Grouped by type, in the order of our English Bibles
Our English Bibles arrange the Old Testament by type of writing. (The Hebrew Bible keeps the same books in a different order: the Law, the Prophets and the Writings.) Each book below has a one-line summary, a key passage, and buttons to the people in it and to anything on this site about it.
39 books · 929 chapters
The Law (the Books of Moses) (5)History (12)Poetry and Wisdom (5)Major Prophets (5)Minor Prophets (the Twelve) (12)
Five books. Creation, the fathers of Israel, the exodus, and the covenant God made with His people at Sinai.
Beginnings: creation, the fall, the flood, and God’s promise to Abraham and his family.
Key passage: Genesis 12:1–3 BLB
God rescues Israel from slavery in Egypt, gives His Law at Sinai, and comes to dwell among them in the tabernacle.
Key passage: Exodus 20:1–17 BLB
How a holy God can live among a sinful people: sacrifices, priests, and the Day of Atonement.
Key passage: Leviticus 16:29–34 BLB
Forty years in the wilderness: unbelief, discipline, and God’s faithfulness to the next generation.
Key passage: Numbers 14:6–9 BLB
Moses’ farewell sermons on the edge of the Promised Land: love the Lord your God with all your heart.
Key passage: Deuteronomy 6:4–9 BLB
Twelve books. Israel enters the land, lives under judges and kings, is carried into exile, and returns.
Israel crosses the Jordan and takes the land God promised.
Key passage: Joshua 1:1–9 BLB
A downward cycle of sin, suffering, crying out, and God’s deliverers.
Key passage: Judges 2:16–19 BLB
A Moabite widow’s loyal love and a kinsman-redeemer, leading to King David.
Key passage: Ruth 1:16–17 BLB
Samuel the prophet, Saul the first king, and young David.
Key passage: 1 Samuel 16:7 BLB
David’s reign, God’s promise of an everlasting throne, and David’s sin and its cost.
Key passage: 2 Samuel 7:12–16 BLB
Solomon and the temple, the kingdom divided, and Elijah against Baal.
Key passage: 1 Kings 18:36–39 BLB
Elisha, the fall of Israel to Assyria, and the fall of Judah to Babylon.
Key passage: 2 Kings 17:13–14 BLB
Israel’s history retold for the returned exiles, centered on David and worship.
Key passage: 1 Chronicles 17:11–14 BLB
The kings of Judah from Solomon to the exile, with hope at the end.
Key passage: 2 Chronicles 7:14 BLB
The exiles return, rebuild the temple, and recommit to God’s Law.
Key passage: Ezra 7:10 BLB
Jerusalem’s walls are rebuilt and the people renew the covenant.
Key passage: Nehemiah 8:1–8 BLB
God quietly protects His people in Persia through a brave queen.
Key passage: Esther 4:12–16 BLB
Five books. Prayer, praise, suffering, wisdom for daily life, and love.
A righteous man suffers and wrestles with God, who answers him out of the whirlwind.
Key passage: Job 19:25–27 BLB
The prayer book and songbook of God’s people, many of them written by David.
Key passage: Psalm 23 BLB
Practical wisdom for everyday life. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
Key passage: Proverbs 3:5–6 BLB
Life “under the sun” without God is vanity; fear God and keep His commandments.
Key passage: Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 BLB
A love poem celebrating the gift of love between husband and wife.
Key passage: Song of Solomon 8:6–7 BLB
Five books. Longer prophetic books, not more important ones.
Judgment and comfort, with the clearest Old Testament pictures of the coming Messiah.
Key passage: Isaiah 53:4–6 BLB
Forty years of warning before Jerusalem falls, and the promise of a new covenant.
Key passage: Jeremiah 31:31–34 BLB
Five poems of grief over fallen Jerusalem, with hope in God’s mercies, new every morning.
Key passage: Lamentations 3:22–24 BLB
Visions of God’s glory for the exiles: dry bones live and God gives a new heart.
Key passage: Ezekiel 36:26–27 BLB
Faithfulness in Babylon and visions of God’s everlasting kingdom.
Key passage: Daniel 7:13–14 BLB
Twelve shorter books, from about 790 to 430 BC.
God’s faithful love for unfaithful Israel, pictured in Hosea’s marriage.
Key passage: Hosea 11:1–4 BLB
A locust plague, a call to return, and the promise of God’s Spirit.
Key passage: Joel 2:28–32 BLB
Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly; the Ruler will come from Bethlehem.
Key passage: Micah 6:8 BLB
The fall of Nineveh; the Lord is a stronghold in the day of trouble.
Key passage: Nahum 1:7 BLB
Honest questions and the answer: the righteous shall live by faith.
Key passage: Habakkuk 2:4 BLB
The day of the Lord, and God rejoicing over His people with singing.
Key passage: Zephaniah 3:17 BLB
Visions of hope and a humble King riding on a donkey.
Key passage: Zechariah 9:9 BLB
The last prophet before the silence: a messenger will prepare the way.
Key passage: Malachi 3:1 BLB
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