Religious Study Bible

The Book of Amos is a collection of sermons, poems, and calling Israel's wealthy to propagate justice and compassion among the poor. The poor were being marginalized, sold into debt slavery, and the justice system did not protect them. He warned the corrupt against God's judgment. Then God says that He chose Israel amongst everyone else and that He will punish them for their transgressions. Amos addresses these individuals and says that they go to the temples to pray and offer sacrifice, but it is all a sham for they neglect the poor and deny them justice.

The Book of Daniel is a series of stories and visions. It is divided into three sections. It begins with an overview followed by stories about Daniel and his three friends who belong to the royal family of David. After being captured by the Babylonians, they are chosen to serve in their royal court, where they are instructed to adapt to their culture and food. They refuse to violate God’s law and are ordered to be burned alive in a furnace. The fire does not kill them.

In this audio compilation of the Book of Lamentations, the narrator offers a collection of poetic laments of the Destruction of Jerusalem. Here, we focus on how the collection is partly a traditional "city lament" mourning the desertion of the city by God, its destruction, and the ultimate return of the divinity, and partly a funeral dirge in which the bereaved bewails and addresses the dead.

While it is not known when or where exactly The Book of Chronicles was written, it is speculated that it was written around 537 BC. The second Book of Chronicles details the reign of King Solomon, who was the son of King David. He ruled over Jerusalem as a just and prosperous king. Solomon built the temple as instructed by his father. After a 40-year rule, King Solomon died and thus began the reign of his son, Rehoboam. During the rule of King Rehoboam, the key tribes of Jews in Jerusalem rebelled against him, resulting in the division of the kingdom, except the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

While we do not know when the Book of Esther written, or who wrote it, the events that unfold in it suggest that it was written approximately 100 years after the exile of Jews from Jerusalem. In this Book, there is no mention of God, and it is believed that that is done because the author wanted to make God present and active through His work. Around 484 BC, King Ahasuerus ordered a 180-day celebration as a show of his wealth and power. On the last day of the celebration, he ordered his wife, Queen Vashti, to appear and demonstrate her beauty, but she refused.

It is unclear when this book was written or who wrote it. However, there is speculation to conclude that it might have been written by King Solomon or another descendant within the lines of King David or a figure of authority in his times. There are two distinct voices at play in this book. One belongs to The Teacher, while the other is that of the author of the book. At the beginning of the book, the author begins with repeating the word “hevel,” which roughly translates to mean "meaningless."

The Book of Psalms is a collection of 150 poems that were written by various sages, kings, and prophets throughout Jewish history. The book was compiled after the exiled Jews returned from Babylon to Jerusalem. About half of them, 73 to be exact, are attributed to King David. Each of these poems is expertly and strategically placed in the book and go as far back as the creation of man.

We do not know when the Book of Ezra was written or by whom. Parts of it were written in the first-person narrative. Also, it was written in both Hebrew and Aramaic (the language used by Persians). It narrates the story of the return of exiled Jews from Babylon back to Jerusalem ordered by King Cyrus, under the leadership of Zerubbabel, who is appointed governor. Upon his return, he builds an altar and starts to build a temple. His team’s efforts are cut short as the descendants of the Jews who were not exiled to Babylon lodge a complaint with King Cyrus

The Book of Isaiah was written by Isaiah (the son of Amoz), who served as prophet between 740 - 701 BC. This was a critical period in the history of Israel when corruption was rampant. The Jews were breaking God’s covenant and engaging in idolatry. Isaiah mentions Israel as falling to corruption. He says that there is hope for the people of Israel if they repent and mend their ways. In his dream, Isaiah saw God, who told him to preach to the people to remember and obey Him. He foretells of the fall of Israel and the exile of the Jews if they persist in their corrupt ways.

It is not known who wrote the Book of Nehemiah. However, it is written in the first-person narrative style, which seems to suggest that at least parts of the book were written by Nehemiah himself. Nehemiah was a cupbearer for King Artaxerxes of Persia. On a particular day, he broke down before the king and mentioned how Jerusalem had been destroyed. The king ordered him to go back and build the walls around the city. He was also given supplies and an armed escort. As Nehemiah began to build the walls with his team, there was fierce opposition from the countries surrounding Jerusalem.

The two Books of Kings, originally a single book, is the tenth of the Hebrew Bible or the eleventh and twelfth books of the Christian Old Testament. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also comprising the books of Joshua and Judges and the Book of Samuel, which biblical commentators believe was written to provide a theological explanation for the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah by Babylon in c. 586 BCE and a foundation for a return from exile.

The Book of Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, is Judaism's account of the creation of the world and the origins of the Jewish people. It is divisible into two parts, the primeval history (chapters 1–11) and the ancestral history (chapters 12–50).

The Nuts and Bolts of Bible Prophecy: Core Topics Explained provides a brief overview of all of end time Bible Prophecy’s main topics taken from the Bible. If you are new to Bible Prophecy and would like an overview of its teachings, this book is for you. This book is the second in the short book collection of information packed short reads.

The Book of Micah is a series of warnings to the people of Israel on God's behalf. At the beginning of the book, he addresses them that they have garnered wealth and power through theft and greed. He goes on to say that even their leaders and prophets were offering God’s protection to the people if they could afford to pay them. He relates how God has withdrawn His protection. Further in the book, he expands upon the accusations by saying that the Israelites favor the wealthy, bend the laws after collecting bribes, and steal the land of poor people.

The Book of Ezekiel narrates the story of Ezekiel, who was a priest in Israel after the Babylonian capture of the land. At about the time when he would have been appointed as a prophet, he has a vision of God's manifestation. He is instructed to warn the Israelites to follow their covenant with God. The Israelites by this time had begun to worship other gods and idols. This had spawned social ills of all kinds. So Ezekiel begins to spread the word that unless the Israelites repent and obey God, another attack would follow on Israel and the temple would be destroyed.

The Book of Leviticus s the third book of the Torah and of the Old Testament; scholars generally agree that it developed over a long period of time, reaching its present form during the Persian Period between 538-332 BCE. Most of its chapters consist of God's speeches to Moses, which God commands Moses to repeat to the Israelites.

The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history, but its final form is probably due to a Priestly redaction of a Yahwistic source made some time in the early Persian period (5th century BCE). The name of the book comes from the two censuses taken of the Israelites.

The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Bible and describes the Exodus, which includes the Israelites' deliverance from slavery in Egypt through the hand of Yahweh, the revelations at biblical Mount Sinai, and the subsequent "divine indwelling" of God with Israel.

The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Jewish Torah, where it is called Devarim, "the words of Moses". Chapters 1 - 30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to the Israelites by Moses on the plains of Moab, shortly before they enter the Promised Land. The first sermon recounts the forty years of wilderness wanderings which had led to that moment, and ends with an exhortation to observe the law, later referred to as the Law of Moses.

The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian exile. It tells of the campaigns of the Israelites in central, southern and northern Canaan, the destruction of their enemies, and the division of the land among the Twelve Tribes, framed by two set-piece speeches, the first by God commanding the conquest of the land, and, at the end, the last by Joshua warning of the need for faithful observance of the Law (torah) revealed to Moses.