First Lines - Old Testament Books Quiz

Answer: Genesis

'In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.'
The original Hebrew title of Genesis, Bereshith, means 'in the beginning'. Later, around the third century BC, the Hebrew Bible was translated to Greek. In Greek, Genesis means 'birth', 'origin' or 'source'. It is the first book of the Christian Bible and of the Jewish Torah.
The book begins with an account of creation and includes many popular Bible stories: for example, the stories of Cain and Abel, Abraham and Sarah, Sodom and Gomorrah, Noah and the Ark and many others. The patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are introduced in this book. Genesis concludes with the death of Joseph.

Answer: 1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles begins with the royal line of David 'Adam, Seth, Enoch, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah.'
In this book, the Hebrew history is reviewed. Abraham's son Isaac had two sons. Jacob, the younger of the two, was re-named Israel. He fathered twelve sons from whence we get the twelve tribes of Israel. David became the second king of Israel after the death of Saul. The Lord promised David that his line would always be the royal line. Before David's death he gathered all the requisites needed to build the temple of the Lord but it was his son and successor Solomon who would build the temple.
2 Chronicles begins with 'Solomon son of David established himself firmly over his kingdom, for the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.'
Exodus begins with ' These are the names of the sons of Israel, who went to Egypt with Jacob.'
Amos begins with 'The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekod - what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judea and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.'

Answer: Zephaniah

Zephaniah begins with 'The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Geladiah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah.'
Authored by the prophet Zephaniah, the book is about God's judgement on Israel and her neighbors. It also mentions God's blessings on His faithful people. Zephaniah begins with 'The word of the Lord' and concludes with 'says the Lord.'
Nahum begins with 'An oracle concerning Nineveh'.
Isaiah begins with 'The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.'
Ezra begins with 'In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing.'

Answer: Judges

Judges begins with 'After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?"'
Judges is an historical book about the judges who ruled over Israel. Some of the judges mentioned are Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson.
Deborah, also a prophetess, was the only female judge. Samson was the last judge mentioned.
Ezekiel begins with 'In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.'
Malachi begins with 'An oracle: the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.'
Jeremiah begins with 'The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.'

Answer: Daniel

Daniel begins with 'In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judea, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.'
At the age of about 16 years old, Daniel and others were taken in captivity. Daniel and some of his friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, were chosen and trained to serve the king. The popular stories of 'Daniel in the Lion's Den' and 'The Three Hebrew Boys in The Fiery Furnace' are contained in this book.
Micah begins with 'The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Abaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah - the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.'
Nehemiah begins with 'The words of Nenemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Suisa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.'
Zechariah begins with 'In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.'

Answer: Ruth

Ruth begins with 'In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.' The man mentioned in this opening line, Elimelech, later died. His two sons subsequently died also, leaving three widows - Elimelech's wife Naomi and daughters-in-law Ruth and Orpah. Naomi encouraged her daughters-in-law to return to their mothers' houses. Ruth insisted on staying and in her display of faithfulness and devotion, said one of the more popular biblical quotes to date: '...where you go, I will go; And where you lodge, I will lodge; your people will be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die...' ( Ruth 1:16-17). Ruth later married Boaz and became the great-grandmother of King David.
Leviticus begins with 'The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting.'
Jeremiah begins with 'The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.'
Jonah begins with 'The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai: Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.'

Answer: Song of Songs

Song of Songs (also called Song of Solomon and Canticles in other translations) begins with 'Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth - for your love is more delightful than wine.'
Viewed by many to be a representation of the relationship between God and His people, this beautiful and poetic book includes love, romance and sexual concepts.
1 Samuel begins with 'There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Eklanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.'
Deuteronomy begins with 'These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the desert east of the Jordan.'
Numbers begins with 'The Lord spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt.'

Answer: Psalms

Psalms begins with 'Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.'
Psalms has both the shortest and longest chapters in the Bible which are chapters 117 and 119 respectively. Between these two chapters is the middle chapter of the entire NIV Bible, Psalm 118.The middle verse of this middle chapter, 118:8, reads 'It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.' This is believed by some to be the center/focus of the Bible. (Reference from aBible.com).
Joel begins with 'The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel.'
Habakkuk begins with 'The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.'
Joshua begins with 'After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: "Moses my servant is dead."'

Answer: Lamentations

Lamentations begins with 'How deserted lies the city, once so full of people.'
Proverbs begins with 'The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: for attaining wisdom and discipline...'
The book of Lamentations consists of five poems. The prophet Jeremiah mourns the desolation of Jerusalem. In the midst of the turmoil, however, the prophet expresses hope in the faithfulness of God. Lam 3:22-23 'Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.'
2 Samuel begins with 'After the death of Saul, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.'
Ecclesiastes begins with 'The words of the Teacher, son of David, king of Israel:'

Answer: 2 Kings

2 Kings begins with 'After Ahab's death, Moab rebelled against Israel.'
The book of 2 Kings continues the stories of 1 Kings with regards the history of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Some of the main characters of this book include Elijah, Elisha, Naaman, Jezebel, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Josiah, Zedekiah and Nebuchadnezzar. The book contains some awesome miracles performed by the prophets Elijah and Elisha.
1 Kings begins with 'When King David was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him.'
Job begins with 'In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job.'
Esther begins with 'This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.'