From creation to the 400 years of silence. Read it left to right, then drop to the next line, like reading a page. Select any point to open a short note and the Scripture behind it.
An eventA person or a life
Genesis
about 4170 BC
God speaks the heavens, the earth and everything in them into being. On the sixth day He makes the first man and woman in His image. All of it is very good.
Key verse · Genesis 1:1 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Genesis 1:1–2:3 BLB
created about 4170 BC
The first man and woman. God forms Adam from the dust and breathes life into him, makes Eve from his side, and places them in the garden. Adam lived 930 years (about 4170–3240 BC).
Key verse · Genesis 1:27 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Genesis 2:7–25 BLB
soon after creation
Adam and Eve disobey God. Sin and death enter the world, but God promises an offspring of the woman who will crush the serpent.
Key verse · Genesis 3:15 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Genesis 3:1–15 BLB
before about 4040 BC
The first murder. Sin, crouching at the door, spreads from the parents to their children.
Key verse · Genesis 4:7 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Genesis 4:1–16 BLB
taken about 3190 BC
Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
Key verse · Genesis 5:24 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Genesis 5:21–24 BLB
about 2520 BC
God judges a violent world and saves Noah’s family in the ark, then covenants never again to destroy the earth by flood.
Key verse · Genesis 9:11–13 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Genesis 6:5–9:17 BLB
about 2400–2200 BC
Proud people try to make a name for themselves. God confuses their language and scatters them. Genesis 10:25 places the dividing of the earth in the days of Peleg.
Key verse · Genesis 11:9 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Genesis 11:1–9 BLB
about 2091 BC
God calls Abram to leave home and promises a land, a great nation, and blessing for all the families of the earth through him.
Key verse · Genesis 12:1–3 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Genesis 12:1–3 BLB
about 2066 BC
The promised son is born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age, at the time God appointed.
Key verse · Genesis 21:1–3 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Genesis 21:1–7 BLB
about 2006 BC
Isaac’s son wrestles with God and is renamed Israel. His twelve sons become the twelve tribes.
Key verse · Genesis 32:28 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Genesis 32:22–32 BLB
about 1898 BC
Sold by his brothers, Joseph rises to rule in Egypt. What they meant for evil, God meant for good.
Key verse · Genesis 50:20 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Genesis 50:20 BLB
about 1876 BC
Jacob’s family of seventy moves to Egypt during the famine. Genesis closes there, waiting on God’s promise.
Key verse · Genesis 46:3–4 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Genesis 46:1–7 BLB
The story continues on the next line ↓
Exodus to 1 Kings
born about 1526 BC
Drawn from the Nile and raised in Pharaoh’s house, Moses meets God at the burning bush and is sent to lead His people out.
Key verse · Exodus 3:14 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Exodus 3:1–15 BLB
about 1446 BC (some say about 1260 BC)
The Passover lamb, the ten plagues and the Red Sea: God redeems Israel from slavery in Egypt.
Key verse · Exodus 14:30–31 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Exodus 12:1–14:31 BLB
about 1446 BC
God makes His covenant with Israel, gives the Ten Commandments, and dwells among them in the tabernacle.
Key verse · Exodus 20:1–3 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Exodus 20:1–17 BLB
about 1446–1406 BC
Unbelief keeps a generation out of the land. God still feeds, leads and disciplines His people.
Key verse · Numbers 14:34 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Numbers 14:26–35 BLB
about 1406 BC
Israel crosses the Jordan. Jericho falls, and Rahab and her family are spared because she trusted the Lord.
Key verse · Joshua 6:20 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Joshua 6:1–25 BLB
about 1375–1050 BC
Israel turns away, suffers, cries out, and God raises deliverers: Deborah and Barak, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson. Ruth’s story is set in these days.
Key verse · Judges 2:16 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Judges 2:16–19 BLB
The judges in Who’s Who → Find more on this across the site →
about 1105–1015 BC
Prophet, priest and last judge. He anoints Israel’s first two kings.
Key verse · 1 Samuel 3:19–20 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: 1 Samuel 3:1–21 BLB
about 1050 BC
The people ask for a king like the nations. Saul begins well but disobeys God.
Key verse · 1 Samuel 15:22 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: 1 Samuel 15:22–23 BLB
about 1010 BC
A man after God’s own heart. God promises that his throne will last forever, a promise fulfilled in Jesus.
Key verse · 2 Samuel 7:16 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: 2 Samuel 7:12–16 BLB
about 970–930 BC
David’s son asks for wisdom, builds the temple in Jerusalem, and later turns his heart to other gods.
Key verse · 1 Kings 8:10–11 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: 1 Kings 8:1–11 BLB
about 930 BC
Ten tribes in the north become Israel; Judah and Benjamin in the south keep David’s line in Jerusalem.
Key verse · 1 Kings 12:19–20 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: 1 Kings 12:16–20 BLB
The story continues on the next line ↓
1 Kings 17 to Malachi
about 860–800 BC
Elijah faces the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Elisha carries on his work in the north.
Key verse · 1 Kings 18:38–39 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: 1 Kings 18:20–39 BLB
Elijah and Elisha in Who’s Who → More on Elijah on this site →
about 790–750 BC
God sends Jonah to Nineveh and calls Israel to repent through Amos and Hosea.
Key verse · Jonah 3:10 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Jonah 3:1–10 BLB
Jonah, Amos and Hosea in Who’s Who → More on Jonah on this site →
about 740–700 BC
He sees the Lord high and lifted up and foretells the suffering Servant who bears our sins.
Key verse · Isaiah 53:5 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Isaiah 53:4–6 BLB
722 BC
The northern kingdom is carried away because it would not listen to the prophets.
Key verse · 2 Kings 17:6–7 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: 2 Kings 17:6–18 BLB
about 715–609 BC
Two kings of Judah lead reforms and return the people to God’s Word for a time.
Key verse · 2 Kings 22:11 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: 2 Kings 22:8–13 BLB
Hezekiah and Josiah in Who’s Who → More on Hezekiah on this site →
about 627–580 BC
The weeping prophet warns Judah and promises a new covenant written on the heart.
Key verse · Jeremiah 31:33 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Jeremiah 31:31–34 BLB
605 BC
Daniel and his friends stay faithful in a foreign court. God rules over the kingdoms of men.
Key verse · Daniel 1:8 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Daniel 1:1–8 BLB
586 BC
Babylon burns the temple and takes Judah into exile. Lamentations mourns the city.
Key verse · 2 Kings 25:9 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: 2 Kings 25:8–12 BLB
about 593–571 BC
Among the exiles he sees God’s glory and the valley of dry bones brought to life.
Key verse · Ezekiel 37:4–6 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Ezekiel 37:1–14 BLB
538 BC
Cyrus of Persia lets the exiles go home, as Isaiah had foretold. The temple is rebuilt by about 516 BC.
Key verse · Ezra 1:1 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Ezra 1:1–4 BLB
about 479 BC
A Jewish queen in Persia risks her life, and God, never named in the book, preserves His people.
Key verse · Esther 4:14 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Esther 4:12–16 BLB
about 458–432 BC
Ezra teaches the Law; Nehemiah rebuilds Jerusalem’s walls in fifty-two days.
Key verse · Nehemiah 8:8 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Nehemiah 8:1–8 BLB
Ezra and Nehemiah in Who’s Who → More on Nehemiah on this site →
about 430 BC
The last of the Old Testament prophets promises a messenger to prepare the way of the Lord.
Key verse · Malachi 3:1 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Malachi 3:1 BLB
about 430–5 BC
No new prophet speaks, but God is at work: Greek, then Roman rule, roads and a common language, and a people waiting for the Messiah.
Key verse · Galatians 4:4–5 (ESV)
Read the whole passage: Galatians 4:4–5 BLB
about 6–4 BC
The waiting ends. The promised offspring of the woman, the son of Abraham and the son of David, is born in Bethlehem. Luke 2:1–11 BLB
The story goes on in the New Testament Reference.
Dates are approximate. From Abraham on they follow the traditional chronology found in standard study Bibles such as the ESV Study Bible. Dates before Abraham are counted straight back through the family lines in Genesis 5 and 11 (the Hebrew text), starting from Abram’s call about 2091 BC. Treat them as a rough guide: many Bible scholars believe those lists may skip generations, and the Greek Old Testament gives larger numbers. Archbishop James Ussher, counting the same way but with different dates for Abraham, arrived at 4004 BC for creation. The points are spaced for easy reading, not drawn to scale.