100 Essential Scripture Passages

William E. Hull

In the summer of 1973, the legendary folk singer Johnny Cash handed his eighteen year old daughter Rosanne a sheet of yellow lined paper on which he had listed “100 Essential Country Songs.” Discussing with his daughter the launching her own musical career, he had become alarmed at the songs she didn’t know, and so he set about to identify the best of what he had spent his life singing to leave as a legacy lest this heritage be forgotten.

At first Rosanne laid the list aside as she forged her own vocational pathway. It lay forgotten in a box of memorabilia until she happened upon it in 2005. Soon her fans began to ask when she was going to record the songs selected by her father, a suggestion she at first rejected in order to concentrate on her work as a songwriter. Finally her husband convinced her to begin the project and now we have the hit CD appropriately entitled “The List” containing twelve of the songs that her father had chosen.

Borrowing from the concern of Johnny Cash that at least “100 Essential Country Songs” not be forgotten, is it not infinitely more important that at least “100 Essential Scripture Passages” not be forgotten? Just as Cash looked back over a lifetime of singing to make his musical selections, so I have looked back over a lifetime of teaching and preaching the Bible to make my scriptural selections, the results of which you see below.

Admittedly my choices are personal, but if you think of passages more meaningful to your spiritual life than the ones I picked, make substitutions and eventually the list will become yours rather than mine. But how can only 100 passages containing 2,184 verses do justice to the totality of Scripture with 31,101 verses? Here the idea behind the word “Essential” is to provide a core comprising only seven percent of the Bible’s total content in the hope that mastery of these pivotal passages will inspire you to study all the rest!

Even a summary effort such as this can be facilitated by a systematic plan, so let me suggest one for your consideration. These 100 passages average twenty-two verses each which can be read carefully, thoughtfully, and prayerfully in ten minutes or less. Surely you can budget that much time each day for one of these passages even when the hectic pace of life competes for attention at every moment. I have arranged the passages in their biblical sequence so that reading them consecutively will give some sense of the sweep of Scripture. An ideal time to begin this journey is on the day after Christmas 2009. Read one passage a day for 100 days without interruption and you will finish on Easter Sunday, 2010. This is the finest legacy I can offer. And it is yours for the taking.

The List

A Sacred Journey from Christmas to Easter

1. Genesis 1:1 – 2:3	51. Luke 4:14-44
2. Genesis 3:1-24	52. Luke 10:25-37
3. Genesis 18:1-15	53. Luke 15:1-32
4. Genesis 28:10-22; 32:22-31	54. Luke 23:33-49
5. Genesis 42:1-5; 43:1-9; 44:18 – 45:5	55. Luke 24:13-35
6. Exodus 2:23 – 3:15	56. John 1:1-18
7. Exodus 20:1-17	57. John 3:1-21
8. Joshua 1:1-18	58. John 6:35-65
9. Judges 7:1-23	59. John 11:1-44
10. 1 Samuel 3:1 – 4:1a	60. John 13:33 – 14:27
11. 1 Samuel 17:1-11, 32-54	61. John 17:1-26
12. 1 Kings 8:22-30, 54-61	62. John 20:1-31
13. 1 Kings 19:1-18	63. Acts 2:1-47
14. Ezra 9:5-15	64. Acts 9:1-30
15. Nehemiah 8:1-12	65. Acts 15:1-35
16. Job 38:1-18; 40:1-9; 42:1-6	66. Acts 20:17-35
17. Psalm 8:1-9	67. Romans 6:1-23
18. Psalm 23:1-6	68. Romans 8:1-39
19. Psalm 32:1-11	69. Romans 12:1-21
20. Psalm 51:1-17	70. 1 Corinthians 12:4-27
21. Psalm 73:1-28	71. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
22. Psalm 90:1-17	72. 1 Corinthians 15:1-58
23. Psalm 139:1-24	73. 2 Corinthians 4:1-18
24. Proverbs 2:1-22	74. 2 Cor. 5:11 – 6:10
25. Proverbs 3:1-35	75. Galatians 5:13 – 6:10
26. Proverbs 8:1-36	76. Ephesians 2:1-22
27. Isaiah 6:1-8	77. Ephesians 4:1-16
28. Isaiah 35:1-10	78. Ephesians 6:10-20
29. Isaiah 40:1-31	79. Philippians 2:1-18
30. Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12	80. Philippians 3:4 – 4:1
31. Jeremiah 7:1-15	81. Colossians 1:3-23
32. Ezekiel 37:1-14	82. 1 Thess. 4:13 – 5:11
33. Daniel 6:1-28	83. 2 Thess. 3:1-3
34. Hosea 1:2-9; 3:1-5	84. 1 Timothy 6:2b-19
35. Hosea 11:1-11	85. 2 Timothy 2:1-19
36. Amos 5:4-24	86. Titus 2:11 – 3:8
37. Jonah 1:1-10; 3:1-10	87. Hebrews 4:14 – 5:10
38. Micah 6:1-16	88. Hebrews 11:1-40
39. Habakkuk 2:1-14	89. Hebrews 12:1-29
40. Malachi 3:1-12, 16 – 4:6	90. James 2:1-26
41. Matthew 3:13 – 4:22	91. James 1:26-27; 3:1-12
42. Matthew 5:1-16	92. 1 Peter 1:13 – 2:10
43. Matthew 6:1-18	93. 1 Peter 3:8-17
44. Matthew 25:31-46	94. 1 Peter 4:7-19
45. Matthew 28:1-20	95. 2 Peter 1:2-11
46. Mark 2:1 – 3:6	96. 1 John 4:7-21
47. Mark 4:1-34	97. Revelation 1:9-11; 2:1-29
48. Mark 8:27 – 9:8	98. Revelation 3:1-22
49. Mark 11:1-24	99. Revelation 5:6-14; 19:1-10
50. Mark 14:22-42	100. Revelation 21:1-7; 22:1-5

First Baptist Church ● 600 Governors Drive ● Huntsville, Alabama 35801 ● 256-428-9400 ● www.fbchsv.org

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