Old Testament books in order
The 39 books of the Old Testament in order are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. They split into five groups: the Law (5 books), History (12), Poetry and wisdom (5), the major prophets (5) and the minor prophets (12). Together they hold 929 chapters, 23,145 verses and 609,937 words in the KJV.
Updated October 22, 2026
Law (the Pentateuch): 5 books
Genesis to Deuteronomy: 26% of the Old Testament's words, 10 hours 59 minutes start to finish. The largest book here is Genesis and the smallest is Leviticus.
| # | Book | Share of words | Size rank | Chapters | Verses | Words (KJV) | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Genesis | 6.3% | 4 of 39 | 50 | 1,533 | 38,307 | 2 hours 41 minutes |
| 2 | Exodus | 5.4% | 7 of 39 | 40 | 1,213 | 32,692 | 2 hours 17 minutes |
| 3 | Leviticus | 4.0% | 12 of 39 | 27 | 859 | 24,543 | 1 hour 43 minutes |
| 4 | Numbers | 5.4% | 6 of 39 | 36 | 1,288 | 32,930 | 2 hours 18 minutes |
| 5 | Deuteronomy | 4.7% | 8 of 39 | 34 | 959 | 28,365 | 1 hour 59 minutes |
History: 12 books
Joshua to Esther: 34% of the Old Testament's words, 14 hours 19 minutes start to finish. The largest book here is 2 Chronicles and the smallest is Ruth.
| # | Book | Share of words | Size rank | Chapters | Verses | Words (KJV) | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Joshua | 3.1% | 17 of 39 | 24 | 658 | 18,965 | 1 hour 20 minutes |
| 7 | Judges | 3.1% | 16 of 39 | 21 | 618 | 19,010 | 1 hour 20 minutes |
| 8 | Ruth | 0.4% | 31 of 39 | 4 | 85 | 2,574 | 11 minutes |
| 9 | 1 Samuel | 4.1% | 10 of 39 | 31 | 810 | 25,086 | 1 hour 45 minutes |
| 10 | 2 Samuel | 3.4% | 14 of 39 | 24 | 695 | 20,646 | 1 hour 27 minutes |
| 11 | 1 Kings | 4.0% | 11 of 39 | 22 | 816 | 24,561 | 1 hour 43 minutes |
| 12 | 2 Kings | 3.9% | 13 of 39 | 25 | 719 | 23,565 | 1 hour 39 minutes |
| 13 | 1 Chronicles | 3.4% | 15 of 39 | 29 | 942 | 20,440 | 1 hour 26 minutes |
| 14 | 2 Chronicles | 4.3% | 9 of 39 | 36 | 822 | 26,100 | 1 hour 50 minutes |
| 15 | Ezra | 1.2% | 22 of 39 | 10 | 280 | 7,451 | 31 minutes |
| 16 | Nehemiah | 1.7% | 21 of 39 | 13 | 406 | 10,494 | 44 minutes |
| 17 | Esther | 0.9% | 24 of 39 | 10 | 167 | 5,633 | 24 minutes |
Poetry and wisdom: 5 books
Job to Song of Solomon: 14% of the Old Testament's words, 5 hours 53 minutes start to finish. The largest book here is Psalms and the smallest is Song of Solomon.
| # | Book | Share of words | Size rank | Chapters | Verses | Words (KJV) | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Job | 3.0% | 18 of 39 | 42 | 1,070 | 18,099 | 1 hour 16 minutes |
| 19 | Psalms | 7.0% | 2 of 39 | 150 | 2,461 | 42,683 | 2 hours 59 minutes |
| 20 | Proverbs | 2.5% | 19 of 39 | 31 | 915 | 15,037 | 1 hour 3 minutes |
| 21 | Ecclesiastes | 0.9% | 25 of 39 | 12 | 222 | 5,579 | 23 minutes |
| 22 | Song of Solomon | 0.4% | 30 of 39 | 8 | 117 | 2,661 | 11 minutes |
Major prophets: 5 books
Isaiah to Daniel: 22% of the Old Testament's words, 9 hours 24 minutes start to finish. The largest book here is Jeremiah and the smallest is Lamentations.
| # | Book | Share of words | Size rank | Chapters | Verses | Words (KJV) | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | Isaiah | 6.1% | 5 of 39 | 66 | 1,292 | 37,047 | 2 hours 36 minutes |
| 24 | Jeremiah | 7.0% | 1 of 39 | 52 | 1,364 | 42,693 | 2 hours 59 minutes |
| 25 | Lamentations | 0.6% | 28 of 39 | 5 | 154 | 3,411 | 14 minutes |
| 26 | Ezekiel | 6.5% | 3 of 39 | 48 | 1,273 | 39,441 | 2 hours 46 minutes |
| 27 | Daniel | 1.9% | 20 of 39 | 12 | 357 | 11,617 | 49 minutes |
Minor prophets: 12 books
Hosea to Malachi: 5% of the Old Testament's words, 2 hours 7 minutes start to finish. The largest book here is Zechariah and the smallest is Obadiah.
| # | Book | Share of words | Size rank | Chapters | Verses | Words (KJV) | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | Hosea | 0.8% | 26 of 39 | 14 | 197 | 5,183 | 22 minutes |
| 29 | Joel | 0.3% | 32 of 39 | 3 | 73 | 2,033 | 9 minutes |
| 30 | Amos | 0.7% | 27 of 39 | 9 | 146 | 4,219 | 18 minutes |
| 31 | Obadiah | 0.1% | 39 of 39 | 1 | 21 | 669 | 3 minutes |
| 32 | Jonah | 0.2% | 36 of 39 | 4 | 48 | 1,320 | 6 minutes |
| 33 | Micah | 0.5% | 29 of 39 | 7 | 105 | 3,154 | 13 minutes |
| 34 | Nahum | 0.2% | 37 of 39 | 3 | 47 | 1,285 | 5 minutes |
| 35 | Habakkuk | 0.2% | 35 of 39 | 3 | 56 | 1,475 | 6 minutes |
| 36 | Zephaniah | 0.3% | 34 of 39 | 3 | 53 | 1,615 | 7 minutes |
| 37 | Haggai | 0.2% | 38 of 39 | 2 | 38 | 1,130 | 5 minutes |
| 38 | Zechariah | 1.1% | 23 of 39 | 14 | 211 | 6,443 | 27 minutes |
| 39 | Malachi | 0.3% | 33 of 39 | 4 | 55 | 1,781 | 7 minutes |
Questions about the order of the books
What are the Old Testament books in order?
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
How many books are in the Old Testament?
39 in the Protestant canon.
How long does it take to read the Old Testament?
42 hours 43 minutes at 238 words a minute (609,937 KJV words).
Which book comes first and which last?
Genesis is first and Malachi is last in the Old Testament; the Old Testament runs 39 books in all.
Which books have only one chapter?
Obadiah.
Also see books of the bible in order, new testament books in order, how many books are in the Bible, the shortest book, the longest book and how long the Bible is.
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 2026-10-22.