This is my one-year reading schedule through the Bible. My theory is that, once we are all pretty comfortable with Old Testament history, much theological insight can be gained by reading the biblical books in approximate order of composition of their final drafts as they appear in our Bibles.
There are many chronological reading plans out there. This plan is not one of them. No books are sliced up with other books inserted here and there—except for Isaiah which has textually obvious break points. Acts remains intact. The order does not follow Old Testament history. It follows composition order.
I think that reading the Bible in this order opens up the reader to appreciate the theological development expressed in Scripture. We will experience how theology adapts under pressure. We may learn why historical stress is an important motivator for God's people to search longingly for understanding of the divine.
Rather than a chronological reading plan, this is a theological development reading plan. You are invited to give it a go yourself.
There are a few weeks that are a little light (e.g., Obadiah and Joel) that prepare the reader for the heavier sessions ahead. They also afford the reader a chance to begin readings like Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Psalms a little early and spend a bit more time with them.
Plan updated 2025 12 30; 2026 01 16
ONE-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN
IN COMPOSITION ORDER
FOR THEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
by NEIL SHORT
I. Assyrian Period Voices
(Theology under imperial threat)
Week 1 — Amos
Justice demanded amid prosperity.
Week 2 — Hosea
Covenant love strained by betrayal.
Week 3 — Micah
Judgment announced against power.
Week 4 — Obadiah & Joel
National trauma reframed theologically.
Week 5 — First Isaiah (Isaiah 1–39)
Holiness confronts political illusion.
Week 6 — Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk
Judgment becomes unavoidable.
II. Babylonian Crisis Voices
(Theology during catastrophe and displacement)
Week 7 — Jeremiah
Faithfulness redefined amid collapse.
Week 8 — Lamentations
Grief given sacred speech.
Week 9 — Ezekiel
Presence reimagined without land or temple.
III. Deuteronomy & the Deuteronomistic History
(Interpreting failure after loss of the land)
Week 10 — Deuteronomy
Law re-spoken after failure.
Week 11 — Joshua
Promise remembered through obedience.
Week 12 — Judges
Freedom without faith fractures society.
Week 13 — 1 Samuel
Kingship debated under pressure.
Week 14 — 2 Samuel
Power tested by covenant.
Week 15 — 1–2 Kings
This is why the exile happened.
IV. Torah as Canonical Synthesis (Tetrateuch)
(Identity reconstructed after judgment)
Week 16 — Genesis
Origins reread through loss.
Week 17 — Exodus
Liberation remembered as identity.
Week 18 — Leviticus
Holiness preserved without a temple.
Week 19 — Numbers
Failure incorporated into memory.
Week 20 — Catch up
V. Late Exile
(Reconnecting with Yahweh)Week 21 — Second Isaiah (Isaiah 40–55)
Hope reborn without denial.
V. Post-Exilic Voices
(Who is Israel?)
Week 22 — Haggai & Zechariah
Restoration urged amid disappointment.
Week 23 — Third Isaiah (Isaiah 56–66) & Jonah
Exclusion rebuked; God’s mercy refuses containment.
Week 24 — Ezra–Nehemiah
Identity preserved through exclusion.
Week 25 — Malachi
Faith sustained when obedience feels unrewarded.
VI. The Writings (Ketuvim)
(Wisdom wrestles with unresolved tension)
Week 26 — Psalms (Books I–II)
Prayer stabilizes faith.
Week 27 — Psalms (Books III–V)
Praise survives loss.
Week 28 — Proverbs
Order asserted.
Week 29 — Job
Order contested.
Week 30 — Ecclesiastes & Song of Songs
Meaning questioned; love affirmed.
Week 31 — Ruth & Esther
Faithfulness in hiddenness.
Week 32 — Daniel
Hope survives empire.
Week 33 — 1 Chronicles
Week 34 — 2 Chronicles
History retold to sustain identity.
VII. Earliest Christian Voices (Before Gospel Narrative)
(Faith practiced before memory is fixed)
Week 35 — James
Ethics without biography.
Week 36 — Hebrews
Christ confessed without story.
Week 37 — 1 Thessalonians
Hope strained by delay.
Week 38 — Galatians
Identity freed from Torah.
Week 39 — 1–2 Corinthians
Community fractured; resurrection clarified.
Week 40 — Romans
Theology systematized under pressure.
VIII. Theology Under Constraint (Prison Letters)
(Christology deepens in confinement)
Week 41 — Philippians & Philemon
Joy and reconciliation under suffering.
Week 42 — Colossians & Ephesians
Christ and the church universalized.
IX. The Jesus Tradition (Synoptic Memory)
(The story told to sustain belief after loss)
Week 43 — Mark
Suffering Messiah remembered.
Week 44 — Matthew
Teaching embodied in narrative.
Week 45 — Luke
History reassures faith.
X. Continuity After the Apostles
(From movement to institution)
Week 46 — Acts
The Spirit carries the mission forward.
Week 47 — 1–2 Timothy & Titus
Faith stabilized for the long haul.
XI. Late First-Century Closure
(Faith without resolution)
Week 48 — 1 Peter
Suffering normalized.
Week 49 — John
Eternal life reframed.
Week 50 — 1 John
Community tested by division.
Week 51 — 2 & 3 John, Jude, 2 Peter
Truth defended; delay explained.
Week 52 — Revelation
Hope kept alive through imagination.
Reflection: Law, Christ, Community
How theology adapted under pressure.
Reflection: Hope, Delay, Faithfulness
Living with unresolved promises.
I've been looking for a Bible Reading for the New Year. I saw yours on fb. I don't know how committed I can be but I'm willing to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteGive it a go. Since it is weekly and not daily it is easy to get ahead but it is also easy slack off. I have found that 10 minutes a day keeps me on schedual.
DeleteI was planning to do a read-through with a new translation that was to be published this year but it won't be available until next year. I will be using NRSVue instead.
Will do. Look forward to comments...
DeleteI updated the schedule to hopefully improve the reading experience
DeleteSo far so good. These first ones are short but I like spending time absorbing what I'm reading instead of rushing through or it being too long a reading. Still January ...
ReplyDeleteSome weeks are heavy. Jeremiah (long) is followed by Lamentations (short) which should provide some relief. The Torah section is all heavy. It is best to rush through Leviticus and Numbers since they can be painful reading.
DeleteI may tweek the schedule for next year. I have 1&2 Chronicles in a single week. That's a pretty big assignment.
DeleteThanks for your replies
ReplyDelete