1) the Old Testament and...

2) the New Testament.

These two are divided into "books" which are indexed at the front of every Bible. Each book is divided into chapters, each chapter is divided into verses which were placed there in the early 1500's. For example, the first book, Genesis, is divided into 59 chapters. Thus, Genesis chapter One, verse One is written as: Genesis 1:1 or abbreviated: Gen. 1:1 .

The Old Testament (abbreviated as: O.T.) is a combination of history, proverbs, poetical books and prophecies, even the blue-prints for the construction of Noah's Ark, the Temple in Jerusalem, the Arc of the Covenant and so on.

The New Testament (N.T.) is divided into several sections. The first four books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) are a history of Christ's life written by four of His followers. Following these is the Book of Acts, a history of what the disciples did after Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.

The rest of the books, except for the last one: Revelation*, are letters written by some of the main leaders of the Early Church (approximately A.D.33 to about 70A.D) . The last book, *Revelation, is an entirely prophetic book. (also known as Apocalypse)

Which Bible version should you read?

You mean there's more than one? Well, the Bible has had many different versions. However, the most commonly accepted English translation is the King James Version (KJV). Reason.....

-- It was copied from the earliest manuscripts available at that time (compiled in 1611 A.D.).

-- Forty carefully chosen translators painstakingly compared their translations with ancient Biblical texts. (later proven to be authentic with the findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls*1)

-- At that time (1611), heretics were burned at the stake. So, the translators were real careful about adding their own interpretations to their translations.

If you're used to reading Shakespeare, you'll have no problem reading the King James text, but if you find the language distracting, there is also a KJV that replaces "thee", "thou", "thine", and "ye" with modern English.

Of course, many people have difficulty understanding the old form of English used in the King James version. In such a case, you can read different versions and then compare them. At www.e-sword.net you can download free Bible software in which you can have several versions to compare the chapters you are studying. I use this software every day. - If you download it, send the developer a "thank you" or even a donation if you can.

For More Detailed Information

There are some excellent study Bibles that you can get. One that I've used (for the last 30 years) is...

The Cambridge Bible

(red-letter edition*2)

This Bible has an excellent concordance (a listing of main words to help you find specific verses) for beginners and good cross-reference sections in the margins or, the ...

Thompson Chain Bible.

Besides having an absolutely massive chain reference system, TCB has detailed background information and archeological facts regarding the history of Biblical events.

If you want a terrific downloadable Bible, please check out E-Sword.net here: http://www.e-sword.net/

Last but not least, an excellent on-line Bible with concordance, original Hebrew and Greek, etc. etc. is located at: Blue Letter Bible

Just as a note here, in case the thought crosses your mind, I am in no way connected with either of these companies so I'm not hawking or trying to sell Bibles here. They're simply ones I've used and like.

*1. Around the beginning of the 1900's, with the findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls, these texts were proven to be authentic.

*2. The words of Christ are in red