What order should I read the bible?

Question

I want to read it in an order that will "reveal" the most... the way I will understand it best XD
Don't say "chronological order" or "genesis to the end" or something >.>

Answer 1

Start with the book of John in the New Testament...it gives the best picture of God's love for us, His kids =)

Answer 2

The "best order" has a lot to do with personal preference. My husband, a very systematic type, reads the Bible beginning to end. A lot of people find that the only way to read it. A lot of other people find that a good way to quit midway through Leviticus. If you are not super familiar with the Bible, I would recommend starting with any one of the gospels. Luke is good -- it's got the familiar Christmas story. :-) Then read the other gospels. Matthew and Mark are quite similar to Luke, but John is more abstract. Next, read the book of Acts, which tells about the earliest years of the church after Jesus's death. It is a sequel to Luke, written by the same author. Then, read Romans, the most comprehensive book of Christian theology in the New Testament. From there, move on to the rest of the New Testament, in order. It's mostly early Christian theology, plus the apocalyptic book of Revelation at the end. Then, go and read the Old Testament in order, beginning to end. It will sometimes be hard to understand everything you're reading no matter what order you read it in, especially some of the context for the history and prophecy books of the Old Testament. To help, I recommend using a study Bible and consulting the notes for reference, or asking a pastor or other experienced Christian any specific questions you might have. God be with you in your reading! May it draw you closer to him!

Answer 3

Well, a lot depends on what you want to find out. If you want to see how it all fits together, beginning to end, you would need to read it all, but not necessarily in the way the Bible is printed. You could try reading the Reese Chronological Bible (I've looked at one, but don't own one at this time), as the editor says he tried to place things in the order that they happened (I'm paraphrasing).

The other responders have some very good advice. Genesis was placed first because it starts "in the beginning" but as one other person stated, you'll get bogged down in a hurry once you get into Exodus and Leviticus. These books have a lot of information that was necessary for that time but doesn't really apply to us nowadays.

May I suggest the gospel of John, first, and then Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These are pretty easy to read and shouldn't take you too long. After that, read Acts, as it continues the story of the Christian Church. By then you should be ready to tackle some of St. Paul's letters or "epistles" as they're called. Definitely save Revelation for the last, as much of it probably won't make sense unless you have at least a working knowledge of the New Testament.

Finally, do take notes and as you find passages that leave you stumped or confused, don't hesitate to relay these things here. Many of us would be glad to answer your questions. I do hope you enjoy your study of the Bible. It's a wonderful Book and I LOVE IT!!!

Answer 4

At some time in your life it would be great to read the bible from beginning to end but I really would not start out that way. The bible was writen in different books so it should be able to be read that way. Think of the bible as a library. You don't read the entire library to start off with, you read the things that interest you first, starting easy and slowly getting harder. Read the bible the same way.

For an introduction, this is what I would read:

Beginning - Genesis
Forming a Nation - Exodus
Jesus Story - Luke
The Church Begins - Acts
Practical Living - James

However, you might need a more in depth read of the bible. First, I would read the gospels (Mathew Mark Luke John). These are interesting and easy to read and will get you used to reading the style that most of the bible is written in. I would the read Revelations. This is a bit harder but is great for getting your hopes up for the future and it is actually one of my favourite books in the bible. The best books to read in the Old Testement are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Number and Deuteronomy because these and the Books of Law. Once you have fineshed all of this you should have a good idea of God's word.

It is also beneficial to know what books are in what catagory. Here is the full list of the books in the bible and there 'genres' if that is the write word. This will be good for future reference.

OLD TESTEMENT

Law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

Historical: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther

Major Prophets: Isiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel

Poetic: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs


NEW TESTEMENT

Historical: Mathew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts

Paul's Letters: Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galations, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon

Other Letters: Hebrews, James, 1&2 Peter, 1&2&3 John, Jude

Prophecy: Revelations

Answer 5

I would start with the New Testament. It is usually the easiest to understand. I would get a few books like "Who's Who in the Bible" and "Manners and Customs of the Bible." These books will help you to understand what is going on, and make things a bit clearer when you are reading. Make sure you read the little footnotes at the bottom of each page and make sure that you get a good Bible that is written in every day English so that it will help remove some of the struggles. My best to you. Then I would go to Genesis and read that. You may want to by pass the books that have the laws, they are a bit hard to understand unless you have some back ground in the Scriptures. You will find that there are some really good books that have a lot of action, like the book of Kings, and Judges. The book of Jonah, Ester, and some of the other small books are really fun to read. You will be shocked at the stuff that you will learn. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have. It is my favorite book to read and study.

Answer 6

From Genesis to Revelations, however there are many studies that focus on each book separately.

If you are starting in the New testament I would recommend starting with the Acts of the Apostles, it will give you a much better understanding of the whole picture.

You may want to consider getting a one year Bible; these are arranged in 365 daily readings.
The readings consist of an Old testament, and New testament reading as well as Psalms, and Proverbs.
For those who are just starting out I would look for the New Living translation; The King James is still my favorite.

Answer 7

Yes, you start with Paul's epistle to the Romans. This is the greatest in every sense of the spostolic letters of Paul in scale, in scope and its wonderful combination of doctrinal, ethical and administrative wisdom and power. Written about 58A.D, some 20 years after Paul's conversion. In the KJV. with 16 chapters, 433 verses and 9,447 words. Then follow all the rest of Paul's 13 epistles with your Bible Concordance see the great difference between Prophecy (Luke 1:68-70 vs. Romans 16:25)

Answer 8

The book of John is an excellent start, then let various references guide you around. Proverbs and Romans are also good starting points. Read slowly, digesting the truth like a fine meal. Although the Bible can be read in 80-100 hours of sit-down time, don't rush it. Revelations is perhaps the hardest book to read, and I made it through in one sitting, no interruptions in 2 hours. Best of luck!

Answer 9

Do not read it in a sequential order.

If you study the bible by topic, you will learn much in a compressed amount of time. For instance, look up the term hades, Sheol, and hell. Find the scriptures that contain these terms.

Study the term "soul". Find the related scriptures. Topic by topic you will obtain a great command of the bible scriptures, and the message within.

ex: My favorite topic is the Beast in Revelations 13:1-4. One must read Rev 12:9 and Daniel 7:all to understand the meaning of this. If you read the bible in sequential order, how far apart are the books of Daniel and Revelations?

Answer 10

This is just my opinion..Start with John. then Matthew. Read the New Testament first. There are a lot of good study guides for the prophets of the old Testament and Revelation. The imagery is found in both Rev. and many of the Old Testament Prophets like Daniel.