The Parts and Arrangement of the Bible

Books of the Old Testament
A. Pentateuch (Greek, "Five-fold scroll"), or Torah (Hebrew "Teaching"), or Law of Moses

• Genesis (Greek "Beginning")
• Exodus (Greek "Going out [of Egypt]")
• Leviticus (from Hebrew "Levite," meaning "priest")
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy (Greek "Second Law")

B. Historical Books (called "Former Prophets" in the Jewish Bible)

• Joshua
• Judges
• *Ruth
• 1 Samuel (Greek 1 Kingdoms, Latin 1 Kings)
• 2 Samuel (Greek 2 Kingdoms, Latin 2 Kings)
• 1 Kings (Greek 3 Kingdoms, Latin 3 Kings)
• 2 Kings (Greek 4 Kingdoms, Latin 4 Kings)
• *Prayer of Manasses [Latin Bible moves this to an appendix]
• *1 Chronicles (Greek 1 Paralipomena, "things left out" [i.e., of 1-4 Kingdoms])
• *2 Chronicles (Greek 2 Paralipomena, "things left out" [i.e., of 1-4 Kingdoms])
• *Ezra (Greek 1 Esdras)
• *Nehemiah (Greek 2 Esdras)
• [The Latin Bible also contains 3 and 4 Esdras in an appendix, these are called 1 and 2 Esdras in the Protestant Apocrypha]
• Tobit
• Judith
• *Esther + Additions to Esther
• 1 Maccabees
• 2 Maccabees
• [The Greek Bible also contains 3 Maccabees and 4 Maccabees]

C. Hagiographa (Greek, "Holy Writings")

• Job
• Psalms [the Greek Bible adds Psalm 151 and up to 15 Odes or canticles drawn from other books of the Bible]
• Proverbs
• Ecclesiastes (Greek) or Qoheleth (Hebrew) [both mean "Preacher"]
• Song of Songs or Song of Solomon
• Wisdom of Solomon
• Sirach or Ecclesiasticus (Greek/Latin for "The Church's Book")

D. Prophetic Books (called "Latter Prophets" in the Jewish Bible)

• The four major prophets
  • Isaiah
  • Jeremiah
  • *Lamentations of Jeremiah
  • Baruch
  • Ezekiel
  • *Daniel + Additions to Daniel
• The twelve minor prophets
  • Hosea
  • Joel
  • Amos
  • Obadiah
  • Jonah
  • Micah
  • Nahum
  • Habbakuk
  • Zephaniah
  • Haggai
  • Zechariah
  • Malachi

*Books marked with an asterisk, being of more recent origin, are included among the Holy Writings in the Hebrew Bible; this section stands after the Former Prophets and the Latter Prophets.

Books in italics are not in the Hebrew Bible, but are included in the Greek and Latin Christian Bibles. In Catholic Bibles they are considered "deutero-canonical," in Protestant Bibles they are called the Apocrypha (Greek, "hidden books") and collected into a separate section between the Old and New Testaments.

Certain Eastern churches include additional ancient Jewish writings in their Old Testaments, notable the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which includes The Book of Enoch and The Book of Jubilees.

Differences in Psalm Numbering

In English Bibles, the first verses of many psalms are treated as unnumbered titles, so that the second verse receives the number 1. In most other languages, including Hebrew, Greek, and Latin,the title is numbered as verse 1 and the second verse is verse 2.

Books of the New Testament

A. Gospels

• Matthew
• Mark
• Luke
• John

B. A history of the early church, the second volume of Luke's Gospel

• Acts of the Apostles

C. Epistles (Greek "Letters") by or ascribed to St. Paul

• Letters to churches, arranged in order of length
  • Romans
  • 1 Corinthians
  • 2 Corinthians
  • Galatians
  • Ephesians
  • Philippians
  • Colossians
  • 1 Thessalonians
  • 2 Thessalonians
• Letters to individuals, the "Pastoral Epistles"
  • 1 Timothy
  • 2 Timothy
  • Titus
  • Philemon
• A tract of uncertain authorship
  • The Epistle to the Hebrews

D. Letters by other Apostles to the universal Church, the "Catholic" or "General" Epistles

• James
• 1 Peter
• 2 Peter
• 1 John
• 2 John
• 3 John
• Jude

E. An eschatological vision

• Apocalypse (Greek for "Revelation")

In Luther's translation, Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation are moved to the very end, reflecting his view that these books are less important. The remaining, more important books are known in Lutheranism as "The Canon within the Canon."

Some translations into Syriac, formerly used in the Syrian Orthodox Churches, have a smaller New Testament that lacks 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John.