“America Reads the Bible,” a weeklong event in Washington, D.C., began over the weekend. Daily readings will be held from 9 am to 9 pm and will include hundreds of leaders and more than 115 ministries.
“For generations, the biblical story of Nehemiah has echoed as a call to rebuild not just walls, but hearts. A scribe named Ezra, burdened by God, reawakened the people to their identity and calling through a national reading of God’s law. Soon after, Nehemiah rallied the nation to fully rebuild their defenses in just 52 days,” a video for the event says. “Today, America faces its own moment of decision. A culture adrift, leadership gaps across every sphere, families fractured, faith forgotten. In ancient Israel, it wasn’t just Nehemiah who led, it was also Ezra, a scribe who stood before the people and read the word of God aloud. As scripture returned, revival followed.”
On April 21, President Trump is scheduled to read 2 Chronicles 7:11–22, the organization said. The passage includes the verse: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Ahead of the event’s launch, President Trump issued a proclamation honoring 250 years of the Bible in the United States. “From Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World and the first permanent English-speaking settlement at Jamestown to our founding in 1776 and to the present day, the Bible has been indelibly woven into our national identity and way of life,” the statement reads, going on to detail that Christian settlers in the nation were encouraged to “stand as a beacon of faith for all the world to see.”
