The Rightly Dividing Chart
The whole Bible on one page: times past, but now, and the ages to come.
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15)
This chart sets the whole Bible on one page, so you can see where each part belongs: who is being spoken to, at what time, and under which program. It reads from left to right, from creation to the ages to come. Every Scripture reference on the chart can be clicked to read the verse.
On a phone, slide the chart sideways to see all of it.
2 Timothy 2:15
Ephesians 1:3, 20
Ephesians 2:6
2 Corinthians 5:1
Colossians 1:16
Ephesians 3:10
Luke 1:70
Acts 3:21
Ephesians 3:3-5
Romans 16:25
Romans 1:18-31
Ephesians 2:12
Genesis 6:13
Acts 14:16
Ephesians 2:11
John 3:13
Luke 2:11
John 20:17
Luke 24:51
Acts 1:2, 9
Exodus 19:3-6
Isaiah 61:6
1 Peter 2:9
Luke 1:31-33
Matthew 3:1-3
Matthew 27:35
Acts 2:23
Hebrews 1:2
Acts 2:16-17
Luke 12:32
Matthew 21:42-45
Exodus 20
John 1:7
Matthew 4:23
Matthew 24:14
Matthew 3:2
Matthew 4:17
1 Peter 4:7
Revelation 1:3
Revelation 22:10
Luke 1:70
Acts 3:21
Romans 15:4
Romans 15:4
Ephesians 2:13
Colossians 1:26
Acts 1:8
Acts 2:38
Romans 1:7
1 Corinthians 1:3
2 Corinthians 1:2
Galatians 1:3
Ephesians 1:2
Philippians 1:2
Colossians 1:2
1 Thessalonians 1:1
2 Thessalonians 1:2
1 Timothy 1:2
2 Timothy 1:2
Titus 1:4
Philemon 1:3
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Romans 11:13
Colossians 1:25
1 Corinthians 4:16
1 Corinthians 11:1
Philippians 3:17
2 Thessalonians 3:7, 9
Romans 16:25
2 Corinthians 3:13
Colossians 4:3
1 Corinthians 14:37
Ephesians 3:2
Colossians 1:25
Romans 16:25
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Galatians 2:7
Ephesians 1:22-23
Colossians 1:18, 24
1 Corinthians 12:27
Ephesians 3:3-5
Romans 16:25
Colossians 1:25
2 Timothy 2:2
Ephesians 2:7
Acts 1:11
Matthew 24:27, 44
Revelation 20:4-5
Jeremiah 30:7
Daniel 9
2 Peter 3:3
Isaiah 2:2
Micah 4:1
Matthew 25:34
Matthew 24:30
Luke 12:32
Daniel 2:44
Matthew 21:42-45
Jeremiah 31:31
Revelation 1:3
Revelation 22:10
Genesis 1:1, 27
Genesis 12:1-3
Romans 11:25
Chart by Edward R. Cross
Three periods of time
The coloured band across the middle divides history into three periods. Each takes its name from Paul's own words:
- Times Past. "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh…" (Ephesians 2:11). This period runs from creation through the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus and into the book of Acts.
- But Now. "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:13). This is the present dispensation of grace.
- Ages to Come. "That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:7)
Times past: the Gentiles and Israel
At the far left are the Gentiles, from Adam and Noah to the time when man turned to idolatry and God gave them up (Romans 1:18-31). With Abraham, God began a separate program through one nation, Israel. The chart follows that program through Moses and the law, David and his throne, the kingdom prophesied, the kingdom at hand, and the kingdom offered. This is the subject of prophecy: what God "hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:21).
But now: the mystery revealed to Paul
In Acts, Israel falls (Romans 11:25), and the chart marks the kingdom as postponed. In its place stands something no prophet foretold: the dispensation of grace, committed to Paul, "the apostle of the Gentiles" (Romans 11:13). This is the mystery, "which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest" (Romans 16:25-26). The chart shows the Body of Christ and its hope: to be caught up (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Across the top are the heavenly places, where the Body is blessed "with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).
Ages to come: prophecy resumes
On the right, Israel's program picks up where it stopped: the seventieth week and the tribulation, the Lord's second advent, the millennium, and the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31).
Which books are written to whom
Along the bottom, the books of the Bible are set under the period they belong to. The chart marks Genesis through John, and Hebrews through Revelation, "For Our Learning": "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning" (Romans 15:4). It marks Paul's epistles, Romans through Philemon, "For Our Instructions" (Colossians 1:25; 2 Timothy 2:2).
Using the chart
- Click any reference on the chart to read the verse in the King James Bible.
- Words like dispensation, the mystery and the little flock are explained in our Glossary.
- Open the full-size chart (JPG) to print it or teach from it.
