M'Cheyne Bible Reading Plan: A Complete Guide to the Classic Year-Long Plan

The M'Cheyne Bible Reading Plan is a 365-day reading schedule created by Scottish minister Robert Murray M'Cheyne in 1842. It walks you through the entire Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice in a year, with four short readings split between morning and evening.

Who Was Robert Murray M'Cheyne?

M'Cheyne was a young pastor at St. Peter's Church in Dundee, Scotland, who died at age 29 in 1843. The year before his death, he wrote a calendar for his congregation called "Daily Bread" so families could read the Bible together at home and in church. Almost two centuries later, that calendar is still one of the most widely used reading plans in the English-speaking world. Pastors like D.A. Carson have built devotional commentaries around it (his two-volume For the Love of God follows the M'Cheyne calendar day by day).

The plan is loved because it does something most plans don't: it brings the whole Bible into conversation with itself every single day. You'll read a passage from a Gospel alongside something from the Law, or a Psalm next to an Epistle. The connections start jumping off the page.

How the M'Cheyne Plan Works

Each day you read four chapters, organized into two "family" readings (intended for morning) and two "secret" readings (intended for private devotion in the evening):

• Reading 1: Old Testament narrative (Genesis, Joshua, Samuel, etc.)
• Reading 2: New Testament Gospel or Acts
• Reading 3: Old Testament wisdom or prophecy (Job, Psalms, Isaiah, etc.)
• Reading 4: New Testament Epistle or Revelation

By December 31, you've covered all 66 books — Old Testament once, and the New Testament plus Psalms twice. Total daily time is roughly 20 to 25 minutes if you read at a normal pace.

If four chapters a day feels like too much, M'Cheyne himself suggested an alternative: do only the two "family" readings and complete the whole Bible in two years instead of one.

Pros and Cons of the M'Cheyne Plan

What works:

• Variety prevents the slog you can hit when reading straight through Leviticus or Numbers
• Cross-pollination between testaments builds biblical theology naturally
• Reading Psalms twice a year is genuinely formative
• Built-in flexibility (one or two sittings per day)

What's hard:

• Four chapters is a real commitment — easy to fall behind
• Jumping between four different storylines can feel scattered at first
• No "off" days built in, so missing one means catching up four chapters

If the four-chapter pace feels heavy, a one-chapter-per-section approach (or our standard Bible In A Year plan, which uses one daily reading) may serve you better. Bible In A Year tracks your streak and sends a single daily reminder, which works well for people new to consistent reading.

Tips for Sticking With It

1. Pick your two times now. Coffee in the morning, lights-out at night. Don't leave it to chance.
2. Read aloud when possible. It slows you down and helps the connections land.
3. Keep a one-line journal. A single sentence per day on what stood out. No pressure to write more.
4. Skip the catch-up trap. If you fall behind three days, don't try to read 12 chapters on Saturday. Just pick up today's reading and move on.
5. Pair it with a commentary. Carson's For the Love of God is the classic pairing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many chapters does the M'Cheyne plan cover per day?

Four chapters total — two in the morning ("family" readings) and two in the evening ("secret" readings). The morning readings tend to be narrative, and the evening readings lean toward wisdom literature and the Epistles.

Is the M'Cheyne plan good for beginners?

It's ambitious for a first-year reader. If you've never finished a Bible reading plan before, a single-reading-per-day plan like Bible In A Year is usually a better on-ramp. Try M'Cheyne in year two or three once daily reading is a habit.

Can I do the M'Cheyne plan in two years instead of one?

Yes — M'Cheyne himself recommended this option. Read only the two "family" passages each day and you'll cover the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms once over two years.

What's the difference between the M'Cheyne plan and a chronological plan?

A chronological plan rearranges the Bible into the order events happened. The M'Cheyne plan keeps books mostly in canonical order but reads from four different sections of Scripture each day, so you're constantly seeing the Old and New Testaments in dialogue.