How many times is "born again" in the Bible?
The phrase "born again" appears 3 times in the King James Version, in 3 verses. It is found in 2 of the 66 books. The World English Bible words it differently: born again 2, born anew 2.
The World English Bible has "born anew" where the KJV has "born again" in John 3.
Born again in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of born again counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| born again | 3 | 2 |
| born anew | not counted | 2 |
| Total | 3 | 4 |
First and last mention of born again
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Where the two translations differ
0 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 1 verse matches only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
1 Peter 1:3: counted in the World English Bible only
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Verses with born again on our topic pages
4 verses that use born again in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
On: Hope, Heaven, Resurrection
Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.”
Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’
having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever.
Common questions
How many times is born again in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 0 of the 3 uses are in the Old Testament and 3 in the New Testament. Born again appears in 2 books of the 66 in the King James Version. John has the most (2), then 1 Peter (1).
Where is born again first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is John 3:3: "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." The last is 1 Peter 1:23.
More word counts: Son of God, Alpha and Omega, love one another, fear of the LORD, forty days, Jesus Christ, praise the LORD, 666, or all 253 words.
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 2026-10-05.