One-year NETS LXX Bible Reading Plan

The reading plan below is intended for use with the New English Translation of the Septuagint, edited by Albert Pietersma and Ben Wright for Oxford University Press (available here), specifically for an Orthodox reader.

A few notes of explanation are in order. As the NETS is a scholarly translation not designed for liturgical but for academic use, the plan below is necessarily selective in the choice of texts in those instances when multiple text traditions are translated in the NETS (e.g., the Old Greek and Alpha texts of Esther, or the Alexandrinus and Vaticanus texts of Judges). In general, I have selected the text which is considered traditional in Orthodox circles. This criterion is guided by the long acceptance and use of the text of Codex Alexandrinus in the monastic communities of Mount Athos, the Holy Mountain, the Garden of the Virgin. The text of Daniel chosen is the Theodotionic text, which through whatever mechanism became the dominant text of Sousanna/Daniel/Bel and the Dragon in the Septuagint tradition. The sole exception to this rule is my preference for the longer and demonstrably original GII text of Tobit, which is found in Sinaiticus and elsewhere. The more familiar, shorter text is obviously an abridgement of the richer text.

Like the NRSV reading plans I’ve put together, this one includes dates for daily readings for years beginning on both 1 January and 1 September (which is the beginning of the Orthodox ecclesiastical year). This NETS reading plan is based directly upon the NRSV OT with Apocrypha plan devised by Esteban Vázquez, which was itself a welcome refinement based upon my earlier plans.

I will be very grateful for any adjustments suggested by readers.