A List of Books In the Bible By Number of Chapters

3 minute read

When I was creating my reading list for Chapter By Chapter this year, I suddenly needed a list of books of the Bible by number of chapters to build my reading plan.

Chapters and verses, of course, were added long after the Bible was written, so they’re not inspired the way the text is, and you shouldn’t read anything special into them.

But I’m a fan of putting as many tools in your toolbox as possible. If you come up with some creative ways to use this data, let me know.

Looking for summaries of each book? Start here: Chapter by Chapter

Peruse the table below, or download one of the following files in CSV format for further processing.

  • esv_books.csv - every book of the Bible by number of chapters, number of verses, and number of words1 (in the English Standard Version); this table is replicated below
  • esv_running_chapters.csv - every book of the Bible by number of chapter and starting chapter; this format was suggested by a reader listening through the NIV Pure Voice Audio Bible, which apparently numbers the chapters in order from 1 through 1189; this spreadsheet will help you keep your place
  • esv_chapters.csv - every chapter of every book of the Bible by number of verses and number of words (in the English Standard Version)
  • esv_verses.csv - every verse of every chapter of every book by number of words (in the English Standard Version)

Old Testament Books

Book Number # of Chapters # of Verses # of Words
Genesis 1 50 1,533 36,397
Exodus 2 40 1,213 31,005
Leviticus 3 27 859 23,493
Numbers 4 36 1,288 31,043
Deuteronomy 5 34 959 27,618
Joshua 6 24 658 17,993
Judges 7 21 618 18,312
Ruth 8 4 85 2,437
1 Samuel 9 31 810 24,168
2 Samuel 10 24 695 19,795
1 Kings 11 22 816 23,520
2 Kings 12 25 719 22,912
1 Chronicles 13 29 942 18,580
2 Chronicles 14 36 822 24,856
Ezra 15 10 280 6,921
Nehemiah 16 13 406 9,874
Esther 17 10 167 5,484
Job 18 42 1,070 17,627
Psalms 19 150 2,461 41,273
Proverbs 20 31 915 14,552
Ecclesiastes 21 12 222 5,376
Song of Solomon 22 8 117 2,576
Isaiah 23 66 1,292 35,385
Jeremiah 24 52 1,364 40,544
Lamentations 25 5 154 3,253
Ezekiel 26 48 1,273 37,309
Daniel 27 12 357 11,272
Hosea 28 14 197 4,976
Joel 29 3 73 1,917
Amos 30 9 146 4,067
Obadiah 31 1 21 614
Jonah 32 4 48 1,312
Micah 33 7 105 3,022
Nahum 34 3 47 1,111
Habakkuk 35 3 56 1,373
Zephaniah 36 3 53 1,573
Haggai 37 2 38 1,095
Zechariah 38 14 211 6,083
Malachi 39 4 55 1,752

New Testament Books

Book Number # of Chapters # of Verses # of Words
Matthew 40 28 1,067 23,019
Mark 41 16 673 14,596
Luke 42 24 1,149 25,010
John 43 21 866 18,841
Acts 44 28 1,003 23,633
Romans 45 16 432 9,530
1 Corinthians 46 16 437 9,314
2 Corinthians 47 13 257 6,077
Galatians 48 6 149 3,133
Ephesians 49 6 155 3,014
Philippians 50 4 104 2,160
Colossians 51 4 95 1,950
1 Thessalonians 52 5 89 1,854
2 Thessalonians 53 3 47 1,065
1 Timothy 54 6 113 2,314
2 Timothy 55 4 83 1,647
Titus 56 3 46 928
Philemon 57 1 25 461
Hebrews 58 13 303 6,935
James 59 5 108 2,331
1 Peter 60 5 105 2,405
2 Peter 61 3 61 1,549
1 John 62 5 105 2,507
2 John 63 1 13 302
3 John 64 1 15 303
Jude 65 1 25 610
Revelation 66 22 404 11,526

Selected Superlatives

  • Which book has the most chapters? Psalms with 150 (and it’s not close; second place is Isaiah with merely 66)
  • Which book has the fewest chapters? Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, Jude tie with 1 each
  • Which book has the most verses? Psalms again with 2,461 (second place is Genesis with 1,533)
  • Which book has the fewest verses? 2 John with 13
  • Which book has the most words (English Standard Version)? Psalms again with 41,273 (but second place Isaiah is much closer this time with 40,544)
  • Which book has the fewest words (English Standard Version)? 2 John with 302 (narrowly beating 3 John with 303)

Ready to go deeper?

📖 Start your journey through the Bible with Chapter by Chapter, our guided summary of every book in the Bible.
  1. I counted words as printed, so “22,000 cattle” counts as two words, not the three words in “twenty-two thousand cattle.” 

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