How many chapters are in 1 John?
1 John has 5 chapters and 105 verses. The King James Version text of 1 John runs 2,517 words, about 11 minutes of reading at 238 words a minute. It is book 62 of the 66 books of the Bible (23rd of the 27 New Testament books) and the 44th longest by word count.
Verses in each chapter of 1 John
The longest chapter is 1 John 2 with 29 verses; the shortest is 1 John 1 with 10.
Longest and shortest verse in 1 John
Longest: 1 John 2:27, 50 words in the KJV.
But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Shortest: 1 John 5:21, 7 words in the KJV.
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
How 1 John begins and ends
First verse, 1 John 1:1
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life
Last verse, 1 John 5:21
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
1 John in our topic collections
33 verses from 1 John appear on our Bible verse topic pages, most often in these topics:
- Bible Verses About Love (13 from 1 John)
- Bible Verses About God's Love (5 from 1 John)
- Bible Verses About Prayer (3 from 1 John)
- Bible Verses About Eternal Life (3 from 1 John)
- Bible Verses About Temptation (2 from 1 John)
- Bible Verses About Sin (2 from 1 John)
- Bible Verses About Heaven (2 from 1 John)
- Bible Verses About Strength (1 from 1 John)
- Bible Verses About Demons (1 from 1 John)
- Bible Verses About Spiritual Warfare (1 from 1 John)
- Bible Verses About Friendship (1 from 1 John)
- Bible Verses About Family (1 from 1 John)
1 John: common questions
How many chapters are in the book of 1 John?
1 John has 5 chapters. The longest chapter is 1 John 2 with 29 verses; the shortest is 1 John 1 with 10.
How many verses are in 1 John?
1 John has 105 verses in the King James Version, and the same number in the World English Bible.
How long does it take to read 1 John?
About 11 minutes at an average silent reading speed of 238 words a minute. The KJV text is 2,517 words and the World English Bible text is 2,463 words.
What is the longest verse in 1 John?
1 John 2:27 is the longest verse in 1 John, at 50 words in the King James Version. The shortest is 1 John 5:21 (7 words): "Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen."
Compare all 66 books on how many books are in the Bible, see the Bible by the numbers, or work out how long it takes to read the Bible at your own pace.
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.