The main idea is to read through the whole Bible, in the order below, at about four chapters a day. That finishes the list in roughly nine months. Some entries are whole books and some are ranges of chapters; the day count on each one assumes that pace, so you can see what you are signing up for before you start.
The order is not the order the books are printed in, and it is not chronological. It is the order that makes the story land on someone who has never read any of it. You get twelve days of setup - creation, the fall, the promise to Abraham, the rescue out of Egypt, the law, and then four hundred years of silence - and then you meet Christ, and you stay with Him for four months. Everything after that is you going back to fill in the world He walked into, having already met Him.
Because of that, a few books are split. You read Genesis 1-22 in the first week and Genesis 23-50 four months later. That is deliberate. The first half is what you need to understand John; the second half reads differently once you do.
Alongside the main reading, keep a second, smaller slot every day:
- Month one: read the Proverb that matches the day of the month. January 1st is Proverbs 1, January 31st is Proverbs 31.
- Months two through seven: read one Psalm a day, straight through. The Psalms are prayers, not a story, and they are worth one at a time rather than a hundred and fifty in a row.
- The rest of the plan: memorization. Pick a passage or passages - the ones from the Psalms that would not leave you are a good place to start - and store them in your heart.
- Genesis 1-11 - Know that the LORD made you, and that you broke what He made (3 days)
- Genesis 12-22 - He promised to fix it, and He staked the promise on one family (3 days)
- Exodus 1-20 - Know that the LORD saves His people, and tells them how to live (5 days)
- Malachi - But the Lord is frustrated, and His people must wait (1 day)
- John - Know Christ as the LORD God, who was there in the beginning (6 days)
- 1 John - Who is this Christ? He is LORD God, and He is not far from you (2 days)
- Mark - Know what Christ has done (4 days)
- Matthew - God's people were waiting for Christ to found his church (7 days)
- Luke - Know that Christ is our healer (6 days)
- Acts - Our mission then is to spread this Gospel (7 days)
- Job - Contend with difficult questions and pain in the world (11 days)
- Romans - Realize your place before the LORD in this story (4 days)
- James - How do I live in my station before the LORD? (2 days)
- Genesis 23-50 - Men mean evil against you; the LORD means it for good (7 days)
- Galatians - The promise came first, and the law could never undo it (2 days)
- Exodus 21-40 - A holy God moves in among an unholy people (5 days)
- Leviticus - Learn what it costs to stand near Him (7 days)
- Hebrews - Christ is the better priest, the better sacrifice, the better tent (4 days)
- Numbers - A generation that would not trust Him wanders until it dies (9 days)
- 1 Corinthians - A church full of people acting like that generation (4 days)
- Deuteronomy - Before you enter the land, remember everything (9 days)
- 2 Corinthians - Strength is not the thing you thought it was (4 days)
- Joshua - The LORD keeps the promise He made to Abraham (6 days)
- Ephesians - What it means to be His people, together (2 days)
- Judges - Everyone did what was right in his own eyes (6 days)
- Philippians - Rejoice, because the LORD is near (1 day)
- Ruth - In the worst of days, He is building a king (1 day)
- 1 Samuel - Know the LORD God as your only true king (8 days)
- Colossians - Christ is first in everything (1 day)
- 2 Samuel - God will always bring justice upon the wicked actions of man (6 days)
- 1 Thessalonians - Live like the King is coming back (2 days)
- 1 Kings - The wisest man alive still could not hold the kingdom together (6 days)
- 2 Thessalonians - And do not be shaken while you wait for Him (1 day)
- 2 Kings - The kingdom falls, exactly as He said it would (7 days)
- 1 Timothy - How to order a household of God (2 days)
- 1 Chronicles - The same history, retold by men who cared about the temple (8 days)
- 2 Timothy - Guard what was handed to you (1 day)
- 2 Chronicles - Every king measured against David, and found wanting (9 days)
- Titus - Sound teaching makes for sound living (1 day)
- Ecclesiastes - All is vanity, except enjoying the LORD your God (3 days)
- Song of Solomon - How one loves His bride, God loves His church (2 days)
- Hosea - He married a woman who would not stay (4 days)
- Amos - He will not take your worship while you rob the poor (3 days)
- Micah - Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God (2 days)
- Jonah - He is merciful even to the people you hate (1 day)
- Obadiah - Do not gloat over your brother's ruin (1 day)
- Joel - The day of the LORD is coming, so return to Him now (1 day)
- Isaiah 1-39 - Judgment on everyone, and a child born to end it (10 days)
- 1 Peter - How to suffer well, as a stranger here (2 days)
- Isaiah 40-66 - Comfort: a Servant will be crushed in your place (7 days)
- Nahum - Nineveh's mercy ran out (1 day)
- Zephaniah - He will sweep it all away, and then sing over what remains (1 day)
- Habakkuk - How long, LORD? The righteous shall live by his faith (1 day)
- Jeremiah 1-29 - Preach the truth to people who will never listen (8 days)
- 2 Peter - Scoffers will come, but He is not slow (1 day)
- Jeremiah 30-52 - A new covenant, written on the heart (6 days)
- Lamentations - Sit down in the ashes; His mercies are new every morning (2 days)
- Ezekiel 1-24 - The glory of the LORD leaves the temple (6 days)
- Ezekiel 25-48 - Dry bones live, and the glory comes back (6 days)
- Haggai - Build the house, for He is with you (1 day)
- Zechariah - Your king comes to you, riding on a donkey (4 days)
- Ezra - A remnant comes home and starts over (3 days)
- 2 John - Walk in truth, and do not open the door to lies (1 day)
- 3 John - Support those who go out for the Name (1 day)
- Nehemiah - Build the wall with a sword in your hand (4 days)
- Philemon - The Gospel reaches all the way down into a household (1 day)
- Esther - He is at work even where His name is never spoken (3 days)
- Malachi, again - Read the last word before the silence, now knowing who broke it (1 day)
- Daniel - Kingdoms rise and fall; one of them will not (3 days)
- Jude - Contend for the faith, for He is able to keep you (1 day)
- Revelation - Know how it ends: He makes all things new (6 days)