The Old Testament Bible Reading Plan
The Old Testament contains 39* books and covers the formation, existence, and demise of the nation of Israel: the timeframe prior to the life of Jesus. The Old Testament books are grouped 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, advice, and wise sayings)
- The Prophets (the life and sermons of some of God’s key messengers)
* Some Bibles include additional books in the Old Testament. See Apocrypha for more info.
View or print a PDF file of the annual Old Testament reading schedule.
Instead of reading straight through from Genesis to Malachi, our Old Testament reading plan mixes the various books together for a more varied reading schedule.
For a good summary of the Old Testament, see Acts 7:2-46; Acts 13:17-23 is even more concise. For more information, see the overview of books in the Old Testament.
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
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