How many chapters are in Judges?
Judges has 21 chapters and 618 verses. The King James Version text of Judges runs 19,010 words, about 1 hour 20 minutes of reading at 238 words a minute. It is book 7 of the 66 books of the Bible (7th of the 39 Old Testament books) and the 20th longest by word count.
Verses in each chapter of Judges
The longest chapter is Judges 9 with 57 verses; the shortest is Judges 17 with 13.
Longest and shortest verse in Judges
Longest: Judges 19:9, 67 words in the KJV.
And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.
Shortest: Judges 9:22, 8 words in the KJV.
When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,
How Judges begins and ends
First verse, Judges 1:1
Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?
After the death of Joshua, the children of Israel asked of Yahweh, saying, “Who should go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”
Last verse, Judges 21:25
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.
Judges: common questions
How many chapters are in the book of Judges?
Judges has 21 chapters. The longest chapter is Judges 9 with 57 verses; the shortest is Judges 17 with 13.
How many verses are in Judges?
Judges has 618 verses in the King James Version, and the same number in the World English Bible.
How long does it take to read Judges?
About 1 hour 20 minutes at an average silent reading speed of 238 words a minute. The KJV text is 19,010 words and the World English Bible text is 17,804 words.
What is the longest verse in Judges?
Judges 19:9 is the longest verse in Judges, at 67 words in the King James Version. The shortest is Judges 9:22 (8 words): "When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,"
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.