Knowing the order of the books helps you navigate a Bible, but the order also reflects how a particular tradition organizes its canon. It should not be confused with the order in which every event happened or every book was written.
CanonLight follows the familiar 66-book Protestant order. That arrangement groups books by type and tradition; it is not a strict timeline, and other Christian traditions include additional books.
The 39 Old Testament books
Most Protestant Bibles begin with five books of Torah, continue through historical narratives, place poetry and wisdom together, and end with the prophets.
The labels help readers find a book's broad literary neighborhood, though several books contain more than one genre.
- Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
- History: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
- Poetry and wisdom: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon
- Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel
- Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
The 27 New Testament books
The New Testament opens with four Gospels, continues with Acts, gathers letters associated with Paul and other early Christian leaders, and ends with Revelation.
The order of letters is not a simple chronology. Paul's letters are broadly arranged by recipient and length in the familiar printed order.
- Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
- History: Acts
- Pauline letters: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon
- General letters: Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude
- Apocalyptic: Revelation
Why this is not a chronological list
Genesis begins with creation, but the printed sequence later groups books by literary and traditional categories. Prophets who spoke during the period of Kings appear much later in the Old Testament.
New Testament letters were written into the period narrated by Acts, and the Gospels were not necessarily composed in their printed order.
Other Jewish and Christian arrangements
The Jewish Tanakh contains many of the same writings as the Protestant Old Testament but counts and arranges them differently as Torah, Prophets, and Writings.
Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include deuterocanonical or additional books and may arrange parts of the Old Testament differently. Saying that the Bible has 66 books therefore describes the Protestant canon, not every Christian Bible.
Use the order as a map
Memorizing every title can help with navigation, but understanding the sections is more useful. If you know that Isaiah is prophetic and Philippians is a letter, you already have clues about how to read them.
When following a reading plan, decide whether printed order, chronology, or a genre-balanced sequence best supports your goal.
Learn the order without cramming
- Learn the five books of the Torah.
- Learn the four Gospels and Acts.
- Add one Old Testament and one New Testament section at a time.
- Practice finding books in a print or digital Bible.
- Connect each title with its genre instead of memorizing names alone.