How many times is "verily, verily" in the Bible?
The phrase "verily, verily" appears 25 times in the King James Version, in 25 verses. It is found in 1 of the 66 books. The World English Bible words it differently: .
All of these are in John's Gospel and all are Jesus speaking. The World English Bible does not double the word: it renders each one "most certainly", so its count for the doubled phrase is zero.
Verily, verily in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of verily, verily counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Verily verily | 25 | 0 |
| Total | 25 | 0 |
Which books mention verily, verily most
Verily, verily appears in 1 book of the 66 in the King James Version. John has the most (25).
First and last mention of verily, verily
And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
Where the two translations differ
25 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 0 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
John 1:51: counted in the KJV only
And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
He said to him, “Most certainly, I tell you all, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
John 3:3: counted in the KJV only
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.
Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.”
Common questions
How many times is verily, verily in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 0 of the 25 uses are in the Old Testament and 25 in the New Testament. Verily, verily appears in 1 book of the 66 in the King James Version. John has the most (25).
Where is verily, verily first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is John 1:51: "And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." The last is John 21:18.
More word counts: born again, Son of God, Alpha and Omega, love one another, fear of the LORD, forty days, Jesus Christ, praise the LORD, 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.