Announcing the 2026 Bible Reading Challenge

We believe one of the best ways to learn to study the Bible is to read it. A lot of it. Over and over again. That way, when the foundations are destroyed, the righteous will know what to do. When the wicked bend the bow, the children of God hide in the one who is their refuge. When surrounded by those who have lost their minds, the people of God have sure footing and a stabilizing security.

If you’re not sure what I mean by all these foundations/bow/sure footing metaphors, then maybe this is your year to read the entire Bible in 90 days. Objective truth and emotional stability are yours for the taking. Not by toughening yourself up (Prov 18:11, 26:12), but by perceiving who really sits on throne (Psalm 11:1-7, Matt 6:19-21). You’ll only see, though, if you’ve got the eyes for it.

But I digress and perhaps ought to get to the point.

The Challenge

I’m writing to announce our 2026 Bible reading challenge. The challenge is to read the entire Bible within 90 days. If you wish, you may begin today. Regardless of when you begin, your 90-day period must end no later than March 31, 2026. Once you complete your reading, you may submit an entry form (see below) to enter a prize drawing.

And why—you ask—would you embark on such a strange venture? (“Has the day finally come,” they inquire, “when the Lord has struck with madness the riders of this horse we call the blogosphere?” Zech 12:4, my paraphrase.) I can think of at least three reasons.

1. Your grasp of the Bible’s big picture will surge like a “little” cloud in the shape of a man’s hand (1 Kings 18:44-45).
2. Your reward in the age to come will be great.
3. We’ve got a sweet set of prizes to urge you on in the present age.

Due to popular demand from last year, we’ve got a repeat grand prize for you this year. And for every 10 people who complete this year’s challenge, there will be an additional prize package. On top of all that, we will grant extra entries into the drawing for anyone who recruits first-timers to complete the challenge with them.

Grand Prize

Back by popular demand, this year’s grand prize is a premium book rebinding provided by Pro Libris Rebinding. Many thanks to Pro Libris for their generous provision of this prize for our giveaway. The winner of this prize is invited to take their favorite Bible, novel, or other book, send it to Pro Libris, and have it re-bound with a premium leather cover and binding. Or if you can’t decide which book of your own to get rebound, we will provide you with a free copy of a one-volume reader’s Bible of your choice, and Pro Libris will give it the premium treatment. You can view samples of Pro Libris’s amazing work at their Facebook and Instagram pages.

We want you to read and re-read God’s word for years to come, so we’re offering this prize to catalyze a habit of such delightful romps.

Additional Prizes

But wait, there’s more! In addition to the grand prize, we will offer one additional prize for every 10 people who complete this year’s Bible reading challenge. That means that if only 10 people complete the challenge, one of them will win the grand prize, and one will get an additional prize. If 100 people complete the challenge, one will win the grand prize, and ten will secure an additional prize.

That means your odds of winning a prize are greater than 10%. (Last year, 11.7% of participants won prizes.) Can you find any other giveaway on the Internet with such great odds of winning? And though the physical discipline and training of reading the Bible in 90 days is of some value, the character and godliness which it instills in you holds promise not only for the present life but also for the life to come.

Everyone selected to win an additional prize will get to choose one of the following options:

1. A one-volume reader’s Bible of your choice.
2. A copy of both Knowable Word and Sowable Word.

Please note: Physical prizes are limited to people with addresses in the United States. Winners in other parts of the world will receive a $50 Amazon gift card via email.

Referral Bonus

On the entry form for this year’s challenge, there will be a place for you to mark whether this is your first time completing the challenge. And if it is your first time, there will be a place for you to provide the name of the person who recruited you to try the challenge.

Both recruits and recruiters will benefit:

• First-timers will gain one extra entry in the drawing for naming the person who recruited them to this year’s challenge, if that recruiter also completes this year’s challenge.
• Anyone who completes the challenge and is mentioned by one or more first-timers who also complete the challenge will gain three extra entries in the drawing for each person they recruited to complete the challenge.

Note that both the recruit and the recruiter must complete the challenge. All recruits must be first-timers; recruiters can be either returnees or first-timers themselves.

And as usual, fake, incomplete, or spam entries will be deleted. For example, anyone who fills out the form today or tomorrow clearly hasn’t read the entire Bible within the time window, so their entries won’t count. Also, entries submitted before Bible reading has been completed will be thrown out; this drawing is only for those who read the Bible in 90 days and not for those who intend to read the Bible in 90 days.

So it will do you no good to recruit millions of people to complete the entry form without completing the actual reading challenge. God sees and knows what you are up to, and your entries will be chucked to the place where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

Help is Available

If you’d like a checklist to help you stay on pace, here are three. You may make a copy and update the dates, if you plan to start on a date other than January 1.

1. Canonical Order
2. Chronological Order
3. Hebrew OT & NIV Sola Scriptura NT Order

Or here is an iOS app that can help you track your plan. You may also want to consider making a reading plan in the Dwell listening app if you prefer audio. And perhaps you’ll want to bookmark this post so you can find the entry form once you complete the reading.

You may now begin any time, and may this be the ride of your life.

Official Rules

Here are the rules:

1. You must read (not scan or skim) all 66 books of the Protestant Bible. You may choose the translation and reading plan (canonical, chronological, etc.). You don’t have to stop and meditate on every detail, but the Lord sees and knows when you are being honest about reading and not skimming. Listening to an unabridged audio Bible is acceptable. You may also use any combination of audio and visual reading, as long as you’ve read or listened to the entire Bible within the allotted time period.
2. You must read the entire Bible within a 90-day period.
3. The last day of that 90-day period must be between November 9, 2025 and March 31, 2026. If you’d like to understand why we recommend such fast-paced reading, see our Bible reading plan for readers.
4. To enter the drawing, you must fill out the survey below, letting us know the dates you read and what you thought of the speed-reading process. Your thoughts do not have to be glowing, but they should be honest; you’ll still be entered into the drawing if you didn’t enjoy your speed-read.
5. Any submissions to the form below that don’t meet the requirements or appear to be fabricated will be deleted. For example: multiple entries with different data, date of completion not between November 9, 2025 and March 31, 2026, “What I thought about the experience” has nothing to do with Bible reading, or date of completion is later than the date of entry submission (please don’t try to enter the drawing if you plan to read the Bible; only enter once you have completed reading it).
6. In the first week of April 2025, we will randomly select 1 grand-prize winner from those who have submitted the form.
7. Then we will randomly select, for an additional prize package, one winner for every 10 legitimate submissions to the drawing (e.g. 50 total submissions means 5 additional prize packages).
8. We will email all winners (both grand-prize and additional-prize) requesting contact info to deliver their prize. If a winner does not respond to our request for information (such as a shipping address) within 1 week, a new winner will be selected in their place.
9. The grand-prize winner (if in US) will receive a premium book rebinding for a Bible or book of their choice (from their personal library), or for a new one-volume reader’s Bible of their choice. (While these are not your only options, we have reviewed the following: ESV, CSB, NIV.) If you choose a book you already own, you will be responsible to ship it to Pro Libris. Pro Libris will then cover the return shipping to get it back to you when it is ready.
10. Additional-prize winners (if in US) will select either a copy of both Knowable Word and Sowable Word or a one-volume reader’s Bible of their choice. (While these are not your only options, we have reviewed the following: ESV, CSB, NIV.)
11. Any winner who does not qualify for a physical prize will receive a US $50 Amazon gift card via email.
12. Unfortunately, though they are among the most courageous and competent people on the planet, staff members of DiscipleMakers are not eligible to win the drawing.