The Berean Pursuit
These readings follow the schedule by Mark Roberts, which can be downloaded as a PDF from his website.
Joel and Matthew Williams recorded daily Bible readings 5 days a week in different translations for three years. The last two years of readings are provided as separate podcasts so you can choose which translation you want to listen to.
These recordings are from either the LEB (Lexham English Bible) recorded in 2015 or the NASB (New American Standard Bible) recorded in 2016.
This year, Joel is trying something different, with the BSB (Berean Standard Bible). He has a video podcast on YouTube and Spotify and you can listen to an audio version of it through other podcast apps.
2025's reading began on December 30, 2024. The current day's reading is Week 39, Day 2.
You can also keep track of your reading or even read in other translations at the full schedule.
This is the word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah:
"I will completely sweep away
everything from the face of the earth,"
declares the LORD.
"I will sweep away man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
and the idols with their wicked worshipers.
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth,"
declares the LORD.
"I will stretch out My hand against Judah
and against all who dwell in Jerusalem.
I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal,
the names of the idolatrous and pagan priests-
those who bow on the rooftops
to worship the host of heaven,
those who bow down and swear by the LORD
but also swear by Milcom,
and those who turn back
from following the LORD,
neither seeking the LORD
nor inquiring of Him."
Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD,
for the Day of the LORD is near.
Indeed, the LORD has prepared a sacrifice;
He has consecrated His guests.
"On the Day of the LORD's sacrifice
I will punish the princes,
the sons of the king,
and all who are dressed in foreign apparel.
On that day I will punish
all who leap over the threshold,
who fill the house of their master
with violence and deceit.
On that day," declares the LORD,
"a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second District,
and a loud crashing from the hills.
Wail, O dwellers of the Hollow,
for all your merchants will be silenced;
all who weigh out silver will be cut off.
And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish the men settled in complacency,
who say to themselves,
'The LORD will do nothing,
either good or bad.'
Their wealth will be plundered
and their houses laid waste.
They will build houses but not inhabit them,
and plant vineyards but never drink their wine.
The great Day of the LORD is near-
near and coming quickly.
Listen, the Day of the LORD!
Then the cry of the mighty will be bitter.
That day will be
a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of destruction and desolation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness,
a day of horn blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities,
and against the high corner towers.
I will bring such distress on mankind
that they will walk like the blind,
because they have sinned against the LORD.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their flesh like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to deliver them
on the Day of the LORD's wrath.
The whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of His jealousy."
For indeed, He will make a sudden end
of all who dwell on the earth.
Gather yourselves, gather together,
O shameful nation,
before the decree takes effect
and the day passes like chaff,
before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you,
before the Day of the LORD's anger comes upon you.
Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth
who carry out His justice.
Seek righteousness; seek humility.
Perhaps you will be sheltered
on the day of the LORD's anger.
For Gaza will be abandoned,
and Ashkelon left in ruins.
Ashdod will be driven out at noon,
and Ekron will be uprooted.
Woe to the dwellers of the seacoast,
O nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the LORD is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines:
"I will destroy you,
and no one will be left."
So the seacoast will become a land of pastures,
with wells for shepherds and folds for sheep.
The coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah;
there they will find pasture.
They will lie down in the evening
among the houses of Ashkelon,
for the LORD their God will attend to them
and restore their captives.
"I have heard the reproach of Moab
and the insults of the Ammonites,
who have taunted My people
and threatened their borders.
Therefore, as surely as I live,"
declares the LORD of Hosts,
the God of Israel,
"surely Moab will be like Sodom
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah-
a place of weeds and salt pits,
a perpetual wasteland.
The remnant of My people will plunder them;
the remainder of My nation will dispossess them."
This they shall have in return for their pride,
for taunting and mocking the people
of the LORD of Hosts.
The LORD will be terrifying to them
when He starves all the gods of the earth.
Then the nations of every shore
will bow in worship to Him,
each in its own place.
"You too, O Cushites,
will be slain by My sword."
And He will stretch out His hand against the north
and destroy Assyria;
He will make Nineveh a desolation,
as dry as a desert.
Herds will lie down in her midst,
creatures of every kind.
Both the desert owl and screech owl
will roost atop her pillars.
Their calls will sound from the window,
but desolation will lie on the threshold,
for He will expose the beams of cedar.
This carefree city
that dwells securely,
that thinks to herself:
"I am it, and there is none besides me,"
what a ruin she has become,
a resting place for beasts.
Everyone who passes by her
hisses and shakes his fist.
Woe to the city of oppressors,
rebellious and defiled!
She heeded no voice;
she accepted no correction.
She does not trust in the LORD;
she has not drawn near to her God.
Her princes are roaring lions;
her judges are evening wolves,
leaving nothing for the morning.
Her prophets are reckless,
faithless men.
Her priests profane the sanctuary;
they do violence to the law.
The LORD within her is righteous;
He does no wrong.
He applies His justice morning by morning;
He does not fail at dawn,
yet the unjust know no shame.
"I have cut off the nations;
their corner towers are destroyed.
I have made their streets deserted
with no one to pass through.
Their cities are laid waste,
with no man, no inhabitant.
I said, 'Surely you will fear Me
and accept correction.'
Then her dwelling place would not be cut off
despite all for which I punished her.
But they rose early
to corrupt all their deeds.
Therefore wait for Me,"
declares the LORD,
"until the day
I rise to testify.
For My decision is to gather nations,
to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them My indignation-
all My burning anger.
For all the earth will be consumed
by the fire of My jealousy.
For then I will restore
pure lips to the peoples,
that all may call upon the name of the LORD
and serve Him shoulder to shoulder.
From beyond the rivers of Cush
My worshipers, My scattered people,
will bring Me an offering.
On that day you will not be put to shame
for any of the deeds
by which you have transgressed against Me.
For then I will remove from among you
those who rejoice in their pride,
and you will never again be haughty
on My holy mountain.
But I will leave within you a meek and humble people,
and they will trust in the name of the LORD.
The remnant of Israel
will no longer do wrong or speak lies,
nor will a deceitful tongue
be found in their mouths.
But they will feed and lie down,
with no one to make them tremble."
Sing for joy, O Daughter of Zion;
shout aloud, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O Daughter of Jerusalem!
The LORD has taken away your punishment;
He has turned back your enemy.
Israel's King, the LORD, is among you;
no longer will you fear any harm.
On that day they will say to Jerusalem:
"Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands fall limp.
The LORD your God is among you;
He is mighty to save.
He will rejoice over you with gladness;
He will quiet you with His love;
He will rejoice over you with singing."
"I will gather those among you who grieve
over the appointed feasts,
so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
Behold, at that time,
I will deal with all who afflict you.
I will save the lame
and gather the scattered;
and I will appoint praise and fame
for the disgraced throughout the earth.
At that time I will bring you in;
yes, at that time I will gather you.
For I will give you fame and praise
among all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your captives
before your very eyes,"
says the LORD.
A Maskil of Asaph.
Why have You rejected us forever, O God?
Why does Your anger smolder
against the sheep of Your pasture?
Remember Your congregation,
which You purchased long ago
and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance-
Mount Zion where You dwell.
Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins,
to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed.
Your foes have roared within Your meeting place;
they have unfurled their banners as signs,
like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees
and smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks.
They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;
they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.
They said in their hearts,
"We will crush them completely."
They burned down every place
where God met us in the land.
There are no signs for us to see.
There is no longer any prophet.
And none of us knows how long this will last.
How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You?
Will the foe revile Your name forever?
Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand?
Stretch it out to destroy them!
Yet God is my King from ancient times,
working salvation on the earth.
You divided the sea by Your strength;
You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;
You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
You fed him to the creatures of the desert.
You broke open the fountain and the flood;
You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
The day is Yours, and also the night;
You established the moon and the sun.
You set all the boundaries of the earth;
You made the summer and winter.
Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD,
how a foolish people has spurned Your name.
Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts;
do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.
Consider Your covenant,
for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame;
may the poor and needy praise Your name.
Rise up, O God; defend Your cause!
Remember how the fool mocks You all day long.
Do not disregard the clamor of Your adversaries,
the uproar of Your enemies that ascends continually.
Now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the churches of Macedonia. In the terrible ordeal they suffered, their abundant joy and deep poverty overflowed into rich generosity. For I testify that they gave according to their ability and even beyond it. Of their own accord, they earnestly pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And not only did they do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, because it was the will of God.
So we urged Titus to help complete your act of grace, just as he had started it. But just as you excel in everything-in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in the love we inspired in you -see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not making a demand, but I am testing the sincerity of your love in comparison to the earnestness of others.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. And this is my opinion about what is helpful for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give, but even to have such a desire. Now finish the work, so that you may complete it just as eagerly as you began, according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
It is not our intention that others may be relieved while you are burdened, but that there may be equality. At the present time, your surplus will meet their need, so that in turn their surplus will meet your need. Then there will be equality. As it is written:
"He who gathered much had no excess,
and he who gathered little had no shortfall."
But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same devotion I have for you. For not only did he welcome our appeal, but he is eagerly coming to you of his own volition.
Along with Titus we are sending the brother who is praised by all the churches for his work in the gospel. More than that, this brother was chosen by the churches to accompany us with the offering -the gracious gift we administer to honor the Lord Himself and to show our eagerness to help.
We hope to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this generous gift. For we are taking great care to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men.
And we are sending along with them our brother whose earnestness has been proven many times and in many ways, and now even more so by his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you. As for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, to the glory of Christ. In full view of the churches, then, show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our boasting about you.