A Narrative Reading Plan for the Bible Designed to provide the reader with the overall arch of the Biblical story, capturing texts from every Biblical book while maintaining the integrity of the history of the People of God. (If possible, you should obtain a Study Bible, and before reading the texts of each book, read the short, introductory essays provided.) The Old Testament Covering the Law, Writings, and Prophets Genesis 1:1-3:24 1 - Creation, Adam & Eve cycle, the First Sin 6:11 9:17 Noah/Flood cycle 11:1 9 - Tower of Babel 12:1 13:18; 15:1 19:29; 21:1 20; 22:1 19; 23:1 20 - Abraham cycle & the Binding of Isaac 37:1-36; 39:1 45:28; 47:13 26; 50:15 21 - Joseph cycle Exodus 1:1 6:13; 7:1 17:7 - Moses birth and life in Egypt, 10 Plagues, the Exodus, Crossing of the Sea of Reeds, Beginning of the Wilderness Years 19:1 20:21 - Mt. Sinai and the 10 Commandments 32:1 33:23 - Golden Calf and Moses sees God Leviticus 16:1 34 Day of Atonement (a.k.a. Yom Kippur) Instructions 19:1 21:24 - The Holiness Code Numbers 9:1 11:35 - Leaving Sinai, the People Complain 22:22 35 - Balaam & the Donkey 1 All chapters/verses notated as follows: Chapter:Verse (through) Chapter:Verse, or, Chapter:Verse (through) Verse 1
27:12 23 - Joshua Appointed as Moses Successor Deuteronomy 6:1-7:11 - The Shema & the Blessing of Israel as the Chosen People 20:1 20 - Rules for War 31:14 34:12 - Moses passes the torch to Joshua and then dies Joshua 1:1 2:24 - God commissions Joshua, the spying on Jericho, Rahab s help 5:13 6:27 - Fall of Jericho 11:16 23 - Summary of the Conquest 23:1 16 - Joshua s Exhortation 24:29 33 - Death of Joshua Judges 4:1 5:31 - Deborah as Judge, Jael s Peg 11:29 40 - Jephthah s Problem 15:1 16:31 - Samson cycle 19:1 30 - Rape of the Levite s Concubine 21:25 The Whole Theme of the Book of Judges Ruth Read the Whole Book, it s a self contained story, both pretty good and short, about one of the ancestors of David, and consequently, Jesus. 1 Samuel 3:1 21 - Calling of Samuel as Prophet 8:1 10:27 - Israel Demands & is granted a King against God s better wishes 15:10 17:58 - Fall of Saul, Rise of David 25:1 - Death of Samuel 2
2 Samuel 5:1 7:29 - David Unites Israel and Judah as one Kingdom 11:1 12:25 - David & Bathsheba misbehaving, Birth of Solomon 24:18 25 - David buys the Threshing Floor 1 Kings 1:1 3:28 - Succession of Solomon, Solomon s Wisdom 4:20 6:22 - Solomon s Wisdom, Building of the Temple 8:1 9:14 - Solomon dedicates the Temple & God appears to him 11:26 12:24 - United Kingdom Breaks Civil War 17:1 19:21 - Elijah, the Mt. Carmel Showdown 22:13 28 - Did God lie? 2 Kings 2:1 25 - Elisha succeeds Elijah, Warnings against making fun of the bald 4:8 44 - Elisha s Miracles 13:14 21 - Death of Elisha 17:1 41 - Israel Captured by Assyria 18:1 19:37 - Assyria threatens Judah 22:1 23:30 - Josiah s Reformation 24:1 25:30 - Judah falls to Babylon 1 Chronicles 13:7 11 - The Sad Story of Uzzah 2 Chronicles 29:20 30:27 - Temple worship & Passover under Hezekiah 36:22 23 - Cyrus the Great of Persia sets exiles free 3
[N.B. What you read in Kings is the same thing essentially as what is in Chronicles, only Chronicles seems to be less historically accurate and more concerned with temple worship particulars.] Ezra 1:1 11 - End of Babylonian Captivity 3:1 4:4 - To Rebuild or not to Rebuild? 6:1 7:28 - Rebuild! Ezra Arrives 9:1 10:17 - Ethnic Cleansing? Nehemiah 1:1 2:20 - Nehemiah comes to help 7:73 8:12 - Reading of the Law Esther Again, read the whole book as it is one, self contained story. Basis for Jewish festival of Purim. Job 1:1 3:26 - Job s Dilemma 4:1 5:27 - Sample of Eliphaz s Speech 8:1 22 - Sample of Bildad s Speech 11:1 20 - Sample of Zophar s Speech 16:1 22 - Sample of Job s Replies 32:1 33 - Elihu, Sample of Elihu s Speech 38:1 42:17 - God replies to Job, Job answers Psalms 1 - Happy are those 4 - Answer me when I call 15 - Who may abide 22 - My God, my God 23 - The LORD is my shepherd (The one your grandmother taught you) 4
48 - Great is the LORD 51 - Have mercy on me (famous one known in Latin as Miserere Mei) 63 - O God, you are my God 78 - Give ear, O my people 88 - O LORD, God of my salvation 103 - Bless the LORD 115 - Not to us, O LORD 119:105 112 - Your word is a lamp to my feet 121 - I lift up my eyes 122 - I was glad when they said to me 126 - When the LORD restored 139 - O LORD, you have searched me 148 - Praise the LORD! 150 - Praise the LORD! Proverbs 1:1 2:22 - The Call to and Value of Wisdom 4:1 9 - A Parent s Advice 8:22 9:6 - Wisdom Personified 10:1 32 - General Wisdom of Solomon 31:10 31 - A Capable Wife Ecclesiastes 1:1 3:8 - Introduction to the Teacher and his ideas, Famous time verses 4:13 6:12 - Instructions on righteous living according to the Teacher 9:1 18 - Taking life as it comes 11:7 12:14 - Final instructions and the point of it all Song of Solomon 1:1 2:7 - Bride and Friends 6:4 13 - Beautiful Bride 5
8:5 14 - Homecoming Isaiah (Here begins the prophecy books; timeline-wise, they overlap with the history books) 1:1 - Introduction 6:1 13 - Call of Isaiah 8:1 11:16 - Prophecies concerning invasion & the coming peaceful kingdom 14:3 22 - Prophecy of Babylon s Downfall 36:1 38:22 - Hezekiah, Isaiah, and Sennacherib 40:1 31 - A Prophecy of the Messiah (Messiah is a Hebrew word meaning anointed one ) 42:1 9 - Another Prophecy of the Messiah 45:1 25 - Cyrus the Great 49:1 7 - Another Prophecy of the Messiah 52:1 54:17 - Other prophecies of the Messiah, the Suffering Servant 60:1 61:11 - Deliverance 65:17 25 - Prophecy of the Coming Kingdom of Peace Jeremiah 1:1 19 - Jeremiah s Call 3:1 4:31 - Warning to Israel and Judah 7:1 8:3 - Jeremiah proclaims God s wrath 11:18 23 - Jeremiah threatened 12:1 17 - Jeremiah s 1 st complaint to God, God replies 15:10 21 - Jeremiah s 2 nd complaint to God, God replies 20:7 18 - Jeremiah s Lament 21:1 22:10 - Prophecy of Jerusalem s Fall 25:1-38 - Babylonian captivity foretold 31:1 38 - Return of Exiles 39:1 10 - Jerusalem falls Lamentations 6
2:1 22 - Lamentation of the Fall of Israel Ezekiel 1:1-3:11 - Ezekiel s weird visions 10:1 22 - The Glory of the LORD departs 24:1 27 - Boiling Pot 34:11 31 - God, the Shepherd 37:1 14 - Valley of Dry Bones 47:13 23 - Divisions of the Land Daniel 2:1 49 - Nebuchadnezzar s Dream 3:1 30 - Images and Fires 6:1 28 - Daniel and the Lion s Den 10:1 12:13 - Visions of the Apocalypse Hosea 1:1 3:5 - Israel s unfaithfulness 14:1 9 - Assurance of forgiveness Joel 1:1 20 - Lament and Call to prayer 2:23 29 - Promise of God Amos 1:1-15 - Judgment of Israel s neighbors 4:6-13 - Israel s sin 5:18 24 - The Day of the LORD 9:1 15 - Destruction of Israel and restoration 7
Obadiah - Whole Book Jonah - Whole Book Micah 2:1 13 - Denouncing social ills 6:1 8 - The LORD s requirements Nahum - Whole Book Habakkuk 1:1 14 - Complaining 2:1 5 - God s Reply Zephaniah 1:1 18 - The Day of the LORD 3:14 20 - Song of Joy Haggai 1:1 11 - Rebuild! 2:20 23 - God s promise to Zerubbabel Zechariah 1:7 2:5 - Various visions 6:9 15 - Branch 14:1 21 - Vision of Apocalypse Malachi 1:6 2:9 - Profanation of the Priesthood 3:1 4:6 - Coming Messenger and Day of the LORD 8
The New Testament Covering the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, Pauline and other Epistles, and Revelation. The Gospels First, read all of Mark. Then, read and compare Matthew 27:24 28:20 with John 19:1 20:29. Eventually, it is a good idea to read through all four Gospels and see their differences. Mark gives the action-packed, fast paced Gospel, so you ll get the story. Comparing the Passion scenes of Matthew and John will begin to highlight key differences in style, theme, content, and Christology (ideas about Christ). The next Gospel you should read in its entirety is Luke. The Acts of the Apostles 2:1 47 - Pentecost and Peter s inaugural sermon 5:17 42 - Persecution of Apostles 7:54 8:3 - Stoning of Stephen and beginning of Saul s story 9:1 18 - Saul s conversion 10:1 48 - Peter and Cornelius, Gentiles to be included 15:1 15 - Council of Jerusalem 18:1 17 - Example of one of Paul s journeys to Corinth 21:17 28:30 - The end of Paul (N.B. - Here are the lists of the definitively Pauline epistles and the Pseudo-Pauline epistles (those we think Paul wrote but are unsure, or there is scholastic disagreement). The other epistles were definitely not authored by Paul. You can read these like I suggest here as whole letters in chronological order to get a real sense of what was going on and the relationships Paul had with these people and these communities (read in conjunction with the corresponding passages from Acts), or you can read for basic theological content with the snippets I suggest below. Pauline Episltes in Chronological Order: I Thessalonians, Galatians, Philippians, Philemon, I Corinthians, II Corinthians, Romans. Pseudo-Pauline Epistles in Chronological Order: II Thessalonians, Colossians, Ephesians, Titus, I Timothy, II Timothy And finally, the Letter to the Hebrews, which Paul most certainly did not write, but the author was heavily influenced by Paul's previous writings. When you read these in their chronological order as whole letters, they actually start making a bit more sense as I was saying.) 9
Romans 2:17 3:31 - Jews and the Law 8:31 39 - God s love through Jesus I Corinthians 1:10 17 - Division in the Congregation 11:23 34 - Lord s Supper 12:1 13:13 - Spiritual Gifts and the famous Love passage 15:1 58 - Theology of Resurrection II Corinthians 4:1 18 - Faith Galatians 1:6 10 - No other Gospel 3:19 29 - Purpose of the Law 5:16 26 - Works of Flesh vs. Spirit Ephesians 2:1 10 - Death to Life 6:10 20 - Armor of God Philippians 2:1 18 - The Christ Hymn Colossians 3:1 17 - New Life in Christ I Thessalonians 4:1 5:11 - Life pleasing to God and the Day of the LORD 10
II Thessalonians 3:6 14 - Warning against idleness I Timothy 2:1 7 - Prayer instructions 6:11 19 - The good fight II Timothy 3:1 9 - Warnings of last days Titus 2:1 15 - Teach sound doctrine Philemon - Whole letter (Paul writes from prison to get a slave released) Hebrews 1:1 14 - Superiority of Christ 4:14 5:10 - Great High Priest 10:1 11:3 - Christ s sacrifice and the meaning of faith James 1:19 27 - Hear-ers and Do-ers 2:14 18 - Faith without works 3:1 12 - Tame the tongue I Peter 4:12 19 - Suffer for Christ II Peter 1:16 2:22 - Concerning prophecies 11
I John 4:7 5:5 - Love of God II John Whole Letter III John Whole Letter Jude 1:5 13 - Judgment on false teachers Revelation 1:1 20 - Introduction and vision of Christ 4:1 11 - Heavenly worship 8:6 9:20 - Seven Trumpets 12:1 17 - War in Heaven 18:1 24 - Fall of Babylon/Rome 19:11 22:21 - The end of life as we know it Congratulations! You made it and now have read more of the Bible than most! May you have been, be, and continue to be blessed by reading the Scriptures. **The header at the top of the pages is a common Hebrew prayer, and says, Blessed are you LORD, our Lord is the king forever. 12