I've just finished reading Psalms and Proverbs. What book of the Bible should I read next?

I'm partial to 2nd Samuel. David was considered Israel's greatest king, but when he screwed up, he screwed up royally. This book offers some perspective on what it means to be devoted to God. (1st Samuel is good too.)

You could start in any Book, But beginning With Matthew and following through to Revelation will give you a feel for the Gospel writers and the effect that the Christian Congregation got from Knowing first hand and the writings of others under inspiration about the Christ. Be well.

I'll give you a few choices. You pick.

Epistle of James. Very practical. If you didn't know better you couldn't tell whether it was OT or NT !!

Tobit -- a wonderful story, some say it is the source for Jesus and the woman married 7 times.

Jonah -- probably the most understandable lesson from the prophets.

Hosea-- The big comparison between marriage and the relationship of God with us each individually and as a church.

John

How much time did you spend on meditating on what you read is my first question?

Now if you want something interesting to read, try first the Book of Ruth and then read all of 1st and 2nd Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles.

Just a suggestion that just came to me.

We have a couple of groups here on yahoo groups, in Matthew and Isaiah, if you want to read with us, we go a bit more into understanding, and can share with others, if you would like to join us, you can come to yahoo groups, and type FocusingonGodsWord in the search box, for Matthew, and type in lynncunningham35 to join us in Isaiah, We would love to have you come and read with us.

But whatever you choose, Know that it is a good thing, to always stay in The Word. God Bless!!!

The Second Epistle of Paul to the Fallopians. It's like totally awesome?

OK, here's my "the boring bible" answer (answer previously given to another question):

First, I recognize that the bible *is* boring to read. It is written much more in the style of a history text book than a novel. That is because it *is* much more of a history text book than a novel.

First, you have to read in small doses - and be aware, this will not permit you to evade the *really* boring parts! I recommend 1 hour every day, and *only* one hour every day. Read slowly and carefully for just 1 hour a day. If you have an abridged bible, you should be done in 3 months. With a complete bible, you should be done in 4. Trust me, it's worth it.

The answer that suggested that you have the wrong version may also be on point. I recommend The New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition (here's why http://www.jimpettis.com/bibles/njb.htm ), but this bible uses some rather educated (high school level) language. If you are looking for an easier read, get the Contemporary English Version with Apocrypha - the book href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&loc... is no longer in print, but the CD e-book href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&loc... is (this is what I have).

If you're *still* not interested in reading the entire bible, here are the more interesting parts:

Level 1

..Ruth - a chick story, but it reads more like a novel than any other section of the bible, and you should like it

..Ezekiel 1-3 - just the first few chapters - tell me that doesn't sound like he was describing a modern aircraft

Level 2 - pretty interesting stories, dryly written

..Genesis 1-5 Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel

..Gen 6-9 Noah and the flood

..Gen 11:1-9 the tower of Babel

..Gen 19 Sodom & Gomorrah

..Gen 34 rape of Dinah

..Exodus 2-14 Moses and the Exodus

..Exo 19-20 the 10 Commandments

..Joshua 2 the spies at Jericho

..Jos 6 the walls of Jericho

..Jos 10:1-27 the defense of Gibeon

..Judges - the whole books is full of good, short stories like Samson & Delilah

..1Samuel 17 Davy & Goliath

..1Sa 28 the witch of Endor (remember Endora from Bewitched?)

..2Sa 11-12 Davy & Bathsheba

..2Sa 13 Amnon rapes his sister

..1Kings 3, 8, 10, 11 Solomon (best parts)

..1Ki 21 - Elijah & Ahab (read this next: 2Ki 9)

..2Ki 2, 4-8 Elisha (my favorite OT character - he even performs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation)

..Judith - girl beats the bad guys

..Esther - girl becomes queen

..Jonah - & the whale

..Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) you should read at least one - I recommend Luke, as it connects very well with Acts

..Jude - very short with some very interesting references found nowhere else in the bible

..Revelation - prophecies for the future. Difficult to understand exactly what's going on but great reading - sort of like the book "The Blind Worm" by Philip K Dick

Level 3 - less interesting

..Gen 12-22 Abraham

..Gen 24 Isaac

..Gen 25:19- chap 33 Jacob

..Gen 37-47 Joseph & Judah

..1Sa 18-21 David & Saul at odds

..1Sa 22-26 Davy is running a protection racket

..1Sa 27,29-31 Davy hooks up with the Philistines

..2Sa 2-10 Davy in charge

..1Ch 15 Davy & the Ark of the Covenant (goes here)

..1Ch 21 first mention of Satan, who tempts Davy

..2Sa 14-19 Absalom's revolt (he takes over David's throne)

..1Ki 5-6 the building of the 1st temple (repeated in 2Ch 3-4)

..1Ki 17-19 Elijah

..2Ki 11 Athaliah

..2Ki 20 Hezekiah's miracle

..Tobit

..2Maccabees 7 - execution of the 8 who would not eat bacon

..Job 1-2, 42 see what a baddy Satan is

..Proverbs - all of proverbs is pretty good, with words of worldly advice such as "don't blow your money on hookers" (Pro 23:27-28)

..Ecclesiastes - all pretty good. It starts out depressing but ends up with "live for the day"

..Ezekiel - (after the first 3 chapters) can be dry but has some really interesting prophecies that connect with Revelation

..Daniel - can be dry but has some very interesting prophecies and dream interpretations that will be very useful in Revelation

..Acts - see how the early Christian church operated, plus bunches of miracles, like Paul passing out handkerchiefs and people being healed by them

..James - short and to the point, advice for Christians on how to live a Christian life

Jim, http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com/

Read John next, it is awesome and easy to understand.

Read the Gospel of John! It is awesome!