The purpose of this page is to help you read and begin to understand the entire Bible in one year at an introductory level. It will be easy to complete the Bible if you simply make a 15 to 30 minute commitment per day. The order will alternate back and forth between the Old and New testaments showing their relationship to one another. The order will be as follows.

• First Quarter - 12 Weeks
  • Pentateuch - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy
  • Synoptic Gospels - Mark, Matthew, Luke
  • Gospel of John
  • Acts of the Apostles
  • James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John
  
  
  
• Second Quarter - 12 Weeks
  • Deuteronomic History - Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings
  • Chronicler's History - 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah
  • Ruth, Esther, Lamentations
  • Deuterocanon - Judith, Tobit, Baruch, 1 & 2 Maccabees
  • Wisdom Writing - Ecclesiastes
  
  

• Third Quarter - 12 Weeks
  • The Pauline Letters - Ephesians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus
  • The Pauline Letters - Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians
    Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, Philemon
  • Epistle - Hebrews
  • Wisdom Writing - Job, Proverbs, Psalms, Song of Songs
  • Deuterocanon - Wisdom
  
  
  
• Fourth Quarter - 12 Weeks
  • Deuterocanon - Ecclesiasticus (Sirach)
  • Major Prophets - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel
  • Minor Prophets - Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Johnah, Micah, Nahum
    Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
  • Epistle - Jude
  • Revelation

Every time we begin a new book there are several paragraphs about the book in that section of the web page. The goal is that by the end of one year we will have read the entire Bible and have a basic understanding of the Bible.

Keep in mind that reading the Bible completely one time is simply to familiarize us with the Bible. It will take a life time of reading, studying, and most importantly praying in order to truly understand all of the Glory and Majesty contained within the Bible.

While it is not necessary to have "The New American Bible" it is highly recommended that you have a Catholic version of a Bible. There are several ways you can tell. First, it might actually say "Catholic Edition" or "Catholic Bible". Second, it will contain the following books in the Old Testament: Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch. Also, it should have an Imprimatur and or Nihil Obstat.

Finally, let me say that I am not a biblical scholar. My training and experience involve the following:

• Deacon in the Archdiocese of Baltimore
• Three years in Deacon Formation
• Nine years as a lector
• Five years participation in a Bible Study program
• Praying the Liturgy of the Hours
• Completed reading the bible two times

The information I provide on the site will be summarizing what I learned from the following sources some of which you may wish to purchase at some time as well. They are listed in order of importance for the beginning student.

The Bible is the inspired Word of God. It is not however a single book, but a collection of books written by various authors over an extremely long period of time. Remember the Bible is a Theology book with some history and not a History book with some theology.

The Old Testament or what the Jewish people would call the "Hebrew Scriptures" covers salvation history from the Creation of the World (Genesis) up to about 100 B.C. (Wisdom). The Old Testament can be sectioned into the Pentateuch, the Historical, the Prophets (Major and Minor), and the Wisdom. The New Testament covers from Christ birth and includes the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, Letters, and Revelation.

There are several dates which you should know from memory that will help keep things in perspective.

 3000 B.C. - Growth of Semitic Civilization in Mesopotamia
 1900 B.C. - Abraham comes to Palestine
 1250 B.C. - Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt
 1030 B.C. - Saul is King of Israel
 1010 B.C. - David is King of Israel
  970 B.C. - Solomon is King of Isreal
  930 B.C. - The Kingdom of Israel is divided into Northern (Israel) and
             Southern (Judah)
    4 B.C. - Christ is born

   30 A.D. - Christ is crucified and raised from the dead on the third day
   37 A.D. - Conversion of Paul (Saul of Tarsus)
   70 A.D. - Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed

Keep in mind that the dates given are not written in stone. You can pick up any of the resources we recommend above and find that dates can vary by as much as 30 years in the Old Testament.