In any healthy church you’ve got to hope you’ll be running into people all the time who are just starting to read the Bible. What do you tell them? Where should they start? Do they need any aids?

I was recently asked in our small group to put together a list for where someone can start reading the Bible. Here is my list.

A list for starting to read the Bible:

1. The Gospel of John
2. The Gospel of Mark
3. Ephesians
4. Acts
5. Galatians
6. Genesis
7. 1 Corinthians
8. Romans
9. Exodus
10. The Gospel of Matthew
11. 1 John
12. Philippians

Over time, reading a Psalm and a chapter of Proverbs each day will help you work through those two books which are not meant to be read straight through.

Dr. Bob Grahmann’s list (see the article I took this from here):

1. The Gospel of Mark
2. The Gospel of John
3. Acts
4. Romans
5. Genesis
6. Exodus

Also, read one Psalm a day at the same time. You can slowly work your way through this book of 150 songs. It really doesn’t help to read a whole bunch in a row – it’s just not meant to be read like that.

If you want to have a look at Bob’s book on Bible study: Transforming Bible Study, go here. Be careful not to purchase the book by the same name by Walter Wink.

Ultimately, both of these lists are the applied judgment of people who have spent time studying the Bible and trying to help people read and understand it. There isn’t a perfect list, but the general procedure of reading the Gospels, reading some of the New Testament epistles/letters, and then going back to the Old Testament to get more background knowledge generally serves people pretty well.

Remember, don’t do it alone. People who have spent time learning and understanding the Bible love to teach that content to other people and share what they’ve learned. Reading the Bible with other people and discussing the content will help you remember and apply things better, as well as help you avoid mistakes in interpretation.