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Genesis to Revelation · Old and New Testaments

Books of the Bible in Order

Find the 39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books in the common Protestant order. Browse the list, or open a chapter-by-chapter guide to Ruth, Esther, or Daniel.

Quick answer

How many books are in the Bible?

66The Protestant Bible has 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books. Catholic Bibles have 73 books: 46 in the Old Testament and the same 27 in the New Testament. Orthodox Bibles also include additional Old Testament writings. This page uses the 66-book Protestant list; it is not a list of every Christian tradition’s canon.

Complete Protestant list

The 66 books of the Bible by category

This is the order of books in many printed Bibles, not the order of events or dates of writing. Song of Songs is also called Song of Solomon. The three linked titles below open our detailed book guides.
39 books

Old Testament

Law

  1. Genesis
  2. Exodus
  3. Leviticus
  4. Numbers
  5. Deuteronomy

History

  1. Joshua
  2. Judges
  3. Ruth
  4. 1 Samuel
  5. 2 Samuel
  6. 1 Kings
  7. 2 Kings
  8. 1 Chronicles
  9. 2 Chronicles
  10. Ezra
  11. Nehemiah
  12. Esther

Poetry & Wisdom

  1. Job
  2. Psalms
  3. Proverbs
  4. Ecclesiastes
  5. Song of Songs

Major Prophets

  1. Isaiah
  2. Jeremiah
  3. Lamentations
  4. Ezekiel
  5. Daniel

Minor Prophets

  1. Hosea
  2. Joel
  3. Amos
  4. Obadiah
  5. Jonah
  6. Micah
  7. Nahum
  8. Habakkuk
  9. Zephaniah
  10. Haggai
  11. Zechariah
  12. Malachi
27 books

New Testament

Gospels & Acts

  1. Matthew
  2. Mark
  3. Luke
  4. John
  5. Acts

Pauline Letters

  1. Romans
  2. 1 Corinthians
  3. 2 Corinthians
  4. Galatians
  5. Ephesians
  6. Philippians
  7. Colossians
  8. 1 Thessalonians
  9. 2 Thessalonians
  10. 1 Timothy
  11. 2 Timothy
  12. Titus
  13. Philemon

General Letters

  1. Hebrews
  2. James
  3. 1 Peter
  4. 2 Peter
  5. 1 John
  6. 2 John
  7. 3 John
  8. Jude

Apocalyptic

  1. Revelation

Three book guides

Choose a book to read next

4 chapters · NarrativeBook of RuthFollow Naomi and Ruth from bereavement in Moab to harvest in Bethlehem and the birth of David’s grandfather.10 chapters · Hebrew accountBook of EstherRead how Esther risks her life for her people, how they are delivered, and why Purim is celebrated.12 chapters · Hebrew-Aramaic accountBook of DanielRead the court stories in chapters 1–6, then explore Daniel’s visions of kingdoms and God’s rule in chapters 7–12.

Order, category, and chronology

Why are Bible book lists grouped this way?

These are conventional shelves for finding books, not rigid genre labels. Genesis contains narratives as well as genealogies, Lamentations is poetry, and Daniel contains both court stories and visions. The Hebrew Bible groups its books as Torah, Prophets, and Writings rather than following this Christian Old Testament order.

A chronological reading plan asks a different question: when do the events take place? It may place a prophet’s words alongside the reign of a king. That is different again from asking when a book was written. This list does not settle those dates or assign an author to every book.

The chapter counts above follow the Hebrew account of Esther and the Hebrew-Aramaic Book of Daniel. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include additional material in these books. Compare the USCCB explanation of Catholic and Protestant Bibles, the Orthodox Church in America’s canon overview, and the World English Bible table of contents, which also lists deuterocanonical books.

Try recalling what you read

Test your book knowledge

The Books of the Bible Quiz draws 20 questions from a 30-question bank in Mixed mode; individual difficulty rounds are shorter. It samples book names, order, stories, and themes—not every book in one round. Answers cite either a Bible passage or the Protestant book list.
Play the Books Quiz