How many books are in the Bible?
The Protestant Bible has 66 books: 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Together they hold 1,189 chapters and 31,102 verses. Catholic Bibles have 73 books, adding Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and 1 and 2 Maccabees.
Every count below comes from the full text of the King James Version and the World English Bible. Catholic canon: USCCB.
The 39 books of the Old Testament
From Genesis to Malachi: 929 chapters, 23,145 verses and 609,937 words in the KJV, 77% of the whole Bible. Reading times assume 238 words a minute.
| # | Book | Chapters | Verses | Words (KJV) | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Genesis | 50 | 1,533 | 38,307 | 2 hours 41 minutes |
| 2 | Exodus | 40 | 1,213 | 32,692 | 2 hours 17 minutes |
| 3 | Leviticus | 27 | 859 | 24,543 | 1 hour 43 minutes |
| 4 | Numbers | 36 | 1,288 | 32,930 | 2 hours 18 minutes |
| 5 | Deuteronomy | 34 | 959 | 28,365 | 1 hour 59 minutes |
| 6 | Joshua | 24 | 658 | 18,965 | 1 hour 20 minutes |
| 7 | Judges | 21 | 618 | 19,010 | 1 hour 20 minutes |
| 8 | Ruth | 4 | 85 | 2,574 | 11 minutes |
| 9 | 1 Samuel | 31 | 810 | 25,086 | 1 hour 45 minutes |
| 10 | 2 Samuel | 24 | 695 | 20,646 | 1 hour 27 minutes |
| 11 | 1 Kings | 22 | 816 | 24,561 | 1 hour 43 minutes |
| 12 | 2 Kings | 25 | 719 | 23,565 | 1 hour 39 minutes |
| 13 | 1 Chronicles | 29 | 942 | 20,440 | 1 hour 26 minutes |
| 14 | 2 Chronicles | 36 | 822 | 26,100 | 1 hour 50 minutes |
| 15 | Ezra | 10 | 280 | 7,451 | 31 minutes |
| 16 | Nehemiah | 13 | 406 | 10,494 | 44 minutes |
| 17 | Esther | 10 | 167 | 5,633 | 24 minutes |
| 18 | Job | 42 | 1,070 | 18,099 | 1 hour 16 minutes |
| 19 | Psalms | 150 | 2,461 | 42,683 | 2 hours 59 minutes |
| 20 | Proverbs | 31 | 915 | 15,037 | 1 hour 3 minutes |
| 21 | Ecclesiastes | 12 | 222 | 5,579 | 23 minutes |
| 22 | Song of Solomon | 8 | 117 | 2,661 | 11 minutes |
| 23 | Isaiah | 66 | 1,292 | 37,047 | 2 hours 36 minutes |
| 24 | Jeremiah | 52 | 1,364 | 42,693 | 2 hours 59 minutes |
| 25 | Lamentations | 5 | 154 | 3,411 | 14 minutes |
| 26 | Ezekiel | 48 | 1,273 | 39,441 | 2 hours 46 minutes |
| 27 | Daniel | 12 | 357 | 11,617 | 49 minutes |
| 28 | Hosea | 14 | 197 | 5,183 | 22 minutes |
| 29 | Joel | 3 | 73 | 2,033 | 9 minutes |
| 30 | Amos | 9 | 146 | 4,219 | 18 minutes |
| 31 | Obadiah | 1 | 21 | 669 | 3 minutes |
| 32 | Jonah | 4 | 48 | 1,320 | 6 minutes |
| 33 | Micah | 7 | 105 | 3,154 | 13 minutes |
| 34 | Nahum | 3 | 47 | 1,285 | 5 minutes |
| 35 | Habakkuk | 3 | 56 | 1,475 | 6 minutes |
| 36 | Zephaniah | 3 | 53 | 1,615 | 7 minutes |
| 37 | Haggai | 2 | 38 | 1,130 | 5 minutes |
| 38 | Zechariah | 14 | 211 | 6,443 | 27 minutes |
| 39 | Malachi | 4 | 55 | 1,781 | 7 minutes |
The 27 books of the New Testament
From Matthew to Revelation: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses and 180,388 words in the KJV.
| # | Book | Chapters | Verses | Words (KJV) | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | Matthew | 28 | 1,071 | 23,684 | 1 hour 40 minutes |
| 41 | Mark | 16 | 678 | 15,164 | 1 hour 4 minutes |
| 42 | Luke | 24 | 1,151 | 25,938 | 1 hour 49 minutes |
| 43 | John | 21 | 879 | 19,093 | 1 hour 20 minutes |
| 44 | Acts | 28 | 1,007 | 24,246 | 1 hour 42 minutes |
| 45 | Romans | 16 | 433 | 9,423 | 40 minutes |
| 46 | 1 Corinthians | 16 | 437 | 9,462 | 40 minutes |
| 47 | 2 Corinthians | 13 | 257 | 6,068 | 25 minutes |
| 48 | Galatians | 6 | 149 | 3,085 | 13 minutes |
| 49 | Ephesians | 6 | 155 | 3,023 | 13 minutes |
| 50 | Philippians | 4 | 104 | 2,184 | 9 minutes |
| 51 | Colossians | 4 | 95 | 1,980 | 8 minutes |
| 52 | 1 Thessalonians | 5 | 89 | 1,838 | 8 minutes |
| 53 | 2 Thessalonians | 3 | 47 | 1,022 | 4 minutes |
| 54 | 1 Timothy | 6 | 113 | 2,244 | 9 minutes |
| 55 | 2 Timothy | 4 | 83 | 1,666 | 7 minutes |
| 56 | Titus | 3 | 46 | 896 | 4 minutes |
| 57 | Philemon | 1 | 25 | 430 | 2 minutes |
| 58 | Hebrews | 13 | 303 | 6,897 | 29 minutes |
| 59 | James | 5 | 108 | 2,304 | 10 minutes |
| 60 | 1 Peter | 5 | 105 | 2,476 | 10 minutes |
| 61 | 2 Peter | 3 | 61 | 1,553 | 7 minutes |
| 62 | 1 John | 5 | 105 | 2,517 | 11 minutes |
| 63 | 2 John | 1 | 13 | 298 | 1 minute |
| 64 | 3 John | 1 | 14 | 294 | 1 minute |
| 65 | Jude | 1 | 25 | 608 | 3 minutes |
| 66 | Revelation | 22 | 404 | 11,995 | 50 minutes |
What is the longest book in the Bible?
By word count the longest book is Jeremiah: 42,693 words in the King James Version, 10 more than Psalms (42,683). Count the 1,037 words of the psalm titles and Psalms is longer. Psalms has the most chapters (150) and the most verses (2,461).
Words in the King James Version, top 10 of 66.
What is the shortest book in the Bible?
3 John is the shortest book by word count, 294 words in the KJV. 2 John has the fewest verses: 13.
Words in the King James Version, the 10 shortest books. 5 books have a single chapter: Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, Jude.
Questions about the books of the Bible
How many books are in the Old Testament?
39 books, from Genesis to Malachi, with 929 chapters and 23,145 verses (KJV).
How many books are in the New Testament?
27 books, from Matthew to Revelation, with 260 chapters and 7,957 verses (KJV).
Which books of the Bible have only one chapter?
5 books: Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, Jude.
Why do Catholic Bibles have more books?
Catholic Bibles include seven books from the Greek Old Testament that Protestant Bibles leave out or print separately as the Apocrypha: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. Catholic editions of Esther and Daniel are also longer.
More counts: the longest, shortest and middle verse and chapter, how long it takes to read the Bible and how many times a word appears in the Bible.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-02.