Starts Palm Sunday, 21 March 2027 · 8 days · About 10 minutes a day

Holy Week Bible Reading Plan: 8 Days from Palm Sunday to Easter Morning

This is a free 8-day Holy Week reading plan and Easter devotional for women — one guided session for each day, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday morning, about ten minutes each. It follows the week as the gospels tell it: the entry into Jerusalem that Jesus staged on purpose after three years of telling people to keep quiet (Matthew 21), the tables turned over in the court of the Gentiles, the greatest commandment, the woman with the alabaster jar who was the only person that week to take Him at His word, the foot-washing on Thursday, "it is finished" on Good Friday, the silence of the tomb on Saturday, and "He is not here" on Sunday. Friday's session does not console and Saturday's does not resolve; Sunday is where it turns. In 2027 the plan runs from 21 March to 28 March. It is written for women who want to keep the week rather than skip to the end of it, and it assumes nothing about what you already know.

Length: 8 days, Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday (21–28 March 2027)
Time per day: About 10 minutes
Passages: Matthew 21, 22, 26, 27, 28; John 13, 19
Translation: Berean Standard Bible (BSB)
Format: Read here, or listen in the app
Best for: Keeping Holy Week day by day; small groups; beginners welcome

The Holy Week reading schedule, day by day

Each session is written for its own day of the week and says so out loud, so start on Palm Sunday. If you find this mid-week, begin with today's session rather than day 1.

Day	Day of Holy Week	2027 date	Passage	Theme	Line to carry
1	Palm Sunday	21 Mar 2027	Matthew 21:1–11	He Staged It on Purpose	Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
2	Monday	22 Mar	Matthew 21:12–17	A House of Prayer	My house will be called a house of prayer.
3	Tuesday	23 Mar	Matthew 22:34–40	The Greatest Commandment	Love your neighbor as yourself.
4	Wednesday	24 Mar	Matthew 26:6–13	The Alabaster Jar	She has done a beautiful thing to Me.
5	Maundy Thursday	25 Mar	John 13:1–17, 34–35	He Washed Their Feet	I have set you an example, so that you should do as I have done for you.
6	Good Friday	26 Mar	John 19:16–30	It Is Finished	It is finished.
7	Holy Saturday	27 Mar	Matthew 27:57–66	The Silence of the Tomb	Sitting there opposite the tomb.
8	Easter Sunday	28 Mar 2027	Matthew 28:1–10	He Is Not Here	He is not here; He has risen, just as He said.

What this plan covers

The Holy Week plan follows Matthew's account, with John for Thursday and Friday. Palm Sunday takes the entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1–11) and the fact that Jesus arranged it deliberately, and that "hosanna" was a plea — save us now — for a rescue He didn't come to give. Monday is the cleansing of the temple (Matthew 21:12–17), read as a story about the court of the Gentiles, the one room where outsiders could pray. Tuesday is the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:34–40): asked for one, He gives two. Wednesday is the anointing at Bethany (Matthew 26:6–13), the alabaster jar that had to be broken to be used, and the one person who believed He would die. Maundy Thursday is the foot-washing (John 13), and the small word "so" in verse three. Good Friday is John 19:16–30 and the single Greek word tetelestai, paid in full, with the hyssop from the first Passover. Holy Saturday is the burial and the guard (Matthew 27:57–66), and the women sitting opposite the tomb doing nothing, on the day where most of us actually live. Easter Sunday is Matthew 28:1–10: the stone rolled away for the witnesses, not for Him; the angel sitting on it; "just as He said"; and women as the first witnesses. Every day follows the same seven movements — Arrive, Set out, Hear, Hear again, Consider, Pray, Carry — and ends with one line of scripture to take into the day.

Day 1 in full: Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:1–11)

This is the complete first session, exactly as it's read in the app. Every day of the plan follows this shape.

Arrive

Welcome. Palm Sunday.

This is the first morning of the most important week in the Christian year, and for eight days we are going to walk through it a day at a time.

Breathe in, slowly. And out.

Today's session is about something Jesus does that He had spent three years refusing to do.

Let the day wait. There is no hurry in any of this.

Set out

Here is the thing to have in mind, and it changes the whole scene.

Through the gospels, Jesus keeps telling people to be quiet about Him. Heal somebody, and He tells them not to say who did it. Ask Him directly whether He is the Messiah, and He answers sideways or tells the disciples to say nothing.

Scholars have a name for it — the messianic secret — and it runs for three years.

And then, on this Sunday, He arranges a public demonstration.

He sends two disciples ahead with instructions about a specific animal in a specific village, with a password to use if anybody asks. Then He rides into a city packed with Passover pilgrims, on that animal, and lets a crowd shout about it in the streets.

It is staged, deliberately, by somebody who had spent his whole ministry avoiding exactly this — and it gets Him killed within five days.

Hear: Matthew 21:1–11

Matthew, chapter twenty-one, from verse one.

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt beside her. Untie them and bring them to Me.

If anyone questions you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."

This took place to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet: "Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"

So the disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.

A massive crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed were shouting: "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"

When Jesus had entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?" The crowds replied, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

Hear again

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

That is a line from Psalm 118, sung at the festivals. The crowd is quoting scripture at Him as He rides past.

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

And the word before it, Hosanna, is not a cheer. In Hebrew it is hoshia-na, and it means: save us, now. It is a plea.

A question, and it is about what you are asking Him for this week.

If you shouted save us now, what would you be asking Him to save you from? Be specific rather than general.

Consider

Two things about this day, and the first is the staging.

He organised it. The animal was arranged in advance, with instructions and a form of words. The route was chosen. The timing was Passover week, when Jerusalem's population swelled several times over and the Roman garrison was reinforced because of it.

This is the one occasion in the gospels where Jesus deliberately makes a public claim about Himself in front of a crowd, and He does it in the most crowded week of the year, in the most sensitive city in the province, using an image every literate person present would recognise from Zechariah.

After three years of telling people to keep it quiet, He announces it — and then does not resist anything that follows.

The second thing is the crowd, and it is the sadder half.

Hosanna means save us now, and they meant it. They had a specific salvation in mind: an occupying army, a puppet king, and a hope that the man on the donkey was going to do something about both.

They laid their cloaks on the road, which is what you did for a king — there is a scene in the book of Kings where soldiers do exactly that for a new one.

So the shouting is genuine, and it is also a misunderstanding. They are asking for the right person to do the wrong job.

And within five days the enthusiasm has gone. Not because they were fickle in some uniquely shameful way, but because He turned out not to be what they had been shouting for. Anybody who has ever wanted God to do a particular thing, and got something else instead, knows the shape of that week from the inside.

Pray

Hosanna. Save us now. I am starting where the crowd started.

The thing you named. Ask Him for it plainly. There is nothing wrong with asking for the specific rescue you want — the crowd did, and He rode into the city anyway.

And if what You are doing is not what I asked for, keep me here through the week.

That is the harder prayer and it is the one this week will test.

Say it in your own words. Ask for the nerve to stay when it turns out differently.

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Amen.

Carry

The line to carry today.

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

Say it once.

It is the crowd's line and it is entirely true, whatever they thought they were shouting about.

Eight mornings this week, one for each day. Tomorrow He goes into the temple and turns over the furniture.

For now — He arranged all of this on purpose. Go well.

Listen to Palm Sunday and the rest of the week in the app. Every session is read aloud, softly, over quiet music — about ten minutes each, one for every day from Palm Sunday to Easter.

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Days 2–8: what each day is about

Short summaries of the remaining sessions. Each full session is around a thousand words and takes about ten minutes to listen to.

Day 2 · Monday: A House of Prayer (Matthew 21:12–17)

“My house will be called a house of prayer.”

You need to picture the building. The temple was a series of courts, each further in and open to fewer people, and the largest of all was the outer one — the court of the Gentiles, the one room where an outsider could pray. That is the room the market was in. He isn't objecting to trade; the money changers were performing a needed service. He's objecting to a religion that had monetised its own front door. And the first thing that happens in the cleared space is healing.

Day 3 · Tuesday: The Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:34–40)

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Which is the greatest commandment? sounds innocent and was a trap: 613 commands, and whatever He picked He'd be leaving something out. He's asked for one and gives two in the same breath — one from the centre of daily prayer, one from the small print of Leviticus — and says everything hangs on them, like a door on its hinges. And He answers properly, giving more than was asked, to a man who came hoping He'd fail.

Day 4 · Wednesday: The Alabaster Jar (Matthew 26:6–13)

“She has done a beautiful thing to Me.”

Dinner in the house of Simon the Leper, two miles from a city that has turned hostile. A woman walks in with a sealed alabaster flask — you had to snap the neck off, and once you had, you couldn't stop. She is the only person in the entire week who behaves as though He is going to die. Oil on the head is what you do to a king; oil on the body is what you do to a corpse. She does both at once, days early, in front of people who think she's ridiculous.

Day 5 · Maundy Thursday: He Washed Their Feet (John 13:1–17, 34–35)

“I have set you an example, so that you should do as I have done for you.”

There was no servant in the room, so the twelve had all walked past the bowl and the towel and sat down — and, Luke says, argued about which of them was greatest. Then one small word in verse three: Jesus knew that all things had been delivered into His hands, so He got up. Not although. Only someone entirely secure can kneel without feeling they've lost something. And Judas's feet were in that basin.

Day 6 · Good Friday: It Is Finished (John 19:16–30)

“It is finished.”

Tetelestai — one word in Greek, found written across the bottom of ancient receipts. Paid in full. Not the sound of a man saying I am finished. This session doesn't console: a man is dead, His mother is watching, and nothing about the morning should feel resolved. But the last verb is active. He gave up His spirit; it was not taken. It was not a defeat, and He did not say that it was.

Day 7 · Holy Saturday: The Silence of the Tomb (Matthew 27:57–66)

“Sitting there opposite the tomb.”

The gospels give this day almost nothing, and the church has kept it for two thousand years without ever trying to fill it. It was a Sabbath: the law required them to sit still on the worst day of their lives, and none of them spent it expecting Sunday. The women sit opposite the tomb and do nothing. Saturday is where most of us actually live — after the loss, before whatever comes next. It is in the Bible on purpose. This session does not resolve.

Day 8 · Easter Sunday: He Is Not Here (Matthew 28:1–10)

“He is not here; He has risen, just as He said.”

The angel rolls the stone away and then sits on it, like a man on a garden wall. The stone was never moved to let Jesus out; He was already gone. It was moved so the women could see in — a door for the witnesses. Then four words that carry the whole week: just as He said. And the first witnesses are women, whose testimony wouldn't have been accepted in court, and His first word on the first Easter morning is the ordinary Greek hello.

How to use this Holy Week plan

Start on Palm Sunday. The sessions are dated and name the day. This is the one plan on the site you shouldn't start mid-week from day 1.
Morning, before the day. Friday's and Saturday's sessions in particular are written to be sat with, not resolved. Give them the morning.
With a friend. You're on the same day by definition. Wednesday's line — she has done a beautiful thing to Me — is the one to send.
With a small group or church. One session a day for the week, or a meeting on Wednesday (the alabaster jar) and one on Holy Saturday (the silence).
After Easter. The Psalms of Ascent (the pilgrim songs sung on the way up to Jerusalem for the feasts) and the Gospel of John walk are the natural next plans.

Frequently asked questions

When does the Holy Week reading plan start?

On Palm Sunday, and it ends on Easter Sunday morning — eight days. In 2027 that's 21 to 28 March. The sessions name the days of the week out loud, so it has to start on the right Sunday; it isn't a plan you can begin mid-week.

What if I find it after Palm Sunday?

Start on the day you're on. Each session is for its own day of Holy Week, so joining on Wednesday and doing Wednesday's session is right; catching up on the earlier ones is optional. Don't skip ahead to Sunday.

How long is each day?

About ten minutes. Each session is a short guided reading of roughly a thousand words: you arrive, hear the passage, sit with one line, consider it, pray, and carry one sentence into the day.

Is this a Lent devotional?

No — it's the last eight days only, Palm Sunday to Easter. It works on its own or as the final week of a Lent plan.

Why don't Good Friday and Holy Saturday end on a hopeful note?

Because the week doesn't. Friday's session does not console and Saturday's does not resolve; that matches how the church has kept those days for two thousand years. Sunday is where it turns, and it only works if the two days before it are allowed to stand.

Is it suitable for beginners?

Yes. The background you need — how the temple courts were laid out, what an alabaster flask was, why nobody had washed anyone's feet — is given inside each session.

Which Bible translation is used?

The Berean Standard Bible (BSB). Every session works with any translation you already read.

Do I need the app?

No. The schedule and Palm Sunday's session are here in full. In the HER Hallow app you can listen to all eight days read aloud with music, about ten minutes each.

Can I do it with a group?

Yes. Because it's dated, everyone is on the same day. It works well for a small group meeting on Wednesday (the alabaster jar) or Saturday (the silence), and for a church sending one session a day during Holy Week.

Holy Week, read aloud to you. The HER Hallow app has this walk and twelve others — Bible reading plans for women you can listen to, ten minutes a day.

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Written by the HER Hallow team.