Books
The big ideas from popular books, without giving the whole thing away. Get the GIST, then decide if you want the REST.
FiltersThe BibleSelf-HelpScience FictionClear
Pick as many as you like: any of them matches within a group.
97 summaries, page 3 of 5
Bible Summary | Book of Lamentations
Five ancient Hebrew poems that mourn Jerusalem's fall to Babylon with unflinching honesty, and still find a hope that is new every morning.
Bible Summary | Book of Ezekiel
A priest exiled in Babylon sees God's glory on a chariot of wheels and living creatures, watches it leave the doomed Temple, and foresees dry bones living and the glory's return.
Bible Summary | Book of Daniel
Court tales and visions from exile: the fiery furnace, the writing on the wall, the lions' den, and dreams of beasts, kingdoms and the end of days.
Bible Summary | Book of Hosea
A prophet's broken marriage becomes the picture of God and Israel: betrayal, judgment on the northern kingdom, and a love that takes the unfaithful back.
Bible Summary | Book of Joel
A short, blazing prophecy in which a locust plague becomes a warning of the day of the LORD, a call to repent with the whole heart, and a promise that wasted years can be restored and God's spirit poured out on everyone.
Bible Summary | Book of Obadiah
The shortest book of the Hebrew Bible: one fierce vision against Edom for gloating over Jerusalem's fall, with a promise that what you do will be done to you.
Bible Summary | Book of Jonah
A prophet runs from God, is swallowed by a great fish, preaches to Nineveh and is furious when the city is spared: a short, sharp story about mercy.
Bible Summary | Book of Micah
A village prophet takes on Jerusalem's powerful, then sets beside his warnings one of the Bible's great visions of peace and its most famous answer to what God requires.
Bible Summary | Book of Nahum
A three-chapter prophetic poem announcing the fall of Nineveh, Assyria's great capital, and naming God as both patient judge and refuge for the oppressed.
Bible Summary | Book of Habakkuk
A prophet argues with God about injustice and the coming Babylonian invasion, is told that the just shall live by faith, and ends by rejoicing with nothing left to count on.
Bible Summary | Book of Haggai
In four dated messages a prophet tells returned exiles to stop decorating their own houses, rebuild God's ruined Temple, and trust that its future glory will outshine its past.
Bible Summary | Book of Zechariah
Eight night visions encourage a discouraged people to rebuild the Temple, and later oracles look ahead to a humble king, a pierced figure mourned by a nation, and God reigning over all the earth.
Bible Summary | Book of Malachi
The last of the prophets confronts a weary, cynical community after the exile in six sharp disputes about love, worship, marriage, justice and giving, and promises a messenger to come.
Bible Summary | Book of Matthew
The first Gospel presents Jesus as Israel's promised Messiah and great teacher, from his birth and the Sermon on the Mount to the cross, the empty tomb and the Great Commission.
Bible Summary | Book of Mark
The shortest and earliest Gospel: Jesus as healer, exorcist and misunderstood Messiah, racing from the Jordan to the cross and an empty tomb.
Bible Summary | Book of Luke
The third Gospel tells the life of Jesus as a carefully ordered story for outsiders, the poor and the lost, from the manger to the road to Emmaus.
Bible Summary | Book of John
The fourth Gospel: the Word made flesh, seven signs, the great "I am" sayings, the raising of Lazarus, the farewell at the supper and the risen Jesus.
Bible Summary | Book of Acts
The sequel to Luke's Gospel follows the first Christians from a room in Jerusalem to the capital of the empire, through Pentecost, persecution, Peter's visions and Paul's journeys.
Bible Summary | Book of Romans
Paul's longest and weightiest letter: everyone has sinned, God sets people right as a gift received by faith, nothing can separate them from his love, and here is how to live.
Bible Summary | Book of 1 Corinthians
Paul writes to a gifted, quarrelsome young church about factions, sex, lawsuits, food, worship and spiritual gifts, and answers them with the cross, the body, love and the resurrection.
Bible Summary | Book of 2 Corinthians
Paul's most personal letter: comfort after anguish, treasure in earthen vessels, the ministry of reconciliation, cheerful giving and strength made perfect in weakness.
Bible Summary | Book of Galatians
Paul's most heated letter: a defense of his gospel against those who would require Gentile converts to be circumcised, and a charter of freedom lived out through love.
Bible Summary | Book of Ephesians
A letter with a cosmic canvas: all things gathered in Christ, salvation by grace, Jew and Gentile made one people, and the armour of God for daily life.
Bible Summary | Book of Philippians
Paul's letter of joy from prison: to live is Christ, the poem of Christ's humility and exaltation, pressing toward the mark, and contentment in every state.