OTBooks

Hello! Do you think you can memorize the names of all 66 books of the Bible? I think you can! It just
takes patience and concentration. We'll memorize the Old Testament books first, and then memorize
the New Testament books, and then recite all 66 names together. Ready? Let's go!

The 66 books of the Bible are contained in two parts: 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in
the New Testament.

In school, kids learn how to put numbers together before learning how to multiply, right? Right! And
something like that works when it comes to remembering how many books are in the Old Testament
and the New Testament.

O L D = 3 letters.

T E S T A M E N T = 9 letters.

The first five books in the Old Testament are the five Books of the Law, also known as the Books
of Moses, the Torah, and the Pentateuch (which rhymes with rent-a-duke). They are

Moses' shirt identifies him as a member of Generation X. He is wearing a
pair of Levi's, and has written Numbers and the word "Ditto."

Gen. = Genesis

X = Exodus

Levi's = Leviticus

Numbers = Numbers

Ditto = Deuteronomy (the Second Giving of the Law)

Next come the 12 Books of History. We're going to split them into three groups:

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

First Samuel

Second Samuel

First Kings

Second Kings

First Chronicles

Second Chronicles

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

After those Books of History, we reach the 5 Books of Poetry.

Job

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Now come the 5 Major Prophets.

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

Now comes the hard part: the 12 Minor Prophets.

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

Jonah

Micah

Nahum

Habakkuk

Zephaniah

Haggai

Zechariah

Malachi

As Joshua (wearing a "J" and a judge's
wig) judges Ruth (with an "R"), his
gavel goes "Sam, Sam," which should
remind us of the books of First &
Second Samuel.

We then see two crowns and two
nickels. They remind us of First &
Second Kings and First & Second
Chronicles.

Then we see a crow's nest (the crow
from Crow-nickels) with the letters E
and Z in it.

EZ reminds us of Ezra, the "N" in
"Nest" stands for Nehemiah, and the
"est" in "Nest" stands for Esther.

The first two names end in -iah.

The last two names end in -iel.

The list ends with Daniel, who is famous for spending the night
with lions, but the list also has a lamb in the middle

(Lamentations).

This man, who looks a little like G.I. Joe, is holding a hose and is
wearing ammunition and an eyepatch for his bad eye. When we look
at him, we might remember the words "Hose, Joe, Ammo, O bad
eye." And when we remember those words, we might remember the
first four Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah.

Notice the five bubbles coming out the hose. This reminds me that the
first five Minor Prophets all have an "O" in their names. The fifth one is
Jonah.

Ah, a mike! Is it silent? Nay; it's humming! This reminds us of the
next two books: Micah and Nahum. Then we see the word "Ha"
beside a backward arrow, which should bring to mind the name of the
next book: Habakkuk.

Only four Old Testament books to go! You could try remembering the first syllables
of each one by thinking of "Zip-Hag-Zek-Mal." Or maybe just remember the first
letters using the make-believe word "Zih-Zam!" (Remember: the two that start with Z
do not come in alphabetical order!)

Study the list a few times. Then try to recite all 39 books of the Old Testament using the pictures
and verbal hints (shown below by themselves) to help you remember. After you can recite all 39
books perfectly using the pictures and hints, try it without using them! You can do it!