The Bible is a book that is filled with good stories. Those stories are about people. Some were sailors. Some were prophets. Some were wise men. And some were not so wise.
One way to read the Bible is to start at the beginning and read to the end. But you may also read from place to place in the Bible. You can simply find the places that tell about the people that interest you and read their stories.
Read About One Person Every Day
Here are 40 people whose stories are found in the Bible. Choose the people that sound interesting to you. Read about one each day for 30 days. You will be surprised at how much you can learn just by reading their stories.
After you read about one of these people, think about them for a while. You may want to think about what kind of things you can learn from their story. You may want to ask yourself what you would have done if you were in their place.
Then you may want to see if you can remember what you learned about them. Then you can tell it to someone else.
Do not be surprised or sad if you do not understand some things you read. These people lived a long time ago. Their customs were very different from ours today. But, in some ways, people are the same today as they have always been.
If there are words in the stories that you do not understand, check the Word Lists on this site. You may find them helpful.
40 People in the Bible
1. Abraham
Genesis 11:26-29; Genesis 12:10-20; Genesis 18:1-33;
Genesis 21:1-3; Genesis 22:1-8
2. Adam and Eve
Genesis 2:21-3:19
3. Cain and Abel
Genesis 4
4. Daniel
Daniel 1-6
5. David
1 Samuel 16-17; 2 Samuel 1-6; 2 Samuel 11-12; 1 Kings 1:28-2:12
6. Elijah
1 Kings 18:16-19:18; 2 Kings 2:11-12
7. Elisha
2 Kings 4:1-7; Luke 4:24-27
8. Elizabeth
Luke 1:5-25, 57-66
9. Esther
Esther 5-8
10. Ezekiel
Ezekiel 2:9-3:3
11. Gideon
Judges 6-7
12. Hannah
1 Samuel 1:1-2:21
13. Isaac
Genesis 24-27
14. Isaiah
2 Kings 19-20
15. Jacob
Genesis 27-33
16. Jesus
Luke 2:1-20; Luke 2:41-52; Mark 15:33-41; Matthew 28
17. Job
Job 1:1-2:13; Job 42:7-17
18. John the Baptist
Matthew 3; Matthew 14:1-12
19. Jonah
Jonah 1-4
20. Joseph
Genesis 39-50
21. Joseph
Matthew 1:18-25
22. Joshua
Numbers 13-14; Joshua 1-6
23. Judas Iscariot
Matthew 26:14-25, 47-54
24. Lazarus
John 11:1-44
25. Mary
Luke 1:26-2:52
26. Mary and Martha
Luke 10:38-42
27. Mary Magdalene
John 20:1-18
28. Moses
Exodus 2-4; Exodus 12
29. Naomi
Ruth 1-4
30. Noah
Genesis 6:9-9:17
31. Paul (Saul)
Acts 9:1-19; Acts 21-27
32. Peter
Matthew 14:22-33; Acts 3:1-10
33. Philip
Acts 8:4-7, 26-40
34. Rahab
Joshua 2
35. Ruth
Ruth 1-4
36. Samuel
1 Samuel 1-3
37. Sarah
Genesis 12-23
38. Saul
1 Samuel 15
39. Solomon
1 Kings 2:1-3:28; 1 Kings 4:20-34; 1 Kings 10
40. Stephen
Acts 6:5-7:60