Bible study topics, tied to the chapter

A starter list of Bible study topics with the book and chapter for each, plus how to study a topic without lifting a verse out of its chapter.

Published 2026-11-03 · Updated 2026-11-03

A topical Bible study follows one question through the chapters that teach it, and reads each chapter rather than a loose line. A starter set: who Jesus is in John chapter 1, prayer and worry in Matthew chapter 6, being lost and found in Luke chapter 15, trials in James chapter 1, trust in Psalm chapter 23, and creation in Genesis chapter 1. Don't just read the Bible, understand it.

The list below is a starting set, not every subject in the Bible. Eleven topics, each tied to a book and a chapter. After the list, the method for keeping a topic honest, then a section of passages and chapters to open first.

Topics, with the book and chapter

Quotations in this list are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB).

• Who Jesus is. John chapter 1 opens, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Stay with that chapter before you jump to a later saying.
• Prayer. Matthew chapter 6 is where Jesus teaches a prayer and speaks about worry and about storing up treasures. Read the chapter as one teaching, not as three slogans.
• Worry, and what you store up. The same chapter. Write what it says about worry only after you have read the prayer and the lines on treasure. The subject sits inside a longer teaching.
• Being lost and found. Luke chapter 15 opens with sinners gathering to listen, and tells of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a man with two sons. The three stories answer the grumbling at the start of the chapter. Do not lift the sheep and drop the setting.
• Trials. James chapter 1 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds." The chapter also tells the brothers who lack wisdom to ask for it. The "you" in the joy line is those brothers, not the reader of this page. Read both before you take the joy line alone.
• Hearing and doing. Later in the same chapter of James, the letter says to be doers of the word, and not hearers only. That is a second topic in the same sitting, or a second sitting. It is not a license to skip the trials lines.
• Trust. Psalm chapter 23 begins, "The LORD is my shepherd." It is a short poem. Read all of it, including the valley, before you treat the first line as the whole message.
• Creation. Genesis chapter 1 begins, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The chapter is the opening of the book, not a science essay you paste onto a later verse.
• A neighbor in need. Luke chapter 10 has an expert in the law ask what he must do. Jesus asks what the Law says; the expert answers with love of God and neighbor, and Jesus affirms it. The expert then asks who his neighbor is, and Jesus tells the story of a Samaritan. The story answers that second question. It is not a free-floating moral.
• The early gathering. Acts chapter 2 includes the line, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Read the chapter's setting before you turn that line into a program.
• Wisdom for ordinary days. Proverbs chapter 3 says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart." The chapter is instruction to a son, with commands around that line. The "your" is that son, not the reader of this page. The trust line belongs to that instruction.

That is eleven starting points, not a canon of topics. If your question is not here, name the question in a sentence, then find the chapter that discusses it, and use the method below.

Keep each line inside its chapter

Got Questions describes topical study as tracing what the Bible says on a subject, and warns that a conclusion has to survive the chapter and the book. A meaning that only appears when a line is lifted out of its setting is not a meaning the chapter will support.

Work in this order.

Name the question in one sentence. "What does this chapter say about prayer?" is a question. "Everything the Bible says about prayer" is a project, not a sitting.

Read one whole chapter that teaches the question. Write what that chapter is doing: who is speaking, who is listening, and what problem is on the table. A note for that page is on Bible study notes.

Only then look for a second chapter. Ask what it adds, and where it speaks to a different situation. Two chapters can both be about prayer and still not say the same thing. Write the difference. Do not sand it off so the topic looks neat.

Stop at two or three chapters unless you have time to read each one. A list of references you have not read is not a study. A concordance can help you find the chapters. It cannot replace them.

If the chapters disagree in emphasis, say so. Readers differ on some subjects. A topic page should show the difference, not hide it under one favorite line.

Passages and chapters to open first

This is the section for a first sitting, when the question is simply which chapter to open.

Open one of these before you build a long topic.

John chapter 1 if you want a chapter about who Jesus is. The opening names the Word, and the chapter moves to John, then to the first people who follow.

Genesis chapter 1 if you want the opening of the Bible's story. It is one chapter, with a clear start and a clear stop.

Psalm chapter 23 if you want a short poem you can read aloud and still have time to write. Trust is the subject. The valley is part of the poem, not a footnote.

Matthew chapter 6 if you want teaching you can use in a group: a prayer, treasure, and worry, in one chapter. Give the group the whole chapter, not one sentence from it.

Luke chapter 15 if you want stories. Lost sheep, lost coin, two sons. The chapter tells you why the stories are told. Start there.

James chapter 1 if you want a short letter's opening: trials, a request for wisdom, and a call to do the word, not only hear it.

Luke chapter 10 if the question is about a neighbor. Acts chapter 2 if the question is about a gathered people. Proverbs chapter 3 if you want a wisdom chapter you can finish.

A longer routine for any one of these chapters is on how to study the Bible. A plan for reading past the first chapter is on Bible reading plans.

A whole book when the topic will not stay small

Some questions will not stay inside one chapter. Who Jesus is runs through the Gospel of John. Wisdom runs through Proverbs. A letter such as Romans argues across the book. When your notes keep returning to the same book, stop collecting verses and read that book.

Book-by-Book Study Set: all six book studies includes background first, the passage to read, 2 or 3 things to notice, one question with answer lines, and a one-line prayer, in John: 21 guided days, Genesis: 25 guided days, Psalms: 30 guided days, Proverbs: 31 guided days, Romans: 16 guided days, and James: 10 guided days. It is an instant digital download: one ZIP of PDF files. Nothing ships.

Psalms in that set is a selection of psalms, not every psalm in the book. The other five studies walk the book named on the cover. The passage stays in the Bible you already own.

Where a topic list stops

A list cannot study the chapter for you. It can only point. If you have not read the chapter, you do not yet have a topic study, however many references you have saved. That is the limit of this page.

Two or three chapters, each read and written down, will teach more than a page of lines you have not opened. When the question outgrows that, move to the book. Methods for a single passage, if you want a different shape, are on Bible study methods and inductive Bible study.

Questions

• What are some different methods of Bible study?
• John 1, Berean Standard Bible
• Matthew 6, Berean Standard Bible
• Luke 15, Berean Standard Bible
• James 1, Berean Standard Bible
• Psalm 23, Berean Standard Bible
• Genesis 1, Berean Standard Bible
• Luke 10, Berean Standard Bible
• Acts 2, Berean Standard Bible
• Proverbs 3, Berean Standard Bible