Back to Catholic Resources

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.  Our Thanks to St. Lawrence Parish in the Diocese of Baltimore for our resource pages! 

• 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

Our 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.

The information we provide on the site will be summarizing what is 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.

Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures)
	2000 B.C.   Growth of Semitic Civilization in Mesopotamia
	1900 B.C.   Abraham comes to Palestine
	1575 B.C.   Israelite Slavery Begins
	1280 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
	957 B.C.    Solomon is King of Israel � Builds First Temple
	930 B.C.    The Kingdom of Israel is divided into Northern (Israel) and Southern (Judah)
	753 B.C.    City of Rome is Founded
	586 B.C.    First Temple destroyed by Babylonians
	535 B.C.    Building of Second Temple. Completed in 516 B.C.
	20 B.C.     Renovation of Temple from Stone to Marble. Completed in 65 A.D.
	
New Testament
	4-3 B.C.    Jesus Christ is born
	27 A.D.     Jesus begins public ministry
	30 A.D.     Jesus is crucified
	37 A.D.     Conversion of Paul - (Saul of Tarsus)
	49 A.D.     Council of Jerusalem - (Peter & Paul)
                        Circumcision, Jewish Traditions
	51-62 A.D.  Letters of Paul
	65-70 A.D.  Gospel of Mark - New Christians     
	70 A.D.     Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem
	70-80 A.D.  Gospel of Mathew - Jewish Christians
	            Gospel of Luke - Greek speaking people
	80-90 A.D.  Acts of the Apostles (2nd half of Luke's Gospel)
	90-95 A.D.  Gospel of John 
	90s         Book of Revelation (John)

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.