The Bible is a book of books, 66 books* altogether, written over a period of hundreds of years by many different authors. These 66 books are divided into two parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The Old Testament contains 39 books** and addresses the formation, existence, and demise of the nation of Israel, the time frame prior to the life of Jesus. The Old Testament books are categorized as follows:

• The books of Moses (the first five books of the Bible)
• Historical books (focusing on the nation of Israel)
• Wisdom literature (books of poetry, good advice, and wise sayings)
• The Prophets (the life and messages of some of God‘s key spokesmen)

For a good summary of the Old Testament, see Acts 7:2-46; Acts 13:17-23 is even more concise. Also, see the overview of books in the Old Testament.

Here is a list of the books in the Old Testament:

• Genesis
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy
• Joshua
• Judges
• Ruth
• First & Second Samuel
• First & Second Kings
• First & Second Chronicles
• Ezra
• Nehemiah
• Tobit*
• Judith*
• Esther
• First Maccabees*
• Second Maccabees*
• Job
• Psalms
• Proverbs
• Ecclesiastes
• Song of Solomon
• Wisdom*
• Sirach (aka Ecclesiasticus)*
• Isaiah
• Jeremiah
• Lamentations
• Baruch*
• Ezekiel
• Daniel
• Hosea
• Joel
• Amos
• Obadiah
• Jonah
• Micah
• Nahum
• Habakkuk
• Zephaniah
• Haggai
• Zechariah
• Malachi

* The Roman Catholic Church includes
additional books in their Old Testament.
See Apocrypha for more information.

**The Hebrew Bible includes the same
writings of the 39 Old Testament books
but combine some books together,
resulting in 24 books.