updated November 2026
Open your Bible to the prophets and you'll find them out of order. Isaiah comes first, but Jonah, Amos, and Hosea preached before him. Malachi comes last, and that one is right.
The books are arranged by size, not date. The long books (the Major Prophets) come first, followed by the twelve shorter ones (the Minor Prophets). That's tidy for a bookshelf, but it hides the story. Read the prophets in chronological order and you can watch God's patience unfold through nearly three centuries of warnings before the exile, and then His faithfulness in bringing His people home.
The prophets were covenant enforcers. They called God's people back to the covenant He had already made with them, and they warned of the consequences of breaking it. To hear them clearly, you need to know who was on the throne and what was happening when they spoke.
This chart puts the prophets in order and shows where each ministered, roughly when, under which kings, and alongside which other prophets.
Download a Free PDF of this table.
Who counts as a prophet? Many people in Scripture prophesy once or twice without holding the office of prophet. That's why lists of prophets vary. This chart includes the sixteen writing prophets plus Elijah and Elisha, who left no books but shaped the prophetic office.
Prophets at a Glance
The prophets fall into four groups, each tied to a turning point in Israel's history.
- Prophets to the northern kingdom (Israel), before it fell to Assyria in 722 BC Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Amos, Hosea
- Prophets to the southern kingdom (Judah), before it fell to Babylon in 586 BC Obadiah?, Joel?, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk
- Prophets in exile in Babylon Daniel, Ezekiel
- Prophets after the return to Jerusalem (from 538 BC) Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Jonah and Nahum are special cases. Both are Israelite prophets, but their message targets Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. Jonah saw it repent. About 130 years later, Nahum announced its fall.
Old Testament Prophets in Chronological Order
All dates are BC and approximate. A question mark means the date is debated (see the note below the chart).
| Prophet | Ministered to | Date (BC) | Kings | Contemporary prophets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elijah | Israel (north) | c. 870–850 | Ahab (with Jezebel), Ahaziah | Elisha, Obadiah? |
| Elisha | Israel (north) | c. 850–795 | Ahaziah, Joram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash | Elijah, Obadiah?, Joel? |
| Obadiah? | Judah (south) / Edom | c. 845? | Jehoram? | Elijah?, Elisha? |
| Joel? | Judah (south) | c. 835? | Joash? | Elisha? |
| Jonah | Israel (north) / Nineveh | c. 782 | Jeroboam II (Israel); Shalmaneser IV (Assyria) | Amos, Hosea |
| Amos | Israel (north) | c. 760 | Jeroboam II | Jonah, Hosea |
| Hosea | Israel (north) | c. 760–720 | Jeroboam II through Hoshea | Jonah, Amos, Isaiah, Micah |
| Isaiah | Judah (south) | c. 740–685 | Uzziah (his last year), Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah | Hosea, Micah |
| Micah | Judah (south) | c. 735–700 | Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah | Hosea, Isaiah |
| Nahum | Judah (south) / Nineveh | c. 650 | Manasseh, Amon, Josiah | Zephaniah |
| Zephaniah | Judah (south) | c. 640 | Josiah | Nahum, Jeremiah |
| Jeremiah | Judah (south) | c. 627–580 | Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah | Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Daniel, Ezekiel |
| Habakkuk | Judah (south) | c. 609–605 | Jehoiakim | Jeremiah |
| Daniel | Exile in Babylon | c. 605–536 | Jehoiakim (Judah); Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius the Mede, Cyrus | Jeremiah, Ezekiel |
| Ezekiel | Exile in Babylon | c. 593–571 | Jehoiachin (in exile), Zedekiah (Judah); Nebuchadnezzar | Jeremiah, Daniel |
| Haggai | Jerusalem, after the return | c. 520 | Darius I (Persia) | Zechariah |
| Zechariah | Jerusalem, after the return | c. 520–518 | Darius I (Persia) | Haggai |
| Malachi | Jerusalem, after the return | c. 433 | Artaxerxes I (Persia) | None named; ministered in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah |
Prefer to read about the kings? See Kings of Israel & Judah
Why are Obadiah and Joel marked with question marks?
Neither book names a king, so scholars date them from clues in the text.
- Obadiah condemns Edom for gloating while Jerusalem was plundered. Some link this to the raid in Jehoram's day (2 Chronicles 21:16–17), around 845 BC. Others link it to Babylon's destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
- Joel names no king and no foreign enemy. Some place him early, during the boy-king Joash's reign (c. 835 BC). Others place him after the return from exile.
The chart follows the early dates, but the message of both books stands either way.
How to use this chart in your study
- Find the prophet before you read the book. Note the kings and the era, then read those kings' stories in 1–2 Kings and 1–2 Chronicles. Isaiah 7 makes far more sense after 2 Kings 16.
- Read contemporaries side by side. Amos and Hosea preached to the same nation in the same years. Amos stresses justice; Hosea stresses God's wounded love.
- Watch the warnings pile up. Israel heard Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Amos, and Hosea before Assyria came. Judah heard even more voices before Babylon. That's a picture of God's patience.
- Notice the shift after the exile. Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi speak to a people who are home again, rebuilding the temple and learning that obedience still matters.
New to the prophets? Start with the Introduction to Prophets
Page Views: 14,779