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How many chapters are in 1 Samuel?

1 Samuel has 31 chapters and 810 verses. The King James Version text of 1 Samuel runs 25,086 words, about 1 hour 45 minutes of reading at 238 words a minute. It is book 9 of the 66 books of the Bible (9th of the 39 Old Testament books) and the 11th longest by word count.

31
Chapters
of 1,189 in the Bible
810
Verses (KJV)
WEB: 810
25,086
Words (KJV)
11th longest of 66
1 h 45 min
Reading time
at 238 words a minute

Verses in each chapter of 1 Samuel

The longest chapter is 1 Samuel 17 with 58 verses; the shortest is 1 Samuel 29 with 11.

Chapter 1
28
Chapter 2
36
Chapter 3
21
Chapter 4
22
Chapter 5
12
Chapter 6
21
Chapter 7
17
Chapter 8
22
Chapter 9
27
Chapter 10
27
Chapter 11
15
Chapter 12
25
Chapter 13
23
Chapter 14
52
Chapter 15
35
Chapter 16
23
Chapter 17
58
Chapter 18
30
Chapter 19
24
Chapter 20
42
Chapter 21
15
Chapter 22
23
Chapter 23
29
Chapter 24
22
Chapter 25
44
Chapter 26
25
Chapter 27
12
Chapter 28
25
Chapter 29
11
Chapter 30
31
Chapter 31
13

Longest and shortest verse in 1 Samuel

Longest: 1 Samuel 29:4, 75 words in the KJV.

And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?

1 Samuel 29:4 (KJV)

Shortest: 1 Samuel 18:9, 9 words in the KJV.

And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

1 Samuel 18:9 (KJV)

How 1 Samuel begins and ends

First verse, 1 Samuel 1:1

Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:

1 Samuel 1:1 (KJV)

Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

1 Samuel 1:1 (WEB)

Last verse, 1 Samuel 31:13

And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

1 Samuel 31:13 (KJV)

They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

1 Samuel 31:13 (WEB)

1 Samuel in our topic collections

7 verses from 1 Samuel appear on our Bible verse topic pages, most often in these topics:

1 Samuel: common questions

How many chapters are in the book of 1 Samuel?

1 Samuel has 31 chapters. The longest chapter is 1 Samuel 17 with 58 verses; the shortest is 1 Samuel 29 with 11.

How many verses are in 1 Samuel?

1 Samuel has 810 verses in the King James Version, and the same number in the World English Bible.

How long does it take to read 1 Samuel?

About 1 hour 45 minutes at an average silent reading speed of 238 words a minute. The KJV text is 25,086 words and the World English Bible text is 23,410 words.

What is the longest verse in 1 Samuel?

1 Samuel 29:4 is the longest verse in 1 Samuel, at 75 words in the King James Version. The shortest is 1 Samuel 18:9 (9 words): "And Saul eyed David from that day and forward."

Study 1 Samuel

Previous book: RuthNext book: 2 Samuel

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.