Abridged OT Reader

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Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash.com

An excellent way to get better acquainted with the OT as a whole is simply to read the narrative portions from beginning to end without all the extra material that is included in the OT (legal material, wisdom literature, prophetic books, etc.).  Below, these are arranged in a series of 24 readings, which works out to 2 per month for completion over the course of a year.  Some are long and some are short, in order to give opportunity to catch up should the need arise.  [325 chapters = average of 6 chapters per week]

  1. The Primeval History –– Genesis 1-11 (stop after 11:26)
  2. The Story of Job –– Job 1-3, 29-42
  3. Abraham and the Patriarchs –– Genesis 11-36 (start at 11:27)
  4. The Joseph Novel –– Genesis 37-50
  5. Moses and the Exodus –– Exodus 1-24, 31-34
  6. Aaron and the Priests –– Leviticus 8-10, 16, 24-26
  7. The Wilderness Wandering –– Numbers 10-25, 33
  8. The Life-giving Law –– Deuteronomy 1-11, 27-34
  9. Joshua and the Conquest –– Joshua 1-10, 22-24
  10. Gideon and the Judges –– Judges 1-21
  11. The Story of Ruth the Moabitess –– Ruth 1-4
  12. The Reign of Saul –– 1 Samuel 1-31
  13. The Reign of David –– 2 Samuel 1-24
  14. The Reign of Solomon –– 1 Kings 1-12
  15. The Sundering of the Kingdom –– 1 Kings 13-16
  16. The Ministry of Elijah the Tishbite –– 1 Kings 17-22
  17. The Ministry of Elisha the Prophet –– 2 Kings 1-8
  18. The Fall of the Northern Kingdom –– 2 Kings 9-17
  19. The Fall of the Southern Kingdom –– 2 Kings 18-25
  20. The Daniel Cycle –– Daniel 1-12
  21. The Memoirs of Ezra the Priest, Part 1 –– Ezra 1-4 (stop after 4:6)
  22. The Story of Esther the Queen –– Esther 1-10
  23. The Memoirs of Ezra the Priest, Part 2 –– Ezra 4-10 (start at 4:7)
  24. The Memoirs of Nehemiah the Governor –– Nehemiah 1-13