Don’t worry – the big book has got a system.
The Bible is an incredible book. Made of two halves, it’s God’s word through human language – God speaking to us personally, today. But, though it’s a BIG book about a BIG God, don’t worry – it’s easy to navigate. Like many larger books, the Bible has a system to help you look up the part you need. This system was not part of what the original authors wrote, but it is helpful for looking things up. It works like this:
- Each book of the Bible has a book name (e.g. John = the name of one of the four Gospels).
- Each book is broken up into chapters (e.g. John 3 = Gospel of John, chapter 3).
- Each chapter is broken up into verses – a short section, usually only about a sentence long (e.g. John 3:16 = Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 16).
To find a verse in the Bible (e.g., John 3:16) you need to:
- Look up the book in the contents page at the front of the Bible and find what page it starts on.
- Open that book and look for the right chapter. The beginning of each chapter is shown by a large number in the text.
- Scan through that chapter and find the right verse. The beginning of each verse is shown by a small number in the text.