The whole Bible story
From a good world gone wrong to a promise that reaches every nation, in six parts.
Gold marks the one thing to look at.
Point at, tap, or tab to anything in a picture to see what it is, and to any Bible reference to read the verse (Berean Standard Bible).
A good world The light from above. Genesis says that God spoke and the world came to be, beginning with light, and that he saw all he had made and it was very good. This page never pictures God; a light from the top edge marks his presence or action. (Gen 1:3; Gen 1:31) The sun. On the fourth day God made the greater light to rule the day and to mark seasons, days and years, and he saw that it was good. In Genesis the sun is a lamp God made, not a god to be worshiped. (Gen 1:14–19; Deut 4:19) The moon and stars. The lesser light, made on the fourth day to rule the night, together with the stars. Israel’s calendar followed the moon: each month began at the new moon. (Gen 1:16; Ps 104:19) Sea creatures. On the fifth day God filled the waters with living creatures, the great sea creatures among them, and blessed them to be fruitful and fill the seas. (Gen 1:20–22) Birds. On the fifth day, with the creatures of the sea, God made every winged bird according to its kind, and blessed them to multiply on the earth. (Gen 1:20–22) The garden. God planted a garden in Eden, with every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. In its middle stood the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watered it. (Gen 2:8–10) Land animals. On the sixth day God made the livestock, the creeping things and the wild animals, each according to its kind. Adam gave them their names, but among them no helper fit for him was found. (Gen 1:24–25; Gen 2:19–20) Eve. The first woman, made by God from the man’s side as a helper fit for him. Adam named her Eve because she would be the mother of all the living. Deceived by the serpent, she ate the forbidden fruit and gave some to Adam. (Gen 2:21–22; Gen 3:6; Gen 3:20) Eve Adam. The first man, formed by God from the dust and made innocent, to work and keep the garden. He stood as head of the human race: when he disobeyed, sin and death came to all through him. Paul calls Jesus the last Adam, through whom those who fell in Adam are made alive. (Gen 2:7; Gen 2:15; Gen 2:25; Rom 5:12–19; 1 Cor 15:22; 1 Cor 15:45) Adam God creates everything: land and sea, sun and moon, plants and animals. He makes the first man and woman in his image to rule it. It is very good.
Read it Gen 1:1 · Gen 1:27–28 · Gen 1:31
Later
John opens his Gospel with these words.
John 1:1
The fall The garden, now closed. God sent the man out of the garden of Eden to work the ground, and set cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life. The Bible’s last chapter shows that tree again. (Gen 3:23–24; Rev 22:2) The forbidden tree. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God gave the man every other tree for food, but said that on the day he ate from this one he would surely die. The serpent denied it; the woman and the man ate. (Gen 2:16–17; Gen 3:4–6) the forbidden tree Thorns and thistles. Because of what Adam did, God cursed the ground. It would grow thorns and thistles, and Adam would eat bread by the sweat of his brow until he returned to the dust he was taken from. (Gen 3:17–19) thorns and thistles Eve. The serpent deceived her, and she ate. God told the serpent that her offspring would one day crush its head, the first hint in the Bible of a rescuer to come. (Gen 3:13; Gen 3:15) Eve Adam. When God asked what he had done, Adam blamed the woman. God made garments of skin for them both and clothed them before sending them out. Paul later sets Adam’s one act of disobedience beside Christ’s obedience. (Gen 3:12; Gen 3:21; Rom 5:19) Adam God gives one rule: do not eat from one tree. The man and woman distrust him and eat. Shame, pain and death follow, and they must leave the garden.
Read it Gen 2:16–17 · Gen 3:1–7 · Gen 3:23–24
Later
Paul: through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin.
Rom 5:12
Wrong spreads Violence spreads. Violence did not stop with Cain. His descendant Lamech boasted of killing a man, and by Noah’s time the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence. (Gen 4:23–24; Gen 6:11–12) Abel. Cain’s younger brother, a keeper of sheep. He brought the best of his flock as an offering, and God looked with favor on him. Hebrews says that he offered it by faith. (Gen 4:2–4; Heb 11:4) Abel Cain. Adam and Eve’s first son, a worker of the ground. When God looked with favor on Abel’s offering but not on his, Cain grew angry, killed his brother in the field, and was sent away as a wanderer. (Gen 4:3–8; Gen 4:11–12) Cain Wrong spreads fast. Adam and Eve’s son Cain, in anger, kills his brother Abel, and by Noah’s day the earth is full of violence.
Read it Gen 4:8 · Gen 6:11
The flood The rainbow. The sign of God’s covenant with Noah and every living creature: never again will a flood destroy the earth. When the bow appears in the clouds, God says, he will remember his covenant. (Gen 9:12–16) The mountains of Ararat. As the waters went down, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Noah sent out a raven and a dove, and waited for months until the earth was dry. (Gen 8:4; Gen 8:8–14) The ark. A huge wooden vessel, about 450 feet long, with three decks and a door in its side. Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives, and pairs of every kind of animal were kept alive in it for a year. (Gen 6:14–16; Gen 7:13–15) the ark The animals come out. God told Noah to bring out every living creature, birds, livestock and creeping things, so that they could spread over the earth and multiply. They left the ark by their kinds. (Gen 8:17–19) Noah. A righteous man who walked with God when the earth was full of violence. God told him to build the ark, and he did all that God commanded. After the flood he built an altar and worshiped. (Gen 6:9; Gen 6:22; Gen 8:20) Noah God judges the world with a flood but saves Noah’s family and the animals in the ark, a great boat. The rainbow marks his promise: never again.
Read it Gen 6:5–8 · Gen 7:23 · Gen 9:11–13
Later
Peter: God waited patiently in the days of Noah.
1 Pet 3:20
Babel The tower of Babel. On a plain in Shinar, in Mesopotamia, people built a city of baked brick and a tower meant to reach the heavens, to make a name for themselves and not be scattered. Building stopped, and the city was called Babel. (Gen 11:2–4; Gen 11:8–9) the tower, left unfinished People scattered. God confused their language so that they could not understand one another, and scattered them over the face of the whole earth. Genesis 10 lists the nations that came from Noah’s three sons. (Gen 11:7–9; Gen 10:32) People scattered. God confused their language so that they could not understand one another, and scattered them over the face of the whole earth. Genesis 10 lists the nations that came from Noah’s three sons. (Gen 11:7–9; Gen 10:32) scattered over the earth People gather to build a city and a tower and make a name for themselves. God confuses their language and scatters them across the earth as many nations.
Read it Gen 11:1–9
Later
At Pentecost, people of many languages hear one message.
Acts 2:5–11
Part 2 · Genesis 12 – Deuteronomy
The promise and a people God chooses one family to bless every nation, then rescues it from Egypt.
The call Abram’s journey. About a thousand miles on foot, following the rivers north and then turning south. Hebrews says that Abraham obeyed and went out without knowing where he was going. (Gen 12:4–5; Heb 11:8) Egypt. The great kingdom on the Nile. Abram went there during a famine. His descendants would later live there for centuries, first as guests and then as slaves. (Gen 12:10; Exod 1:8–11) Egypt Ur. Abram’s first home, Ur of the Chaldeans, usually identified with the great city of Ur in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). His father Terah set out from there for Canaan but settled in Haran. (Gen 11:31) Ur (probable) Haran. A city in northern Mesopotamia where Terah’s family settled and Terah died. From here Abram, aged seventy-five, obeyed God’s call and left with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot. (Gen 11:31–32; Gen 12:4–5) Haran Canaan. The land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. At Shechem the LORD appeared to Abram and promised this land to his offspring, and Abram built an altar there. (Gen 12:5–7) Canaan Mesopotamia Mediterranean Sea N Abram’s journey: Ur → Haran → Canaan “all the families of the earth will be blessed through you” Gen 12:3
Out of the scattered nations God calls one man, Abram, to leave home. He promises him a land, a great family, and blessing for every nation through him.
Read it Gen 12:1–3 · Gen 12:7
Later
Paul: this was the gospel announced in advance.
Gal 3:8
Count the stars The stars. God took Abram outside and told him to count the stars: so many would his offspring be. Abram and his wife Sarai were old and childless, so the promise rested on God alone. (Gen 15:2–5) Abram’s tent. Abram lived in tents as a foreigner in the land promised to him, and owned none of it but a burial plot. Hebrews says that he was looking forward to the city whose builder is God. (Gen 12:8; Heb 11:9–10) Abram, later Abraham. God called him from Mesopotamia and promised him a land, descendants and blessing for all nations. He believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness. God renamed him Abraham, “father of many nations”; Paul calls him the father of all who believe. (Gen 12:1–3; Gen 15:6; Gen 17:5; Rom 4:11) Abram (later Abraham) “Abram believed the Lord , and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Gen 15:6
Abram is old and has no son. God takes him outside: count the stars, if you can. So many will your offspring be. Abram trusts him.
Read it Gen 15:5–6
Later
Paul quotes this verse: people are set right with God by trusting him.
Rom 4:3 · Gal 3:6
Twelve sons Abram, later Abraham. God called him from Mesopotamia and promised him a land, descendants and blessing for all nations. He believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness. God renamed him Abraham, “father of many nations”; Paul calls him the father of all who believe. (Gen 12:1–3; Gen 15:6; Gen 17:5; Rom 4:11) Abraham Isaac. The son God promised, born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age. God tested Abraham by asking for Isaac, then provided a ram in his place and confirmed the promise with an oath. (Gen 21:1–3; Gen 22:1–2; Gen 22:13; Gen 22:16–18) Isaac Jacob, renamed Israel. Isaac’s younger son, who gained his brother Esau’s birthright and blessing. God renewed Abraham’s promise to him, and renamed him Israel after he wrestled through the night. His descendants took that name. (Gen 28:13–15; Gen 32:28) Jacob (Israel) The twelve sons. Jacob’s sons by Leah, Rachel and their servants Bilhah and Zilpah. Their descendants became the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob’s blessing gave the ruler’s staff to Judah, the tribe of David and of Jesus. (Gen 35:22–26; Gen 49:10; Matt 1:2–3) Reuben Simeon Levi Judah Dan Naphtali Gad Asher Issachar Zebulun Joseph Benjamin twelve sons → twelve tribes of Israel The promise passes to Abraham’s son Isaac, then to Isaac’s son Jacob, whom God renames Israel. Jacob’s twelve sons become the twelve tribes of Israel.
Read it Gen 21:1–3 · Gen 32:28 · Gen 35:22–26
Joseph in Egypt Egypt. Already an old and powerful kingdom, whose pyramids had stood for centuries. Jacob’s family, seventy people, settled in its region of Goshen and grew there into a numerous people. (Gen 46:27; Gen 47:27; Exod 1:7) Grain. During seven good years Joseph stored up grain in the cities, more than could be measured. When the famine came, people from every land travelled to Egypt to buy from him. (Gen 41:47–49; Gen 41:56–57) stored grain Joseph’s brothers. Ten of Jacob’s sons came to buy grain and bowed before the governor without recognizing him, as Joseph had once dreamed they would. He tested them, forgave them, and brought the whole family to Egypt. (Gen 42:6–9; Gen 45:4–8) his brothers Joseph. Jacob’s favorite son, sold by his jealous brothers and taken to Egypt. God gave him skill to explain dreams, and Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, set him over the whole land to store grain before a seven-year famine. (Gen 37:3–4; Gen 37:28; Gen 41:39–41) Joseph “what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good” Gen 50:20
His brothers sell Joseph into Egypt, but God raises him up to save them from famine. Jacob’s whole family settles in Egypt.
Read it Gen 37:28 · Gen 45:5–7 · Gen 50:20
Out of Egypt The walls of water. Moses stretched out his hand, and the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind all night. Israel crossed on dry ground with a wall of water on the right and on the left. The army that followed was drowned. (Exod 14:21–22; Exod 14:27–28) a wall of water on each side The pillar of fire. The LORD went ahead of Israel in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. At the sea it moved behind them, standing between Israel and the Egyptian army and giving light all night. (Exod 13:21–22; Exod 14:19–20) the pillar of fire The people of Israel. Jacob’s descendants, now a great people. That night each household had killed a lamb and put its blood on the doorposts, and the LORD passed over those houses when he struck Egypt’s firstborn. Passover remembers it every year. (Exod 12:3–7; Exod 12:12–14) Moses. Born to Hebrew slaves, raised in Pharaoh’s house, then a shepherd in Midian. God called him at a burning bush to bring Israel out of Egypt, and through him gave the law. No prophet like him arose again in Israel. (Exod 2:10; Exod 3:10; Deut 34:10) Moses Later Egypt enslaves Jacob’s descendants, the people of Israel. God sends Moses, strikes Egypt with plagues, and leads them out through the sea. The yearly Passover meal remembers that night.
Read it Exod 1:8–14 · Exod 12:1–13 · Exod 14:21–22
Many date it ca. 1260 BC; 1 Kings 6:1 places it 480 years before Solomon’s temple.
Later
Paul: Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
1 Cor 5:7
Sinai The light from above. This page never pictures God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. A soft light from the top edge marks the places where the text speaks of God’s presence or action. Mount Sinai. The mountain in the wilderness where God met Israel three months after they left Egypt. It was wrapped in smoke and thick cloud, with thunder, lightning and fire, and all the people trembled. (Exod 19:1; Exod 19:16–18) Mount Sinai The people of Israel. God called Israel his treasured possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, if they kept his covenant. The people answered together that they would do everything the LORD had spoken. (Exod 19:5–8) The tabernacle. A tent sanctuary that could be carried, made to the pattern God showed Moses, with a fenced court, an altar, and an inner room for the ark. When it was finished, the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD filled it. (Exod 25:8–9; Exod 40:34–35) the tabernacle The two tablets. Two stone tablets written with the Ten Commandments, the heart of the covenant. They were kept in the ark of the covenant, a gold-covered chest in the inner room of the tabernacle. (Exod 31:18; Exod 34:28; Deut 10:5) the two tablets of the law Moses. Moses went up the mountain to God and brought his words down to the people. He was the go-between of the covenant, and pleaded for Israel when they broke it with the golden calf. (Exod 19:3; Exod 24:3; Exod 32:11–14) At Mount Sinai God makes a covenant, a binding agreement, with Israel. He gives his law and comes to live among them in the tabernacle, a holy tent.
Read it Exod 19:5–6 · Exod 20:1–17 · Exod 40:34
Later
John: the Word became flesh and lived among us.
John 1:14
Go deeper: Abraham to Joseph · Moses (20-minute pages, coming)
Part 3 · Joshua – 2 Kings
Land and kings Life in the land depends on keeping the covenant, and the people of Israel keep failing.
Into the land Crossing the Jordan. When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant stepped into the river, the water stopped flowing, and the whole nation crossed on dry ground, as their parents had crossed the sea. (Josh 3:14–17; Josh 4:23) Jerusalem. Still held by the Jebusites in Joshua’s day; the tribe of Judah could not drive them out. David captured it about four hundred years later and made it his capital. (Josh 15:63; 2 Sam 5:6–7) Jerusalem Shechem. Where God had first promised the land to Abram. Here Joshua gathered the tribes at the end of his life to renew the covenant and to choose whom they would serve. (Gen 12:6–7; Josh 24:1; Josh 24:15) Shechem Mount Nebo. From this mountain east of the Jordan, Moses saw the whole promised land before he died. He did not enter it himself; Joshua, his assistant, led the people in. (Deut 34:1–5; Josh 1:1–2) Mount Nebo Jericho. The first city Israel took in Canaan. The people marched around it for seven days, and its walls fell. Rahab, who had hidden Israel’s spies, was spared with her family. (Josh 6:15–16; Josh 6:20; Josh 6:25) Jericho Dead Sea Sea of Galilee Jordan River Mediterranean Sea Canaan wilderness N Across the Jordan near Jericho After forty years in the wilderness, Moses’s successor Joshua leads the people across the Jordan River into Canaan, the land promised to Abraham.
Read it Josh 3:14–17 · Josh 21:43–45
The judges The cycle. The book of Judges tells one story many times: Israel serves other gods, God hands them over to enemies, they cry out, and he raises up a judge, a leader who rescues them, such as Deborah, Gideon or Samson. When the judge dies they turn back. (Judg 2:16–19) turn from God enemies rule cry out a judge rescues again and again ca. 1380 BC No king in Israel. Judges ends in chaos: there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. At last the people asked the prophet Samuel to give them a king like the other nations. (Judg 21:25; 1 Sam 8:4–7) ca. 1050 BC: the people ask for a king With no king, the people turn from God again and again. Enemies crush them; they cry out; God sends a rescuer, called a judge.
Read it Judg 2:11–19 · Judg 21:25
David The throne. Israel’s throne was meant to be held under God, the true king. Saul lost it by disobedience; David, for all his own sins, is remembered as a man after God’s own heart. (1 Sam 12:12–15; 1 Sam 13:14) The sheep. David was keeping his father’s sheep near Bethlehem when Samuel sent for him. A psalm says that God took him from the sheepfolds to be the shepherd of his people Israel. (1 Sam 16:11; Ps 78:70–72) The promise to David. God promised David a descendant whose throne would be established forever. Israel’s later hope for a coming king, the Messiah or “anointed one”, grew from this promise. (2 Sam 7:12–16; Ps 89:3–4) a kingdom promised forever David. The youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem. Samuel anointed him king while he was still a shepherd boy; he killed the giant Goliath, later ruled from Jerusalem, and wrote many of the psalms. (1 Sam 16:11–13; 1 Sam 17:49–50; 2 Sam 5:3–5) David Saul. Israel’s first king, a head taller than anyone else, from the tribe of Benjamin. He disobeyed God’s command given through the prophet Samuel, and Samuel told him that the LORD had rejected him as king. (1 Sam 9:2; 1 Sam 10:1; 1 Sam 15:22–23) Saul The people ask for a king. The first, Saul, disobeys God. David, a shepherd, replaces him, and God promises that David’s family will rule forever.
Read it 1 Sam 15:26 · 1 Sam 16:1–13 · 2 Sam 7:12–16
Later
Luke: Jesus will have the throne of his father David.
Luke 1:32–33
The temple The light from above. This page never pictures God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. A soft light from the top edge marks the places where the text speaks of God’s presence or action. The temple. A stone house for the name of the LORD in Jerusalem, seven years in building, lined with cedar and gold. Like the tabernacle it had an inner room, the Most Holy Place, for the ark of the covenant. (1 Kgs 6:1; 1 Kgs 6:19–22; 1 Kgs 6:38) The cloud. When the priests brought the ark into the inner room, a cloud filled the house so that they could not stand to serve, for the glory of the LORD filled it, as it had once filled the tabernacle. (1 Kgs 8:10–11; Exod 40:34–35) the cloud fills the house The people. All Israel gathered for the dedication. Solomon prayed that God would hear and forgive when prayers were made toward this house, by Israelites and by foreigners from distant lands alike. (1 Kgs 8:22–23; 1 Kgs 8:41–43) Solomon. David’s son, who asked God for wisdom to govern and received it, with wealth and peace besides. He built the temple, but his many foreign wives turned his heart after other gods, and God said the kingdom would be torn from his son. (1 Kgs 3:9–12; 1 Kgs 11:4; 1 Kgs 11:11–12) Solomon David’s son Solomon builds the temple in Jerusalem, and a cloud, the sign of God’s presence, fills it. But Solomon’s heart later turns to other gods.
Read it 1 Kgs 6:1 · 1 Kgs 8:10–11 · 1 Kgs 11:4
Elijah Mount Carmel Fire from heaven. The prophets of the god Baal called on him all day and nothing happened. Elijah soaked his offering with water and prayed, and the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones and the water. (1 Kgs 18:26; 1 Kgs 18:36–38) fire falls from heaven The altar. Elijah repaired the broken altar of the LORD with twelve stones, one for each tribe descended from Jacob, although the kingdom was now divided in two, and dug a trench around it. (1 Kgs 18:30–32) The people of Israel. Elijah had asked the people of the northern kingdom how long they would waver between the LORD and Baal. When they saw the fire they fell facedown and confessed that the LORD is God. (1 Kgs 18:21; 1 Kgs 18:39) Elijah. A prophet from Gilead in the days of Ahab, king of Israel, who had led the people to worship Baal. Elijah announced a drought, challenged Baal’s prophets on Mount Carmel, and was later taken up to heaven. (1 Kgs 17:1; 1 Kgs 18:21; 2 Kgs 2:11) Elijah After Solomon the kingdom splits: Israel in the north, Judah in the south. Prophets, people who speak God’s message, such as Elijah, call kings and people back to the covenant.
Read it 1 Kgs 12:16–20 · 1 Kgs 18:36–39
Two falls One kingdom. For about 120 years Saul, David and Solomon ruled all twelve tribes. After Solomon died, his son Rehoboam answered the people harshly, and ten tribes broke away under Jeroboam. (1 Kgs 11:42–43; 1 Kgs 12:13–16) One kingdom: Saul, David, Solomon Israel, the northern kingdom. Ten tribes, with their capital at Samaria. Every one of its kings kept up the idol worship that Jeroboam began. In 722 BC Assyria took Samaria and deported the people. (1 Kgs 12:28–30; 2 Kgs 17:6; 2 Kgs 17:22–23) Israel (north) destroyed by Assyria Judah, the southern kingdom. Ruled from Jerusalem by David’s descendants. Some kings, like Hezekiah and Josiah, were faithful; most were not. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, burned the temple and carried the people away. (2 Kgs 18:3; 2 Kgs 23:25; 2 Kgs 25:8–11) Judah (south) exiled to Babylon 1050 BC 931 BC 722 BC 586 BC The kingdom splits after Solomon Assyria destroys the northern kingdom, Israel, in 722 BC. In 586 BC Babylon burns Jerusalem and its temple and takes the southern kingdom, Judah, into exile.
Read it 2 Kgs 17:6–7 · 2 Kgs 25:8–11
Go deeper: Saul, David, Solomon · Elijah (20-minute pages, coming)
Part 4 · 586 BC – ca. 6 BC
Exile, return and waiting God keeps his people, and the prophets promise more to come.
By the rivers of Babylon The road into exile. The exiles were marched north and then east around the desert. Jeremiah wrote telling them to build houses, seek the good of the city, and wait: after seventy years God would bring them back. (Jer 29:4–7; Jer 29:10) Jerusalem. Besieged and burned by Babylon’s army in 586 BC. The temple, the palace and the city walls were destroyed, and only the poorest people were left to work the land. (2 Kgs 25:8–12) Jerusalem Damascus Babylon. Capital of King Nebuchadnezzar’s empire, on the Euphrates River. Exiles from Judah lived here for about seventy years, the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel among them. A psalm remembers them weeping by its rivers. (2 Kgs 24:14–15; Ps 137:1; Dan 1:6) Babylon desert Mediterranean Sea Euphrates River N Into exile: Jerusalem → Babylon, about 900 miles by road In exile in Babylon, prophets explain why: the people broke the covenant. But God promises a new covenant, a new heart, and a king from David’s family.
Read it Jer 31:31–34 · Ezek 36:26 · Jer 23:5
Later
Jesus: this cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Luke 22:20
Home again The second temple. Rebuilt on the old site under the governor Zerubbabel and the priest Jeshua, urged on by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. Old people who remembered Solomon’s temple wept when its foundation was laid. (Ezra 3:12; Ezra 6:14–15) the temple, rebuilt The walls of Jerusalem. The walls lay broken for another ninety years. Nehemiah, cupbearer to the Persian king, came as governor and led the people to rebuild them in fifty-two days, despite threats from their neighbors. (Neh 2:17; Neh 6:15–16) Jerusalem’s wall The returning exiles. About fifty thousand people made the first journey home. Many Jews stayed in Babylon and across the Persian empire, as the book of Esther shows. (Ezra 2:64–65; Esth 3:8) The Cyrus Cylinder. A clay cylinder from Babylon, now in the British Museum, on which Cyrus says he sent captive peoples and their gods back to their homes. It does not mention Judah, but it fits the decree recorded in Ezra. (Ezra 1:1–4) Cyrus’s clay cylinder: he sent captive peoples home Persia conquers Babylon. King Cyrus lets the exiles of Judah, now called Jews, go home. They rebuild the temple (516 BC) and Jerusalem’s walls.
Read it Ezra 1:1–4 · Ezra 6:15 · Neh 6:15
The last prophet The long wait. From Malachi to John the Baptist, more than four hundred years, no prophet’s book was added to Scripture. A Jewish history of those years speaks of waiting until a trustworthy prophet should arise. (1 Macc 4:46; 1 Macc 14:41) then four hundred years with no prophet The promised messenger. Malachi’s promise: God will send a messenger to prepare the way, and the prophet Elijah before the day of the LORD. The Gospels present John the Baptist as that messenger. (Mal 3:1; Mal 4:5; Mark 1:2–4) a messenger will come Malachi. The last of the Old Testament prophets, about a century after the return from exile. The temple stood again, but priests and people had grown careless. Malachi called them back and promised that the LORD would come. (Mal 1:6–8; Mal 3:1) Malachi The prophet Malachi looks ahead: a messenger will prepare the way, and then the Lord himself will come. After him no prophet speaks for four hundred years.
Read it Mal 3:1 · Mal 4:5
Later
Jesus says John the Baptist is that messenger.
Matt 11:10
Empires pass Persia. The empire of Cyrus and his successors ruled Judea for two centuries and let the Jews live by their own law. The books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther belong to this period. (Ezra 7:25–26; Neh 2:5–8) Persia Alexander the Great. Alexander of Macedon conquered the Persian empire in about ten years. He died young, but Greek language and culture spread from Egypt to India. The New Testament was later written in Greek. (Dan 8:21) Alexander (Greece) The Ptolemies. Alexander’s general Ptolemy and his heirs ruled Judea from Egypt. In Alexandria the Jewish Scriptures were translated into Greek, the version called the Septuagint, which the New Testament writers often quote. (Dan 11:5) Ptolemies of Egypt The Seleucids. The Greek kings of Syria. Antiochus IV banned the Jewish law and set up a pagan altar in the temple in 167 BC. Judas Maccabeus led a revolt and rededicated the temple, remembered at the feast of Hanukkah. (Dan 11:31; 1 Macc 1:54; 1 Macc 4:59; John 10:22) Seleucids The Hasmoneans. The family of Judas Maccabeus ruled an independent Jewish state for about eighty years, as high priests and then as kings. Groups such as the Pharisees and Sadducees took shape in this period. (1 Macc 14:41) Hasmonean Jewish kings Rome and Herod. The Roman general Pompey took Jerusalem in 63 BC. Rome later made Herod king of Judea, and he rebuilt the temple on a grand scale. He was the Herod who ruled when Jesus was born. (Matt 2:1; Luke 2:1; John 2:20) Rome · Herod (37–4) 430 BC 333 BC 167 BC 63 BC No prophets recorded in this period Empires rule Judea in turn. Greek spreads, the Jewish Scriptures are translated into Greek, and Jews fight to keep their faith.
Read it 1 Macc 1:41–64 · 1 Macc 4:36–59 (outside the Bible)
Go deeper: Between the Testaments (20-minute pages, coming)
Born in Bethlehem Bethlehem. David’s home town, a few miles south of Jerusalem. The prophet Micah had said that a ruler for Israel would come from it. Joseph and Mary came here for a census, and Jesus was born. (Mic 5:2; Luke 2:4–7; Matt 2:5–6) Bethlehem Nazareth. A small village in Galilee where Jesus grew up and lived until he was about thirty; he was known as Jesus of Nazareth. Some asked whether anything good could come from there. (Luke 2:39–40; Luke 3:23; John 1:46) Nazareth Capernaum. A fishing town on the Sea of Galilee that Jesus made his base. He taught in its synagogue, the Jewish meeting house, and healed many there; Peter’s house was in the town. (Matt 4:13; Mark 1:21; Mark 1:29–34) Capernaum Jerusalem. The city of David and of the temple. Jesus was brought there as a baby, went up for the festivals, and at the end was crucified and raised there. (Luke 2:22; Luke 2:41–42; Luke 18:31–33) Jerusalem Galilee Judea Sea of Galilee Jordan River Mediterranean Sea N Jesus is born in Bethlehem, of King David’s family, while Herod rules Judea under Rome. He grows up in Nazareth.
Read it Matt 1:1 · Matt 2:1 · Luke 2:4–7
The kingdom near The light. Jesus is not pictured on this page. The light stands for his coming into Galilee, proclaiming that the time was fulfilled and the kingdom of God had come near. Matthew applies Isaiah’s words: the people living in darkness have seen a great light. (Mark 1:14–15; Matt 4:16) The Sea of Galilee. A freshwater lake about thirteen miles long in the north of the land. Much of Jesus’s teaching, and many of his miracles, took place in its towns, on its shores and on its waters. (Mark 4:1; Mark 4:39–41) the Sea of Galilee The boat and nets. Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen. When Jesus called them to follow him and promised to make them fishers of men, they left their nets and their boats at once. (Mark 1:16–20) The crowds. People came from all Galilee and beyond, bringing their sick. Jesus healed them, ate with outcasts, and taught about the kingdom of God in parables, short stories drawn from daily life. (Mark 1:32–34; Mark 2:15–17; Mark 4:33–34) Peter. Simon, a fisherman from Galilee, whom Jesus named Peter, “rock”. The leading voice among the twelve disciples: he confessed Jesus as the Christ, denied him three times, was restored, and preached the first sermon at Pentecost. (Mark 1:16–18; Matt 16:16–18; Luke 22:61–62; Acts 2:14) Peter Jesus announces that God’s kingdom has come near. He heals, teaches, forgives sins, and calls twelve disciples, close followers, among them the fisherman Peter.
Read it Mark 1:14–15 · Mark 2:5 · Mark 3:14
The new covenant Passover night. Passover fell at the full moon in spring. The meal recalled the night God brought Israel out of Egypt. Jesus told his disciples how much he had wanted to eat this Passover with them before he suffered. (Exod 12:6; Luke 22:14–15) The bread and the cup. Jesus took bread and said it was his body, given for them, and a cup, the new covenant in his blood, poured out for them. Christians have repeated this meal ever since, as he commanded. (Luke 22:19–20; 1 Cor 11:23–26) Thursday night: the Passover meal Golgotha. The “Place of the Skull”, outside Jerusalem’s wall. From noon darkness covered the land for three hours. When Jesus died, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. (Mark 15:22; Mark 15:33; Mark 15:37–38) The two other crosses. Two criminals were crucified with Jesus, one on each side. Luke records that one mocked him, while the other asked Jesus to remember him and was promised paradise that same day. (Mark 15:27; Luke 23:39–43) The cross. Crucifixion was Rome’s way of executing rebels and slaves. The charge posted above Jesus called him the King of the Jews. The apostles taught that he died for our sins, as the Scriptures had said. (Mark 15:24–26; Isa 53:5; 1 Cor 15:3) Friday: outside Jerusalem At the Passover meal Jesus shares bread and a cup: the new covenant in his blood. Next day Rome executes him on a cross, charged with claiming to be king.
Read it Luke 22:19–20 · Mark 15:24–37
⇢ Picks up Out of Egypt (2.5) and By the rivers of Babylon (4.1)
The empty tomb The tomb. A new tomb cut in the rock, in a garden near the cross, belonging to Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the council. He wrapped Jesus’s body in linen and laid it there before the Sabbath began. (Mark 15:43–46; John 19:41–42) The grave cloths. Peter and another disciple ran to the tomb. They saw the linen cloths lying there, and the cloth that had been around Jesus’s head folded up by itself. The body was gone. (John 20:3–8) grave cloths, and no body The stone. A very large stone closed the entrance, and the women wondered who would roll it away for them. They found it already moved. Matthew says that an angel of the Lord rolled it back. (Mark 16:3–4; Matt 28:2) the stone, rolled away The women. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome and others had followed Jesus from Galilee and watched him die. They came at dawn with spices for the body and were the first to hear that he had risen. (Mark 15:40–41; Mark 16:1–6) women who followed Jesus On the third day women find his tomb empty. Jesus, risen from the dead, appears to his followers and sends them to make disciples of all nations.
Read it Luke 24:1–6 · 1 Cor 15:3–8 · Matt 28:19
Go deeper: Jesus (20-minute pages, coming)
Pentecost The light from above. This page never pictures God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. A soft light from the top edge marks the places where the text speaks of God’s presence or action. Jesus’s followers. About 120 followers of Jesus, with the apostles, his mother and his brothers, had been praying together in Jerusalem since he was taken up to heaven. He had told them to wait there for the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:4–5; Acts 1:14–15) Tongues of fire. Luke says there came a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and what looked like tongues of fire rested on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages. (Acts 2:1–4) tongues of fire Visitors from many nations. Jews from many lands were in Jerusalem for Pentecost, the harvest festival fifty days after Passover. Each heard the disciples speaking in his own language. About three thousand were baptized that day. (Acts 2:5–11; Acts 2:41) visitors from many nations Peter. Peter stood up with the other apostles and explained: this is what the prophet Joel promised, and God has raised Jesus and made him both Lord and Christ. He called the crowd to repent and be baptized. (Acts 2:14–17; Acts 2:36–38) Peter “in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” Acts 1:8
Seven weeks later, at the festival of Pentecost in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit comes on Jesus’s followers. Peter preaches to visitors from many nations, and about three thousand believe.
Read it Acts 1:8 · Acts 2:1–4 · Acts 2:41
Scattered and turned The light from heaven. Near Damascus a light from heaven flashed around Saul. He fell to the ground and heard a voice: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” It was Jesus. Saul was blind for three days. (Acts 9:3–9) Damascus. A city about 135 miles north of Jerusalem. Saul was going there with letters from the high priest to arrest followers of Jesus. Instead he was baptized there and began to preach that Jesus is the Son of God. (Acts 9:1–2; Acts 9:18–20) Damascus Saul’s companions. The men travelling with Saul stood speechless; they heard the sound but saw no one. They led him by the hand into Damascus, where a disciple named Ananias was sent to him. (Acts 9:7–8; Acts 9:17) Saul, later Paul. Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who tried to destroy the church. After the risen Jesus stopped him he became Paul, apostle to the Gentiles, founded churches across the Roman world, and wrote thirteen letters of the New Testament. (Acts 8:3; Acts 9:15; Gal 1:13–16) Saul, later Paul Persecution scatters the believers, and the message spreads with them. Saul, who hunted them, meets the risen Jesus on the road and becomes Paul, his messenger.
Read it Acts 8:1–4 · Acts 9:1–19
Every nation The light. While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message, as at Pentecost, and Peter had them baptized. The Spirit is not pictured; the light marks the moment. (Acts 10:44–48) Caesarea. The Roman governor’s port city on the coast. Years later Paul was held prisoner here for two years before he was sent by ship to Rome. (Acts 10:1; Acts 24:27; Acts 27:1) Cornelius and his household. A Roman centurion at Caesarea, an officer over about a hundred soldiers, who feared God, gave generously and prayed. An angel told him to send for Peter, and he gathered his relatives and close friends to listen. (Acts 10:1–2; Acts 10:24; Acts 10:33) Cornelius, a Roman officer, and his household Peter. A vision taught Peter to call no person unclean. He entered a Gentile’s house, which strict Jews avoided, and said that God shows no favoritism but accepts people from every nation who fear him. (Acts 10:28; Acts 10:34–35) Peter Gentiles, people who are not Jews, believe too. In Jerusalem the church’s leaders agree: they need not become Jews to belong.
Read it Acts 10:44–48 · Acts 15:19
⇢ Picks up The call (2.1)
To Rome Jerusalem. Where the church began. The apostles and elders met here to decide about Gentile believers, and here Paul was later arrested in the temple before being sent to Rome for trial. (Acts 15:6; Acts 21:30–33; Acts 23:11) 1 Jerusalem Antioch. In Syria, the third largest city of the empire. Here followers of Jesus were first called Christians, and from this church Paul and Barnabas were sent out on their journeys. (Acts 11:26; Acts 13:1–3) 2 Antioch Ephesus. The great port of the Roman province of Asia, in modern Turkey. Paul taught here for more than two years, so that everyone in the province heard the word of the Lord. (Acts 19:8–10) 3 Ephesus Philippi. A Roman colony in Macedonia and the first church Paul founded in Europe. It began with Lydia, a seller of purple cloth, and a jailer, both baptized with their households. (Acts 16:12–15; Acts 16:30–34) 4 Philippi Thessalonica. The chief city of Macedonia. Paul reasoned in its synagogue for three Sabbaths and was driven out. His two letters to the new church there are among the earliest he wrote. (Acts 17:1–4; 1 Thess 1:9–10) 5 Thessalonica Athens. The old home of Greek learning. Paul spoke to its philosophers on the Areopagus about the God who made the world and who raised Jesus from the dead. (Acts 17:22–24; Acts 17:31) 6 Athens Corinth. A busy port in Greece where Paul stayed eighteen months, working as a tentmaker. He founded a large and troubled church there, to which he later wrote long letters. (Acts 18:1–3; Acts 18:11; 1 Cor 1:2) 7 Corinth Rome. Capital of the empire. Paul arrived as a prisoner who had appealed to Caesar, and lived two years under guard in a rented house, welcoming all who came and teaching about Jesus openly. There the book of Acts ends. (Acts 25:11–12; Acts 28:16; Acts 28:30–31) 8 Rome Mediterranean Sea N Paul’s journeys and the voyage to Rome, simplified Paul carries the message across the Roman world, writes letters to the new churches, and reaches Rome in chains, still preaching.
Read it Acts 13:1–3 · Acts 28:30–31
Go deeper: The apostles · Paul (20-minute pages, coming)
The story continues after Acts in the life of the church.
Bible text and quotations: Berean Standard Bible (public domain). References follow the SBL Handbook of Style.