How many times is "forty days" in the Bible?
The phrase "forty days" appears 22 times in the King James Version, in 22 verses. It is found in 12 of the 66 books. The World English Bible words it differently: forty days 22.
Forty days in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of forty days counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| forty days | 22 | 22 |
| Total | 22 | 22 |
First and last mention of forty days
For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
Verses with forty days on our topic pages
4 verses that use forty days in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
He arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, God’s Mountain.
On: Mental Health, What Does the Bible Say About Suicide? 25 Verses of Hope
When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward.
On: Fasting, Temptation
He was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
On: Fasting
for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry.
On: Fasting
Common questions
How many times is forty days in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 18 of the 22 uses are in the Old Testament and 4 in the New Testament. Forty days appears in 12 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Genesis and Deuteronomy share the most, 5 each.
Where is forty days first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 7:4: "For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth." The last is Acts 1:3.
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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.