In GENESIS, the world was made;
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 Hebrews 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.
The 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 treasures 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 shold be born.

In NAHUM Nineveh is seen;
HABAKKUK tells of Chaldea's guilt;
In ZEPHANIAH are Judah's sins;
In HAGGAI the Temple's built.

Then ZECHARIAH speaks of Christ,
And MALACHI of John, his sign;
The Prophets number seventeen,
And all the books are thirty nine.

MATTHES, MARK, LUKE and JOHN
Tell what Christ did in every place;
The ACTS tell what what the Apostles did,
And ROMANS how we're saved by grace.

CORINTHIANS instructs the Church;
GALATIANS shows us faith alone;
EPHESIANS, true love, and in
PHILIPPIANS God's grace is shown.

COLOSSIANS tells us more of Christ,
And THESSALONIANS of the end;
In TIMOTHY and TITUS both
Are rules for pastors to attend.

PHILEMON, Christian friendship shows
Then HEBREWS clearly tells how all
The Jewish law prefigured Christ;
And these Epistles are by Paul.

JAMES shows that faith by works must live,
And PETER urges steadfastness;
While JOHN exhorts to Christian love,
For those who have it God will bless.

JUDE shows the end of men,
And REVELATION tells of Heaven.
This ends the whole New Testament
And all the books are twenty seven.

- Author unknown

Why do we call it ‘Good’ Friday?

Calling the day of the Crucifixion ‘Good’ Friday is a designation that is peculiar to the English language. In German, it is called Karfreitag. The Kar part is an obsolete word, the ancestor of the English word care in the sense of cares and woes, and it meant mourning. So in German, it is Mourning Friday. And that is what the disciples did on that day—they mourned. They thought all was lost.

I’ve read that the word good used to have a secondary meaning of holy, but I can’t trace that back in my etymological dictionary. There are a number of cases in set phrases where the words God and good got switched around because of their similarity. One case was the phrase God be with you, which today is just good-bye. So perhaps Good Friday was originally God’s Friday. But I think we call it Good Friday because, in pious retrospect, all that tragedy brought about the greatest good there could be.

I can see virtue in either terminology. If we call it Mourning Friday, as in German, we are facing reality head on, taking up the cross if you will, fully conscious that the Christian walk is seldom a walk in the park. But if we call it Good Friday, as in English, we are confessing the Christian hope that no tragedy—not even death—can overwhelm God’s providence, love, and grace. Either way seems fine to me!

Source: www.kencollins.com

The source of our term for the Friday before Easter, "Good Friday," is not clear. It may be a corruption of the English phrase "God's Friday." It is the common name for the day among English- and Dutch-speaking people. It is a day that proclaims God's purpose of loving and redeeming the world through the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is a day that is good because God was drawing the world to God's self in Christ. As seen in John's gospel, particularly, God was in control. God was not making the best of a bad situation, but was working out God's intention for the world — winning salvation for all people. We call it "good" because we look backward at the crucifixion through the lens of Easter!

"Good Friday" is not a universal name for the day. The liturgical title for the day in the Western church was "Friday of Preparation," since the time Jews used the word paraskeue (getting ready) for Friday, meaning the "day of preparation." Popular names for the day are "Holy Friday" among the Latin nations, "Great Friday" among the Slavic peoples, "Friday of Mourning" in Germany, "Long Friday" in Norway, and "Holy Friday" (Viernes Santo) among Hispanic peoples.

Source: Daniel Benedict, www.gbod.org