diff --git a/src/engine.rs b/src/engine.rs
index 7e61745..3e1ad01 100644
--- a/src/engine.rs
+++ b/src/engine.rs
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ impl Engine {
                 return Err(EditError::new("0|0000| must have hash 0000"));
             }
             match cmd {
-                Subcommand::Append(_) | Subcommand::Insert(_) => Ok(()),
+                Subcommand::Append(_) | Subcommand::Insert(_) | Subcommand::Read { .. } => Ok(()),
                 _ => Err(EditError::new("0|0000| is only valid with i or a")),
             }
         } else {
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ impl Engine {
             Subcommand::Dedent { levels } => self.dedent_range(start, end, *levels),
             Subcommand::Sort => self.sort_range(start, end),
             Subcommand::Print => self.print_range(start, end),
+            Subcommand::Read { path } => self.read_file(start, end, path),
         }
     }
 
@@ -467,6 +468,13 @@ impl Engine {
         Ok(())
     }
 
+    fn read_file(&mut self, start: usize, end: usize, path: &str) -> Result<(), EditError> {
+        let content = std::fs::read_to_string(path)
+            .map_err(|e| EditError::new(format!("failed to read file {path:?}: {e}")))?;
+        let lines: Vec<String> = content.lines().map(|l| l.to_string()).collect();
+        self.append_after(start, end, &lines)
+    }
+
     fn global(
         &mut self,
         start: usize,
diff --git a/src/parse.rs b/src/parse.rs
index 6df91fa..2c5d5bb 100644
--- a/src/parse.rs
+++ b/src/parse.rs
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ pub enum Subcommand {
     Dedent { levels: usize },
     Sort,
     Print,
+    Read { path: String },
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
@@ -160,10 +161,10 @@ where
             return Err(EditError::new("0|0000| is not allowed in ranges"));
         }
         match cmd {
-            Subcommand::Append(_) | Subcommand::Insert(_) => {}
+            Subcommand::Append(_) | Subcommand::Insert(_) | Subcommand::Read { .. } => {}
             _ => {
                 return Err(EditError::new(
-                    "0|0000| is only allowed with i or a",
+                    "0|0000| is only allowed with i, a, or r",
                 ))
             }
         }
@@ -253,6 +254,13 @@ where
             }
             Ok((Subcommand::Copy { dest }, ""))
         }
+        'r' => {
+            let path = rest.trim().to_string();
+            if path.is_empty() {
+                return Err(EditError::new("r requires a file path"));
+            }
+            Ok((Subcommand::Read { path }, ""))
+        }
         'g' => parse_global(rest, false, read_text),
         'v' => parse_global(rest, true, read_text),
         '>' => {
diff --git a/tests/test_exhash.py b/tests/test_exhash.py
index 35310ac..dc8efb1 100644
--- a/tests/test_exhash.py
+++ b/tests/test_exhash.py
@@ -159,3 +159,32 @@ def test_exhash_accepts_tuple_cmds():
     a1, a2 = lnhash(1, "a"), lnhash(2, "b")
     res = exhash(text, (f"{a1}s/a/A/", f"{a2}s/b/B/"))
     assert res["lines"] == ["A", "B"]
+
+def test_exhash_read_file(tmp_path):
+    src = tmp_path / "src.txt"
+    src.write_text("x\ny")
+    text = "a\nb\nc\n"
+    addr = lnhash(2, "b")
+    res = exhash(text, [f"{addr}r {src}"])
+    assert res["lines"] == ["a", "b", "x", "y", "c"]
+    assert res["modified"] == [3, 4]
+
+def test_exhash_read_file_at_zero(tmp_path):
+    src = tmp_path / "src.txt"
+    src.write_text("x\ny")
+    text = "a\nb\n"
+    res = exhash(text, ["0|0000|r " + str(src)])
+    assert res["lines"] == ["x", "y", "a", "b"]
+
+def test_exhash_read_file_not_found():
+    text = "a\nb\n"
+    addr = lnhash(1, "a")
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="failed to read"): exhash(text, [f"{addr}r /tmp/nonexistent_exhash_test.txt"])
+
+def test_exhash_read_file_with_other_cmds(tmp_path):
+    src = tmp_path / "src.txt"
+    src.write_text("new line")
+    text = "foo\nbar\nbaz\n"
+    a1, a2 = lnhash(1, "foo"), lnhash(3, "baz")
+    res = exhash(text, [f"{a2}r {src}", f"{a1}s/foo/FOO/"])
+    assert res["lines"] == ["FOO", "bar", "baz", "new line"]
\ No newline at end of file