The Bible: From Old to New Testament

The Bible consists of 66 books: 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.

A Playful Mnemonic Story

The text below is a light‑hearted way to remember book names in order.

• In the beginning, there was a man called “Genesis”. He started a great journey named “Exodus”, and he arrived at the village named “Leviticus”, where he found people who knew “Numbers” and “Deuteronomy”.
• At the same village, Joshua was amongst the Judges.
• Ruth was his wife who later had sons, 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel.
• They later became kings, 1 Kings and 2 Kings.
• Together, they wrote 2 books, 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles.
• They gave the books to pastor Ezra.
• Nehemiah was an elder and Esther was his wife.
• Job was a deacon who knew Psalms and listed Proverbs and read the book of Ecclesiastes and he also sang the Song of Solomon.
• Isaiah and Jeremiah were great prophets.
• But behold, there were great Lamentations within the land when prophet Ezekiel died.
• Daniel was the governor, and Hosea was the administrator who had brothers that were also prophets: Joel, Amos, Obadiah, and Jonah.
• But remember, Micah and Nahum were ushers in the church of Habakkuk.
• Zephaniah helped Haggai, and Zechariah was a weeping prophet; Malachi closed the Old Testament.
• In the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John told the gospel story.
• When these gospels were read, they discovered the Acts of the Apostles.
• The good news spread to the Romans, then to 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians.
• The church decided the message should be taken to the Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians, and later to the Thessalonians (1 and 2).
• They chose two great men, 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, who went to share the message with Titus and Philemon, who knew how to speak the Hebrews’ language.
• James had two brothers who were twins, 1 Peter and 2 Peter.
• Together, they wrote three general letters—1 John, 2 John, and 3 John—and gave them to Jude.
• When Jude read them, he saw the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Note: The story is a mnemonic aid, not a historical account.

Canonical Book Lists

• Old Testament: 39 books, from Genesis to Malachi.
• New Testament: 27 books, from Matthew to Revelation.

Old Testament (39)

1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy
6. Joshua
7. Judges
8. Ruth
9. 1 Samuel
10. 2 Samuel
11. 1 Kings
12. 2 Kings
13. 1 Chronicles
14. 2 Chronicles
15. Ezra
16. Nehemiah
17. Esther
18. Job
19. Psalms
20. Proverbs
21. Ecclesiastes
22. Song of Solomon
23. Isaiah
24. Jeremiah
25. Lamentations
26. Ezekiel
27. Daniel
28. Hosea
29. Joel
30. Amos
31. Obadiah
32. Jonah
33. Micah
34. Nahum
35. Habakkuk
36. Zephaniah
37. Haggai
38. Zechariah
39. Malachi

New Testament (27)

1. Matthew
2. Mark
3. Luke
4. John
5. Acts
6. Romans
7. 1 Corinthians
8. 2 Corinthians
9. Galatians
10. Ephesians
11. Philippians
12. Colossians
13. 1 Thessalonians
14. 2 Thessalonians
15. 1 Timothy
16. 2 Timothy
17. Titus
18. Philemon
19. Hebrews
20. James
21. 1 Peter
22. 2 Peter
23. 1 John
24. 2 John
25. 3 John
26. Jude
27. Revelation

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