The Bible
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71 summaries, page 2 of 3
Bible - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
Bible - Book of Colossians
A letter from prison to a small church tempted by rules, visions and philosophy, answering that Christ is supreme over everything and is all they need.