A List of Books In the Bible By Number of Chapters
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.
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 belowesv_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 placeesv_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 | 1533 | 36397 |
| Exodus | 2 | 40 | 1213 | 31005 |
| Leviticus | 3 | 27 | 859 | 23493 |
| Numbers | 4 | 36 | 1288 | 31043 |
| Deuteronomy | 5 | 34 | 959 | 27618 |
| Joshua | 6 | 24 | 658 | 17993 |
| Judges | 7 | 21 | 618 | 18312 |
| Ruth | 8 | 4 | 85 | 2437 |
| 1 Samuel | 9 | 31 | 810 | 24168 |
| 2 Samuel | 10 | 24 | 695 | 19795 |
| 1 Kings | 11 | 22 | 816 | 23520 |
| 2 Kings | 12 | 25 | 719 | 22912 |
| 1 Chronicles | 13 | 29 | 942 | 18580 |
| 2 Chronicles | 14 | 36 | 822 | 24856 |
| Ezra | 15 | 10 | 280 | 6921 |
| Nehemiah | 16 | 13 | 406 | 9874 |
| Esther | 17 | 10 | 167 | 5484 |
| Job | 18 | 42 | 1070 | 17627 |
| Psalms | 19 | 150 | 2461 | 41273 |
| Proverbs | 20 | 31 | 915 | 14552 |
| Ecclesiastes | 21 | 12 | 222 | 5376 |
| Song of Solomon | 22 | 8 | 117 | 2576 |
| Isaiah | 23 | 66 | 1292 | 35385 |
| Jeremiah | 24 | 52 | 1364 | 40544 |
| Lamentations | 25 | 5 | 154 | 3253 |
| Ezekiel | 26 | 48 | 1273 | 37309 |
| Daniel | 27 | 12 | 357 | 11272 |
| Hosea | 28 | 14 | 197 | 4976 |
| Joel | 29 | 3 | 73 | 1917 |
| Amos | 30 | 9 | 146 | 4067 |
| Obadiah | 31 | 1 | 21 | 614 |
| Jonah | 32 | 4 | 48 | 1312 |
| Micah | 33 | 7 | 105 | 3022 |
| Nahum | 34 | 3 | 47 | 1111 |
| Habakkuk | 35 | 3 | 56 | 1373 |
| Zephaniah | 36 | 3 | 53 | 1573 |
| Haggai | 37 | 2 | 38 | 1095 |
| Zechariah | 38 | 14 | 211 | 6083 |
| Malachi | 39 | 4 | 55 | 1752 |
New Testament Books
| Book | Number | # of Chapters | # of Verses | # of Words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew | 40 | 28 | 1067 | 23019 |
| Mark | 41 | 16 | 673 | 14596 |
| Luke | 42 | 24 | 1149 | 25010 |
| John | 43 | 21 | 866 | 18841 |
| Acts | 44 | 28 | 1003 | 23633 |
| Romans | 45 | 16 | 432 | 9530 |
| 1 Corinthians | 46 | 16 | 437 | 9314 |
| 2 Corinthians | 47 | 13 | 257 | 6077 |
| Galatians | 48 | 6 | 149 | 3133 |
| Ephesians | 49 | 6 | 155 | 3014 |
| Philippians | 50 | 4 | 104 | 2160 |
| Colossians | 51 | 4 | 95 | 1950 |
| 1 Thessalonians | 52 | 5 | 89 | 1854 |
| 2 Thessalonians | 53 | 3 | 47 | 1065 |
| 1 Timothy | 54 | 6 | 113 | 2314 |
| 2 Timothy | 55 | 4 | 83 | 1647 |
| Titus | 56 | 3 | 46 | 928 |
| Philemon | 57 | 1 | 25 | 461 |
| Hebrews | 58 | 13 | 303 | 6935 |
| James | 59 | 5 | 108 | 2331 |
| 1 Peter | 60 | 5 | 105 | 2405 |
| 2 Peter | 61 | 3 | 61 | 1549 |
| 1 John | 62 | 5 | 105 | 2507 |
| 2 John | 63 | 1 | 13 | 302 |
| 3 John | 64 | 1 | 15 | 303 |
| Jude | 65 | 1 | 25 | 610 |
| Revelation | 66 | 22 | 404 | 11526 |
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)
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I counted words as printed, so “22,000 cattle” counts as two words, not the three words in “twenty-two thousand cattle.” ↩
