The book you have always meant to read

Every verse in plain English, with the King James beside it if you want it. Nothing skipped, nothing softened, nothing explained away.

Welcome. One verse to begin with.

Your faithful love is better than life itself, so my lips will praise you.

Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

Psalm 63:3

Old Testament

Law

The beginning, and the rules that came with it.

Genesis50 chStories of the world's beginning, a flood, and the family of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph in Egypt.Exodus40 chMoses leads enslaved Israelites out of Egypt through plagues and a parted sea, then receives laws at Sinai.Leviticus27 chInstructions given to Moses for priests: animal sacrifices, food rules, skin disease, cleanness and yearly festivals.Numbers36 chIsrael's decades in the desert, head counts, rebellions against Moses, the spies' report, Balaam and his donkey.Deuteronomy34 chMoses' farewell speeches on the edge of Canaan, restating the laws and the journey; ends with his death.

History

What happened, and who it happened to.

Joshua24 chIsrael under Joshua crosses the Jordan, takes Jericho and other towns, and divides the land among tribes.Judges21 chRepeating cycle of Israelite tribes losing to enemies and being rescued by leaders like Deborah, Gideon and Samson.Ruth4 chShort story of Ruth, a widow from Moab, gathering grain in Bethlehem and marrying Boaz.1 Samuel31 chSamuel anoints Saul as Israel's first king, then David, whom Saul hunts across the countryside.2 Samuel24 chDavid's reign: taking Jerusalem, his affair with Bathsheba, and his son Absalom's armed revolt.1 Kings22 chSolomon builds the temple; the kingdom then splits in two, and Elijah confronts King Ahab and Jezebel.2 Kings25 chElisha's deeds and a succession of kings, until Assyria takes Israel and Babylon burns Jerusalem.1 Chronicles29 chLong family lists from Adam onward, then a retelling of David's reign and his plans for the temple.2 Chronicles36 chRetells Solomon and the later kings of Judah, ending with exile and Cyrus's order to go home.Ezra10 chJews return from Babylon, rebuild the temple against opposition, and Ezra the scribe teaches the law.Nehemiah13 chNehemiah leaves the Persian court to rebuild Jerusalem's walls; the law is then read aloud to crowds.Esther10 chEsther, a Jewish queen in Persia, and her cousin Mordecai undo Haman's plot to kill the Jews.

Poetry & Wisdom

Songs, arguments, and hard-won advice.

Job42 chA wealthy man loses children, property and health; he and three friends argue in poetry, then God answers.Psalms150 chA collection of 150 songs and prayers (praise, grief, anger, thanks) many linked to David.Proverbs31 chShort sayings, linked to Solomon, about work, money, speech, sex, drink and choosing friends.Ecclesiastes12 chA teacher's notes on death, labour, money and pleasure, repeating that everything passes and nothing lasts.Song of Solomon8 chLove poems in which a woman and a man praise each other's bodies and search the city at night.

The Prophets

Warnings, promises, and the visions that carried them.

Isaiah66 chPoems and stories warning Judah about Assyria and Babylon, promising return, and describing a suffering servant.Jeremiah52 chJeremiah's warnings as Babylon closes in on Jerusalem, his beatings and imprisonment, and his clashes with kings.Lamentations5 chFive poems mourning Jerusalem's destruction, its burned buildings and its starving people.Ezekiel48 chVisions and acted-out signs from a priest exiled in Babylon, including dry bones and a measured new temple.Daniel12 chTales of exiles at Babylon's court (a furnace, a lions' den) followed by visions of beasts and empires.Hosea14 chHosea's marriage to an unfaithful woman stands for Israel worshipping other gods; poems of accusation and reunion.Joel3 chA locust swarm and drought bring calls to mourn, with promises of a spirit poured out on everyone.Amos9 chA shepherd from Judah accuses Israel's rich of crushing the poor and cheating with weights and courts.Obadiah1 chA single chapter condemning the nation of Edom for gloating and looting when Jerusalem fell.Jonah4 chJonah runs from orders to warn Nineveh, is swallowed by a huge fish, and resents the city being spared.Micah7 chPoems accusing landowners, judges and prophets of corruption, and naming Bethlehem as a future ruler's hometown.Nahum3 chThree chapters of poetry describing the coming fall of Nineveh, the Assyrian capital.Habakkuk3 chA prophet questions God about violence and the rising Babylonians, and receives answers; ends with a sung prayer.Zephaniah3 chWarnings of a day of judgment on Judah and its neighbours, closing with a promise of restoration.Haggai2 chTwo chapters pressing returned exiles, with Zerubbabel and Joshua, to finish rebuilding the temple.Zechariah14 chNight visions of horsemen, lampstands and a flying scroll, then oracles about a king riding a donkey.Malachi4 chBack-and-forth arguments between God and the priests and people about offerings, divorce and unpaid tithes.

New Testament

The Gospels

Four accounts of one life.

Matthew28 chJesus' life from his birth to his rising from the dead, including the Sermon on the Mount and many of his best-known parables.Mark16 chA short, fast account of Jesus healing the sick, facing down the authorities, going to the cross, and leaving an empty tomb.Luke24 chJesus' life told in order, with room for the poor, for women and for outsiders, ending with his rising and his return to God.John21 chJesus shown through seven signs, from water into wine to raising Lazarus, and through long talks about who he is.

History

What happened, and who it happened to.

Acts28 chWhat Jesus' followers did next: the Spirit at Pentecost, the church growing, and Paul carrying the news across the Roman world.

The Letters

Mail sent to young churches, kept ever since.

Romans16 chPaul's letter to Christians in Rome, arguing that everyone sins and is put right through trusting Jesus.1 Corinthians16 chPaul answers a quarrelling church about factions, lawsuits, sex, meat from temples, worship and rising from death.2 Corinthians13 chPaul defends himself against rival teachers, lists his beatings and hardships, and asks for money for Jerusalem.Galatians6 chSharp letter from Paul telling non-Jewish believers they need not be circumcised or keep the Jewish law.Ephesians6 chLetter on Jews and non-Jews joined in one body, with rules for households and a picture of armour.Philippians4 chLetter written from prison thanking a church for a gift, including a poem about Christ giving up status.Colossians4 chLetter against rival teachers pushing rules and visions, describing Christ as above everything, plus household instructions.1 Thessalonians5 chPaul encourages a new church facing hostility and explains what happens to believers who have already died.2 Thessalonians3 chShort letter denying that the final day has already arrived, and telling idle members to work.1 Timothy6 chInstructions to Timothy on false teachers, prayer, widows, slaves, and the qualities required of church officials.2 Timothy4 chLetter presented as Paul's last words from prison, telling Timothy to hold his ground and expect opposition.Titus3 chInstructions for appointing leaders on Crete and for how older men, women, young people and slaves should live.Philemon1 chOne-page letter asking Philemon to take back Onesimus, a slave who left, and treat him as a brother.Hebrews13 chAnonymous sermon comparing Jesus with angels, Moses and priests, ending with a roll-call of people who trusted God.James5 chPractical letter on controlling speech, treating rich and poor alike, and showing faith by what you do.1 Peter5 chLetter to scattered believers under social pressure, on suffering, conduct, households and church elders.2 Peter3 chLetter attacking teachers who deny a coming judgment and mock the delay in Christ's return.1 John5 chLetter insisting Jesus came in a real human body, and that love and obedience mark real believers.2 John1 chBrief note from 'the elder' warning a church against travelling teachers who deny Jesus came in the flesh.3 John1 chBrief note from 'the elder' praising Gaius for housing travellers and faulting Diotrephes for turning them away.Jude1 chOne chapter attacking teachers who joined the group, using old stories of angels, Sodom, Cain and Balaam.

Revelation

The last book, and the loudest.

Revelation22 chJohn's visions on the island Patmos: letters to seven churches, seals, trumpets, beasts, and a new Jerusalem.

The Apocrypha

The King James of 1611 printed these books between the testaments. Most printings dropped them in the nineteenth century. The translation did not change; the printing did. Fifteen here: the count is often given as fourteen, which folds the Epistle of Jeremiah into Baruch as its sixth chapter.

The Apocrypha

Printed in the King James of 1611, between the testaments.

1 Esdras9 chA retelling of Judah's exile and return, centred on Josiah, Zerubbabel's contest of riddles, and Ezra's reforms.2 Esdras16 chVisions given to Ezra, with an angel answering his questions about suffering, history, and the world's end.Tobit14 chA story in which blind Tobit's son Tobias travels with a disguised angel, drives off a demon, and marries Sarah.Judith16 chA story in which a widow, Judith, enters an enemy camp and beheads the general Holofernes to save her town.Esther (Greek)7 chThe Esther story with added material: prayers by Esther and Mordecai, royal decrees, and a dream and its meaning.Wisdom of Solomon19 chA poem-essay praising wisdom as God's companion, contrasting the fates of the just and unjust, and reviewing Israel's exodus.Ecclesiasticus51 chA long collection of sayings by Jesus son of Sirach on money, speech, friends, and family, ending with praise of Israel's ancestors.Baruch5 chShort pieces linked to Jeremiah's scribe Baruch: a confession of national guilt, a poem on wisdom, and words of comfort to exiles.Epistle of Jeremiah1 chA letter warning Jews taken to Babylon that idols are powerless wood, silver and gold that cannot move or save.Song of the Three Holy Children1 chAdditions to Daniel: a prayer and a long hymn sung by three men inside the Babylonian king's furnace.Susanna1 chA short trial story in which two elders falsely accuse Susanna of adultery and Daniel exposes their lies.Bel and the Dragon1 chTwo short stories in which Daniel proves the idol Bel is a fraud, kills a dragon, and survives a lions' pit.Prayer of Manasseh1 chA short prayer of confession placed in the mouth of Manasseh, a king of Judah, while a prisoner in Babylon.1 Maccabees16 chA history of the Jewish revolt against Greek rulers, following Mattathias and his sons Judas, Jonathan and Simon.2 Maccabees15 chA shorter account of the same revolt, with letters, the deaths of Eleazar and seven brothers under torture, and Judas's battles.

Outside the King James

1 Enoch was never in the King James, or in the Catholic or Orthodox Bibles. It is scripture in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and Jude quotes it: "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints" is 1 Enoch 1:9.

1 Enoch

Outside the King James. Quoted once inside it, at Jude 14.

1 Enoch108 chWritings attributed to Enoch: fallen angels who father giants, tours of heaven and the underworld, star calendars, and visions of judgement.