The major and minor prophets
The seventeen books of the prophets in the order of Christian Bibles: the five major prophets, then the twelve minor prophets. Dates are approximate.
| Book | Approximate date | Audience | Main message |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isaiah | About 740 to 700 BC or later (on chapters 40-66, see below) | Judah and Jerusalem | The Holy One of Israel judges pride, and promises a Servant who suffers for others (Isaiah 53) and a King who brings peace. |
| Jeremiah | About 627 BC to after 586 BC | Judah, before and after Jerusalem fell | Turn back before judgment comes; God will make a new covenant, written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:31-33). |
| Lamentations | Soon after 586 BC (the author is not named) | The survivors of Jerusalem's fall | Grief poured out to God, held together by hope: his mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). |
| Ezekiel | 593-571 BC | Exiles in Babylon, and those left in Judah | God's glory leaves the sinful temple, yet he will give his people a new heart and raise dry bones to life. |
| Daniel | Set in 605-536 BC; many scholars date the book to 167-164 BC | God's people in exile under Babylon and Persia | God rules over the empires of the world, and his kingdom will never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44). |
| Hosea | About 753-722 BC | The northern kingdom of Israel | Israel has been unfaithful like an adulterous wife, yet God's love will not let her go. |
| Joel | Uncertain; most scholars date it after the exile | Judah and Jerusalem | A plague of locusts warns of the day of the LORD; rend your heart, and God will pour out his Spirit (Joel 2:13, 28). |
| Amos | Mid-700s BC | The northern kingdom of Israel | God hates worship without justice: “let judgment run down as waters” (Amos 5:24, KJV). |
| Obadiah | Probably soon after 586 BC | Edom, Israel's neighbor | Edom gloated over Jerusalem's fall, and what it has done will be done to it. |
| Jonah | Jonah lived under Jeroboam II (782-753 BC) | Nineveh, the great city of Assyria | God's mercy reaches even Israel's enemies when they repent. |
| Micah | Between about 750 and 687 BC | Judah and Samaria | Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly; a ruler will come from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; 6:8). |
| Nahum | Between 664 and 612 BC | Nineveh, and Judah under Assyrian rule | God is slow to anger but will judge cruel Assyria; he is a stronghold for those who trust him. |
| Habakkuk | Late 600s BC, shortly before 605 BC | A dialogue with God about Judah and Babylon | Why does God use wicked Babylon? Wait on him: “the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4, KJV). |
| Zephaniah | In Josiah's reign (640-609 BC) | Judah | The day of the LORD is near, yet God will rejoice over his humble people with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). |
| Haggai | 520 BC | The people back from exile | Put God's house first: rebuild the temple. |
| Zechariah | From 520 BC | The people back from exile | Return to God; your King is coming, lowly and riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9). |
| Malachi | About 460 BC, in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah | The community back in Jerusalem | Give God your best, not your leftovers; he will send his messenger to prepare the way (Malachi 3:1). |
Dates follow the book introductions in the ESV Global Study Bible. Where scholars disagree in a bigger way, on Isaiah and Daniel, the views are set out below.
Where scholars disagree: Isaiah and Daniel
Isaiah. Isaiah's call came “In the year that king Uzziah died” (Isaiah 6:1, KJV), about 740 BC. Chapters 40-66 speak to people in exile in Babylon and after it, and even name Cyrus of Persia (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1). Many scholars, including the editors of the Catholic New American Bible, think these chapters come from later prophets in Isaiah's tradition: chapters 40-55 near the end of the exile, and 56-66 after the return. Others hold the traditional view that Isaiah wrote the whole book, foreseeing the exile and the return. They point out, for example, that John 12:38-41 quotes both Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 6 as words of the prophet Isaiah (Esaias).
Daniel. The book is set in Babylon and Persia, from 605 BC, when Daniel was taken into exile, to about 536 BC. The traditional view, which the ESV Study Bible follows, is that Daniel wrote it in the 500s BC. Many other scholars, including the editors of the New American Bible, date the book as we have it to 167-164 BC, during the persecution of the Jews under the Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Christians who hold either view read Daniel as Scripture and find the same message in it: God rules over the kings of the earth. For how Christians read Daniel's visions of the future, see end times prophecy.
How the Hebrew Bible arranges the books of the prophets
Jewish Bibles group these books differently. The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, has three parts: the Law (Torah), the Prophets (Nevi'im) and the Writings (Ketuvim). Its Prophets section includes books Christians usually call history. The Former Prophets are Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings; the Latter Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Twelve, counted as a single book. Daniel and Lamentations are not in the Prophets at all but among the Writings.
That is why the Hebrew Bible counts 24 books where the Old Testament of the KJV counts 39: the same writings, grouped and counted differently. Catholic Bibles also include several books that are not in the Hebrew Bible, such as Judith and 1 and 2 Maccabees. For the full count, see how many books are in the Bible.
Prophets without books
Some of the best-known prophets in the Bible never wrote a book. Their stories are told by others.
| Prophet | Where to read | What God did through them |
|---|---|---|
| Moses | Exodus 3-4; Deuteronomy 18:15-18; 34:10 | Led Israel out of Egypt and gave them God's law; the pattern for the prophets after him. |
| Deborah | Judges 4-5 | A prophetess and judge who called Barak to lead Israel to victory. |
| Samuel | 1 Samuel 3; 7-16 | Heard God call him as a boy, led Israel, and anointed its first two kings, Saul and David. |
| Nathan | 2 Samuel 7; 12:1-15; 1 Kings 1 | Brought David the promise of a lasting dynasty, then confronted him over Bathsheba: “Thou art the man” (2 Samuel 12:7, KJV). |
| Elijah | 1 Kings 17-19; 21; 2 Kings 1-2 | Stood against Baal worship on Mount Carmel, then met God in “a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12, KJV). |
| Elisha | 1 Kings 19:16-21; 2 Kings 2-13 | Elijah's successor, who asked for a double portion of his spirit and did many works of mercy. |
| Huldah | 2 Kings 22:14-20; 2 Chronicles 34:22-28 | A prophetess in Jerusalem who confirmed the book of the law found in King Josiah's day. |
| Anna | Luke 2:36-38 | An elderly prophetess in the temple who gave thanks for the infant Jesus and spoke of him to all who waited for redemption. |
| John the Baptist | Matthew 3; 11:7-15; Luke 1; 3; John 1:19-36 | Prepared the way for Jesus and pointed to him as the Lamb of God; Jesus said no greater prophet had been born (Luke 7:28). |
Scripture names other prophets too: Miriam (Exodus 15:20), Gad (1 Samuel 22:5), Ahijah (1 Kings 11:29), Micaiah (1 Kings 22:8), Agabus in the early church (Acts 11:28), and the four daughters of Philip, who “did prophesy” (Acts 21:9, KJV). You can read more about Deborah, Huldah and Anna in Faithful Women in the Bible. And the New Testament calls Jesus himself “a prophet mighty in deed and word” (Luke 24:19, KJV), the Prophet like Moses whom Moses foretold (Acts 3:22), and more than a prophet: the Son through whom God has spoken at last (Hebrews 1:1-2).
What did the prophets say?
The writing prophets spoke over more than three centuries, to very different moments, but the same few notes sound through all of them.
Come back to God. “Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God” (Joel 2:13, KJV).
Do justice. Worship without justice is empty: “what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8, KJV).
Judgment is real. The prophets warned that unfaithfulness would bring ruin, and it came: Samaria fell in 722 BC and Jerusalem in 586 BC.
God is faithful. Even among the ruins they found hope: “his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23, KJV). Isaiah's favorite name for God, the Holy One of Israel, appears 25 times in his book (see the names of God).
Someone is coming. They looked ahead to a new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-33), a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26) and a coming King. Christians read many of these promises as fulfilled in Jesus.
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
How to start reading the prophets
Start with a story
Jonah is four short chapters and reads like a story: a prophet who ran from God, and a God whose mercy was bigger than his prophet's.
Read a prophet next to his history
Read Amos or Hosea alongside 2 Kings 14-17, or Jeremiah alongside 2 Kings 22-25. Knowing what was happening makes the warnings and promises come alive.
Bring your questions
Habakkuk opens by asking God how long he will let violence go unanswered (Habakkuk 1:2-4). It is a good book for anyone who struggles with why God allows evil, and it ends in trust.
Linger in the great chapters
Isaiah 40, Isaiah 53, Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 37 and Micah 6 reward slow reading. Try one a day.
Listen to them
The prophets first spoke their messages aloud. In Faithero you can read any of the prophets in the King James Version and have each chapter read aloud, verse by verse.
Frequently asked
How many prophets are in the Bible?
There is no fixed count. The Old Testament has seventeen books of the prophets: five major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel) and twelve minor prophets (Hosea to Malachi). Many other prophets wrote no book, from Moses, Miriam and Samuel to Elijah, Elisha, Huldah, Anna, Agabus and John the Baptist, and Scripture also mentions groups of prophets whose names are not given.
What is the difference between the major and minor prophets?
Length. The major prophets are the longer books, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, with Lamentations placed beside Jeremiah. The minor prophets are the twelve shorter books from Hosea to Malachi, which the Hebrew Bible keeps together as one book called the Twelve. Minor does not mean less important.
Who was the first prophet in the Bible?
The first person the Bible calls a prophet is Abraham. God told Abimelech, “he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee” (Genesis 20:7, KJV). The letter of Jude says that Enoch, long before, also prophesied (Jude 14). Moses became the pattern for the prophets who followed (Deuteronomy 18:15-18; 34:10).
Who was the last prophet of the Old Testament?
In the order of Christian Bibles, Malachi is the last book of the prophets, from about 460 BC. In the Gospels, John the Baptist stands at the turning point: “The law and the prophets were until John” (Luke 16:16, KJV). The New Testament also mentions prophets in the early church, such as Agabus (Acts 11:28).
Which prophets in the Bible were women?
Scripture names several. Miriam (Exodus 15:20), Deborah (Judges 4:4), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14) and Anna (Luke 2:36) are each called a prophetess. Isaiah calls his wife “the prophetess” (Isaiah 8:3, KJV), and Philip the evangelist had four daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:9).
What did the prophets say about Jesus?
Christians read many prophecies as pointing to Jesus, and the New Testament quotes them that way: a ruler from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2, quoted in Matthew 2:5-6), a king riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9, in Matthew 21:4-5), a messenger to prepare the way (Malachi 3:1, in Mark 1:2), and a servant “wounded for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5, KJV), whom Philip explained as Jesus (Acts 8:32-35).
Voices that still speak
It would be easy to treat the prophets as ancient history, stern men shouting at kingdoms long gone. Read them slowly and you meet people who wept (Jeremiah 9:1), argued with God (Habakkuk 1:2), ran from him (Jonah 1:3) and kept hoping when everything had fallen (Lamentations 3:21-23). They are honest company for anyone whose faith is under strain.
They still speak because the God who spoke through them has not changed: “For I am the LORD, I change not” (Malachi 3:6, KJV). The letter to the Hebrews puts the prophets and Jesus in one sentence: God, who spoke “in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2, KJV). The prophets prepared the way, and their words are still worth hearing.
Why are they called major and minor prophets?
The labels describe length, not importance. Isaiah has 66 chapters, Jeremiah 52 and Ezekiel 48, while Obadiah has just one. Put all twelve minor prophets together and they come to 67 chapters in the KJV, about the size of Isaiah alone. Lamentations, five short poems of grief, sits among the major prophets in Christian Bibles, right after Jeremiah.
The names are old. Augustine of Hippo explains in The City of God (Book 18, chapter 29) that the twelve prophets “are called the minor from the brevity of their writings, as compared with those who are called the greater prophets because they published larger volumes.” A short book can carry a large message. Habakkuk's “the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4, KJV) is quoted three times in the New Testament (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).