Lent Reading Plan 2027: One Chapter a Day from Ash Wednesday to Easter
By the ItsBible team · Updated November 8, 2026 · Facts checked November 8, 2026 · How we check our guides
Lent 2027 begins on Ash Wednesday, February 10, and Easter Sunday falls on March 28. This plan gives you one chapter of the Bible for each day from Ash Wednesday to Easter morning, in the World English Bible, with every reading linked to its chapter on ItsBible, where the whole Bible is free to read.
It starts with turning back to God, goes out into the wilderness, walks through mercy, thirst, light and new life, and spends Holy Week with Jesus in Jerusalem, reading the Gospel of Mark. Most chapters take only a few minutes.
Lent 2027 dates
| Day | Date |
|---|---|
| Ash Wednesday | Wednesday, February 10, 2027 |
| First Sunday in Lent | Sunday, February 14 |
| Palm Sunday | Sunday, March 21 |
| Maundy Thursday | Thursday, March 25 |
| Good Friday | Friday, March 26 |
| Holy Saturday | Saturday, March 27 |
| Easter Sunday | Sunday, March 28, 2027 |
Ash Wednesday always falls 46 days before Easter. Orthodox churches follow a different calendar, and their Easter (Pascha) in 2027 is on May 2.
Why forty days?
Lent echoes the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2). Moses spent forty days and nights on the mountain (Exodus 34:28), and Elijah walked forty days and nights to Horeb (1 Kings 19:8). You will read all three in the first full week.
Count from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday and you get 46 days. Many churches do not count the six Sundays, since every Sunday is a small celebration of Easter, and that leaves forty. In this plan every day has a reading, Sundays included, but if you would rather keep Sundays lighter, skip them or use them to catch up.
How the plan works
- One chapter a day, most of them short.
- Each week has a theme: turning back, the wilderness, coming home, thirst, light, new life, and the last week in Jerusalem.
- Sundays read with church. Each Sunday’s chapter holds a Gospel reading set for that day in the Revised Common Lectionary, which many churches follow. This year its Palm Sunday readings come from Mark, which is why Holy Week here follows Mark.
- Nothing to sign up for. Reading on ItsBible is free and needs no account. If a reminder helps, you can get the verse of the day by email, with a link to stop in every message. It is one verse, not this plan.
Ash Wednesday to Saturday: Return, February 10 to 13
Many churches mark foreheads with ashes on Ash Wednesday, often with words drawn from Genesis 3:19: “you are dust, and you shall return to dust.” These first four chapters all hold readings set for Ash Wednesday itself.
| Day | Reading | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Wed, Feb 10 (Ash Wednesday) | Joel 2 | God says, “turn to me with all your heart” (verse 12), and “Tear your heart and not your garments” (verse 13). |
| Thu, Feb 11 | Psalm 51 | A prayer after doing wrong: “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (verse 10). |
| Fri, Feb 12 | Isaiah 58 | The fast God wants: “to let the oppressed go free” and to share your bread with the hungry (verses 6 and 7). |
| Sat, Feb 13 | Matthew 6 | Giving, praying and fasting in secret, “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (verse 21). |
Week 1: The wilderness, February 14 to 20
Lent’s forty days echo the wilderness, so this week reads the Bible’s stories of forty days one after another.
| Day | Reading | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Sun, Feb 14 | Mark 1 | Jesus was “in the wilderness forty days” (verse 13), then began: “Repent, and believe in the Good News” (verse 15). Verses 9 to 15 are set for today. |
| Mon, Feb 15 | Matthew 4 | The longer account of the forty days, and the three temptations. |
| Tue, Feb 16 | Deuteronomy 8 | Israel’s forty years, and the line Jesus quotes in the desert: “man does not live by bread only” (verse 3). |
| Wed, Feb 17 | Exodus 34 | Moses spends forty days on the mountain (verse 28) and hears God named “merciful and gracious” (verse 6). |
| Thu, Feb 18 | 1 Kings 19 | Elijah, worn out, walks forty days to Horeb and meets God in “a still small voice” (verse 12). |
| Fri, Feb 19 | Psalm 91 | The psalm the tempter quotes to Jesus (Matthew 4:6), and a prayer of trust in its own right. |
| Sat, Feb 20 | Jonah 3 | “In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!” (verse 4). The city turns, and God relents (verse 10). |
Week 2: Coming home, February 21 to 27
Stories and prayers of people who turn back, and find mercy already waiting.
| Day | Reading | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Sun, Feb 21 | Mark 8 | “Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (verse 34). Verses 31 to 38 are set for today. |
| Mon, Feb 22 | Luke 15 | Three stories of lost things found. Watch the father run (verse 20). |
| Tue, Feb 23 | Psalm 32 | “Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven” (verse 1), and the relief of finally owning up (verse 5). |
| Wed, Feb 24 | Hosea 11 | God as a parent who taught a child to walk (verse 3): “I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love” (verse 4). |
| Thu, Feb 25 | Luke 18 | Two men pray in the temple. One says only, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (verse 13). |
| Fri, Feb 26 | Psalm 103 | “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (verse 12). |
| Sat, Feb 27 | Luke 19 | Zacchaeus climbs a tree to see Jesus and comes down a changed man, because “the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (verse 10). |
Week 3: Thirst, February 28 to March 6
Water, bread, and the deeper longing underneath them.
| Day | Reading | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Sun, Feb 28 | John 2 | Water turned into wine at a wedding, then Jesus clears the temple. Verses 13 to 22 are set for today. |
| Mon, Mar 1 | Exodus 17 | Thirsty in the desert, the people ask, “Is Yahweh among us, or not?” (verse 7). |
| Tue, Mar 2 | John 4 | A long talk at a well about living water: whoever drinks it “will never thirst again” (verse 14). |
| Wed, Mar 3 | Psalm 42 | “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God” (verse 1). |
| Thu, Mar 4 | John 6 | Bread for about five thousand people, and “I am the bread of life” (verse 35). One of the longest readings. |
| Fri, Mar 5 | Isaiah 55 | “Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters!” (verse 1), even if you have no money. |
| Sat, Mar 6 | Psalm 63 | A psalm from the desert of Judah: “My soul thirsts for you” (verse 1). |
Week 4: Light, March 7 to 13
Seeing clearly, and being seen.
| Day | Reading | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Sun, Mar 7 | John 3 | “For God so loved the world” (verse 16), and “the light has come into the world” (verse 19). Verses 14 to 21 are set for today. |
| Mon, Mar 8 | Numbers 21 | The story behind Sunday’s reading (John 3:14): a bronze serpent on a pole, and anyone bitten who looked at it lived (verse 9). |
| Tue, Mar 9 | Ephesians 2 | Paul’s short summary: “by grace you have been saved through faith” (verse 8). |
| Wed, Mar 10 | John 9 | A man born blind is healed and says, “though I was blind, now I see” (verse 25). |
| Thu, Mar 11 | Psalm 27 | “Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?” (verse 1). |
| Fri, Mar 12 | 1 Samuel 16 | Samuel learns to look past appearances: “man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart” (verse 7). |
| Sat, Mar 13 | 1 John 1 | “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (verse 5), and the promise of forgiveness in verse 9. |
Week 5: New life, March 14 to 20
As Easter comes closer, the readings turn to life coming out of death.
| Day | Reading | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Sun, Mar 14 | John 12 | Jesus says that “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone” (verse 24). Verses 20 to 33 are set for today. |
| Mon, Mar 15 | Ezekiel 37 | A valley of dry bones, and God’s question: “can these bones live?” (verse 3). |
| Tue, Mar 16 | John 11 | “I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus tells Martha (verse 25). Then “Jesus wept” (verse 35), and he calls Lazarus out of the tomb. |
| Wed, Mar 17 | Jeremiah 31 | A new covenant, written on the inside: “I will write it in their heart” (verse 33). |
| Thu, Mar 18 | Psalm 130 | “Out of the depths I have cried to you, Yahweh” (verse 1), and a soul that waits (verse 5). |
| Fri, Mar 19 | Romans 8 | Nothing “will be able to separate us from God’s love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (verse 39). |
| Sat, Mar 20 | Philippians 3 | Paul’s great wish: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection” (verse 10). |
Holy Week: Jerusalem, March 21 to 27
Holy Week follows Jesus through his last days in Jerusalem, mostly in Mark’s Gospel.
| Day | Reading | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Sun, Mar 21 (Palm Sunday) | Mark 11 | Jesus rides into Jerusalem to shouts of “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (verse 9). Verses 1 to 11 are set for today. |
| Mon, Mar 22 | Mark 12 | Hard questions in the temple, and the two great commandments: love God, and “love your neighbor as yourself” (verse 31). |
| Tue, Mar 23 | Philippians 2 | Paul on Jesus, who “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant” (verse 7). |
| Wed, Mar 24 | Isaiah 53 | The suffering servant: “by his wounds we are healed” (verse 5). |
| Thu, Mar 25 (Maundy Thursday) | Mark 14 | The last supper, the prayer in Gethsemane, “not what I desire, but what you desire” (verse 36), and the arrest. The longest reading in the plan. |
| Fri, Mar 26 (Good Friday) | Mark 15 | The trial, the cross and the burial. Jesus cries out the first line of Psalm 22 (verse 34). |
| Sat, Mar 27 (Holy Saturday) | Lamentations 3 | A day of waiting. Even this lament can say, “They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness” (verse 23). |
Easter Sunday, March 28
| Day | Reading | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Sun, Mar 28 (Easter Sunday) | Mark 16 | The women find the stone rolled back and hear, “He has risen! He is not here” (verse 6). |
If you want more on Easter Day, read John 20, where Mary Magdalene meets the risen Jesus by the tomb and goes to tell the disciples (verse 18).
If you want to keep going after Easter, read Acts, which picks up the story where the Gospels end. Its second chapter tells of the first Pentecost. ItsBible also has short reading plans you can follow with no account.
Starting late or missing days
Found this after February 10? Start with today’s date. Nothing breaks if you skip a chapter, and Sundays are a natural day to catch up. Lent is a season for coming back, not a test.
When it gets heavy
Some of these chapters are hard to read. Mark 15 is the crucifixion, and Lamentations 3 is grief. Go slowly, and stop when you need to. Every chapter on ItsBible is explained free, in plain words. For questions of your own, you can ask a few free questions every day, and every verse shown is the real text, so a verse that does not exist cannot appear. If you want more, Plus, the paid plan, lets you ask more questions and ask about any verse while you read.
Questions people ask
When is Ash Wednesday 2027?
Wednesday, February 10, 2027. Ash Wednesday always falls 46 days before Easter.
When is Easter 2027?
Sunday, March 28, 2027, for Catholic and Protestant churches. Orthodox churches celebrate Easter (Pascha) on May 2, 2027.
How long is Lent in 2027?
From Ash Wednesday, February 10, to Holy Saturday, March 27, is 46 days. Leave out the six Sundays and you have the forty days of Lent.
What are the Palm Sunday readings for 2027?
In churches that follow the Revised Common Lectionary, the reading for the palm procession is Mark 11:1 to 11 (or John 12:12 to 16), and the Passion reading is Mark 14:1 to 15:47.
Do I have to read on Sundays during Lent?
No. Many churches do not count Sundays in the forty days of Lent. Every Sunday in this plan has a reading, but you can skip it or use the day to catch up.
What should I read on Good Friday?
This plan reads Mark 15, Mark’s account of the cross. Many churches read the Passion from John’s Gospel on Good Friday, so you could also read John 18 and John 19.
Sources
- Year B, Lent 2027 readings, Revised Common Lectionary (Vanderbilt Divinity Library, text file) lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu
- Ash Wednesday 2027: the date, 46 days before Easter, and the Holy Week dates (Acad Calendar) acadcalendar.com