Bible Plan MakerThe chronological order
How the chronological plan is ordered
Books are placed by the dates the Bible itself gives: the kings a prophet's first verse names, the reign a book describes.
The order works book by book, splitting a book only where its own text dates a section. It is our own order, built from the King James Version, and it does not copy any published plan. Where a book names no date, it stays beside its neighbors, and the table says so.
| Reading | Why it falls there |
|---|---|
| Genesis 1–11, then Job, then Genesis 12–50 | Job lived 140 years after his trials (Job 42:16), a patriarch's lifespan, so he is read among the patriarchs. |
| Exodus to Judges, then Ruth | “In the days when the judges ruled” (Ruth 1:1). |
| 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles, then Psalms | 1 Chronicles retells David's reign; the Psalms follow it as one block. Reading them in one block is our choice. |
| 1 Kings 1–11, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, 2 Chronicles 1–9 | Each of the three books names Solomon or “the son of David” in its first verse (Proverbs 1:1, Song of Songs 1:1, Ecclesiastes 1:1). |
| 1 Kings 12 to 2 Kings 25, with 2 Chronicles 10–36 beside them | The divided kingdom, read in five spans, each followed by the matching chapters of 2 Chronicles and the prophets of that span. |
| Jonah after 2 Kings 14 | 2 Kings 14:25 names Jonah under Jeroboam. |
| Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah after 2 Kings 15 | Hosea 1:1 and Amos 1:1: “in the days of Uzziah.” Joel and Obadiah name no king and stay beside their neighbors, our choice. |
| Isaiah, Micah, Nahum after 2 Kings 20 | Isaiah 1:1 names “Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah”; Micah 1:1 names Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. Nahum names no king and stays beside Micah. |
| Habakkuk, Zephaniah after 2 Kings 23 | Zephaniah 1:1: “in the days of Josiah.” Habakkuk names no king and stays beside Zephaniah. |
| Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel after 2 Kings 25 | Jeremiah 1:2–3 runs from Josiah “unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah”; Ezekiel 1:2 and Daniel 1:1 date themselves by Jehoiachin's captivity and Jehoiakim's reign. |
| Ezra 1–6, Haggai, Zechariah, Esther, Ezra 7–10, Nehemiah, Malachi | Ezra 4:5–7 orders the kings Cyrus, Darius, Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes; Haggai 1:1 and Zechariah 1:1 are “the second year of Darius”; Esther 1:1 is Ahasuerus; Nehemiah 2:1 is “the twentieth year of Artaxerxes.” Malachi closes the Old Testament as in the Bible. |
| Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts | Book by book, without blending the Gospels into one story. |
| Paul's letters inside Acts | Each letter after the chapter of Acts where Paul reaches its readers: Galatians after Acts 14, 1 and 2 Thessalonians after 17, 1 and 2 Corinthians after 18, Romans after 20. The letters he wrote “in bonds” (Ephesians 6:20, Philippians 1:13, Colossians 4:18, Philemon 1:9) after Acts 28, then 1 Timothy, Titus and 2 Timothy. |
| Hebrews to Revelation | In Bible order. |