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The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth....

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The Prayer of Manasses is supposed to have been the prayer of Manasses King of Judah when he repented from his idolatrous ways when he was held captive by the Assyrians in Babylon. Manasseh’s evil ways are recorded in 2 Kings 21:1-18, and the account of his repentance is recorded in 2 Chronicles 33:10-17. The Prayer of Manasses is held to be a deuterocanonical book by many Christians and is held to be Apocryphal by others. This reading is from the Holy Bible, King James Version 1611 which contains the Apocrypha separate from both the Old and New Testament. -- Summary by David Shamp...

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The introduction to the KJV Bible revealed the thanks of the translators to King James I of England. It is fitting to read, as it reminds contemporary readers of the transitory nature of all Bible translations. (Summary by Sam Stinson)...

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“The Books of Samuel (Hebrew: Sefer Sh’muel ספר שמואל) are part of the Tanakh (part of Judaism’s Hebrew Bible) and also of the Christian Old Testament. The work was originally written in Hebrew, and the Book(s) of Samuel originally formed a single text, as they are often considered today in Hebrew bibles. Together with what is now referred to as the Book(s) of Kings, the translators who created the Greek Septuagint divided the text into four books, which they named the Books of the Kingdoms. In the Latin Vulgate version, these then became the Books of the Kings, thus 1 and 2 Samuel were referred to as 1 and 2 Kings, with 3 and 4 Kings being what are called 1 and 2 Kings by the King James Bible and its successors.”...

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Tobias is the 17th book of the Bible and one of the historical books in the Old Testament. In the text, Raphael, after revealing his angelic nature, commanded both father and son to tell all the wonders that God had done to them and write it in a book. It is likely that the parts of the book written in first person singular are an autobiography of Tobias the elder. It was written originally during the Babylonian Exile, in the early portion of the seventh century B.C.; and that all except the last chapter was the work of Tobias the elder and his son.The story naturally divides itself into two parts: the fidelity of Tobias the elder and of Sara to the Lord; and the fidelity of the Lord to Tobias and to Sara through the ministrations of the angel Raphael. The chief purpose of the book is to show that God is faithful to those that are faithful to Him. Tobias the elder carries out God's will through prayer, almsgiving, and his works of mercy in burying the dead. Tobias (the son) and Sara follow God's word through their chastity and prayers.(Summary by Sean McKinley)...

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The Book of Baruch consists of exhortation to Jews in exile to accept exile, hope for the mercy of God, and resist the temptation to worship idols of the nations. The Book of Baruch, occasionally referred to as 1 Baruch, is called a deuterocanonical or apocryphal book of the Bible. Although not in the Hebrew Bible, it is found in the Greek Bible (LXX) and in the Vulgate Bible, and also in Theodotion's version.[1] There it is found among the prophetical books which also include Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the twelve minor prophets. It is named after Baruch ben Neriah, Jeremiah's scribe. Scholars propose that it was written during or shortly after the period of the Maccabees.[2] In the Vulgate, the King James Bible, and many other versions, the Letter of Jeremiah is appended to the end of the Book of Baruch as a sixth chapter. (Summary by Wikipedia, modified by Sam Stinson)...

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The King James Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible begun in 1604 and first published in 1611 by the Church of England. In common with most other translations of the period, the New Testament was translated from the Textus Receptus (Received Text) series of the Greek texts. The Old Testament was translated from the Masoretic Hebrew text, while the Apocrypha [not included in this recording] was translated from the Greek Septuagint (LXX). (Summary from Wikipedia, slightly modified) This is a solo recording of Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus....

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In a very real and interesting way, The King Nobody Wanted tells the story of Jesus. Where the actual words of the Bible are used, they are from the King James Version. But the greater part of the story is told in the words of every day. (Introduction by N. F. Langford)...

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The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the book of Isaiah and preceding Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve. (The order is somewhat different in the Christian Old Testament). It derives its name from, and records the visions of, Jeremiah, who lived in Jerusalem in the late 7th and early 6th centuries BCE during the time of king Josiah and the fall of the Kingdom of Judah to the Babylonians. The book can be divided into roughly 6 sections and uses poetic, narrative, and biographical genres that are interspersed throughout the book. The breakdown of sections is as follows: Chapters 1-25 (The earliest and main core of Jeremiah's message) Chapters 26-29 (Biographic material and interaction with other prophets) Chapters 30-33 (God's promise of restoration) Chapters 34-45 (Mostly interaction with Zedekiah and the fall of Jerusalem) Chapters 46-51 (Divine punishment to the nations surrounding Israel) Chapter 52 (Appendix that retells 2 Kings 24:18-25:30) (Summary by Wikipedia)...

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The Sermon On The Mount is one of the teachings in the ministry of Jesus Christ. In The Sermon On The Mount is found many sayings and important precepts held by Christian churches, sayings such as The Beatitudes, The Lord's Prayer, and other teachings about forgiveness, giving, and the Golden Rule about doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. Men such as Tolstoy and Gandhi found special meaning in The Sermon On The Mount, and Christians have read and listened to this important portion of scripture for centuries. The Bible version used for this reading is the King James Version. This traditional Bible has been praised for its poetic beauty, imagery, and its use for memorization of Bible verses. (summary by Ben Douglas)...

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Judith is the 18th book of the Bible and one of the historical books in the Old Testament. The overall theme is the power of prayer. The Israelites are beseiged by the forces of Holofernes and pray to God to overcome the forces. Judith seduces Holofernes and beheads him in his sleep, when the forces find their leader dead, they flee in battle. The Israelites benefit from their spoils and Judith sings praises to God. (Summary by Sean McKinley)...

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The Book of Lamentations (Hebrew: אֵיכָה‎, Eikha, ʾēḫā(h)) is a book of the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh. It is traditionally read by the Jewish people on Tisha B'Av, the fast day that commemorates the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. It is called in the Hebrew canon 'Eikhah, meaning How, being the formula for the commencement of a song of wailing. It is the first word of the book (see 2 Sam. 1:19-27). The Septuagint adopted the name rendered Lamentations (Greek threnoi = Hebrew qinoth) now in common use, to denote the character of the book, in which the prophet mourns over the desolations brought on Jerusalem and the Holy Land by the Chaldeans. In the Hebrew Bible it is placed among the Ketuvim, the Writings. (Summary by Wikipedia)...

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The book commences with a feast organized by Ahasuerus, initially for his court and dignitaries and afterwards for all inhabitants of Shushan. Ahasuerus orders his wife Vashti to display her beauty before the guests. She refuses, and the King's advisors warn that, if unpunished, her actions would inspire other wives to disobey their husbands. Ahasuerus removes her as queen. (Jews believe that she was executed, He then orders all young women to be presented to him, so he can choose a new queen to replace Vashti. One of these is Esther, who was orphaned at a young age and is being fostered by her uncle Mordechai. (Summary by Wikipedia)...

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The Epistle of Jude is a brief book of only a single chapter with 25 verses. It is a general epistle, that is, a letter meant to be circulated and read in all the early Christian churches. Although brief, the content of the book is dense. Many examples of evildoers and strong warnings about their fates are given in rapid succession. The dispute over the body of Moses and the prophecies of Enoch are mentioned in no other book in the Bible. The doxology, or hymn of praise, at the end of the book is particularly beautiful...

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Nahum prophesied, according to some, in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz (740s BC). Others, however, think that his prophecies are to be referred to the latter half of the reign of Hezekiah (700s BC). Probably the book was written in Jerusalem, where he witnessed the invasion of Sennacherib and the destruction of his host (2 Kings 19:35). And still others support the idea that the book of vision was written shortly before the fall of Nineveh (612 BCE). This theory is evidenced by the fact that the oracles must be dated after the Assyrian destruction of Thebes in 663 BCE as this event is mentioned in Nah 3:8. (Summary by Wikipedia)...

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The Book of Nehemiah, sometimes called the Second Book of Ezra, is a book of the Hebrew Bible. It is historically regarded as a continuation of the Book of Ezra, and the two are frequently taken together as Ezra-Nehemiah. Traditionally, the author of this book is believed to be Nehemiah himself. The date at which the book was written was probably about 431 - 430 BC, when Nehemiah had returned the second time to Jerusalem after his visit to Persia. The book consists of four parts: (1) An account of the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, and of the register Nehemiah had found of those who had returned from Babylon. Details describe how Nehemiah became governor of Judah; various forms of opposition generated by Sanballat and others; describes earlier return under Zerubbabel (ch. 1-7). (2) An account of the state of religion among the Jews during this time (8-10). (3) Increase of the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the census of the adult male population, and names of the chiefs, together with lists of priests and Levites (11-12:1-26). 4) Dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the arrangement of the temple officers, and the reforms carried ou...

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The Psalms are the Israelites' songs of joy and sadness, contentment and complaint, happiness and suffering---but most of all, praise. King David is the most prolific contributor, but there are also psalms from his son Solomon, the sons of Korah, the worship leader Asaph, and even one from Moses! (Introduction by Mark Penfold)...

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The history of the first return of exiles, in the first year of Cyrus the Great (536 B.C.), till the completion and dedication of the new Temple in Jerusalem, in the sixth year of Darius (515 B.C.). The history of the second return under Ezra, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, and of the events that took place at Jerusalem after Ezra's arrival there. The book thus contains memorabilia connected with the Jews, from the decree of Cyrus to the reformation by Ezra (456 B.C.), extending over a period of about eighty years....

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The Prayer of Manasseh is a short work of only 15 verses that purports to be the penitential prayer of the Judean king Manasseh, who is recorded in the Bible as one of the most idolatrous (2 Kings 21:1-18). However, after having been taken captive by the Assyrians, he prays for mercy (2 Chronicles 33:10-17) and turns from his idolatrous ways....

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