in Exodus, the march is told;
Leviticus contains the law;

in Numbers are the tribes enrolled.

In Deuteronomy again,

we're urged to keep God's law alone;
and these five books of Moses make

the oldest holy writing known.

Brave Joshua to Canaan leads;

in Judges, oft the Jews rebel;
we read of David's name in Ruth

and first and second Samuel.

In first and second Kings we read

how bad the Hebrew state became;
in first and second Chronicles

another history of the same.

In Ezra, captive Jews return,

and Nehemiah builds the wall;
Queen Esther saves her race from death.

These books "historical" we call.

In Job we read of patient faith;

in Psalms are David's songs of praise;
the Proverbs are to make us wise;

Ecclesiastes next portrays,

How fleeting earthly pleasures are;

the Song of Solomon is all
about true love, like Christ's; and these

five books "devotional" we call.

Isaiah tells of Christ to come,

while Jeremiah tells of woe,
and in his Lamentations mourns

the holy city's overthrow.

Ezekiel speaks of mysteries;

and Daniel foretells kings of old;
Hosea over Israel grieves;

in Joel blessings are foretold.

In Amos, too, are Israel's woes;

and Obadiah's sent to warn;
while Jonah shows that Christ should die

and Micah where he should be born.

In Nahum Nineveh is seen;

Habakkuk tells of Chaldea's Gyukt;
in Zephaniah are Judah's sins;

in Haggai the temple is built.

Then Zachariah speaks of Christ,

and Malachi of John, his sign;
the prophets number seventeen,

and all the books are thirty-nine.