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The Books of the Bible in Order

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The Protestant Bible contains 66 books — 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New — written across roughly fifteen centuries by prophets, kings, shepherds, fishermen, a doctor, and a former persecutor of the Church. (Catholic Bibles include 7 additional deuterocanonical books, and Orthodox Bibles several more; our guide to how many books are in the Bible explains the differences.) Below is the complete list in canonical order — each title links to a plain-English overview of that book.

Old Testament (39 books)

The Law:

  1. Genesis
  2. Exodus
  3. Leviticus
  4. Numbers
  5. Deuteronomy

History:

  1. Joshua
  2. Judges
  3. Ruth
  4. 1 Samuel
  5. 2 Samuel
  6. 1 Kings
  7. 2 Kings
  8. 1 Chronicles
  9. 2 Chronicles
  10. Ezra
  11. Nehemiah
  12. Esther

Wisdom & Poetry:

  1. Job
  2. Psalms
  3. Proverbs
  4. Ecclesiastes
  5. Song of Solomon

Major Prophets:

  1. Isaiah
  2. Jeremiah
  3. Lamentations
  4. Ezekiel
  5. Daniel

Minor Prophets:

  1. Hosea
  2. Joel
  3. Amos
  4. Obadiah
  5. Jonah
  6. Micah
  7. Nahum
  8. Habakkuk
  9. Zephaniah
  10. Haggai
  11. Zechariah
  12. Malachi

New Testament (27 books)

Gospels & Acts:

  1. Matthew
  2. Mark
  3. Luke
  4. John
  5. Acts

Paul's Letters:

  1. Romans
  2. 1 Corinthians
  3. 2 Corinthians
  4. Galatians
  5. Ephesians
  6. Philippians
  7. Colossians
  8. 1 Thessalonians
  9. 2 Thessalonians
  10. 1 Timothy
  11. 2 Timothy
  12. Titus
  13. Philemon

General Letters & Revelation:

  1. Hebrews
  2. James
  3. 1 Peter
  4. 2 Peter
  5. 1 John
  6. 2 John
  7. 3 John
  8. Jude
  9. Revelation

How to remember the order

Don't memorize 66 names cold — memorize the groups: Law (5), History (12), Wisdom (5), Major Prophets (5), Minor Prophets (12), then Gospels and Acts (5), Paul's letters (13, roughly longest to shortest), General letters (8), Revelation (1). Once the shelves are in your head, the books find their places quickly.

Where should I start reading?

Not at page one — Genesis is wonderful, but most new readers stall in Leviticus. Start with the Gospel of John or Mark, then Acts, then a psalm a day. Our guide on how to start reading the Bible lays out a gentle path, and the Quiethaven Bible app keeps your place, works offline, and lets you switch between KJV and other translations as you go.

About the author

The Quiethaven Editorial Team — The Quiethaven editorial team writes about Bible reading, prayer and the Christian year, with theological review across Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

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