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.

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 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)
  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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