How many chapters are in James?
James has 5 chapters and 108 verses. The King James Version text of James runs 2,304 words, about 10 minutes of reading at 238 words a minute. It is book 59 of the 66 books of the Bible (20th of the 27 New Testament books) and the 46th longest by word count.
Verses in each chapter of James
The longest chapter is James 1 with 27 verses; the shortest is James 4 with 17.
Longest and shortest verse in James
Longest: James 4:11, 44 words in the KJV.
Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
Shortest: James 1:16, 6 words in the KJV.
Do not err, my beloved brethren.
How James begins and ends
First verse, James 1:1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings.
Last verse, James 5:20
Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
James in our topic collections
54 verses from James appear on our Bible verse topic pages, most often in these topics:
- Bible Verses About Temptation (7 from James)
- Bible Verses About Humility (5 from James)
- Bible Verses About Healing (4 from James)
- Bible Verses About Patience (4 from James)
- Bible Verses About Anger (4 from James)
- Bible Verses About Revenge (4 from James)
- Bible Verses About Obedience (4 from James)
- Bible Verses About Honesty (3 from James)
- Bible Verses About Prayer (3 from James)
- Bible Verses About Suffering (3 from James)
- Bible Verses About Hard Times (3 from James)
- Bible Verses About Pride (3 from James)
James: common questions
How many chapters are in the book of James?
James has 5 chapters. The longest chapter is James 1 with 27 verses; the shortest is James 4 with 17.
How many verses are in James?
James has 108 verses in the King James Version, and the same number in the World English Bible.
How long does it take to read James?
About 10 minutes at an average silent reading speed of 238 words a minute. The KJV text is 2,304 words and the World English Bible text is 2,260 words.
What is the longest verse in James?
James 4:11 is the longest verse in James, at 44 words in the King James Version. The shortest is James 1:16 (6 words): "Do not err, my beloved brethren."
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.