The Bible is the central sacred text of Christianity and, in its first part, of Judaism. It is not a single book but a collection — an anthology of writings composed by many authors over roughly a thousand years, in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Christian Bibles are arranged in two parts: the Old Testament, much of which Christianity shares with the Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament, which records the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth and the early Christian communities.
The text represented and quoted on this page is the Authorized (King James) Version, the English translation first printed in 1611 by the royal printer Robert Barker and still the most widely circulated English Bible; the linked print and borrowing editions use it. The contents and ordering of the canon differ between traditions: Jewish, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant communities recognise somewhat different sets of books, and the inclusion of the Apocrypha, or deuterocanonical books, is one of the main points of difference. The texts span law, history, poetry, prophecy, gospel, letters, and apocalyptic writing. Translated into more languages than any other book, the Bible has shaped law, literature, art, and political thought across the cultures that received it.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Gospel of John 3:16 (King James Version)
First lines
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. (Genesis 1:1–3, King James Version)
Contents
Old Testament — The Pentateuch (Genesis to Deuteronomy)
Old Testament — Historical Books (Joshua to Esther)
Old Testament — Wisdom & Poetry (Job to Song of Solomon)
Old Testament — Major Prophets (Isaiah to Daniel)
Old Testament — Minor Prophets (Hosea to Malachi)
New Testament — The Gospels (Matthew to John)
New Testament — Acts of the Apostles
New Testament — Pauline Epistles (Romans to Philemon)
New Testament — General Epistles (Hebrews to Jude)
New Testament — Revelation
Reception
The Bible is the most widely distributed and translated book in history, with complete or partial translations in several thousand languages and total print estimates in the billions of copies. Within the traditions that hold it as scripture it is read as divinely inspired; outside them it is studied as a foundational text of Western and Near Eastern literature and history. Modern biblical scholarship — textual criticism, source criticism, and archaeology — examines questions of authorship, dating, and transmission, and those academic conclusions are often debated and not universally accepted within faith communities. Traditions also differ on which books belong to the canon and on how the text should be interpreted.
Frequently asked
What is the Bible?
It is the sacred scripture of Christianity and, in its first portion, of Judaism. Rather than a single book, it is a collection of texts written by many authors over about a thousand years in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, gathered into the Old and New Testaments.
Who wrote the Bible?
There is no single author. Its books are attributed to many writers across many centuries, and for most of them authorship is traditional rather than documented. Because of this the index records the author as "Various".
Why do different Bibles contain different books?
Jewish, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions recognise somewhat different canons. The clearest difference is the Apocrypha, or deuterocanonical books, which Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include and which most Protestant Bibles set apart or omit.