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.
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