How to Read the Sacred Scriptures
Today many Catholics begin to read the Bible, but after a few chapters they put it aside. They do not know how or where to start.
This GUIDE FOR READING THE HOLY BIBLE will surely help us because, in a very simple and clear way, we can organize ourselves to read it systematically, without jumping from one part to another. We will be able to read a few verses every day, and after one year we will have finished it.
Try to organize your life in such a way that every day you find a moment of 30 minutes for the Bible. Look for a quiet place. Do not read the Bible as just reading or only to know more, but to know what God wants to tell you. For the Bible is the Word of God; it is the letter that He sends to His children.
In the Bible, do not look for science, but for wisdom. The Bible is not a book to be stored, but to be read. Saint Jerome says: You should not go to night rest without having filled your heart with a small portion of the Word of God.
Do we want to hear God? Let us open Sacred Scripture. There is everything we must do to reach heaven. There is the path to true happiness. There is the solution to all our problems. We only have to open it, read, meditate, interiorize it, live it, and transmit it.
Many people start reading and quickly become discouraged, because they do not have a guide.
The Bible is not a simple book. It is a library of 73 books. They are very different from one another, they have very different styles, they were written in very distant times and in very different situations. Imagine arriving at a library like that and starting to read the first book you find on the shelf, then moving to the second and so on. That reading cannot work!
There are people who open the Bible from the beginning and start reading from Genesis. In general, they do not go beyond the fifth book. They become discouraged and do not return again. And, what is worse, they end up saying that it is impossible, that it is not possible to understand the Bible. But that would happen with any library in the world!
It is necessary to have a Reading Plan. At the beginning, there are many things that are not understood, which is very natural. Even in reading a novel that happens. Do not stop because of that, continue! As you keep reading, things become clearer. It is a golden rule: the Bible explains itself. That is why a reading plan is so important.
There are several reading plans. All of them are good, because they are based on a principle. Here I present a concrete plan. It is intended for those who wish to start reading the Bible and do not have other resources, except to know the Bible through itself. Follow the order indicated here; it is part of the method.
Reading Plan of the New Testament:
1st Letter of Saint John (2 times)
Gospel of Saint John
Gospel of Saint Mark
The small letters of Saint Paul:
Galatians,
Ephesians,
Philippians,
Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy,
Titus,
Philemon
Gospel of Saint Luke
Acts of the Apostles
Letter to the Romans
Gospel of Saint Matthew
1st and 2nd Letter to the Corinthians
Hebrews
Letter of James
1st and 2nd Letter of Saint Peter
2nd and 3rd Letter of Saint John
Letter of Saint Jude
Revelation
1st Letter of Saint John (3rd time)
Gospel of Saint John (2nd time)
Why begin with the 1st Letter of Saint John?
The first need of a Christian is to have the certainty of salvation. It is to know that God loves you and has chosen you. Freely, without any merit. God placed you on the list of those He wants to save. It was a free choice! Loving! Without merit! Knowing this gives us the certainty of salvation. And every Christian needs it.
Of the 73 books of the Bible, only that small letter was written with that purpose: to give us the certainty of salvation. At the conclusion of his letter, Saint John says: “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 Jn 5:13). Reading and rereading, you become convinced of this happy reality: You are saved! You are chosen!
Readings from the books of the Old Testament
“Let this Book of the Law never depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may faithfully act in everything according to what is written in it. Then you will make your ways prosperous and you will have success” (Joshua 1:8).
A recommendation is to begin the reading with the three wisdom books: Wisdom, Sirach, and Proverbs. They are books very close to the New Testament and sources of rich teachings. At the same time, read the book of Psalms. The gateway to the Old Testament is the Psalms. Make them your main book.
In any case, what I want to emphasize here is that you must work with the Psalms regardless of any specific order. Whenever you feel prompted to do so, read a Psalm.
Make your journal about it, without fear of interrupting the work you are doing at that moment. The Psalm is like fruit: we eat it at any time, regardless of meals. And it never does harm. It always does good.
Apart from that, the books of the Old Testament should be read in chronological order: from the origins until the coming of Christ.
Old Testament Reading Plan
Genesis
Exodus
Numbers
Joshua
Judges
1st Samuel
2nd Samuel
1st Kings
2nd Kings
Amos
Hosea
Isaiah (1–39)
Micah
Nahum
Zephaniah
Habakkuk
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Obadiah
Isaiah (40–55)
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Haggai
Zechariah
Isaiah (56–66)
Malachi
Joel
Jonah
Ruth
Tobit
Judith
Esther
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)
Song of Songs
Job
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
Baruch
Daniel
Wisdom
Leviticus
Deuteronomy