How to read the Bible in a year: the numbers, the plan types and how to finish

To read the Bible in a year, read about 3 to 4 chapters a day (1,189 chapters divided by 365 days is 3.26). In the King James Version that's roughly 2,170 words a day, or about 9 minutes of silent reading and 12 minutes aloud. Pick one plan type, set a fixed daily time, preview hard books, and have a catch-up rule ready before you miss a day.

Reading the whole Bible in a year is a common goal, and a commonly abandoned one. The daily reading is rarely the problem. The plan didn't fit, or a missed week turned into a missed month, or Leviticus happened.

This guide is the full picture: the exact numbers, the four main kinds of plans and who each one suits, monthly checkpoints so you know where you should be, the places most readers stall, and what to do when you fall behind.

How much do you need to read each day?

Here are the numbers, computed from the King James Version text in our app. Time estimates use an average adult silent reading speed of 238 words per minute and an oral reading speed of 183 words per minute, from a 2019 meta-analysis by Marc Brysbaert.

Real life adds pauses, rereading and the occasional note, so plan on 15 minutes a day. That's the honest number to put in your calendar.

Chapters vary a lot. The shortest chapter in the KJV, Psalm 117, has two verses. The longest, Psalm 119, has 176 verses and takes about 10 minutes on its own. So some days in any plan will feel short and some long. That's normal.

For exact chapters-per-day options and finish dates (1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 a day), see how many chapters a day to read the Bible in a year.

If you'd rather have the daily portion and the math handled for you, the app's reading plan does exactly that.

Choose your plan type

There's no single correct way to read through the Bible. There are four common approaches, and the best one is the one that keeps you reading.

A note on M'Cheyne. The best-known multi-track plan was designed in 1842 by the Scottish pastor Robert Murray M'Cheyne. It takes you through the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice in a year, with four readings a day.

A note on chronological plans. Scholars and plan makers don't all agree on when every book was written or exactly when every event happened, so chronological plans differ in their order. That's fine. Pick one and follow it. Our guide to the chronological Bible reading plan explains the main choices.

Not sure which to choose? Use this:

• Never read the whole Bible before: cover to cover or blended.
• Read it before and want a fresh angle: chronological.
• Lose interest easily: blended.
• Want to read the New Testament more than once: multi-track.

For a ready-to-use blended plan with 2027 dates, see our Bible in a year reading plan, and for a comparison of reading orders, what order should I read the Bible in.

Where should you be each month?

Here's where a simple cover-to-cover plan puts you at the end of each month, if you start January 1 and read 3.26 chapters a day. Use it as a checkpoint.

Notice two things. You're halfway through the chapters by the end of June, in the middle of the Psalms. And the last 80 days, from about mid-October, cover the whole New Testament. If you like reading about Jesus early in the year, that's a strong reason to choose a blended plan.

Where readers stall (and how to get through)

The hard stretches are predictable. In a cover-to-cover plan:

Here's how 1 Chronicles opens, to give you a sense of it:

Adam, Sheth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jered, Henoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

It's not a story, but it's not meaningless either. It's the family line from Adam to Noah, and the list runs on to David and beyond. Knowing why a section exists makes it easier to read. Our summary of Leviticus and summary of 1 Chronicles give you that context in a few minutes, and BibleProject's free overview videos (embedded in Bible Academy for every book) do the same visually.

Build the daily habit

The plan is the easy part. The habit is what gets you to December. A few principles do most of the work:

1. Fix one time and one place. "After coffee, at the kitchen table" works better than "in the morning." Our guide to staying consistent with Bible reading covers habit-building in detail.
2. Protect the first 15 minutes, not the whole morning. You need about 9 to 12 minutes of actual reading.
3. Know what you're reading tomorrow. A plan, a bookmark or an app removes the daily decision.
4. Use a tracker. Seeing progress is motivating. A paper chart works; so does a streak. Our printable Bible reading tracker has a paper option.
5. Read in whole stories when you can. If a chapter break cuts a story in half, read on to the end of the scene.
6. Ask one question each day. "What does this show me about God?" is enough.
7. Check what you remember. Once a week, try to recall the main events, or take a short quiz on the book you just finished. A test after Genesis is a good start:

Quick quiz: Genesis

How long did the rain of the flood fall on the earth?

7 days40 days150 days120 days

What did the LORD count to Abram as righteousness?

His circumcision at 99The tithe given to MelchizedekHis trust in the LORDHis departure for Canaan

What new name does Jacob receive after his wrestling at the ford of the Jabbok?

IsraelEdomBenjaminAbraham

Continue the quiz

There are many more questions like these in Bible Academy, each with its explanation and verse. Start free, no card needed.

The ancient kings of Israel were told to read God's law every day of their lives, not as a one-time project:

And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:

A Bible-in-a-year plan is a good way to start that kind of lifelong reading, not the end of it.

What to do when you fall behind

You will miss days. Almost everyone does. The difference between finishing and quitting is having a rule ready. Each week behind on a one-year plan is about 23 chapters, or roughly an hour of reading.

Your main options:

• Read today's reading and keep a make-up list for the missed days.
• Add 1 or 2 chapters a day until you catch up. One extra chapter a day closes a one-week gap in about 23 days.
• Use a weekend block of 45 minutes to catch up on a story-heavy section.
• Move your finish date. A plan that ends in February instead of December is still a whole Bible.

Our full guide for when you've fallen behind on your Bible reading plan has the math for every size of gap.

Is reading the Bible in a year right for you?

A one-year plan is a great goal, but it's not the only good one. Be honest about your season:

If you're just starting out, see how long it takes to read the Bible for more options, including reading times for every book. Whatever pace you choose, you'll still read all 66 books.

Reading the Bible in a year with Bible Academy

Bible Academy's reading plan takes you through the whole Bible (66 books, 1,189 chapters, 31,102 verses in the KJV) at your pace, from 1 to 5 chapters a day. You get a calendar, a streak and your progress at a glance. After each reading there's a short quiz, and every answer is explained with the verse it comes from.

You read in the KJV or the ASV, offline, with highlights and notes. Before each book, you can watch the free BibleProject overview video, and when a character comes up, there are 100+ Bible characters explained in the app. On our site you can also browse all book summaries and Bible characters.

If a one-year plan is your goal, choose 3 chapters a day plus a few 4-chapter days, or 4 chapters a day for a little under ten months.

Frequently asked questions

How many chapters a day do you need to read to finish the Bible in a year?

You need to read about 3.26 chapters a day, because the Bible has 1,189 chapters and a year has 365 days. In practice, most plans alternate 3 and 4 chapters. Reading exactly 3 a day takes 397 days, and 4 a day takes 298 days. Reading 4 chapters on weekdays and 2 on weekends (24 a week) also finishes in about a year.

How long does it take each day to read the Bible in a year?

About 9 minutes of silent reading a day, or about 12 minutes reading aloud, based on our word count of the KJV (790,892 words) and average adult reading speeds. With pauses and rereading, plan on about 15 minutes a day. Some days are longer: Psalm 119 alone takes around 10 minutes to read.

What is the best way to read the Bible in a year?

The best way is the plan you'll actually keep. First-time readers often do well with a cover-to-cover or blended plan (Old and New Testament each day). Readers who want to see how history fits together often prefer a chronological plan. Whatever you pick, read at a fixed daily time, preview hard books with a short summary, and decide in advance how you'll catch up after missed days.

Should I read the Bible chronologically or cover to cover in a year?

Both work. Cover to cover is simpler to follow and keeps each book together. A chronological plan rearranges passages in the order events happened, so the prophets appear alongside the kings they spoke to and some psalms appear beside David's story. Chronological plans can feel more like one story; cover-to-cover plans are easier to track and to restart if you fall behind.

What if I don't finish reading the Bible in a year?

Keep going. A one-year plan is a helpful pace, not a rule from Scripture. If you finish in 14 or 18 months, you've still read the whole Bible. Move your finish date, or use our catch-up strategies: add one chapter a day, read a longer block on weekends, or jump to today's reading and save the missed part for later.