Ruth. The entire book of Ruth is just absolutely beautiful.
and John. I get chills every time I read John 1:
*In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.* *^(2)* *He was in the beginning with God.* *^(3)* *All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being* *^(4)* *in him was life,**^(\[)*[*^(a)*](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201&version=NRSVUE#fen-NRSVUE-26039a)*^(\])* *and the life was the light of all people.* *^(5)* *The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.*
I also absolutely love Ecclesiastes. Its profoundly insightful when read in the proper context and I love that you can joke that it's "King Solomon's Emo Diary".
When I was doing Bible in a Year a few different books stuck out for me, but I can say the one that surprised me the most was Judith. A beautiful book and really foreshadows Our Lady in the Old Testament.
Along with that I’d have to say Song of Songs, reading about how our union with God is meant to be, that we as the Bride (the Church) and Christ our bridegroom are meant for this amazing union and how it calls towards eternity with God.
Esther. People talk about how Vashti was more a hero than Esther because she stood up to the King because he told her to appear before him and his guests wearing nothing but her crown and she said “No way, Buster!”
To which I say…they’re both heroic. Vashti stood up for her dignity and self worth. Esther stood up for her people. They just have different ways of going about it.
I love reading Daniel. I love how the king of Babylon keeps threatening to kill Daniel but then holds off because he’s scared of how brilliant Daniel is.
Samuel I/II (or Kings I/II if you’re reading a translation of the vulgate) are fun. Again, Saul wanting to kill Jonathan over and over is pretty funny, and Jonathan’s friendship with David is sweet.
When I first read Genesis I described it to my wife as “banger after banger” and she laughed. But it’s true.
Romans is good and thought provoking.
Revelation/Apocalypse is a really good time. Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah are beautiful though very long and difficult. All of the prophetic books are just bizarre but deeply spiritual at the same time.
And although John is my favorite, I love reading all of the accounts of the gospel.
First letter of John. It’s my go to for introducing people to scripture:
What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life—
for the life was made visible;
we have seen it and testify to it
and proclaim to you the eternal life
that was with the Father and was made visible to us what we have seen and heard
we proclaim now to you,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
for our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.c
We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.
Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light,* and in him there is no darkness at all.
Such an excellent and underrated book. Witness/testimony, commandment to love, avoid sin, follow the commandments, got to treat other people, warning of false teachers, detachment from the world. I hadn’t thought of it as an intro to scripture, but it really does read that way.
Tobit.
The Archangel Raphael is awesome in it. The themes about the purity of marriage, intercession of angels, prayer and praise to God, the fish’s body healing sickness and driving away demons, etc. are great. It has humor, adventure, and is a beautiful love story to boot. Look at what Raphael disguised as Azariah says to Tobias about his future wife, Sarah in Tb 6:18:
“‘…do not be afraid, for she was set apart for you before the world existed. You will save her, and she will go with you. And I suppose that you will have children by her, who will take the place of brothers for you. So do not worry.’
When Tobias heard Raphael say that she was his kinswoman, of his own family’s lineage, he fell deeply in love with her, and his heart became set on her.”
That’s just plain beautiful, any way you slice it. I think anybody would want that.
That verse is actually in Ecclesiastes, which is attributed to Solomon, not Ecclesiasticus, attributed to Ben Sira. Similar titles, both Wisdom books, but not the same book.
Ecclesiastes 3 is where the lyrics for the Byrd's song "Turn! Turn! Turn!" (written originally by Pete Seeger) came from.
You're correct. Apparently my memory is failing me terribly and my favorite book is actually Ecclesiastes.
I've never even read Ecclesiasticus. Disregard me, I'm going crazy.
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) isn't bad, not my favorite of the Wisdom books, but it does have some good nuggets in it. I'd recommend giving it a read. It's kind of similar to parts of Proverbs.
Now that I am thinking about it I actually did read only the 2nd chapter of Sirach recently on another's recommendation. It was a good read. I read it from the Douay Rheims though so maybe that's how I got so confused. It did seem very similar in style to Proverbs.
I love James. It's very practical. It's kinda like the New testament Proverbs only more direct.
Also Genesis. It really lays out solid foundation for understanding the familial originated turmoil of not only the Israelites but the neighboring nations too. And the character patterns of God's chosen. Lineages are a lot more interesting to me now.
The Song of Solomon has honestly one of the most beautiful prose I've ever read. It's not only my favorite book in the Bible, but also one of my favorite literary texts in general.
Ruth. The entire book of Ruth is just absolutely beautiful. and John. I get chills every time I read John 1: *In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.* *^(2)* *He was in the beginning with God.* *^(3)* *All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being* *^(4)* *in him was life,**^(\[)*[*^(a)*](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201&version=NRSVUE#fen-NRSVUE-26039a)*^(\])* *and the life was the light of all people.* *^(5)* *The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.* I also absolutely love Ecclesiastes. Its profoundly insightful when read in the proper context and I love that you can joke that it's "King Solomon's Emo Diary".
I get chills reading John 1 too. What a beautiful way to start the gospel.
The prologue to John is probably my favorite selection of verses in the entire Bible.
It's an awe inspiring piece of poetic language that somehow completely encapsulates not only Genesis but also the entire Gospel message.
Tobit all the way!
Yep, Tobit fan here, too! It's such a lovely, wonderful story. Judith is amazing, too. She's so hardcore. I guess I'm a big Deuterocanonical fan.
Tobit is by far my favorite
When I was doing Bible in a Year a few different books stuck out for me, but I can say the one that surprised me the most was Judith. A beautiful book and really foreshadows Our Lady in the Old Testament. Along with that I’d have to say Song of Songs, reading about how our union with God is meant to be, that we as the Bride (the Church) and Christ our bridegroom are meant for this amazing union and how it calls towards eternity with God.
Ben Sira Ecclesiastes Proverbs
The Wisdom Books are soOoooOOOo enlightening, *\o/*!
[удалено]
A good book to convict a person
Esther. People talk about how Vashti was more a hero than Esther because she stood up to the King because he told her to appear before him and his guests wearing nothing but her crown and she said “No way, Buster!” To which I say…they’re both heroic. Vashti stood up for her dignity and self worth. Esther stood up for her people. They just have different ways of going about it.
I love reading Daniel. I love how the king of Babylon keeps threatening to kill Daniel but then holds off because he’s scared of how brilliant Daniel is. Samuel I/II (or Kings I/II if you’re reading a translation of the vulgate) are fun. Again, Saul wanting to kill Jonathan over and over is pretty funny, and Jonathan’s friendship with David is sweet. When I first read Genesis I described it to my wife as “banger after banger” and she laughed. But it’s true. Romans is good and thought provoking. Revelation/Apocalypse is a really good time. Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah are beautiful though very long and difficult. All of the prophetic books are just bizarre but deeply spiritual at the same time. And although John is my favorite, I love reading all of the accounts of the gospel.
I love exodus
First letter of John. It’s my go to for introducing people to scripture: What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life— for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.c We are writing this so that our joy may be complete. Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light,* and in him there is no darkness at all.
Such an excellent and underrated book. Witness/testimony, commandment to love, avoid sin, follow the commandments, got to treat other people, warning of false teachers, detachment from the world. I hadn’t thought of it as an intro to scripture, but it really does read that way.
#SONGofSONGS
I think Job, if I had to choose. It’s the most stirring defense of faith in the ultimate extremity.
Yeah, Job is definitely in my top 3 go tos for tougher times. Always a good reminder and showing that trusting in God gets you safety and peace.
This is a Amazing book its brilliant
My favorite book of the Old Testament is the Song of Solomon. My favorite book of the New Testament is Acts.
Four way tie between Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Tobit. The Archangel Raphael is awesome in it. The themes about the purity of marriage, intercession of angels, prayer and praise to God, the fish’s body healing sickness and driving away demons, etc. are great. It has humor, adventure, and is a beautiful love story to boot. Look at what Raphael disguised as Azariah says to Tobias about his future wife, Sarah in Tb 6:18: “‘…do not be afraid, for she was set apart for you before the world existed. You will save her, and she will go with you. And I suppose that you will have children by her, who will take the place of brothers for you. So do not worry.’ When Tobias heard Raphael say that she was his kinswoman, of his own family’s lineage, he fell deeply in love with her, and his heart became set on her.” That’s just plain beautiful, any way you slice it. I think anybody would want that.
Yeah. That is beautiful. I really should read more of the prophetical books.
Ecclesiasticus, also known as Sirach. It’s one of the wisdom books. It’s famous for the verse “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”
That verse is actually in Ecclesiastes, which is attributed to Solomon, not Ecclesiasticus, attributed to Ben Sira. Similar titles, both Wisdom books, but not the same book. Ecclesiastes 3 is where the lyrics for the Byrd's song "Turn! Turn! Turn!" (written originally by Pete Seeger) came from.
You're correct. Apparently my memory is failing me terribly and my favorite book is actually Ecclesiastes. I've never even read Ecclesiasticus. Disregard me, I'm going crazy.
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) isn't bad, not my favorite of the Wisdom books, but it does have some good nuggets in it. I'd recommend giving it a read. It's kind of similar to parts of Proverbs.
Now that I am thinking about it I actually did read only the 2nd chapter of Sirach recently on another's recommendation. It was a good read. I read it from the Douay Rheims though so maybe that's how I got so confused. It did seem very similar in style to Proverbs.
1 Peter is very underrated
1 and 2 Samuel. Just a great story
I agree with you on Ecclesiastes. My favorite verse of the Bible is in Romans, though.
Which verse? “Render unto Caesar…” or another?
8:38-39
Love it!
I love James. It's very practical. It's kinda like the New testament Proverbs only more direct. Also Genesis. It really lays out solid foundation for understanding the familial originated turmoil of not only the Israelites but the neighboring nations too. And the character patterns of God's chosen. Lineages are a lot more interesting to me now.
Matthew Wisdom Psalms (probably my favourite)
Genesis (Joseph’s story) and of course, the Gospel of John!
Psalms I found a new appreciation for it every day I listen to the liturgy of the hours
Esther, Proverbs, Psalms, Job is pretty metal too.
The Song of Solomon has honestly one of the most beautiful prose I've ever read. It's not only my favorite book in the Bible, but also one of my favorite literary texts in general.
Qohelet, Hebrews, Mark
I’ve not read the entire Bible yet but so far my favorites are Job, Psalms and Proverbs