The Bible
Explore the Bible
The Bible is not actually a single book, but a collection of books, letters, poems, and stories. The Bible consists of two parts: the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT).
Do you want to know more about who wrote the Bible, how is it structured, and why?
YouVersion | Bible App
The Bible is a book with many layers. You can keep discovering. Stories and sayings can be interpreted in multiple ways. Christians do not always agree on these interpretations. It is therefore not uncommon to pray first and then read. God want to help us read the Bible passages as they were intended.
In the YouVersion Bible App, you can read the entire Bible in more than 750 languages — the New Testament is available in over 1,270 languages — and countless different Biblical translations. To help you understand the Bible better, you can find reading plans about numerous topics.
Old Testament
If you’re not yet familiar with the Bible, the Old Testament might seem daunting at first. It contains many passages about vengeance and punishment. It can be difficult to reconcile that with the image of God as loving and forgiving.
Before you read, it is good to realize that these rough passages were never meant as a moral foundation. They rather serve to show us that the early days were people were no better than us. How broken humanity can be.
We need the Old Testament to understand the New Testament. You first need to know what was broken in order to understand that it needed to be restored. As you read, also keep in mind that God is just and that injustice cannot exist in His sight. That often explains a lot. Are there certain passages you really don’t understand? Talk about them with others or visit a church or fellowship group. Difficult passages are often explained there.
New Testament
The New Testament is about the life and death of Jesus Christ. Jesus was not only God’s Son, but also a wise teacher, sent to earth to reveal the true meaning of God’s laws. The relationship between God and humanity had been disrupted in the first part, but is restored in the second part by Jesus.
Curious? The stories were originally written in Greek and Hebrew. There are several translations, some of which are in somewhat more archaic. Use the New International Version, if you want to give reading the Bible a try!
Our reading plans:
Articles about the Bible
Animation by the BibleProject
BibleProject creates animated videos that help people experience the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus.
The BibleViewer
We have created a handy tool based on the movie, The Life of Jesus. With the user-friendly BibleViewer, you can choose specific chapters and verses from the Gospel of John and play the movie from that exact spot.
Sandy Tales
Sandy Tales are stories told through sand art. It is breathtakingly beautiful when you see the stories emerge and you are taken into the wonderful world of the old Bible stories.