By The Water
For a first serious read-through, use the canonical order (Genesis to Revelation) with a New Testament track alongside — it preserves the Bible's own arrangement while keeping Jesus in view the whole way. Chronological order (events as they happened) shines on a second pass, and a Gospels-first order is best if you are brand new and want to meet Jesus before anything else.
“Order my steps in thy word.”Psalm 119:133 (KJV)
The three orders, honestly compared
1. Canonical — the Bible's own arrangement
Genesis to Revelation as the books sit on the shelf: Law, History, Wisdom, Prophets; then Gospels, Acts, Letters, Revelation. The arrangement is itself instructive — the Old Testament ends leaning forward, the New opens with the answer. Its one hazard is pacing: long legal and prophetic stretches arrive back-to-back. The fix is simple and ancient: read a New Testament passage alongside the Old each day. That combined shape — canonical order, two testaments in parallel — is what the By The Water Bible in a Year plan does (Genesis 7–8 with Matthew 3, and so on through the year).
2. Chronological — events in historical sequence
Job reads alongside the patriarchs, the Psalms sit inside David's life, the prophets interleave with Kings and Chronicles. It turns the Old Testament into one continuous narrative and is genuinely illuminating — if you already know the pieces being rearranged. First-time readers often find it disorienting: the plan jumps between books mid-chapter, and you lose the sense of each book as a composed whole. Wonderful second journey; hard first one.
3. Gospels-first — meet Jesus, then read outward
John (or Mark), then the rest of the New Testament, then the Old with the New's light behind you. Jesus himself read the Old Testament as pointing to him — “beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27) — so starting from the Gospels is not skipping ahead; it is reading with the key in hand. This is the order we recommend to complete beginners: see the beginner's plan.
So which should you choose?
- First read-through, some church background: canonical with a parallel NT track.
- Brand new to the Bible: Gospels-first on-ramp, then the canonical plan.
- Second or third read-through: chronological — you'll see the familiar pieces snap into historical place.
Whichever order you choose, pace matters more than sequence — here's how long the whole Bible actually takes. And no order rescues a reader from Leviticus without context; reading with chapter summaries does. Every chapter in By The Water carries a guided insight: what happens, why it's there, and how it points to Christ.
Open the word, not just a definition
Both paths in By The Water follow the canon — Bible in a Year pairs Old and New Testament daily; At Your Own Pace walks Genesis to Revelation one chapter at a time — and every chapter comes with a guided explanation.
Frequently asked questions
Is it wrong to read the Bible out of order?
Not at all. The Bible is a library, and mature readers move around it constantly. Order is a tool for coverage and comprehension, not a command — the only wrong plan is the one that stops you reading.
What is the difference between canonical and chronological order?
Canonical is the traditional arrangement of the 66 books (grouped by type: Law, History, Wisdom, Prophets, Gospels, Letters). Chronological rearranges readings by when events happened — Job with Genesis, prophets inside Kings. Canonical preserves each book's shape; chronological reveals the historical flow.
Should I read the whole Old Testament before the New?
You can, but most readers do better pairing them daily — the promises and their fulfillment stay within a day's reach of each other, and the hard OT stretches are buffered by the Gospels. Jesus read the OT as being about himself (Luke 24:27).
What order are the books of the Bible in?
Old Testament: Law (Genesis–Deuteronomy), History (Joshua–Esther), Wisdom (Job–Song of Solomon), Prophets (Isaiah–Malachi). New Testament: Gospels, Acts, Paul's letters, General letters, Revelation. Learn more.