The HCSB One Minute Bible: The Heart of the Bible Arranged into 366 One-Minute Readings

By Holman Bible Publishers

The One Minute Bible takes the frustration out of daily Bible reading by carefully arranging the Scripture text into 366 daily one-minute readings that will inspire, encourage, and challenge you in your daily walk with the Lord. From Genesis to Revelation, you will discover new insights through these simple, yet profound readings, and each portion of Scripture has been carefully selected to keep the meaning and context of the message clear and concise.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BH Publishing Group
• Release date: Nov 1, 2003
• ISBN: 9781433601149

Book preview

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introductory Material

January

The Creation

The Fall

Cain and Abel

Noah and the Flood

Abraham

Jacob and Joseph

Job

February

Job

The Beatitudes

Love

Israel in Egypt; Moses

The Names of God

March

The Names of God

The Fruit of the Spirit/Attributes of God

The Plagues on Egypt

April

Jesus and the Passover

The Exodus

The Ten Commandments

May

The Law

Mothers and Wives

The Law

The Sermon on the Mount

June

The Golden Calf

The Attributes of God

Fathers and Husbands

Israel Tests God in the Desert

July

Balaam: Blessing and Judgment

Love the Lord Your God

Joshua and the Promised Land

Deborah, Samson, and the Judges

Ruth: Love and Loyalty

Jesus Says, I am

Samuel: The Last Judge

August

Saul: The First King of Israel

David: The Shepherd King

Solomon: The Wisest King

The Parables of Jesus

Solomon: Temple and Temptation

The Kingdom Divides

September

Elijah the Fiery Prophet

Jonah the Reluctant Prophet

The Prophets to Israel

Israel Goes Into Exile

Good King Hezekiah

The Prophets to Judah

Judah Goes Into Exile

The Fall and Restoration of Israel

Daniel Reads the Writing on the Wall

Israel Returns and Rebuilds

October

Nehemiah and Ezra: Walls and Worship

Esther: Jewish Queen of Persia

Malachi: Messenger of the Covenant

The Promise of Jesus' Coming

The Life and Teaching of Jesus

November

The Life and Teaching of Jesus

The Death and Resurrection of Jesus

The Birth and Growth of the Church

Give Thanks to the Lord

The Letters of Paul

December

The Letters of Paul

The Letter to the Hebrews

The Letter of James

The Letters of Peter

The Letters of John

The Letter of Jude

King Jesus Is Born

The End of the World

Bible Reading Plan-I

Bible Reading Plan-II

Scripture Index

Topical Index

Maps

Introduction to The One-Minute Bible™

Often the Bible is simply called the Book. This description conveys the enormous influence it has wielded first on Western civilization and now on the whole world. Law, literature, architecture, painting, music, morals, and religion all have been shaped by the Bible. It continues to be the world's best-selling book with sales exceeding one hundred million annually. The Bible has been translated into more than 1,000 languages and dialects.

While the Bible is called the Book, it is actually a library of 66 books written over a period of 1600 years by more than 40 authors as diverse as one could imagine. Yet from these very different times, places, cultures, and literary forms emerges a coherent theme of God's creation of the universe.

In the last letter Paul wrote, he reminded his young colleague Timothy that all Scripture is inspired by God. God superintended that both the writing and the preservation of these writings have God as their author, salvation as their end, and inerrant truth for their content.

Because the Bible is God's word, it has evoked the same hostility as God's prophets and God's Son, Jesus Christ. The Roman Emperor Diocletian attempted to destroy the Scriptures. In A.D. 303 he issued an edict that both church buildings and the Scriptures be burned. Many manuscripts of the New Testament were lost during this persecution. But only 25 years after Diocletian's attack on the Bible, the new Emperor Constantine ordered 50 copies of the Scriptures to be produced at the expense of the Roman government.

Reading the Bible

We praise the Bible but often stop short of reading it. Perhaps our first attempts at reading it were far from satisfying. We are like someone who is inspired to take up golf after watching a professional sink a 30-foot putt. The novice golfer soon realizes there is a price to be paid to play golf with the skill of the men and women on the PGA tour. One must begin working on one-foot putts and then build on that.

The Bible is a difficult book for several reasons. In terms of sheer number of pages, it is a huge book. The Bible takes as many pages as four large novels. As we have already noted, the Bible was written in different times, places, cultures, and genres by writers of widely different personalities. We begin reading a passage, and soon feel like the Ethiopian official whom Philip addressed in Acts 8:30-31: Do you understand what you're reading?

How can I, he said, unless someone guides me?

The One-Minute Bible gives guidance by providing a portion of Scripture that can be read in one minute. Now that's doable. A one-minute reading is given for each day of the year. These Scripture portions have been carefully chosen to provide the reader with

Selections relating to every principal event in the Bible

Readings on every primary Bible topic and theme

Verses that deal with every major Christian doctrine

All of the most-beloved passages of Scripture.

Taking just one minute a day, you can survey the heart of the Bible in one year. Each day of the year, from January 1 through December 31, is indicated at the top of each page. Using this daily approach, if you should miss a week, it will take you only seven minutes to get back on track. If you miss half a month, you can catch up in 15 minutes.

Although this calendar can guide you through a one-year reading plan, don't limit yourself to starting in January or reading one page a day. The related texts at the bottom of each page allow you to go deeper into a topic by directing you to nearly 1,800 passages of Scripture that will further your understanding of the topics covered in that day's reading. Many of these texts are in The One-Minute Bible, and you can find them by means of the Scripture Index found on pages 403-410. However, we recommend that you look up these verses in a full-text Bible so that you can read even more of the context surrounding the focal passage.

Topical Headings and Organization

The One-Minute Bible begins with the first verse of Genesis and ends with the last verse of Revelation. Readings follow the general flow of biblical history, interlaced with several topical series such as two weeks for Easter in April and a week for mothers in May. (A two-page Table of Contents precedes this introduction.) Some readings reproduce an entire passage of Scripture, such as Psalm 2 on December 22. Often, several passages are combined to show the whole spectrum of biblical teaching on a given topic.

For example, on January 1, Genesis 1:1-2 introduces you to the Bible itself and to creation in particular. John 1:1-5 introduces you to Jesus—the Word—through whom all things were created. Psalm 148:1-6 invites you to praise the Lord as the Creator. January 2 continues the creation account with five texts enlarging on the theme of light.

Blocks of text from different Bible passages are separated by a full space; Scripture references are listed at the end of each reading. The text follows the wording, paragraphing, and poetic formatting of the Holman Christian Standard Bible®. On occasions proper nouns have

been substituted for pronouns to make the selection clearer. We want you to know when Jesus is speaking so we inserted [Jesus said,] into such readings as Matthew 11:28-30 on March 24.

The 700 selected scriptures and 1,800 related texts were chosen to represent the key themes of the Bible from each of its 66 books. Great care was taken to ensure that each text has the same meaning in The One-Minute Bible that it has in its larger context in the Holy Bible.

Each month is introduced by a selection of quotations on the importance of the Bible—34 quotations from international leaders in politics and religion, key figures in the arts, sciences, and humanities.

Indexes

The One-Minute Bible guides you through an overview of the Bible in daily one-minute readings. Immediately following the last reading are two daily reading plans that will guide you through the entire Bible in a year. The morning and evening schedule (Plan I) offers readings from both the Old and New Testaments for each day of the year. The chronological schedule (Plan II) takes the reader through the Bible in historical order.

More than 450 key topics and personalities are indexed in the Topical Index found on pages 411-416. With this index you can find every reference to comfort, salvation, or the names of God found in The One-Minute Bible. If you want to study any word more thoroughly, we recommend the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. The Scripture Index, mentioned above, locates every text printed in The One-Minute Bible.

For more information on the geographical setting of the Bible, we recommend the Holman Bible Atlas or the Holman QuickSource Guide: Atlas of Bible Lands.

About the Translation

All Scriptures are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®(HCSB®), a translation of the full Bible completed in 2003. Each translator of the HCSB® believes the Bible is God's inspired word, inerrant in the original manuscripts. The goals of this translation are

• To provide English-speaking people across the world with an accurate, readable Bible in contemporary English

• To equip serious Bible students with an accurate translation for personal study, private devotions, and memorization

• To give those who love God's word a text that is easy to read, visually attractive on the page, and appealing when heard

• To affirm the authority of the Scriptures as God's inerrant word and to champion its absolutes against cultural or social agendas that would compromise its accuracy

"‘Blessed Lord,

who hast caused

all Holy Scriptures

to be written for

our learning;

Grant that we may…

hear them, read, mark,

learn and inwardly

digest them."

Book of Common Prayer

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January 1

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In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.

Hallelujah!

Praise the LORD from the heavens;

praise Him in the heights.

Praise Him, all His angels;

praise Him, all His hosts.

Praise Him, sun and moon;

praise Him, all you shining stars.

Praise Him, highest heavens,

and you waters above the heavens.

Let them praise the name of the LORD,

for He commanded, and they were created.

He set them in position forever and ever;

He gave an order that will never pass away.

GENESIS 1:1-2; JOHN 1:1-5; PSALM 148:1-6

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Related texts: PSALMS 102:25-28; 139:13-18; PROVERBS 8; ISAIAH 40:12-31; 45:18-25; HEBREWS 11:1-3

January 2

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Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and He called the darkness night. Evening came, and then morning: the first day.

LORD, YOU are my lamp;

the LORD illuminates my darkness.

The LORD is my light and my salvation—

whom should I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life—

of whom should I be afraid?

Then Jesus spoke to them again: I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.

There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. Night will no longer exist, and people will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever.

GENESIS 1:3-5; 2 SAMUEL 22:29; PSALM 27:1; JOHN 8:12; REVELATION 22:3-5

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Related texts: LEVITICUS 24:1-4; JOB 24:13-17; 38:8-20; JOHN 3:19-21; 1 JOHN 1:5-8

January 3

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Then God said, Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water. So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse sky. Evening came, and then morning: the second day.

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.

Day after day they pour out speech;

night after night they communicate knowledge.

There is no speech; there are no words;

their voice is not heard.

I will praise You, Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to You among the nations.

For Your faithful love is as high as the heavens;

Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

God, be exalted above the heavens;

let Your glory be over the whole earth.

He made the earth by His power,

established the world by His wisdom,

and spread out the heavens by His understanding.

When He thunders,

the waters in the heavens are in turmoil,

and He causes the clouds to rise

from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightning for the rain

and brings the wind from His storehouses.

GENESIS 1:6-8; PSALMS 19:1-3; 57:9-11; JEREMIAH 10:12-13

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Related texts: 1 CHRONICLES 16:23-31; JOB 38:22-38; PSALM 102:25-28; ACTS 1:1-12

January 4

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Then God said, Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so. God called the dry land earth, and He called the gathering of the water seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it, according to their kinds. And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it, according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Evening came, and then morning: the third day.

Do you not fear Me? This is the LORD'S declaration.

Do you not tremble before Me,

the One who set the sand as the boundary of the sea,

an enduring barrier that it cannot cross?

The waves surge, but they cannot prevail.

They roar but cannot pass over it.

He causes grass to grow for the livestock

and provides crops for man to cultivate,

producing food from the earth,

wine that makes man's heart glad—

making his face shine with oil—

and bread that sustains man's heart.

GENESIS 1:9-13; JEREMIAH 5:22; PSALM 104:14-15

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Related texts: JOB 12:7-12; 38:8:11; PSALM 104; REVELATION 20:11–21:4; 22:1-3

January 5

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Then God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years. They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth. And it was so.

God made the two great lights—the greater light to have dominion over the day and the lesser light to have dominion over the night—as well as the stars. God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. Evening came, and then morning: the fourth day.

I did not see a sanctuary in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its sanctuary. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God's glory illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

Each day its gates will never close because it will never be night there. They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. Nothing profane will ever enter it: no one who does what is vile or false, but only those written in the Lamb's book of life.

GENESIS 1:14-19; REVELATION 21:22-27

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Related texts: NEHEMIAH 9:5-6; JOB 9:1-9; PSALMS 19:1-6; 104:19-23; PROVERBS 4:18-19; EPHESIANS 5:8-16

January 6

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Then God said, Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky. So God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So God blessed them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth. Evening came, and then morning: the fifth day.

How countless are Your works, LORD!

In wisdom You have made them all;

the earth is full of Your creatures.

Here is the sea, vast and wide,

teeming with creatures beyond number—

living things both large and small.

There the ships move about,

and Leviathan, which You formed to play there.

All of them wait for You

to give them their food at the right time.

When You give it to them, they gather it;

when You open Your hand, they are satisfied with

good things.

GENESIS 1:20-23; PSALM 104:24-28

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Related texts: PSALMS 104:11-18; 148:7-12; MATTHEW 6:25-33; 10:29-31; REVELATION 5:11-13

January 7

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Then God said, Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds. And it was so. So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices

or for your burnt offerings, which are continually

before Me.

I will not accept a bull from your household

or male goats from your pens,

for every animal of the forest is Mine,

the cattle on a thousand hills.

I know every bird of the mountains,

and the creatures of the field are Mine.

If I were hungry, I would not tell you,

for the world and everything in it is Mine.

Do I eat the flesh of bulls

or drink the blood of goats?

Sacrifice a thank offering to God,

and pay your vows to the Most High.

Call on Me in a day of trouble;

I will rescue you, and you will honor Me.

GENESIS 1:24-25; PSALM 50:8-15

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Related texts: GENESIS 9:1-3; PSALM 8; PROVERBS 12:10; ISAIAH 11:1-10; 65:17-25

January 8

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Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.

So God created man in His own image;

He created him in the image of God;

He created them male and female.

God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.

God also said, Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food. And it was so.

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came, and then morning: the sixth day.

GENESIS 1:26-31

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Related texts: GENESIS 2:4-25; 9:6-7; PSALM 8;

1 CORINTHIANS 6:1-4; 2 CORINTHIANS 4:4-6; COLOSSIANS

1:9-20; 3:5-10

January 9

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So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. By the seventh day, God completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.

Remember to dedicate the Sabbath day. For the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

On the Sabbath He was going through the grain-fields, and His disciples began to make their way picking some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to Him, Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?

And He said to them, Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and his companions: how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the sacred bread—which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests—and also gave some to his companions?

Then He told them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.

GENESIS 2:1-3; EXODUS 20:8, 11; MARK 2:23-28

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Related texts: EXODUS 16:11-30; PSALM 62:1-5; MATTHEW 11:25-30; MARK 6:30-32; HEBREWS 4:1-4

January 10

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Then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. And the LORD God commanded the man, You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.

Then the LORD God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is like him.

But for the man no helper was found who was like him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. Then the LORD God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. And the man said:

This one, at last, is bone of my bone,

and flesh of my flesh;

this one will be called woman,

for she was taken from man.

This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.

Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.

GENESIS 2:7, 15-18, 20b-25

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Related texts: GENESIS 1:26-29; MATTHEW 19:1-12; MARK 10:1-12; 1 CORINTHIANS 6:15–7:40

January 11

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LORD, our Lord,

how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth!

You have covered the heavens with Your majesty.

Because of Your adversaries, You have established a

stronghold

from the mouths of children and nursing infants,

to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I observe Your heavens, the work of Your

fingers,

the moon and the stars, which You set in place,

what is man that You remember him,

the son of man that You look after him?

You made him little less than God

and crowned him with glory and honor.

You made him lord over the works of Your hands;

You put everything under his feet:

all the sheep and oxen,

as well as animals in the wild,

birds of the sky,

and fish of the sea

passing through the currents of the seas.

O LORD, our Lord,

how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth!

PSALM 8

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Related texts: GENESIS 1–2; MATTHEW 21:16; HEBREWS 2:5-9

January 12

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Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, Did God really say, ‘You can't eat from any tree in the garden’?

The woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’

No! You will not die, the serpent said to the woman. In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

GENESIS 3:1-8

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Related texts: EZEKIEL 28:13-19; ROMANS 5:12-19; 1 TIMOTHY 2:11-15; JAMES 1:12-15

January 13

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So the LORD God called out to the man and said to him, Where are you?

And he said, I heard You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.

Then He asked, Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I had commanded you not to eat from?

Then the man replied, The woman You gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.

So the LORD God asked the woman, What is this you have done?

And the woman said, It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate. Then the LORD God said to the serpent:

Because you have done this,

you are cursed more than any livestock

and more than any wild animal.

You will move on your belly

and eat dust all the days of your life.

I will put hostility between you and the woman,

and between your seed and her seed.

He will strike your head,

and you will strike his heel.

He said to the woman:

I will intensify your labor pains;

you will bear children in anguish.

Your desire will be for your husband,

yet he will dominate you.

GENESIS 3:9-16; ROMANS 8:1

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Related texts: DEUTERONOMY 32:1-6; ROMANS 3:9-18; REVELATION 12:9; 20:1-3, 7-15; 22:1-3

January 14

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And He said to Adam, "Because you listened to your wife's voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:

The ground is cursed because of you.

You will eat from it by means of painful labor

all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow

until you return to the ground,

since you were taken from it.

For you are dust,

and you will return to dust."

Adam named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living. The LORD God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.

The LORD God said, Since man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, and also take from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever. So