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Bible basics for anyone not familiar with studying the Bible.
The Bible is divided into two parts: 1) the Old Testament and... 2) the New Testament.
These two are divided into "books" which are indexed at the front of every Bible.
Each book is divided into chapters, each chapter is divided into verses which were placed there in the early 1500's. For example, the first book, Genesis, is divided into 59 chapters. Thus, Genesis chapter One, verse One is written as: Genesis 1:1 or abbreviated: Gen. 1:1 . The Old Testament record is a history of how God worked in and through the nation of Israel (beginning with Abraham, a Hebrew) and how it applies to the rest of the world and all of time. The writings span the centuries, approximately, 1400 B.C. until 400 B.C.
The New Testament (written around 50 A.D. until 200 A.D.) is a collection of books, primarily recording the events of Christ's first coming, His life, His teachings, and the effect this had on the people of that time as well as prophecies regarding the end of this present world set-up.
Immediately following the first four books, called the Gospels, is the Book of Acts, a history of what the disciples did after Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.
The rest of the books, except for the last one: Revelation*, are letters written by some of the main leaders of the Early Church (approximately A.D.33 to about 70A.D). This last book, *Revelation, is an entirely prophetic book also known as the Apocalypse Which Bible version should you read?
The Bible has been translated many times. However, the most commonly accepted English translation is the King James Version (KJV). Reason.....
1. Copied from the earliest manuscripts available at that time (compiled in 1611 A.D.).
2. Forty carefully chosen translators painstakingly compared their translations with ancient Biblical texts. (later proven to be authentic with the findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls*1)
At that time (1611), heretics were burned at the stake. So, you could say the translators were very careful about adding their own interpretations to the translation.
If you're used to reading Shakespeare, you'll have no problem reading the King James text, but if you find the language distracting, there is also a KJV that replaces "thee" (you), "thou", "thine"(your), and "ye"(you, plural) with modern English.
If have trouble understanding the King James version, you can read different versions and then compare them. At www.e-sword.net you can download free Bible software in which you can have several versions to compare the chapters you are studying. E-sword also has the Bible in many languages.
I use this software every day. - If you download it, send the developer a "thank you" or even a donation if you can.
For More Detailed Information
If you want a terrific downloadable Bible, please check out E-Sword.net here: http://www.e-sword.net/
Last but not least, an excellent on-line Bible with concordance, original Hebrew and Greek, etc. etc. is located at: Blue Letter Bible
There are some excellent study Bibles that you can get. One that I've used (for the last 30 years) is:
the Cambridge Bible red-letter edition*2):
This Bible has an excellent concordance (a listing of main words to help you find specific verses) for beginners and good cross-reference sections in the margins or, the ...
Thompson Chain Bible:
Besides having an absolutely massive chain reference system, TCB has detailed background information and archeological facts regarding the history of Biblical events.
Just as a note here, in case the thought crosses your mind, I am in no way connected with either of these companies so I'm not trying to sell Bibles here. They're simply ones I've used and like.
1. Around the beginning of the 1900's, with the findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls, these texts were proven to be authentic.
*2. The words of Christ are in red
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