If you’ve become interested in the Bible, you’re in good company. The Bible, in one translation or another, has been printed billions of times and remains one of the bestselling books of all time, according to How Stuff Works.
A few things to know about the Bible before jumping in:
- The Bible is mainly about who God is and what he’s doing in the world.
- The Bible is a spiritual history and teaching anthology. It doesn’t directly deal with every issue in life, but it contains wisdom that can be applied to any situation.
- It directs us to a relationship with the living God.
- You can approach reading the Bible as a distant observer, but if your desire is to know God, your Bible reading will accomplish its purpose.
How to Navigate the Bible
Some Christians know how to find things in the Bible because they’ve used it a lot. They seem to magically flip open to the right page before you blink. But plenty of people use the table of contents at the beginning to find a specific book. And you can use the index in the back to find certain words or topics.
Scripture references are laid out in a short-hand way. They may be written like this: John 1:5. “John” is the name of the book, the first number, “1” is the chapter number, and the number after the colon (“5”) is the verse number.
So, if you were trying to find John 1:5, you could look up “John” in the table of contents, find chapter 1, which is usually a big bold number on the page, and then look for the small numbers within the text to find verse 5. Or you could just enter “John 1:5” in BibleStudyTools.com!
Helpful English Translations for Getting Started with the Bible
There are LOTS of versions of the Bible just in English, let alone the many other languages which have multiple translations, explained more here. This can feel confusing, but think of it this way: The Bible is so compelling that people spend lifetimes studying it and translating it into other languages.
The Bible was written originally in three languages, which reflect the time and people who wrote it. The Old Testament is mostly written in Hebrew, the New Testament in Greek, and there is a smattering of Aramaic throughout, which is the language Jesus primarily used in normal speech.
The best versions for reading regularly, like the ones below, are put together by a large committee and are reviewed by many experts before going to press. You can trust that while each version has its strengths and weaknesses, the true message of God’s Word is coming through these translations:
- New Living Translation (NLT): Designed for readability and contemporary understanding.
- New International Version (NIV): Translated phrase by phrase for a middle ground of readability and a close connection to the original text.
- English Standard Version (ESV): Closer to the original text than the above. Therefore, it’s a little harder to read, but gives a clearer picture of what was stated in the original languages.
BibleStudyTools.com allows you to choose between these and many other translationswhen you search for a scripture or topic.
Where in the Bible Should I Start Reading?
You definitely don’t have to start on page one. The Bible is an anthology and contains many stories of nations, individual biographies, declarations of God’s will, and explanations of how to live accordingly.
Some places are far easier to read and apply to your life than others. It’s highly recommended that you start with the Psalms, which is a book of prayers and poems in the Old Testament, and with the Gospels, which are the first four books in the New Testament. You can pick whichever one you’d like:
- Matthew reflects the Jewish roots most heavily.
- Mark is the shortest and moves quickly.
- Luke is written by a doctor and includes the most detail.
- John is more philosophical and is often regarded as the easiest for 21st century readers.
By the way, the Old Testament is the history of the Jewish people before Jesus came, and the New Testament contains info and stories about Jesus as well as the first fifty or so years of the lives of his followers after Jesus ascended to heaven. (Yep, that happened. It’s in the book of Acts, which follows the four Gospels.)
What’s a Good Amount to Read in One Sitting?
Christians all over the world spend time with God and his Word (the Bible) on a daily basis. Some encourage both morning and evening prayers and readings. Usually people read smaller amounts in one sitting and give themselves some time to think and talk with God about what they read. It’s also okay to blitz through a lot of text in one sitting.
If you’re just getting started, consider one of the following patterns:
- Start the day reading a Psalm (most chapters in this book are prayer poems) and talk to God about your own thoughts and feelings in response.
- Before you lay down to sleep, read a short section of a New Testament book, like John. You can think about what you’ve read while you fall asleep.
- If you want to read more at a time, the Old Testament is full of fascinating stories. Start with Genesis, go on to Exodus, but then skip to Deuteronomy. The books in between (Leviticus and Numbers) are pretty dry and tend to derail even the most avid fans of the Bible. You can come back to those when you’ve read the juicier stuff. Leviticus and Numbers are somewhat summarized in Deuteronomy anyway. After that, it’s pretty smooth sailing, with some crazy stories in Joshua and Judges.
Life’s Great Treasure Hunt
Reading the Bible is like searching for buried treasure. Someone has told you, or you just have a feeling, that there is something good for you here. Be diligent and expectant in your search, and you will be rewarded.
As Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field” (Matthew 13:44).
Photo credit: Pexels/Joseph Redfield
