Books of the Bible
Every book, read in its own setting
A verse makes most sense when you know who wrote it, who they were writing to, and what was going on around them. Each guide below starts there. It gives you the author, the date, the first readers and the situation, then the passages worth knowing and an outline to find your way around.
Law
Old Testament
- GenesisGod creates a good world, humanity breaks it, and God begins his rescue through one family.
- ExodusGod rescues his people from slavery, makes a covenant with them at Sinai and comes to live among them.
- LeviticusA holy God shows a sinful people how they can safely live near him.
- NumbersA generation of unbelief dies in the wilderness, yet God stays faithful and brings their children to the edge of the land.
- DeuteronomyMoses’ farewell sermons: remember, love the LORD with all your heart, and choose life.
History
Old Testament
- JoshuaGod gives Israel the land he promised, and not one of his good words fails.
- JudgesIsrael forgets the LORD again and again, and again and again he raises up deliverers.
- RuthIn the dark days of the judges, a foreign widow’s loyalty leads to the line of King David.
- 1 SamuelIsrael asks for a king; God gives them Saul, then chooses David, a man after his own heart.
- 2 SamuelDavid reigns, God promises him an everlasting throne, and David’s sin brings sorrow into his house.
- 1 KingsSolomon’s glory, the kingdom torn in two, and Elijah standing alone against Baal.
- 2 KingsElisha’s miracles, the slow fall of Israel and Judah, and exile to Assyria and Babylon.
- 1 ChroniclesIsrael’s story retold for the returned exiles, centred on David and the worship of the temple.
- 2 ChroniclesFrom Solomon’s temple to its destruction, told to call the returned exiles back to God.
- EzraThe exiles return, rebuild the temple, and are called back to the word of God.
- NehemiahA cupbearer rebuilds Jerusalem’s walls in fifty-two days and leads the people back to covenant.
- EstherGod is never named, yet he saves his people through a Jewish queen’s courage.
Wisdom
Old Testament
- JobA righteous man loses everything and learns that God is greater than the answers he wanted.
- PsalmsIsrael’s prayer book: praise, lament, thanksgiving and trust, in every season of the soul.
- ProverbsSkill for living: the fear of the LORD worked out in speech, money, work, friendship and the home.
- EcclesiastesLife under the sun is fleeting and often makes no sense, so fear God and enjoy his gifts today.
- Song of SolomonA celebration of love and desire between a bride and her beloved, given by God as a good gift.
Major Prophets
Old Testament
- IsaiahThe Holy One of Israel judges his people’s sin and promises a Servant who will bear it and a new creation beyond it.
- JeremiahThe weeping prophet announces Jerusalem’s fall and, through tears, a new covenant written on the heart.
- LamentationsFive poems of grief over the ruins of Jerusalem, with one flame of hope at the centre.
- EzekielA priest in exile sees God’s glory leave the temple and promises dry bones will live and glory will return.
- DanielFaithful exiles in a pagan court, and visions that God’s kingdom will outlast every empire.
Minor Prophets
Old Testament
- HoseaA prophet marries an unfaithful wife and lives out God’s wounded, relentless love for Israel.
- JoelA locust plague becomes a picture of the day of the LORD, and God promises to pour out his Spirit on all people.
- AmosA shepherd from Judah thunders against Israel’s injustice: let justice roll down like water.
- ObadiahThe shortest Old Testament book: Edom will be judged for gloating over Jerusalem’s fall.
- JonahA prophet runs from God’s mercy toward his enemies and learns that God cares even for Nineveh.
- MicahJudgment on corrupt leaders, a ruler from Bethlehem, and the question of what the LORD requires.
- NahumNineveh, which repented under Jonah, has returned to cruelty; now its fall is announced.
- HabakkukA prophet argues with God about injustice and ends up singing that the just shall live by faith.
- ZephaniahThe great day of the LORD is near for Judah and the nations, yet God will rejoice over his remnant with singing.
- HaggaiFour short messages that got the returned exiles to stop building their own houses and finish God’s.
- ZechariahNight visions and prophecies of a humble king on a donkey, a pierced shepherd and the LORD reigning over all.
- MalachiThe last prophetic word before four hundred years of silence: God still loves a weary, cynical people.
Gospels
New Testament
- MatthewJesus is the promised Messiah, the son of David and Abraham, who fulfils the Scriptures and brings the kingdom of heaven.
- MarkThe fast-moving Gospel: Jesus the Son of God came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
- LukeA carefully researched account of Jesus the Saviour, who came to seek and save the lost, especially the outsider.
- JohnSigns and “I am” sayings written so that you may believe Jesus is the Son of God and have life in his name.
Acts
New Testament
Pauline Letters
New Testament
- RomansPaul’s fullest account of the gospel: all have sinned, all are justified by faith, and nothing can separate us from God’s love.
- 1 CorinthiansA gifted, divided, immoral church is called back to the cross, to love and to the resurrection.
- 2 CorinthiansPaul’s most personal letter: God’s power is made perfect in weakness.
- GalatiansJustified by faith in Christ, not by works of the law: stand fast in the freedom Christ gives.
- EphesiansGod’s eternal plan to unite all things in Christ, and the church as his new humanity.
- PhilippiansJoy in Christ from a prison cell, and the mind of Christ who humbled himself to death on a cross.
- ColossiansChrist is supreme over all creation and fully sufficient; you need nothing added to him.
- 1 ThessaloniansEncouragement for a young persecuted church, and comfort about believers who have died before the Lord returns.
- 2 ThessaloniansThe day of the Lord has not yet come; stand firm, and do not stop working while you wait.
- 1 TimothyInstructions to a young pastor on sound doctrine, church order and godly leadership.
- 2 TimothyPaul’s last letter: guard the gospel, endure hardship, preach the word; I have finished the race.
- TitusAppoint good leaders and teach sound doctrine so that grace produces good works on Crete.
- PhilemonPaul asks a slave owner to receive back his runaway slave as a brother in Christ.
General Letters
New Testament
- HebrewsJesus is greater than angels, Moses and the priesthood; do not drift back, but draw near and hold fast.
- JamesFaith without works is dead: practical wisdom for trials, speech, wealth and prayer.
- 1 PeterLiving hope for exiles: suffer well, live holy, and follow Christ who suffered for you.
- 2 PeterGrow in grace, beware false teachers, and remember that the day of the Lord will come.
- 1 JohnTests of true faith: believe that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh, obey his commands, love one another.
- 2 JohnWalk in truth and love, and do not welcome teachers who deny Christ.
- 3 JohnPraise for Gaius who welcomes travelling believers, and rebuke for Diotrephes who refuses them.
- JudeContend earnestly for the faith against ungodly people who have crept in among you.
Prophecy
New Testament