Top 20 Bible stories not read at Mass

If you have attended Mass all your life, and read the daily readings, then you have heard most of the Bible. However, there are still plenty of interesting passages that you may not have heard. Reading the whole Bible cover-to-cover would be a large investment of time; it would be nice if you could prioritize the best of those lesser-known chapters.

Below are the top 20 passages not in the lectionary. These are almost all from the Old Testament, because the vast majority of the New Testament is already covered at Mass. Some of them fill in the missing details from a story that may already be familiar. But be warned: many are not appropriate for children.

1. Jacob and his two wives (Genesis 29:1–30:24)
   After waiting seven years for the girl of his dreams, Jacob accidentally marries the wrong woman, then ends up with both of them and their maidservants.
2. Revenge for Dinah's rape (Genesis 34)
   A foreign leader's lust offends the whole Israelite community. Will the terms of peace be respected, or will revenge lead to war?
3. Joseph and the Egyptian rulers (Genesis 39:1–41:54)
   When the first lady tries to seduce Joseph and blames it on him, he ends up in prison. God gives him a special skill that not only gets him out, but exalts him higher than before.
4. Moses and the ten plagues of Egypt (Exodus 5:1–11:9)
   Moses and his brother Aaron challenge Pharaoh's injustice and stubbornness. They seem to be at a stalemate, until God demonstrates his power with a series of disasters that turn increasingly dark.
5. Balaam and the talking donkey (Numbers 22:2–40)
   The Moabites hire a prophet to curse the Israelites. But his donkey refuses to participate in a comical way.
6. The reconnaissance, siege and fall of Jericho (Joshua 2:1-24, 6:1-27)
   Two spies go into hiding under the protection of the prostitute Rahab. Joshua's army defeats the rest of the city by scaring them to death.
7. Samson gets in trouble with women (Judges 14:1–16:31)
   Samson seemed to lose his better judgement when around foreign women. Delilah was one of several women who provoked him to fight other nations.
8. Abigail prevents a war (1 Samuel 25:2–42)
   A brave women steps between two tribes intent on killing each other, leading to a sudden twist of fate.
9. Solomon's riches and the first temple (1 Kings 5:1–7:51)
   Solomon ate well, lived well, and built a beautifully decorated golden temple to honor the Lord.
10. The fall of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 39:1–40:12)
    Jerusalem is conquered by the Babylonians, but Jeremiah is set free. See chapter 52 for another version of the story.
11. Rise of the Romans and the alliance with the Jews (1 Maccabees 8:1–32)
    There is a new empire in town, and their reputation precedes them. Judas Maccabeus proposes an alliance with them to save his nation from the Greeks.
12. Death of Antiochus and the first Hanukkah (2 Maccabees 9:1–10:9)
    After the Greek King Antiochus suffers a gruesome death, the Jews rededicate the temple, establishing an annual eight-day winter festival of light.
13. Tobit and Tobiah meet the archangel Raphael (Tobit 4:1–6:9)
    A father sends his son to withdraw his money from a distant bank. An angel appears in disguise and shows him how to make a fishy medicine.
14. The behemoth and the leviathan (Job 40:15–41:26)
    Can you guess what type of modern or prehistoric beasts are being described here?
15. Advice on choosing friends (Sirach 11:29–13:26)
    Be careful who you trust, warns the teacher. Many pretend to be your friends when you're doing well, but then abandon you when you need their help.
16. Daniel and the false idols (Daniel 14:1–42)
    Daniel traps the Babylonian prophets into revealing their trick. Then while he's in the lion's den, a prophet is teleported from Judea to feed him.
17. Hosea's symbolic marriage (Hosea 1:2–2:15)
    The prophet takes a wife out of prostitution, gives their children names that represent the Lord's feelings for Israel, then threatens to abandon her.
18. Relationship between spouses (1 Peter 3:1–14)
    Beauty is more than skin deep. True love requires sympathy, compassion, and holding your tongue.
19. Paul's shipwreck (Acts 27:1–28:15)
    On the way to Italy, Paul gives the pagan crew hope through a perilous storm and discovers the island of Malta.
20. The dragon and the beasts (Revelation 12:13–13:18)
    After being foiled by the woman, the dragon gives its authority to two beasts with the number 666, who mark their followers and control the economy.

Thank you to Fr. Felix Just, whose sorted list of the Sunday and Weekday readings made it possible for me to inspect the gaps.