Advent Bible reading plan: the Christmas story, week by week

The first Sunday of Advent in 2026 falls on November 29, and the four weeks that follow are just long enough to read the whole Christmas story slowly. This Advent Bible reading plan gives you one short King James passage a day, from the prophets' promises on November 29 to the shepherds at the manger on Christmas Eve, with a longer Sunday reading and a prayer for each week.

Each day takes five to ten minutes aloud, and the weeks follow the four Advent themes: hope, peace, joy and love.

What is the best Advent Bible reading plan?

The best Advent Bible reading plan is one you will actually finish, and the simplest to finish is the Christmas story read in order. Start with the promises in Isaiah and Micah, move through Luke 1 to John the Baptist and Mary, and reach Luke 2 in the last week, so the whole of Christmas night is read aloud on Christmas Eve.

Reading in order keeps a family inside one story. A child who heard Gabriel speak to Zacharias on Tuesday wants to know on Wednesday why he cannot talk.

The plan keeps one passage a day, usually under twenty verses. Sunday's reading sets the week's theme, and the weekdays run in story order; if the week slips, read Sunday's passage and pick up from there.

When does Advent start in 2026?

Advent 2026 starts on Sunday, November 29, the fourth Sunday before Christmas, and ends on Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24. Because Christmas Day falls on a Friday, this year's season runs 26 days. The four Sundays are November 29 and December 6, 13 and 20.

Advent always begins on the Sunday nearest November 30, so it can open as early as November 27 or as late as December 3. If your calendar starts on December 1, read the first three days together that evening.

Advent week 1 readings: hope (November 29 to December 5)

The first week of Advent reads the promises: from the garden to Abraham, David and Isaiah, God says a child will come. The theme most churches give this week is hope, and the first candle is often called the Prophecy candle.

Day	Date	Reading (KJV)	What happens
Sunday	Nov 29	Isaiah 9:2-7	Light in the darkness, and a child born
Monday	Nov 30	Genesis 3:8-15	The first promise, in the garden
Tuesday	Dec 1	Genesis 12:1-3	Abram told all families will be blessed
Wednesday	Dec 2	2 Samuel 7:12-16	David promised a son with a throne for ever
Thursday	Dec 3	Isaiah 7:10-14	The sign of a virgin's son
Friday	Dec 4	Isaiah 11:1-10	A rod out of the stem of Jesse
Saturday	Dec 5	Isaiah 40:1-11	"Comfort ye", and a voice in the wilderness

Sunday's passage is the one most people know. Isaiah wrote it to a small kingdom under threat from Assyria, promising a king before he could see one: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6, KJV).

A prayer for the first week. The 1662 Book of Common Prayer opens Advent with a prayer that its rubric says is to be repeated every day of the season. In the Church of England's text of the collect for the First Sunday in Advent, it begins: "Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light." For a shorter family prayer: Lord, as we wait for Christmas, teach us to hope in your promises. Amen.

A painting for the week. Michelangelo painted the prophet Isaiah on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, a young man turning from his book as if someone has just called his name. It suits a week of listening.

Advent week 2 readings: peace (December 6 to 12)

The second week of Advent reads the messengers: Micah names Bethlehem, Malachi promises a forerunner, and the angel Gabriel comes first to Zacharias and then to Mary. Its usual theme is peace, and the second candle is often called the Bethlehem candle.

Day	Date	Reading (KJV)	What happens
Sunday	Dec 6	Micah 5:2-5	A ruler from little Bethlehem
Monday	Dec 7	Malachi 3:1; 4:2-6	A messenger, and the Sun of righteousness
Tuesday	Dec 8	Luke 1:5-17	Gabriel appears to Zacharias in the temple
Wednesday	Dec 9	Luke 1:18-25	Zacharias cannot speak; Elisabeth conceives
Thursday	Dec 10	Luke 1:26-38	Gabriel comes to Mary in Nazareth
Friday	Dec 11	Luke 1:39-45	Mary visits Elisabeth
Saturday	Dec 12	Isaiah 52:7-10	Beautiful feet that publish peace

Micah's line about Bethlehem ends with a phrase that suits this week's theme: "And this man shall be the peace" (Micah 5:5, KJV). On Thursday the same angel comes to a young woman in Nazareth: "Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God" (Luke 1:30, KJV).

A prayer for the second week. The prayer the Prayer Book sets for this Sunday could have been written for a reading plan. The collect for the Second Sunday in Advent asks that we may hear the Scriptures, "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them". For a family: Lord, give us quiet hearts this week, and help us listen to your word. Amen.

A painting for the week. Fra Angelico's Annunciation at the top of the stairs in San Marco, Florence, was made for friars walking up to their cells. Gabriel bows, Mary leans forward with her arms crossed, and the room between them is nearly empty.

Advent week 3 readings: joy (December 13 to 19)

The third week of Advent reads the songs: Mary's song at Elisabeth's door, Zacharias' song when his son is named, and the psalm behind "Joy to the World". It is Gaudete, or "Rejoice", Sunday, when many families light the rose candle.

Day	Date	Reading (KJV)	What happens
Sunday	Dec 13	Luke 1:46-56	Mary's song
Monday	Dec 14	Luke 1:57-66	John is born and named
Tuesday	Dec 15	Luke 1:67-80	Zacharias' song: the dayspring from on high
Wednesday	Dec 16	Matthew 1:1-17	The generations from Abraham to Jesus
Thursday	Dec 17	Matthew 1:18-25	The angel speaks to Joseph in a dream
Friday	Dec 18	Luke 2:1-5	Caesar's decree and the road to Bethlehem
Saturday	Dec 19	Psalm 98	"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD"

Mary sings Sunday's passage after Elisabeth greets her, and it opens: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour" (Luke 1:46-47, KJV). Wednesday's list of names looks dry, but Abraham and David are in it, and the first week's promises become a family tree.

Saturday's psalm is the one Isaac Watts paraphrased in 1719 as "Joy to the World". Read it, then sing the carol, and the connection is plain.

A prayer for the third week. Lord, fill our house with the joy Mary sang about, and let it reach someone who needs it this week. Amen. Our guide to what each Advent wreath candle means and when to light it explains why this Sunday's candle is rose.

A painting for the week. Domenico Ghirlandaio's 1491 panel of the Visitation shows the older Elisabeth bending low to greet Mary, a moment before the song.

Advent week 4 readings: love (December 20 to 24)

The fourth week of Advent is short this year, five days, and reads the birth itself: Luke 2 from the manger to the shepherds, finished on Christmas Eve. The theme is love, and the fourth candle is often called the Angels' candle.

Day	Date	Reading (KJV)	What happens
Sunday	Dec 20	John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:9-10	God so loved the world
Monday	Dec 21	Luke 2:6-7	Jesus is born and laid in a manger
Tuesday	Dec 22	Luke 2:8-14	Shepherds in the fields by night, and the angels
Wednesday	Dec 23	Luke 2:15-20	The shepherds come with haste
Thursday	Dec 24, Christmas Eve	Luke 2:1-20	The whole story, read aloud
Friday	Dec 25, Christmas Day	John 1:1-14	The Word was made flesh

Luke tells the birth in one plain sentence: "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7, KJV). On Christmas Eve, read the whole of Luke 2:1-20 at once, and light the white candle when the shepherds return "glorifying and praising God".

On Christmas morning, John tells the same night from heaven's side: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14, KJV).

A prayer for the fourth week. Lord, you loved the world enough to come into it. Come into this house too. Amen.

A painting for the week. In Piero della Francesca's Nativity, the child lies on the ground on a fold of Mary's cloak while angels sing beside a ruined shed. The National Gallery calls the angels a heavenly soundtrack to a rustic scene. Read it beside Tuesday's passage.

For more of the great paintings of that night and the verses behind each one, see our guide to famous Nativity paintings and the Christmas story in art.

When do you read about the wise men at Christmas?

The wise men belong after Christmas: they are not in Luke's Christmas night, so this plan keeps them for afterwards, as Scripture does. Matthew says the wise men came to "the house" and found "the young child" (Matthew 2:11, KJV), some time after the birth. Many churches read their story at Epiphany, January 6, which falls on a Wednesday in 2027. Before you read it, you may like to know what the gold, frankincense and myrrh stood for.

If you want to keep reading after Christmas:

1. December 26 to 27: Luke 2:21-38, Jesus presented in the temple, where Simeon and the prophetess Anna recognise him.
2. Around January 6: Matthew 2:1-12, the wise men and the star.
3. The day after: Matthew 2:13-23, the flight into Egypt and the return to Nazareth.

That carries the story to the boy who grows up in Nazareth, which our page on what the Gospels say about Jesus' childhood picks up, and our timeline of the life of Christ, from Bethlehem to the empty tomb follows to the end.

What readings are read during Advent in church?

Many churches read the Revised Common Lectionary, and Advent 2026 begins its Year B, which leans on Mark's Gospel. The Sunday Gospels are Mark 13:24-37, Mark 1:1-8, John 1:6-8 and 19-28, and Luke 1:26-38, each with an Old Testament reading, a psalm and an epistle.

The Vanderbilt Divinity Library's lectionary calendar for 2026-27 lists them:

Sunday	Old Testament	Psalm	Epistle	Gospel
Nov 29	Isaiah 64:1-9	Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19	1 Corinthians 1:3-9	Mark 13:24-37
Dec 6	Isaiah 40:1-11	Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13	2 Peter 3:8-15	Mark 1:1-8
Dec 13	Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11	Psalm 126 or Luke 1:46-55	1 Thessalonians 5:16-24	John 1:6-8, 19-28
Dec 20	2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16	Luke 1:46-55 or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26	Romans 16:25-27	Luke 1:26-38

The early Sundays look ahead to Christ's return, which is why Mark 13 comes first. Isaiah 40 and Mary's song appear in both plans, at most a day apart.

How do you keep Advent readings as a family?

Advent readings at home work best at the same time and place every day, usually dinner or bedtime, with one Bible left open on the table. Read the passage aloud, ask one question ("Who is speaking?" works for every day), pray the week's short prayer, and stop. Ten minutes is plenty.

A few things help it last to Christmas Eve:

• Print this page and keep it in the Bible at the day's reading.
• Let children read the shortest passages. Luke 2:6-7 is two verses.
• Catch up on Sundays, not every night.
• Pair it with the wreath. Our Christmas Bible verses in the King James words gives the best-known lines with who says them, if you want one verse to read as the candle is lit.

Some readers like pictures beside the words. CHRIST, Mercy & Light's art book of the life of Jesus begins with this same story: its first chapter tells the birth of Jesus in the King James words of Matthew and Luke, with art made for each scene. You can find the house's other books in our books collection.

Frequently asked

What book of the Bible should you read during Advent?

Luke is the book to read during Advent, because its first two chapters tell the Christmas story from Zacharias in the temple to the shepherds at the manger. Isaiah is the natural partner for the prophecies, and Matthew 1 adds Joseph's side of the story. This plan reads all three in order.

How long does an Advent Bible reading plan take each day?

This Advent plan takes about five to ten minutes a day read aloud, since most passages are under twenty verses. Sundays and Christmas Eve are a little longer. If you add the week's prayer and one question for the table, allow fifteen minutes.

Can children follow this Advent reading plan?

Children can follow this Advent plan with an adult reading, since the story-order passages in Luke work well aloud. Younger children can listen for one thing each night: an angel, a name, a place. With the youngest, read only the first verse of the genealogy.

What are the four themes of Advent?

The four themes of Advent are most often hope, peace, joy and love, one for each Sunday, though some churches put love second and peace fourth. They are a church tradition, not a list in Scripture, but each one fits the readings this plan sets for its week.

When the last candle is lit and Luke 2 is read on Christmas Eve, the story has been told in your own house, a little each night. Keep the Bible on the table until the wise men come.

Passages cited: Isaiah 9:2-7; Genesis 3:8-15; Genesis 12:1-3; 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Isaiah 7:10-14; Isaiah 11:1-10; Isaiah 40:1-11; Micah 5:2-5; Malachi 3:1; Malachi 4:2-6; Luke 1:5-80; Isaiah 52:7-10; Matthew 1:1-25; Luke 2:1-38; Psalm 98; John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:9-10; John 1:1-14; Matthew 2:1-23; Mark 13:24-37; Mark 1:1-8; John 1:6-8; John 1:19-28; Isaiah 64:1-9; Isaiah 61:1-4; 2 Samuel 7:1-11; Luke 1:30; Luke 1:46-47; Micah 5:5; Luke 2:7; John 1:14; Matthew 2:11.