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This post attempts to put the Bible, as well as some books from the apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, into chronological order. Below the list will be an explanation for the structure as well as a mention of caveats you may wish to consider. The inclusion of certain books does not necessarily mean that Sojourn Fellowship Church approves of the spiritual nature of the text; this is simply a timeline.

  • Genesis 1-5
  • Enoch
  • Genesis 6-36
  • Job
  • Genesis 37-50
  • The Testament of the 12 Patriarchs
  • Exodus 1-31
  • Jubilees
  • Exodus 32-40
  • Leviticus
  • Numbers
  • Deuteronomy
  • Joshua
  • Judges
  • Ruth
  • 1 Samuel
  • 2 Samuel
  • Psalm
  • 1 Kings 1-10
  • Proverbs
  • Ecclesiastes
  • Song of Solomon
  • 1 Kings 11-22
  • 2 Kings 1-14
  • Jonah
  • Amos
  • Hosea
  • 2 Kings 15
  • Isaiah
  • Micah
  • 2 Kings 16-18
  • Tobit
  • 2 Kings 19-22
  • Zephaniah
  • Nahum
  • Jeremiah
  • The Epistle of Jeremiah (1 Baruch 6)
  • 2 Kings 23
  • Habakkuk
  • 2 Kings 24
  • Ezekiel
  • 2 Kings 25
  • Obadiah
  • Lamentations
  • 1 Chronicles
  • 2 Chronicles 1-33
  • Prayer of Manasseh
  • 2 Chronicles 34-36
  • 1 Baruch
  • Daniel 1
  • Susanna
  • Daniel 2-3
  • Prayer of Azariah
  • Daniel 4-12
  • Bel and the Dragon
  • 2 Baruch
  • Ezra
  • 1 Esdras
  • 2 Esdras
  • Haggai
  • Zechariah
  • Esther/Additions to Esther
  • Nehemiah
  • Joel
  • Malachi
  • Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)
  • 1 Maccabees
  • 2 Maccabees
  • Wisdom of Solomon
  • Judith
  • Matthew
  • Mark
  • Luke
  • John
  • James
  • Acts 1-14
  • Galatians
  • Acts 15-18
  • Romans
  • 1 Thessalonians
  • 2 Thessalonians
  • Acts 19
  • 1 Corinthians
  • Acts 20
  • 1 Timothy
  • 2 Corinthians
  • Acts 21-26
  • Ephesians
  • Philippians
  • Colossians
  • Philemon
  • Acts 27-28
  • Titus
  • 2 Timothy
  • Hebrews
  • 1 Peter
  • 2 Peter
  • 1 John
  • 2 John
  • 3 John
  • Jude
  • Revelation

 

Notes for consideration

This list is not as "chronological" as many of the chronological Bibles you may find in the wild. Divvying up books chapter by chapter and interspersing them in that manner can quickly become confusing and disjointed. Instead, this list chose to focus on keeping books as whole as possible when they fit between the chapters of other texts. There is significant overlap in timeline between these texts, (e.g. the last half of Ezekiel overlaps with the beginning of Daniel) so books were placed in the order of when their respective history begins.

There are many caveats to some of these books that I will detail individually below.

Ruth

Ruth takes place during Judges, however, it's not known exactly when. I have chosen to simply keep it after rather than slam my head against a brick wall in an attempt to decipher exactly when Ruth takes place.

Psalm

The psalms were written across David's life which is why I have placed them after 1 & 2 Samuel.

Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, & Song of Solomon

Much like psalms, we do not know exactly when in Solomon's life it was that he scribed these texts. I have decided to insert them after 1 Kings 10 because this is the final point in Solomon's life before he entirely turns away from YHWH.

Obadiah

When this prophecy was made is widely contested among biblical scholars. Frankly, I have no clue when this prophetic text was written, however, we do know when it was fulfilled. I decided to place Obadiah right after 2 Kings when Israel and Judah have collapsed.

Lamentations

Just like Obadiah, there is not a lot of confidence when exactly this text was written or even who authored it. Tradition likes to attribute Jeremiah as the writer, but there is very little evidence to support this. However, most of the text is lamenting the downfall of the kingdoms, so it is placed here after Obadiah.

1 & 2 Chronicles

These books are a companion piece to 1 Samuel through 2 Kings; the same stories with more or fewer details depending on the topic. I placed it after the conclusion of all the texts that take place prior to the exile.

Joel

There is too little context in the book of Joel to give it a more accurate place in the timeline. I have placed it here just before Malachi as this is the time period which most biblical scholars have come to a consensus. That said, take its placement with a large grain of salt.

Judith

This book is an oddity. Due to the nature of the text, it very likely does not highlight a historical event that actually occurred. Instead, it appears to be more of a "what-if" scenario. I decided to place it at the end of what is conventionally called "the Old Testament."

The Gospels

The four gospels all cover the same historical period; the life of our messiah Jesus. I have decided to leave them in the same order as most traditional Bibles.

Acts & Paul's Epistles

I struggled for a bit on how to handle this collection of books. I decided the best route for gaining a better understanding would be to insert the epistles into the story of Acts at the time that Paul actually wrote them. This is why you'll see a large divide between some books like 1 & 2 Corinthians.

1 & 2 Peter; 1, 2, & 3 John; Jude; Revelation

I decided to leave these texts in their original order. I'm not sure much can be said about a chronology of these texts as they are all epistles with the exception of Revelation (at least, most of Revelation).

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