Major Prophets

What these books are

“Major” means long, not more important. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel are grouped together because of their size, and between them they cover the century and a half in which Jerusalem fell, the people went into exile, and hope had to be rebuilt from almost nothing.

How to read them

Prophets are not chiefly predictors. They are covenant prosecutors and poets, calling a people back to promises already made and describing what will follow if they refuse. Prediction happens, but inside that larger work.

Get the historical setting first — which king, which crisis, which empire — and these books become far more legible. Each book page here gives you that starting point.