 119, 149 | 16 | 139–143 | 5 |
| 30 | 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 | 4 | 144–150 | 6 |
| 31 | none of its own | the 30th’s again | 6 |
The 31st and February. In the seven months with 31 days, the Prayer Book reads the psalms of the 30th again, “so that the Psalter may begin again the first day of the next month ensuing.” In February, it says, the Psalter “shall be read only to the twenty-eighth, or twenty-ninth day of the Month.” Either rule works just as well with the add-30 method.
A Proverb a day: the 31-chapter calendar
Proverbs has 31 chapters, one for each day of the longest months, so the simplest Proverbs monthly reading schedule is the date itself: Proverbs 1 on the 1st, Proverbs 14 on the 14th. A chapter takes about 2 minutes. The shortest, Proverbs 9, is 281 words, a little over a minute, and the longest, Proverbs 30, is 618 words, about 2½ minutes. The whole book takes about an hour.
Because months differ in length, a year of this does not read every chapter equally often. In a year that is not a leap year, such as 2027:
| Chapters | Times read in the year |
|---|---|
| Proverbs 1–28 | 12 |
| Proverbs 29 and 30 | 11 (February has no 29th or 30th) |
| Proverbs 31 | 7 (only in 31-day months) |
That is 365 readings. The chapter met least is the last, the words of King Lemuel (Proverbs 31), while Proverbs 29 and the words of Agur (Proverbs 30) come round eleven times rather than twelve, though in a leap year Proverbs 29 catches up. To even them out, read 30 and 31 together at the end of a 30-day month, or 29 to 31 on the last day of February. Or leave it: the calendar starts again on the 1st either way.
So teach us to count our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12, World English Bible
Five psalms and a Proverb a day
Five psalms and one chapter of Proverbs a day reads both books every month in about 7½ minutes on an average day, or 9 at a relaxed pace. Billy Graham kept the pairing for years: the Billy Graham Library writes that he read “five Psalms and one chapter of Proverbs each day, in addition to his daily Scripture reading.” In his own words: “By reading five Psalms and one chapter of Proverbs daily, you will be able to read them through each month. The Psalms will tell you how you get along with God, and the Proverbs will tell you how to get along with your fellowman.”
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s printed schedule for the habit runs over 31 days and reads the Psalms straight through rather than by the date. Day 1 is Psalms 1–5 with Proverbs 1; Psalm 119 has a day of its own, the 26th, with Proverbs 26; day 27 is Psalms 120–129; and day 31 is Psalms 145–150 with Proverbs 31. Because it runs to 31 days, the Proverb always matches the date. Its lightest day is a little over 4 minutes and its heaviest, the day of Psalm 119, about 12. The sheet itself tells readers to “feel free to read through it at your own pace.”
Paired with the add-30 rule instead, the same five psalms and a Proverb run from about 5½ minutes on the 2nd to nearly 18 on the 29th.
How long does it take to read Psalms and Proverbs?
The whole book of Psalms takes about 2 hours 54 minutes of silent reading at the average pace, and Proverbs about an hour. At a relaxed 200 words a minute they take about 3½ hours and 1¼ hours.
| Book | Chapters | Verses | Words | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psalms | 150 | 2,461 | 41,314 | 2 hours 54 min |
| Proverbs | 31 | 915 | 14,450 | 1 hour 1 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.
A typical psalm takes about a minute: the median psalm is 231 words and the average about 275. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, at 176 verses and about 10 minutes, and Psalm 117 the shortest, at two verses and 24 words. A chapter of Proverbs averages about 470 words, roughly 2 minutes. Every other book is timed in our guide to how long it takes to read the Bible, and the extremes are ranked in the longest and shortest books of the Bible.
The Psalms in church tradition: monthly, every four weeks, weekly
Churches have read the whole Psalter on a fixed cycle for centuries, and the traditions differ mostly in speed.
| Tradition | How often the Psalter comes round | How it is divided |
|---|---|---|
| Church of England, Book of Common Prayer (1662) | Every month | 60 portions, morning and evening, over 30 days |
| Roman Catholic, Liturgy of the Hours | Every four weeks | Spread across the Hours of each day |
| Eastern Orthodox | Every week, and twice a week in Great Lent | 20 sections called kathismata |
The Catholic cycle is not a straight read-through. In the words of the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours, “The psalms are distributed over a four-week cycle. In this cycle, a very small number of psalms are omitted, while the traditionally more important ones are repeated more frequently.”
The numbering differs between traditions. Most English Bibles, and the Prayer Book, number the psalms as the Hebrew text does. The Greek Septuagint joins Psalms 9 and 10 and Psalms 114 and 115, and splits Psalms 116 and 147, so for most psalms between 10 and 147 its number is one lower. Eastern Orthodox Psalters use the Greek numbering, as do the Catholic Church’s official liturgical books, while modern Catholic translations often print the Hebrew number and note the Greek. So Psalm 119 in most English Bibles is Psalm 118 in an Orthodox Psalter, and under the add-30 rule its long day falls on the 28th rather than the 29th. Orthodox and Ethiopian Bibles also include Psalm 151. In Orthodox use it is not numbered with the other 150 and stands outside the Psalter proper; a reader who wants it in the month can add it to the last day. Our guide to the Orthodox Bible covers its other books.
Psalms and Proverbs over a year
Over a year, the two books can be read at a psalm a day, paired with the New Testament, or kept monthly beside a whole-Bible plan. The slower ways give each psalm more room.
A psalm a day
One psalm a day reads the book in 150 days, about five months, at about a minute a day. To make it last a year, read it through twice (300 days), or take Psalm 119 one portion at a time, as the Prayer Book counts them: that makes 171 readings, and two passes come to 342 days, with a few weeks left over for favorites.
The New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs in a year
Pairing the Psalms and Proverbs with the New Testament makes a one-year plan of 441 chapters and, in the World English Bible, 230,587 words. That is about 630 words a day: under 3 minutes at the average pace, a little over 3 at a relaxed one. One easy shape is five New Testament chapters a week, which finishes its 260 chapters in exactly 52 weeks, beside three or four chapters of Psalms or Proverbs a week for their 181. Reading the New Testament once and keeping the monthly Psalms and Proverbs beside it comes to about 10 minutes a day, which over a year is more words than the whole Protestant Bible. For the New Testament on its own, see how long it takes to read the New Testament.
Beside a whole-Bible plan
A plan through the whole Bible already reads the Psalms and Proverbs once; the monthly habit reads them twelve times. Adding five psalms and a Proverb to a year’s plan, which is about 9 to 10 minutes a day on its own, roughly doubles the day, while adding only the Proverb costs about 2 minutes. Some classic plans build the repeats in. In Ligonier Ministries’ summaries, M’Cheyne’s calendar has you “read the New Testament and Psalms twice and the Old Testament once,” a two-year plan reads “the Old and New Testaments once and Psalms and Proverbs four times,” and Professor Grant Horner’s system, at ten chapters a day, reads “the Psalms at least twice, Proverbs and Acts a dozen times” in the course of a year. Our guides to the M’Cheyne plan and to reading the Bible in a year go further.
Whichever way you divide them, the first of the month starts the Psalms again, wherever the last month ended.
Questions people ask
What do you read on the 31st of the month?
Proverbs 31, if you read a Proverb a day, since Proverbs has 31 chapters. For the Psalms, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer reads the 30th day's psalms again, so the book starts over on the 1st. The add-30 rule gives the 31st nothing of its own, which leaves it free for a favorite psalm. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's schedule spreads the Psalms over 31 days instead.
Which psalms are read on the 29th, and why is that day so long?
Under the day-of-the-month method, the 29th reads Psalms 29, 59, 89, 119 and 149. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, at 176 verses, and Psalm 89 is one of the longer psalms too, so the day comes to about 3,800 words. That is roughly 16 minutes of silent reading, against 4 to 7 minutes on most other days.
How long does it take to read the whole book of Psalms?
About 2 hours 54 minutes of silent reading at the average adult pace of 238 words a minute, or about 3½ hours at a relaxed 200. That is 150 psalms and 2,461 verses. Spread over a month it comes to a little under 6 minutes a day, and a single psalm usually takes about a minute.
How many times a year do you read Proverbs at a chapter a day?
Read by the date, chapters 1 to 28 come round twelve times a year, chapters 29 and 30 eleven times (February has neither day, though Proverbs 29 gets its twelfth in a leap year), and Proverbs 31 seven times, once in each 31-day month. That is 365 readings in all, at about 2 minutes each.
Did Billy Graham read five psalms and a proverb every day?
Yes. The Billy Graham Library writes that for years he read five Psalms and one chapter of Proverbs each day, in addition to his daily Scripture reading. He wrote that doing so lets you read both books through each month, and that the Psalms tell you how you get along with God while the Proverbs tell you how to get along with other people.
Do Orthodox and Catholic Psalters number the psalms the same way?
Not always. Most English Bibles use the Hebrew numbering. Eastern Orthodox Psalters, and the Catholic Church's official liturgical books, use the Greek Septuagint numbering, which is one lower for most psalms between 10 and 147, so Psalm 119 becomes Psalm 118. Orthodox Bibles also include Psalm 151. Modern Catholic translations often print the Hebrew number and note the Greek one.
Sources
- The Book of Common Prayer (1662): The Order how the Psalter is appointed to be read, the Church of England
- The Book of Common Prayer (1662): The Psalter, in its sixty daily portions, the Church of England
- Billy Graham Library: June Daily Devotional, Week 1 (from Words of Wisdom: A Journey Through Psalms and Proverbs)
- Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (2018): Billy Graham Bible Reading Plan, Psalms and Proverbs (PDF)
- General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours, §126 (PDF), Liturgy Office of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales
- Kathisma, OrthodoxWiki
- Psalms (numbering), Wikipedia
- Donald S. Whitney (2015). How to Pray through the Psalms, Crossway
- Ligonier Ministries: Bible Reading Plans
- 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
