Genesis

The Bible’s foundational book that sets literary patterns and themes woven throughout Scripture and tells the story of God creating the world and working to establish a loving relationship with humanity.

Exodus

The story about God crushing a murderous, slave-owning empire to liberate Israelite slaves and lead them (and others who join them) into a new way of life in a generous land.

Leviticus

Beginning where Exodus ended, Leviticus further details an agreement God made with Israel during the exodus, showing how human beings can once again live in God’s presence.

Numbers

After Israel’s exodus from Egypt, starting where Leviticus ends, Numbers tells the story of Israel’s 40-year adventure in the wilderness and the tests people faced while learning to trust God.

Deuteronomy

Moses’ final speeches to his fellow Israelites who find themselves on the brink of entering God’s promised land after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

Joshua

Beginning where Deuteronomy ends, Joshua steps into Moses’ sandals as Israel’s new leader, guiding Israel’s next generation into their new home in Canaan.

Judges

Beginning where the story of Joshua ends, the stories here describe Israel’s spiraling downfall during a time when judges ruled as Israel’s primary leaders.

Ruth

A theologically punchy narrative from the time of Israel’s judges about the Moabite Ruth, her faithfulness to her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi, and the redemption they experience through Naomi’s relative Boaz

Samuel

Originally composed as one historical book, telling the stories of Samuel, Saul, and David as they unfold during a period of Israel’s transition from a tribal society into an established nation.

Kings

Originally composed as one historical book, telling the story of Israel’s kings after David, including the division of the kingdom and the exile resulting from their decision to turn away from God’s ways.

Chronicles

Originally composed as one historical book, summarizing the story of the Hebrew Bible from creation to the time of Israel’s return from exile.

Ezra-Nehemiah

Two books that recount the stories and struggles of returning Israelite exiles who work to rebuild Jerusalem’s temple and city walls under leaders like Ezra and Nehemiah.

Esther

The shocking story of Esther, a Jewish woman, who becomes Queen of Persia and creatively works with her cousin Mordecai to rescue her people from annihilation.

Job

This complex and multi-layered wisdom book tells the story of a faithful man, Job, who faces unimaginable hardship from the satan and wrestles with questions about God’s goodness and justice.

Psalms

A collection of psalms organized into five books to provide a literary temple experience after the destruction of Israel’s temple by Babylon.

Proverbs

As a key collection of wisdom literature in the Hebrew Bible, Proverbs offers intricate wisdom poetry and hundreds of short, proverbial statements about the good life and the difference between wisdom and folly.

Ecclesiastes

Ancient Hebrew wisdom literature at its finest, this book wrestles with life’s absurdities in search of a truly meaningful life—if it even exists.

Song of Songs

A collection of songs and poems presents Israel’s wisdom tradition as it pertains to the experience of human love and sexual desire.

Isaiah

This book collects and carefully organizes the prophet Isaiah’s oracles to the southern kingdom of Judah, attempting to reorient the peoples’ thinking toward trusting God rather than trusting themselves and their fragile alliances.

Jeremiah

Recorded by a scribe named Baruch, this book creatively organizes the oracles, poems, and narratives of Jeremiah, a priestly prophet in Judah who warned Israel about Babylon’s imminent invasion.

Lamentations

Five complex, heart-wrenching poems comprise this book, written anonymously during one of Israel’s most intense times of fear and suffering. Containing five complex, heart-wrenching poems that lament Babylon’s destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 586 B.C.E.

Ezekiel

The eye-opening oracles, intense sign-acts, and mind-bending visions of a young priestly prophet who lives with Israelite exiles during their captivity in Babylon.

Daniel

The stories and visions of Daniel and his closest friends, faithful Israelite exiles in Babylonian captivity who demonstrate courage and unwavering commitment to God.

Hosea

This book captures Hosea’s teaching in Israel’s northern kingdom, which exposes Israel’s broken commitment to God even as God remains unwaveringly committed to Israel.

Joel

Deadly locust swarms and the mysterious “day of the Lord” are at the center of this short collection of oracles by the prophet Joel.

Amos

The prophecies Amos gives after God calls him away from tending a flock of sheep to become his spokesperson to the northern kingdom of Israel as the threat of Assyrian invasion looms.

Obadiah

The shortest book in the Hebrew Bible, Obadiah’s prophecy describes divine judgment against Edom, a neighboring nation that had betrayed and brutally harmed Israel.

Jonah

The story of a stubborn prophet who wrestles with God’s choice to treat an enemy of Israel with mercy, this is the only prophetic book primarily comprised of narrative,

Micah

Living in Judah during Isaiah’s time, the prophet Micah warns Israel about imminent destruction coming from the unstoppable, brutal armies of Assyria.

Nahum

Nahum’s oracles about the destruction of Assyria and its capital city, Nineveh, according to God’s promise to eradicate empires of oppression.

Habakkuk

The only prophetic work comprised entirely of a dialogue between God and a prophet, Habakkuk challenges God’s justice in sending Babylonian warriors as instruments of judgment against the southern kingdom of Judah.

Zephaniah

As Judah faces violent onslaught from Babylon, Zephaniah’s collection of prophetic poetry warns Judah’s leaders about the day of God’s judgment while also providing hope for future restoration.

Haggai

Living among the returning exiles during their temple-rebuilding project, Haggai delivers God’s spurring challenge to the people, aiming to rekindle their resolve to complete the work set before them.

Zechariah

A collection of Zechariah’s bizarre visions and prophetic oracles calling the returned exiles to turn back to God and to abandon the ways of their ancestors, which led to exile.

Malachi

The final prophetic book in the Hebrew Bible, Malachi addresses the Jewish community almost a century after the Babylonian exile, when the injustice and corruption that originally sent the people into exile is happening all over again.