Bible ReaderHow the Bible is organised
How the Bible is arranged: the Old and New Testaments, the groups of books (law, history, wisdom, prophets, Gospels, letters), chapters and verses and how to read a reference like John 3:16.
The Bible has two parts. The Old Testament (39 books in the Protestant Bible) contains the scriptures of ancient Israel, which the Jewish tradition calls the Tanakh. The New Testament (27 books) tells of Jesus and the early Christians.
Groups of books
- Law (Genesis to Deuteronomy): the beginning of the world and of Israel, and the law.
- History (Joshua to Esther in the Old Testament): the story of Israel in the land.
- Wisdom and poetry (Job to Song of Solomon): Psalms, Proverbs and reflections.
- Prophets (Isaiah to Malachi): messages of warning and hope.
- Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John): four accounts of Jesus.
- Acts: the history of the early church.
- Letters (Romans to Jude): to churches and individuals.
- Revelation: a book of visions.
Reading a reference
"John 3:16" means the book of John, chapter 3, verse 16. The division into chapters and verses was made in the Middle Ages and the sixteenth century to make passages easy to find; it was not part of the original text. Use the search box on the home page to jump to a reference.
The Bible text is the World English Bible, a modern English translation in the public domain. Christians differ in how they read and apply the Bible, and the notes on this site are plain descriptions, not teaching. Ask your own church or teacher about what it means for you.