The Nevi'im (nəviˈiːm,_nəˈviːɪm; נְבִיאִים Nəvīʾīm, Tiberian: Năḇīʾīm, "Prophets", literally "spokespersons") is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh), lying between the Torah ("instruction") and Ketuvim ("writings"). The Nevi'im are divided into two groups. The Former Prophets (נביאים ראשונים Nevi'im Rishonim) consists of the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings; while the Latter Prophets (נביאים אחרונים Nevi'im Akharonim) include the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets.
The Jewish tradition counts a total of eight books in Nevi'im out of a total of twenty-four books in the entire Tanakh: there are four books of the Former Prophets, including Joshua and Judges, and the collected Books of Samuel and Books of Kings are each counted as one book. Among the four books of the Latter Prophets, the major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) account for three books and the Twelve Minor Prophets ("Trei Asar," Aramaic for "twelve": Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi) are counted as a single book.
The development of the Hebrew Bible canon placed the Book of Daniel as part of the "Writings," or Ketuvim, rather than Nevi'im, in distinction to the later approach of the various Christian Bibles for Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox the Book of Daniel in which Daniel is found among the Prophets, due to its prophetic nature according to common Christian theology.
In the Jewish liturgy, a series of selections from the books of Nevi'im ("Prophets") of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) is publicly read/sung aloud inside the synagogue, as part of Jewish religious practice. The Haftarah reading follows the Torah reading on each Shabbat and on Jewish festivals and fast days.
The Former Prophets are the books Joshua, Judges, 1st & 2nd Samuel, 1st & 2nd Kings. They contain historical narratives that begin immediately after the death of Moses with the divine appointment of Joshua as his successor, who then leads the people of Israel into the Promised Land, and end with the release from imprisonment of the last king of Judah.