Torah Portions

Most Jewish and Torah-observant Christian congregations in the world read and study the same passages from the Torah (first five books of the Bible) each week, so that everyone is in sync as they read the entire Torah each year. One of these divisions is called a parsha in Hebrew. Plural is parashot. (Since Hebrew is written using a different alphabet, different people spell these words differently when they transliterate them into Latin characters.) Each parsha is then paired with one or more readings, called a Haftarah, from the Writings and Prophets (the rest of the Old Testament). There are fifty-four parashot, some of which are combined into a single reading in most years.

The exact origins of the parashot are unknown, but they are very old. There is some evidence that another division, called the “triennial division” and intended to extend the reading of the whole Torah over three years, is even older, but even less is known about it.

Many ministries have published lists of the Torah portions along with New Testament passages that correspond to each. First Fruits of Zion has an excellent one for the annual readings (there are many others) and Torah Resource has lists for both the annual and triennial readings.

The list below is the traditional annual Torah and Haftarah readings, but with three modifications.

1. Verse numbering is slightly different in Jewish and Hebrew Bibles than in the Bibles commonly used by English-speaking Christians. Most Torah portion lists use the Jewish numbering, but I have chosen to use the English numbering because it is more common in America and less confusing to most Christians.
2. I have not included a reading schedule. FFOZ and TR have both done exemplary jobs of it, and I don’t have the time to keep it updated.
3. I have created resource pages for most of the annual parashot (I hope to have a page for every parsha before too long.) and linked them to the name of the Torah portions below. Each of these resource pages contains links to related commentary and videos as well as a expansion of the annual readings into triennial readings paired with a list of corresponding New Testament passages. I have done no original research into the triennial divisions, and my list loosely corresponds with Tim Hegg’s list at Torah Resource.

The biggest problem in creating a list of NT passages to study with the Torah readings is that everything in the Bible relates to everything else. I’m sure you would have picked different passages, and yours would have been just as valid–maybe even better–than mine. No such list could ever be complete.

If you spot any errors in spelling, references, etc., please let me know.

• Bereishit (“In the beginning”), Genesis 1:1-6:8, Isaiah 42:5-43:11
• Noach (“Noah”), Genesis 6:9-11:32, Isaiah 54:1-55:5
• Lekh Lekha (“Get Yourself Out”), Genesis 12-17, Isaiah 40:25-41:17
• Vayera (“And He Appeared”), Genesis 18-22, 2 Kings 4:1-37
• Chayei Sarah (“Life of Sarah”), Genesis 23:1-25:18, 1 Kings 1:1-34
• Toldot (“Generations”), Genesis 25:19-28:9, Malachi 1:1-2:7
• Vayetzei (“And He Went Out”), Genesis 28:10-32:2, Hosea 12:13-14:10
• Vayishlach (“And He Sent”), Genesis 32:3-36:43, Hosea 11:7-12:12
• Vayeshev (“And He Settled”), Genesis 37-40, Amos 2:6-3:8
• Miketz (“At the End”), Genesis 41:1-44:17, 1 Kings 3:15-4:1
• Vayigash (“And He Drew Near”), Genesis 44:18-47:27, Ezekiel 37:15-28
• Vayechi (“And He Lived”), Genesis 47:28-50:26, 1 Kings 2:1-12
• Shmot (“Names”), Exodus 1:1-6:1, Isaiah 27:6-28:13, 29:22-23
• Va’eira (“And I Appeared”), Exodus 6:2-9:35, Ezekiel 28:24-29:21
• Bo (“Enter”), Exodus 10:1-13:16, Jeremiah 46:13-28
• Beshalach (“When He Let Go”), Exodus 13:17-17:16, Judges 4:4-5:31
• Yitro (“Jethro”), Exodus 18-20, Isaiah 6:1-7:6, 9:5-6
• Mishpatim (“Judgments”), Exodus 21-24, Jeremiah 33:25-26,34:8-22
• Terumah (“Lifting up”), Exodus 25:1-27:19, 1 Kings 5:26-6:13
• Tetzaveh (“You Shall Command”), Exodus 27:20-30:10, Ezekiel 43:10-27
• Ki Tisa (“When You Take”), Exodus 30:11-34:35, 1 Kings 18:1-46
• Vayakhel (“And He Assembled”), Exodus 35:1-38:20, 1 Kings 7:13-7:50
• Pekudei (“Accountings”), Exodus 38:21-40:38, 1 Kings 7:27-8:21
• Vayikra (“And He Called”), Leviticus 1:1-6:7, Isaiah 43:21-44:23
• Tzav (“Command”), Leviticus 6:8-8:36, Jeremiah 7:21-8:3, 9:22-23
• Shmini (“Eighth”), Leviticus 9-11, 2 Samuel 6:1-7:17
• Tazria (“She Conceives”), Leviticus 12-13, 2 Kings 4:42-5:19
• Metzora (“Leper”), Leviticus 14-15, 2 Kings 7:1-20
• Acharei Mot (“After the Death”), Leviticus 16-18, Ezekiel 22:1-20
• Kedoshim (“Holy Ones”), Leviticus 19-20, Amos 9:7-15
• Emor (“Speak”), Leviticus 21-24, Ezekiel 44:15-31
• Behar (“On the Mountain”), Leviticus 25:1-26:2, Jeremiah 32:6-27
• Bechukotai (“In My Statutes”), Leviticus 26:3-27:34, Jeremiah 16:19-17:14
• Bamidbar (“In the Wilderness”), Numbers 1:1-4:20, Hosea 2:1-22
• Naso (“Take”), Numbers 4:21-7:89, Judges 13:2-25
• Beha’alotcha (“When You Set Up”), Numbers 8-12, Zechariah 2:10-4:10
• Shlach Lecha (“Send for Yourself”), Numbers 13-15, Joshua 2:1-24
• Korach (“Korach”), Numbers 16-18, 1 Samuel 11:14-12:22
• Chukat (“Statutes”), Numbers 19:1-22:1, Judges 11:1-40
• Balak (“Balak”), Numbers 22:2-25:9, Micah 5:6-6:8
• Pinchas (“Pinchas”), Numbers 25:10-29:40, 1 Kings 18:46-19:21
• Matot (“Tribes”), Numbers 30-32, Jeremiah 1:1-2:3
• Masei (“Journeys”), Numbers 33-36, Jeremiah 2:4-28, 3:4
• Devarim (“Words”), Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22, Isaiah 1:1-31
• Vaetchanan (“And I pleaded”), Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11, Isaiah 40:1-27
• Eikev (“Because”), Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25, Isaiah 49:1-51:3
• Re’eh (“Behold”), Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17, Isaiah 54:11-55:5
• Shoftim (“Judges”), Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9, Isaiah 51:12-53:12
• Ki Tetzei (“When You Go Out”), Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19, Isaiah 54:1-17
• Ki Tavo (“Joel 3:9-21”), Deuteronomy 26:1-29:9, Isaiah 60:1-22
• Nitzavim (“Standing”), Deuteronomy 29:10-30:20, Isaiah 61:10-63:9
• Vayelech (“And He Went Out”), Deuteronomy 31, Isaiah 55:6-56:8
• Ha’azinu (“Give ear”), Deuteronomy 32, 2 Samuel 22:1-51
• V’Zot HaBracha (“And This Is the Blessing”), Deuteronomy 33-34, Joshua 1:1-18