If you are like me at the new year you evaluate your Bible reading habits, and/or look for new reading plans that you can use. Here are a couple of online tools if you don’t already know about them:
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YouVersion – this is a free online tool where you can select from any number of plans, versions of the Bible, you have the ability to take notes, and there is a variety of ways you can access the plan either online or use one of their apps (Blackberry, Palm OS, Android, iPad, iPhone/iPod, Mobile Web, or Windows Phone).
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Bible Gateway – They also have a variety of plans to choose from and you can have it delivered via RSS feed, iCal or email.
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Addition: Bible.cc – Jacob Johnson recommended this site via Facebook. He said, “It has parallel version and commentaries for every verse. Plus it has a lexicon in Hebrew and Greek.”
For those of you who prefer non-online versions and want to actually use *gasp* – a Bible with actual pages and paper – here are a list of plans complied by Ligonier Ministries:
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52 Week Bible Reading Plan: You read through the Bible in the year, but each week is focused on a different genre: Epistles, The Law, History, Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy, and Gospels.
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5x5x5 Bible Reading Plan: Read through the New Testament in a year, Monday through Friday, and the weekends are set aside for reflection and other reading. Good for those who are new to the daily discipline of Bible reading.
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Bible Reading Chart: Read at your own pace, just check them off when you’re done.
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Chronological Bible Reading Plan: Read through the Bible in a year in the order the events took place chronologically.
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The Discipleship Journal Reading Plan: Four daily readings beginning in Genesis, Psalms, Matthew and Acts. Duration is one year.
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ESV Daily Bible Reading Plan: Four daily readings taken from four lists: Psalms and Wisdom Literature, Pentateuch and History of Israel, Chronicles and Prophets, and Gospels and Epistles.
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Every Word in the Bible: A three-year plan where you read a chapter a day alternating between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
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Historical Bible Reading Plan: The Old Testament readings are similar to Israel’s Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament readings are an attempt to follow the order in which the books were authored.
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Professor Grant Horner’s Bible Reading System: Reading ten chapters a day, in the course of a year you’ll read the Gospels four times, the Pentateuch twice, Paul’s letters four to five times, the Old Testament wisdom literature six times, the Psalms at least twice, Proverbs and Acts a dozen times, and the OT History and Prophetic books about one and a half times. There is also the Facebook 3560 Challenge.
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Robert Murray M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan: Read the New Testament and Psalms twice and the Old Testament once, you can do this in one year or two.
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Straight Through the Bible Reading Plan: As you guessed, a one year plan where you start in Genesis and end in Revelation.
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Tabletalk Reading Plan: A one year plan with two readings each day; one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. Ligionier Ministries also has an app for this whether you use an Android phone or an iPhone/iPad.
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The Legacy Reading Plan: This plan does not have set readings for each day. Instead, it has setbooks for each month, and set number of Proverbs and Psalms to read each week. It aims to give you more flexibility, while grounding you in specific books of the Bible each month.
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Two-Year Bible Reading Plan: Read the Old and New Testaments once, and Psalms & Proverbs four times.
Then of course you have a whole selection of One-Year Bibles which have been helpful for me in the past as well. Whatever you decide to use I pray that your time in the Word would be fruitful, draw you into a deeper love relationship with Jesus, and transform your daily life as you apply it.
Update: Cathy York, a friend on Facebook, suggested Back to the Bible as a website that has several reading plans as well.