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Introducing the Gospel Perek Yomi
Submitted by Beth Immanuel on Mon, 09/26/2016 - 3:18pm
At Beth Immanuel, we have been focusing on forming good daily habits. In particular, we desire to cultivate daily prayer and study, daily giving, and regular attendance. As a part of this initiative, we have developed a daily reading program that will take you through the Gospels four times each year by reading one chapter per day.
We call this program Gospel Perek Yomi. Perek Yomi means "daily chapter." This system lines up beautifully with the Jewish calendar, and we hope it is widely adopted in other Messianic communities.
Starting on Tishrei 1, we begin our reading in Matthew 1. On Tishrei 2, read Matthew 2, and so on. After completing Matthew, we continue with Mark, Luke, and John. This cycle repeats every Tishrei 1, Tevet 1, Nisan 1, and Tammuz 1. On a leap year, we read one chapter of Acts per day during Adar II, splitting chapter 7 into two readings (1-29 and 30-60).
It's really that simple! (Well, almost.)
Between the four Gospels, there are 89 chapters. This works well with the Jewish calendar because in any set of three lunar months, there are either 88, 89, or 90 days. To stay in sync with the Jewish calendar, we only need to adjust the last chapter in the cycle (John 21):
- When you get to John 20, if it is the end of the month, go ahead and read chapter 21 also.
- If you get to John 21 and you have an extra day, split it into two readings: verses 1-14 and 14-24.
The Daily Reading App
To facilitate this process, we have developed a neat little web app that will allow you to read the daily Parashah, Psalms, and Gospel chapter while you're on the go. On a mobile device or desktop, just visit http://www.bethimmanuel.org/daily.
Once you're on the app, click the blue references to read the selection right there in the window. The Parashah and Psalms are available in Hebrew or English.
Easily move from day to day by swiping left or right (or clicking the left and right arrow buttons). You can share a permanent link to a specific day's readings by using the link icon on the bottom of the page.