Day 25 The Wisdom of Yeshua son of Eleazar son of Sira. The Book of Jesus, Son of Sirach. Ecclesiasticus. The Instruction of Ben Sira. Sirach. I don’t think I’ve seen a bible book with so many names, but, well, there you have it. Sirach is a wisdom book collecting the sayings of Yeshua (Joshua/Jesus) […]
Day 23 Today is the halfway point of this experiment: Reading the entirety of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures in 45 days. I’m astonished at the stories I’ve learned, the peculiarities and esoterica I’ve gleaned, and the progress I’ve made. Here’s to the remaining 22 days! Baruch, the scribe of Jeremiah and a prominent figure […]
Day 22 Longest book in the Bible, done! Yeah, this was a long haul book for one day. I realized, while reading Jeremiah, that I am struggling with the prophetic books. The history (and myths) are a delight. But all of these oracles of prophecy are hard for me to enjoy. The poetry is certainly […]
Day 21 I don’t know what I can tell you about my good buddy Isaiah, here, though he had a lot to say. Here I am wading into the prophetic books and revisiting previous events I’ve read about in Kings, Chronicles, or Nehemiah. Except this time, I am hearing the other side of the conversation. […]
Day 20 A full dose of wisdom today. Having never read Proverbs in its entirety, my suspicions were correct. It is a devotional book. There are hundreds (over 400) wise sayings contained in this book. I hesitated to write down all of my favorites, though some definitely resonated with me, especially as they relate to […]
Day 18 I was only a few Psalms in when I realized: This is a book that is meant to be read/sung devotionally. For the purposes of my experiment, I’ll keep reading it. Perhaps later on I can turn it into a nightly read…a psalm a day! I say this because there is a lot […]
Day 16 Esther & Judith will go down as two of my absolute favorite books of the Bible. Maybe they satisfy a need for war and intrigue. But these books could’ve easily been episodes of Game of Thrones. I did a quick reread of Esther, since that’s the book that prompted me to begin this […]
Day 13 I can see why these books, originally together, were separated in Christian bibles. Ezra is a gloomy sort while Nehemiah is joyful at what’s to come — even the difficult parts. I resonated with this contrast, though. At first, after reading Ezra, I was afraid of what was lurking around the corner with […]
Day 10 I was looking forward to this book as it’s where Solomon is made King. However, a quick realization settled in. The legendary wisdom of Solomon comes much later and these books deal with deeds and history. I was hoping for a couple additional proverbs sprinkled in here, but, to no avail. It was […]
Day 9 The books of Samuel were a delight. There was a lot of warfare, but woven throughout there was great intrigue. Love, betrayal, redemption, anguish, and — as with so much of the Bible, raw humanity. Second Samuel didn’t disappoint. I found myself reading the stories differently. I let go of a lot of […]