Bible at a glance
- List of Bible books in order with the number of chapters in
each book for a grand total of 1189 chapters
- The books appear in the Bible grouiped by subject matter.
The categories are law (five books of Moses), history, poetry, preophecy, gospels, early church
history, letters and end times prophecy.
- Bible books ranked by number of chapters from most to
least
- Shortest and longest Bible books? Bible books ranked by number of words. The word count
used is done from the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts.
Layout of Bible books
Number of chapters in each of the 66 "books" with a list of the books in order from most
chapters to the least number of chapters
The chart below is a list of all 66 canonical books of the Bible along with the number of
chapters in each book. Most of the books were written for a group of readers. Those written to
specific individuals are identified with an asterisk. This list of Bible books has them in
the order in which they appear in Bibles today. The two main divisions are the Old Testament
and the New Testament. The order in which the books appear is then in terms of subject matter -
- history, wisdom literature, prophecy, gospel accounts, early church history, letters, and end
times -- than in the chronological order in which they were written.
For example, Bible scholars say Mark was likely the first Gospel account to be written.
However, Matthew is the first book of the New Testament, likely because it makes more
references to the Old Testament than any of the other three Gospel accounts. Scholars also
think1Thessalonians was the first of Paul's letters or epistles to be written. However, Romans the
first book in the section containing his letters to churches and individuals. The same kind of
thing occurs in the Old Testament. Esther, for instance, is about events during the Babylonian
exile while books like Psalms and Isaiah, which were written prior to the Exile, appear in the
Bible after Esther's story.
Book of the Old Testament, a.k.a. the Hebrew Bible
![list of Bible books
Genesis through Song of Songs with number of chapters in each book](chapter1.gif)
![list of Bible books
Isaiah through Malachi with number of chapters in each book](chapter2.gif)
Books of the New Testament
![list of New Testament
books showing types of writings and the number of chapters in each book](chapter3.gif)
*Biblical writings addressed to an individual
![next](next.gif) | See the Old Testament portion of this outline in a
graphic table [ more
] |
What are the longest and the shortest books of the Bible?
There are three ways to measure the length of the books of the Bible. One way is by the
number of chapters. The second is by the number of words. The third is by the number of verses
into which the books are divided.
By number of chapters and total number of verses, Psalms is by far the longest book.
Jeremiah is the longest Bible book in terms of words.
In terms of the shortest Bible book, five have only one chapter: Obadiah, Second John,
Third John, Jude, and Philemon. Third John has the fewest words while Second John has the
fewest verses.
Bible books ranked by the number of chapters
From the most chapters to the least number of chapters
Note: Books having an equal number of chapters are listed in alphabetical order.
- Psalms -- 150
- Isaiah -- 66
- Jeremiah -- 52
- Genesis -- 50
- Ezekiel -- 48
- Job -- 42
- Exodus -- 40
- Second Chronicles -- 36
- Numbers -- 36
- Deuteronomy -- 34
- First Samuel -- 31
- Proverbs -- 31
- First Chronicles -- 29
- Acts -- 28
- Matthew -- 28
- Leviticus -- 27
- Second Kings -- 25
- Second Samuel -- 24
- Joshua -- 24
- Luke -- 24
- First Kings -- 22
- Revelation -- 22
- John -- 21
- Judges -- 21
- First Corinthians -- 16
- Mark -- 16
- Romans -- 16
- Hosea -- 14
- Zechariah -- 14
- Second Corinthians -- 13
- Esther -- 13
- Hebrews -- 13
- Nehemiah -- 13
- Daniel -- 12
- Ecclesiastes -- 12
- Ezra -- 10
- Amos -- 9
- Song of Solomon -- 8
- FirstTimothy -- 6
- Ephesians -- 6
- Galatians -- 6
- First John -- 5
- First Peter -- 5
- First Thessalonians -- 5
- James -- 5
- Lamentations -- 5
- Second Timothy -- 4
- Colossians -- 4
- Jonah -- 4
- Malachi -- 4
- Micah -- 4
- Philippians -- 4
- Ruth -- 4
- Second Thessalonians -- 3
- Second Peter -- 3
- Habakkuk -- 3
- Joel -- 3
- Nahum -- 3
- Titus -- 3
- Zephaniah -- 3
- Haggai -- 2
- Second John -- 1
- Third John -- 1
- Jude -- 1
- Obadiah -- 1
- Philemon -- 1
Note: The writings of the Bible were not originally divided into chapters amd verses. Prior to
the introduction of chapters and verses, referring to specific passages in the Bible was
cumbersome and imprecise. Dividing the text into smaller, numbered sections allowed readers to
locate and reference specific passages quickly and accurately.
Around A.D. 1227, Englishman Stephen Langton developed the 1,189 chapter divisions used
today by every Bible publisher I know of. More than two hundred years late, the 929 chapters in
the Old Testament were divided into verses by a Jewish rabbi. Robert Estienne divided the 260
chapters of the New Testament books into numbered verses in 1555 A.D.
Unlike most other printed books where chapters run several pages, the average Bible chapter
is about one page long. That's because there are 1189 total chapters in the Bible and the average
printed Bible in normal font size and apart from study helps, maps, concordances and so on runs
about 1,200 pages.
Longest and shortest chapters
With 176 verses, Psalm 119 is the longest Bible chapter. It is divided into 22 stanzas. Each
stanza starts with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
With just two verses, Psalm 117 is the shortest Bible chapter. Since it is the 595th of 1189
Bible chapters, Psalm 117 is also the middle chapter of the Bible..
Chapters cited most often
ChatGPT reports that Psalm 23, John 3, and Romans 8 seem to be the commonly cited Bible
chapters in online discussions, sermons, articles, and social media posts.
Chapters that are difficult to understand
Three of the most difficult Bible chapters to understand are:
- Revelation 13: This chapter contains vivid imagery and symbolic language about
beasts and the mark of the beast.
- Ezekiel 1: The opening vision of Ezekiel involves strange and elaborate imagery,
including wheels within wheels and living creatures.
- Daniel 7: Similar to Revelation 3, this chapter contains visions of beasts and
apocalyptic imagery.
Bible books ranked by the number of words
From the most words to the fewest words
Which Bible book is the longest? Well, it's not necessarily the one with the most chapter
divisions. Take a look at this list.
The word count given is the number of words each book has in the original languages
(Hebrew and Greek). The word count would, of course, vary from language translation to
language translation.
- Jeremiah -- 33,002 words
- Genesis -- 32,046 words
- Psalms -- 30,147 words
- Ezekiel -- 29,918 words
- Exodus -- 25,957 words
- Isaiah -- 25,608 words
- Numbers -- 25,048 words
- Deuteronomy -- 23,008 words
- Second Chronicles -- 21,349 words
- First Samuel -- 20,837 words
- First Kings -- 20,361 words
- Luke -- 19,482 words
- Leviticus -- 18,852 words
- Second Kings -- 18,784 words
- Acts -- 18,450 words
- Matthew -- 18,346 words
- Second Samuel -- 17,170 words
- First Chronicles -- 16,664 words
- Joshua -- 15,671 words
- John -- 15,635 words
- Judges -- 15,385 words
- Job -- 12,674 words
- Mark -- 11,304 words
- Proverbs -- 9,921 words
- Revelation -- 9,851 words
- Daniel -- 9,001 words
- Nehemiah -- 8,507 words
- Romans -- 7,111 words
- First Corinthians -- 6,830 words
- Ezra -- 5,605 words
- Hebrews -- 4,953 words
- Esther -- 4,932 words
- Zechariah -- 4,855 words
- Ecclesiastes -- 4,537 words
- Second Corinthians -- 4,477 words
- Hosea -- 3,615 words
- Amos -- 3,027 words
- Ephesians -- 2,422 words
- Lamentations -- 2,324 words
- Galatians -- 2,230 words
- First John -- 2,141 words
- Micah -- 2,118 words
- Ruth -- 2,039 words
- Song of Solomon -- 2,020 words
- James -- 1,742 words
- First Peter -- 1,684 words
- Philippians -- 1,629 words
- First Timothy -- 1,591 words
- Colossians -- 1,582 words
- First Thessalonians -- 1,481 words
- Joel -- 1,447 words
- Malachi -- 1,320 words
- Second Timothy -- 1,238 words
- Zephaniah -- 1,141 words
- Second Peter -- 1,099 words
- Jonah -- 1,082 words
- Habakkuk -- 1,011 words
- Haggai -- 926 words
- Nahum -- 855 words
- Second Thessalonians -- 823 words
- Titus -- 659 words
- Jude -- 461 words
- Obadiah -- 440 words
- Philemon -- 335 words
- Second John -- 245 words
- Third John -- 219 words
Longest and shortest verses in the Bible
The shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35: "Jesus wept."
The longest verse in the Bible is Esther 8:9: "At once the royal secretaries were summoned --
on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai's
orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from
India to Cush. These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each
people and also to the Jews in their own script and language."
The longest unhyphenated words in English Bibles include "covenantbreakers" (Romans
1:31 in the King James Version (KJV), American Standard Version (ASV), and Revised
Standard Version (RSV)), "lovingkindnesses" (Psalm 25:6 in the King James Version), and
"unprofitabbleness" (Hebrews 7:18 in the King James Version).
Labels or Names of Famous Bible chapters
Eighty-five famous or well-known of the Bible's almost 1,200 chapters:
- Creation story -- Genesis 1 and
2
- The Fall of Humanity -- Genesis 3
- Noah and the flood --
Genesis 6
- The Tower of Babel -- Genesis 11
- Call of Abraham -- Genesis
12
- Joseph's Dreams -- Genesis 37
- Moses at the burning bush --
Exodus 3
- Passover -- Exodus 12
- Crossing of the Red Sea -- Exodus 14
- Ten Commandments --
Exodus 20
- The Day of Atonement -- Leviticus 16
- The Twelve Spies -- Numbers 13
- The Shema -- Deuteronomy
6
- Fall of the walls of Jericho -- Joshua 6
- Gideon -- Judges 6
- Ruth's Pledge of Loyalty -- Ruth 1
- Samuel's response to God's call -- 1 Samuel 3
- David and Goliath -- 1 Samuel 17
- David and Bathsheba -- 2 Samuel 11
- Elijah on Mt. Carmel -- 1 Kings 18
- Elijah Taken to Heaven -- 2 Kings 2
- Nehemiah's Prayer -- Nehemiah 1
- Esther's Resolve -- Esther 4
- The Ways of the Righteous and Wicked -- Psalm 1
- The Good Shepherd Psalm --
Psalm 23
- David's prayer for forgiveness -- Psalm 51
- The Glor of God's Word -- Psalm 119
- Trust in the Lord -- Proverbs 3
- The Virtuous Woman -- Proverbs 31
- A Time for Everything -- Ecclesiastes 3
- Remember Your Creator -- Ecclesiastes 12
- Isaiah's Vision of the Lord -- Isaiah 6
- Prophecy of Jesus' Virgin Birth -- Isaiah 7
- Prophecy of the Messiah -- Isaiah 9
- The Suffering Servant -- Isaiah 53
- Comfort for God's Peop;le -- Isaiah 40
- Letter to the Exiles -- Jeremiah 29
- The Valley of Dry Bones -- Ezekiel 37
- The Fiery Furnace -- Daniel 3
- Daniel and the lions' den -- Daniel 6
- Hosea's Wife and Children -- Hosea 1
- The Day of the Lord -- Joel 2
- Jonah Flees from the Lord -- Jonah 1
- Jonah and the big fish -- Jonah
2
- Jonah Goes to Nineveh -- Jonah 3
- What does the Lord require? -- Micah 6
- Geneaology of Jesus -- Matthew 1
- Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (including the Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer) -- Matthew
5-7
- The Great Commission -- Matthew 28
- The Resurrection -- Mark 16
- Birth of Jesus of Nazareth -- Luke
2
- Parable of the Good Samaritan -- Luke 10
- Parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lostd Son -- Luke 15
- The Last Supper -- Luke 22
- The Word became flesh -- John 1
- Nicodemus and the New Birth -- John 3
- The Samaritan Woman -- John 4
- The Raising of Lazarus -- John 11
- The Last Supper -- John 13
- The Vine and the Branches -- John 15
- The Crucifixion of Jesus -- Joh 19
- The Ascension of Jesus -- Acts 1
- Coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost -- Acts 2
- Conversion of Saul -- Acts 9
- Peter and Cornelius -- Acts 10
- Paul's Macedonian Vision -- Acts 16
- The Power of the Gospel -- Romans 1
- Life in the Spirit -- Romans 8
- Living Sacrifices -- Romans 12
- The Love Chapter -- 1 Corinthians
13
- The Resurrection of Christd -- 1 Corinthians 15
- Fruit of the Spirit -- Galatians
5
- Alive in Christ -- Ephesians 2
- The Armor of God -- Ephesians 7
- Imitating Christ's Humility -- Philippians 2
- Rejoice in the Lord -- Philippians 4
- The Supremacy of Christ -- Colossians 1
- The Coming of the Lord -- 1 Thessalonians 4
- By Faith -- Hebrews 11
- The Discipline of the Lord -- Hebrews 12
- Faith and Deeds -- James 2
- Gossip: Taming the
tongue -- James 3
- Letters to the seven churches -- Revelation 2-3
- The Scroll and the Lamb -- Revelation 5
- Grand finale: Vision of people in
Heaven -- Revelation 7
- New Heaven and New Earth -- Revelation 21
Note: While the chapter divisions and numbers are the same in all printed Bibles, the titles or
names are at the discretion of the Bible publishers.
A Word of Cation
The good and the bad of chapter divisions in the Bible
Having the Bible books divided into chapters has both advantages and disadvantages.
Pros:
- Organization: Chapter divisions provide a systematic way to locate specific
passages
within the Bible. This helps readers navigate through a vast amount of text more efficiently.
- Referencing: Chapters provide a convenient referencing system for scholars,
teachers, and preachers who want to to cite specific verses or passages during discussions,
sermons, or academic work.
- Memorization: For those interested in memorizing Bible verses, chapter divisions
offer manageable sections that facilitate the memorization process.
- Study Guides: Chapter divisions often serve as natural breaks for study guides,
commentaries, and other educational resources, making it easier for readers to engage in deeper
study and reflection.
Cons:
- Arbitrary Divisions: Chapter divisions are not inherent to the original text of the
Bible. They were added centuries after the books were written. Sometimes, the division between
chapters interrupts the flow of thought or narrative, leading to misunderstandings or
misinterpretations.
- Context Disruption: Dividing the Bible documents into chapters can disrupt the
natural flow of a narrative or development of a theme.
- Fragmentation: Chapter divisions may encourage readers to approach a book of the
Bible as a collection of disjointed verses or passages rather than a cohesive, interconnected
whole. This can hinder understanding of the text's overarching themes and messages.
- Interpretation Bias: Readers may subconsciously assign significance to chapter
divisions, leading to interpretation biases or the misinterpretation of verses that get isolated from
some of their original context.
-- Howard Culbertson,
You might also like these