One Chapter a Day Bible Reading Plan (1,189 Days)

Reading one chapter of the Bible a day takes 1,189 days to finish, about 3 years and 3 months. The average chapter in the King James Version is about 665 words, so each day takes roughly 3 minutes at an average reading speed. It's the lightest whole-Bible plan there is, and it leaves time to think about what you read.

That's both its strength and its weakness. Three minutes a day is easy to keep, but three years is a long time to wait before you've seen the whole story. Below you'll find the full plan, built so you never go more than a few months without reading the New Testament, plus an honest look at when one chapter a day makes sense and how to step up to two or three when you're ready.

How long does a one chapter a day plan take?

The math is simple: the Bible has 66 books and 1,189 chapters (31,102 verses in the KJV). One a day is 1,189 days. Here's how that compares with higher paces, using an average chapter length of about 665 words and an average adult reading speed of about 238 words per minute, the figure from a large review of reading-speed studies (British Psychological Society summary).

Chapters per day	Days to finish	Years (approx.)	Minutes per day (approx.)
1	1,189	3.3	3
2	595	1.6	6
3	397	1.1	8
4	298	0.8	11
5	238	0.65	14

These are averages. Psalm 117 is 2 verses, about 33 words. Psalm 119 is 176 verses, about 2,470 words, which is roughly 10 minutes on its own. Half of the chapters in Genesis, the Gospels and Acts fall between about 670 and 1,020 words; half of the chapters in the New Testament letters fall between about 380 and 590.

If you'd like a reading plan that handles the counting for you (with a calendar, streak and progress, at 1 to 5 chapters a day), the app does exactly that.

When one chapter a day makes sense

One chapter a day is the right plan for more people than you might think. It's a good fit when:

Your season is full. New parents, students in finals, people working two jobs. Three minutes fits almost anywhere: a coffee, a bus ride, the last thing before bed.
You want to read slowly. One chapter leaves room to reread, look up a cross-reference, or write a few lines. It pairs well with the SOAP Bible study method, where you pick one verse from the chapter and journal on it.
You've quit longer plans before. A plan you keep beats a plan you abandon. If three-chapter plans have broken you in the past, start here.
Focus is hard for you. Short, complete readings help. Our guide on reading the Bible with ADHD has more strategies.

It's a weaker fit when you want the big picture. At one chapter a day, you read Genesis in about seven weeks, but you won't reach Revelation for over three years. Connections between books (Kings and the prophets, the Gospels and the Old Testament promises) are harder to see when they're months apart. That's the main reason to step up later.

Daily reading has deep roots in Scripture. The Bereans "searched the scriptures daily" (Acts 17:11), and Lamentations reminds us why a little each day matters:

It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22–23 (KJV)

The 1,189-day plan (one chapter a day, with the New Testament mixed in)

Reading Genesis to Revelation straight through at one chapter a day would mean about two and a half years before you reach Matthew. This plan alternates Old Testament and New Testament blocks instead, so a Gospel or a letter comes around every few months. It starts with Mark, the shortest Gospel, so your first two weeks are about Jesus.

Read one chapter a day, in the order below. Each block is whole books (or a section of Psalms), so you're never stopping mid-book to switch.

Block	Read	Chapters	Days	Starts in month
1	Mark	16	1–16	1
2	Genesis	50	17–66	1
3	Luke	24	67–90	3
4	Exodus	40	91–130	3
5	Acts	28	131–158	5
6	Joshua; Judges; Ruth	49	159–207	6
7	Romans; Galatians; Ephesians	28	208–235	7
8	1 Samuel; 2 Samuel	55	236–290	8
9	Psalms 1–41	41	291–331	10
10	1 Kings; 2 Kings	47	332–378	11
11	John	21	379–399	13
12	Proverbs	31	400–430	14
13	Leviticus; Numbers	63	431–493	15
14	Philippians; Colossians; 1 Thessalonians; 2 Thessalonians	16	494–509	17
15	Deuteronomy	34	510–543	17
16	Psalms 42–89	48	544–591	18
17	Matthew	28	592–619	20
18	1 Chronicles; 2 Chronicles	65	620–684	21
19	1 Corinthians; 2 Corinthians	29	685–713	23
20	Ezra; Nehemiah; Esther	33	714–746	24
21	Psalms 90–150	61	747–807	25
22	Hebrews; James	18	808–825	27
23	Job	42	826–867	28
24	Isaiah	66	868–933	29
25	1 Timothy; 2 Timothy; Titus; Philemon	14	934–947	31
26	Ecclesiastes; Song of Songs	20	948–967	32
27	Jeremiah; Lamentations	57	968–1,024	32
28	1 Peter; 2 Peter; 1 John; 2 John; 3 John; Jude	16	1,025–1,040	34
29	Ezekiel	48	1,041–1,088	35
30	Daniel and the 12 Minor Prophets (Hosea to Malachi)	79	1,089–1,167	36
31	Revelation	22	1,168–1,189	39

Total: 1,189 chapters, every chapter once. We checked the blocks against the KJV chapter counts with a script. To find a given day's chapter, subtract the block's first day and add one: day 100 is Exodus 10 (Exodus starts on day 91).

A few notes on the order. Leviticus and Numbers wait until month 15, after you've built the habit on story books. Psalms come in three blocks spread across the plan, so you're never more than a year from the next one. Revelation closes the plan, as it closes the Bible.

How to step up from one chapter a day to two or three

If, a few months in, you find you want more, that's a good sign. You don't need to restart. Just change your pace and keep your place.

The step-up ladder. Read 1 chapter a day for three months (about 91 chapters), then 2 a day for three months (182 more), then 3 a day. You'll finish the whole Bible in about 488 days, roughly 16 months, and each step feels small.

Step-up pattern	Chapters per week	Time to finish the Bible
1 a day, every day	7	About 3.3 years
1 on weekdays, 3 on Saturday and Sunday	11	About 2.1 years
2 on weekdays, 1 on weekends	12	About 1.9 years
Ladder: 1 a day for 3 months, 2 for 3 months, then 3	varies	About 16 months
3 a day, every day	21	About 13 months

Step up by book type. A practical trick: keep one chapter a day in the letters and prophets, where every verse is dense, and read two or three a day in the story books (Genesis, Samuel, Kings, the Gospels, Acts), which read fast.

Add a short second track. Keep your main chapter and add one psalm or one chapter of Proverbs. Proverbs has 31 chapters, one for each day of a long month.

When you're ready for a fixed higher pace, our 3 chapters a day Bible reading plan has full 2, 3, 4 and 5-chapter schedules.

Making one chapter a day stick

Attach it to something you already do. Coffee, lunch, the commute, brushing your teeth at night. A chapter takes about as long as a cup of coffee cools.

Mark it somewhere visible. A paper checklist on the fridge or a streak in an app. Our printable Bible reading tracker lists all 1,189 chapters by book so you can tick each one.

Write one line. After each chapter, note one thing it shows about God or people. Three years of one-liners becomes your own commentary on the whole Bible.

Prepare for the long chapters. Psalm 119 (in block 21, around day 775) is about ten minutes. Some chapters in Numbers and Chronicles are lists of names. On those days, read anyway and look for the one line that stands out. The Psalms book summary and the Leviticus book summary help you know what's coming.

Don't panic about missed days. Missing one day of a three-year plan changes nothing. Read today's chapter and move on. Our guide on how to stay consistent reading the Bible covers the habits that keep plans going.

One chapter a day with Bible Academy

The app's reading plan lets you read the whole Bible (66 books, 1,189 chapters) at 1 to 5 chapters a day, with a calendar, a streak and your progress. Start at 1 and change it to 2 or 3 when you're ready; your place in the Bible stays where it is. The reader has the KJV and ASV, works offline, and lets you highlight and add notes.

After each reading, a short quiz checks what you remember, with every answer explained by the verse it comes from. That's a useful habit on a slow plan, where it's easy to forget what Genesis said by the time you reach Exodus. You can also keep a SOAP journal and save memory verses as you go.

Starting with Mark? Try three questions on it:

Quick quiz: Mark

Where do the four men lower the paralytic down to Jesus?

What name does the unclean spirit in the country of the Gadarenes give?

How much does the poor widow put into the temple treasury?

Continue the quiz

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

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to read the Bible one chapter a day?

It takes 1,189 days, about 3 years and 3 months, because the Bible has 1,189 chapters. Each day takes about 3 minutes on average, since the typical King James chapter is around 665 words. A few chapters, like Psalm 119, take about 10 minutes.

Is one chapter a day enough Bible reading?

For many people, yes, especially in busy seasons or when reading slowly and journaling. Reading one chapter every day is better than reading five chapters once a week, because it builds a daily habit. If you want to see the whole story of the Bible sooner, step up to 2 or 3 chapters a day later.

What is the best order for a one chapter a day Bible plan?

Mixing Old and New Testament blocks works well at this pace, because reading straight through would take about two and a half years to reach Matthew. The plan on this page starts with Mark, then Genesis, and alternates so a Gospel or letter comes around every few months.

How many chapters a day to read the Bible in a year?

To finish in a year, read about 3.3 chapters a day: 1,189 chapters divided by 365 days. In practice, 3 chapters a day finishes in 397 days, and 3 on weekdays plus 4 on weekends finishes in about 52 weeks. That's around 9 minutes of reading a day.

Can I read one chapter a day of the New Testament?

Yes. The New Testament has 260 chapters, so one a day takes 260 days. Read only on weekdays and it fits exactly into 52 weeks. It's a popular plan for building a daily habit before moving to the whole Bible.

What if a chapter is too long for one day?

Split it. Psalm 119, for example, is divided into 22 sections of 8 verses, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, so it splits naturally. For a long narrative chapter, stop at a paragraph break and finish tomorrow. The goal is a daily habit, not a perfect count.