The following tables are organized by movement numbers. There are two major systems of numbering the movements of Messiah: the historic Novello edition of 1959 (which is based on earlier editions and contains 53 movements), and the Bärenreiter edition of 1965 in the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe. Not counting some short recitatives as separate movements, it has 47 movements. The Novello number (Nov) is given first, then the Bärenreiter number (Bär).

Nov/Bär	Title	Form	Bible source	Notes
1	Sinfony
Scene 1
2	Comfort ye, comfort ye my people	Acc. T	Isaiah 40:1–3	Isaiah, a new Exodus
3	Ev’ry valley shall be exalted	Air T	Isaiah 40:4
4	And the glory, the glory of the Lord	Chorus	Isaiah 40:5
Scene 2
5	Thus saith the Lord, the Lord of Hosts Behold, I will send my messenger	Acc. B	Haggai 2:6–7 Malachi 3:1	Haggai, splendor of the temple Malachi, the coming messenger
6	But who may abide the day of His coming	Air A	Malachi 3:2
7	And He shall purify	chorus	Malachi 3:3
Scene 3
8	Behold, a virgin shall conceive	Rec. A	Isaiah 7:14 Matthew 1:23	Isaiah, virgin birth, quoted by Matthew
9 / 8	O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion Arise, shine	Air A Chorus	Isaiah 40:9 Isaiah 60:1
10 / 9	For behold, darkness shall cover the earth	Acc. B	Isaiah 60:2–3
11 / 10	The people that walked in darkness	Air B	Isaiah 9:2
12 / 11	For unto us a Child is born	Chorus	Isaiah 9:6
Scene 4
13 / 12	Pifa	Pastorale
14	There were shepherds abiding in the field	Rec. S	Luke 2:8	Gospel of Luke, Annunciation to the shepherds
15 / 13	And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them	Acc. S	Luke 2:9
	And the angel said unto them	Rec. S	Luke 2:9–10
16 / 14	And suddenly there was with the angel	Acc. S	Luke 2:13
17 / 15	Glory to God in the highest	Chorus	Luke 2:14
Scene 5
18 / 16	Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion	Air S	Zechariah 9:9–10	Zechariah, God's providential dealings
19	Then shall the eyes of the blind open'd	Rec. A	Isaiah 35:5–6	Isaiah, oracle of salvation for Israel
20 / 17	He shall feed His flock like a shepherd Come unto Him, all ye that labour	Duet A S	Isaiah 40:11 Matthew 11:28–29	Isaiah, the Shepherd Matthew, praise of the Father
21 / 18	His yoke is easy, His burthen is light	Chorus	Matthew 11:30

Part II       Main article: Messiah Part II

No N / B	Title	Form	Bible source	Notes
Scene 1
22 / 19	Behold the Lamb of God	Chorus	John 1:29	Testimony of John the Baptist
23 / 20	He was despised He gave his back to his smiters	Air A	Isaiah 53:3 Isaiah 50:6	Songs of the suffering servant 4, 3
24 / 21	Surely, He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows	Chorus	Isaiah 53:4–5	Man of Sorrows, 4 continued
25 / 22	And with His stripes we are healed	Chorus	Isaiah 53:5
26 / 23	All we like sheep, have gone astray	Chorus	Isaiah 53:6
27 / 24	All they that see Him, laugh Him to scorn	Acc. T	Psalms 22:7	Psalm 22
28 / 25	He trusted in God	Chorus	Psalms 22:8
29 / 26	Thy rebuke hath broken His heart	Acc. T	Psalms 69:20	Psalm 69
30 / 27	Behold, and see if there be any sorrow	Arioso T	Lamentations 1:12	Book of Lamentations
Scene 2
31 / 28	He was cut off out of the land of the living	Acc. T	Isaiah 53:8	Man of Sorrows
32 / 29	But Thou didst not leave his soul in hell	Air T	Psalms 16:10	Psalm 16
Scene 3
33 / 30	Lift up your heads	Chorus	Psalms 24:7–10	Psalm 24
Scene 4
34	Unto which of the angels said he at all time	Rec. T	Hebrews 1:5	Epistle to the Hebrews
35 / 31	Let all the angels of God worship Him	Chorus	Hebrews 1:6
Scene 5
36 / 32	Thou art gone up on high	Air B (or A)	Psalms 68:18	Psalm 68
37 / 33	The Lord gave the word	Chorus	Psalms 68:11
38 / 34	How beautiful are the feet of Him	Duet AI AII Chorus	Isaiah 52:7 Romans 10:15
39 / 35	Their sound is gone out into all lands	Arioso T	Romans 10:18 Psalms 19:4	Psalm 19, The glory of God Epistle to the Romans
Scene 6
40 / 36	Why do the nations so furiously rage together	Air B	Psalms 2:1–2	Psalm 2
41 / 37	Let us break their bonds asunder	Chorus	Psalms 2:3
42	He that dwelleth in heaven	Rec. T	Psalms 2:4
Scene 7
43 / 38	Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron	Air T	Psalms 2:9
44 / 39	Hallelujah	Chorus	Revelation 19:6,16 Revelation 11:15	Book of Revelation

Part III            Main article: Messiah Part III

No N–B	Title	Form	Bible source	Notes
Scene 1
45 / 40	I know that my Redeemer liveth	Air S	Job 19:25–26	Book of Job, Messianic anticipation
46 / 41	Since by man came death	Chorus	1 Corinthians 15:21–22	Paul on the Resurrection of the dead
Scene 2
47 / 42	Behold, I tell you a mystery	Acc. B	1 Corinthians 15:51–52	Resurrection of the body
48 / 43	The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be rais'd	Air B	1 Corinthians 15:52–53
Scene 3
49	Then shall be brought to pass	Rec. A	1 Corinthians 15:54	Victory over death
50 / 44	O death, where is thy sting?	Duet A T	1 Corinthians 15:55–56
51 / 45	But thanks be to God	Chorus	1 Corinthians 15:57
52 / 46	If God be for us, who can be against us	Air S	Romans 8:31,33–34	Paul's Assurance of salvation
Scene 4
53 / 47	Worthy is the Lamb that was slain	Chorus	Revelation 5:12–13	The creatures in heaven give praise
	Amen	Chorus

Alternative movements

Handel revised the work several times for specific performances. The alternative movements are part of the Bärenreiter edition, the Novello numbers are given in parentheses.

No.	Title	Form
6a.	But who may abide	Air B
	But who may abide	Rec. A
(15) 13a.	But lo, the angel of the Lord	Arioso S
(18) 16a.	Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion	Air S
(19)	Then shall the eyes of the blind	Rec. S
(20) 17a.	He shall feed His flock	Air S
(36) 32a.	Thou art gone up on high	Air B
(36) 32b.	Thou art gone up on high	Air S
(38) 34a.	How beautiful are the feet	Air S
(38) 34b.	How beautiful are the feet	Air A
(39) 35a.	Their sound is gone out	Chorus
(43)	Thou shalt break them	Rec. T