Teaching the mandated biblical passages honestly
Texas HB 1605 (2023) requires specific biblical passages to be taught in every public school from 2030. The TEKS reading lists name the passages and translations. No official guidance explains how to teach them. This resource fills that gap.
The passages are treated as what they are: ancient Near Eastern and first-century Jewish documents with recoverable histories, layered compositions, and direct relevance to life in Texas. There is no devotional agenda here, and none against faith. The framing question for every passage is: what does this text mean for the students in this classroom, today?
Free. GPL-licensed. Open for criticism. Published by Worth Considering Ltd, Penzance, Cornwall.
These texts were not produced by Christians. They were quarried by Christians — and by many others — over two millennia. Understanding that process is part of understanding the texts.
We work from folk memory through scribal shaping, translation history, and American reception. We note where the slapstick was built in from the beginning and never excised.
Read the approachEach mandated passage has its own entry: a BibleGateway link to the required translation, a translation note, historical foundations, relevance to Texas, and teaching notes including where the jokes are.
Jonah (Grade 7) is the first complete entry. Further passages are in preparation.
Browse passagesThe full editorial specification for this resource — what we do, what we don't, how we handle translation choices, why Frazer is a primary reference, and the standards of evidence we apply.
Published openly. Criticism actively welcomed.
Read the specWhat the teacher needs
A Texas teacher assigned to deliver Jonah in a Grade 7 English class in 2030 needs to know: what this text actually is, where it came from, what it means for the students in front of them, and what to say when a student asks whether the fish story is literally true.
Existing resources are either devotional — produced by organisations with a stake in the religious outcome — or absent. Neither serves the teacher who wants to do their job well and not get fired.
This resource gives teachers the historical and literary tools to teach these passages honestly, within the mandate, without requiring them to hold or promote any religious position.
What makes this different
The texts on the TEKS list are good stories. They survived because they worked around fires, across generations, for audiences of mixed ages and sophistication. The slapstick was there from the beginning and was never excised — because removing it would have broken the stories.
Jonah sulks. Job's friends are wrong. The Prodigal Son's elder brother is furious at being upstaged. These are recognisable, funny, human moments embedded in texts that have been treated with reverence for so long that the jokes have become invisible.
A classroom that is laughing is a classroom that is listening. This resource gives teachers the tools to let the texts be funny again.
Mandated passages: status
| Grade | Passage | Translation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| K–2 | Noah's Ark; David and Goliath; Daniel and the Lion's Den (picture books) | — | In preparation |
| 3 | Daniel and the Lion's Den (extended) | — | In preparation |
| 4 | Luke 14:7–11 | NIRV | In preparation |
| 5 | Exodus 3–4 | NIRV | In preparation |
| 6 | Matthew 6:25–34 | ESV | In preparation |
| 7 | Matthew 5:1–12 (Beatitudes); Jonah; selected Psalms | KJV | Jonah: ready |
| High school | Genesis 2; Luke 15:11–32; 1 Corinthians 13; Job; Ecclesiastes 3; Psalm 23; Lamentations 3 | Mixed | In preparation |
Grade 8 content to be confirmed from final approved TEKS lists. All passage lists subject to revision prior to 2030 implementation.