1-5. The 5 books of Moses, called the Pentateuch, which begin with the
creation of the world, and close with the death of Moses. Their names
are: 1. Genesis; 2. Exodus; 3. Leviticus; 4. Numbers; 5. Deuteronomy. 6.
The Book of Joshua. 7. The Book of Judges. 8. The Book of Ruth. 9-10.
The two Books of Samuel. 11-12. The two Books of Kings. 13-14. The two
Books of Chronicles. 15. The Book of Ezra. 16. The Book of Nehemiah. 17.
The Book of Esther, which tells of a Jewish girl who became queen of
Persia. 18. The Book of Job. 19. The Book of Psalms, or The Psalms of
David, in all 150. David has written many of these. 20. The Proverbs of
Solomon. 21. Ecclesiastes, or The Preacher. 22. The Song of Solomon.
The five books of the four Major Prophets: 1. Isaiah. 2-3. Jeremiah, and
his Book of Lamentations. 4. Ezekiel. 5. Daniel.
The 12 Minor Prophets: 1. Hosea. 2. Joel. 3. Amos. 4. Obadiah. 5. Jonah.
6. Micah. 7. Nahum. 8. Habakkuk. 9. Zephaniah. 10. Haggai. 11.
Zechariah. 12. Malachi.--In all 39 writings.
In most of these books prophecies concerning Christ are found. Malachi,
the last prophet, foretells even of him who shall prepare the way for
Him. The Lord says in the book of this prophet: Behold, I will send my
messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. And again He says:
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the
great day of the Lord.
Concerning these writings the Apostle Paul says: All Scripture is given
by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction and for instruction in righteousness. And the Apostle Peter
says: The holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
After these books come a number of others called Apocrypha. These were
written by pious men and contain much that is good; but they are not
inspired by God, as are the Holy Scriptures, hence we dare not always
use them as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. The most
important are: The Book of Tobit, The Book of Wisdom, The Wisdom of
Jesus, son of Sirach, and the two Books of the Maccabees.