How many times is year mentioned in the Bible?
The word year appears 367 times in the King James Version, in 322 verses. Counting every form (year, years, year's), it appears 908 times in 738 verses across 45 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses year 372 times (910 with every form).
Year in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of year counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| year | 367 | 372 |
| years | 539 | 536 |
| year's | 2 | 2 |
| Total | 908 | 910 |
Which books mention year most
Year appears in 45 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Genesis has the most (122), then Numbers (92) and 2 Kings (90).
Also in: Daniel (16), Psalms (15), 1 Chronicles (14), 1 Samuel (13), Nehemiah (13), Ezra (10), Hebrews (9), Joshua (8), Job (8), Zechariah (8), Revelation (7), John (6), Ecclesiastes (5), Esther (4), Proverbs (4), Amos (4), Galatians (4), Haggai (3), 2 Corinthians (3), Joel (2), Habakkuk (2), Matthew (2), Mark (2), Romans (2), James (2), 2 Peter (2), Ruth (1), Micah (1), Malachi (1), 1 Timothy (1).
First and last mention of year
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
The verse that uses it most is Genesis 47:9, 4 times (tied with Leviticus 25:8):
And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
Where the two translations differ
7 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 10 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
Leviticus 25:33: counted in the KJV only
And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubile: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
The Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
Isaiah 15:5: counted in the KJV only
My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.
My heart cries out for Moab! Her nobles flee to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for they go up by the ascent of Luhith with weeping; for on the way to Horonaim, they raise up a cry of destruction.
Genesis 18:10: counted in the World English Bible only
And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
He said, “I will certainly return to you at about this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him.
Genesis 47:8: counted in the World English Bible only
And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?”
Verses with year on our topic pages
26 verses that use year in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
You crown the year with your bounty. Your carts overflow with abundance.
On: Bible Verses for a Birthday, Nature, Bible Verses for the New Year
But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
On: Patience, What Does the Bible Say About Dinosaurs? 26 Verses, Time
to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
On: Comfort, Depression
and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow let’s go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.”
God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years;
On: Time
“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything.
As a hired servant, and as a temporary resident, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee:
You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes out of the field year by year.
On: Tithing
At the end of every three years you shall bring all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall store it within your gates.
On: Orphans
At the end of every seven years, you shall cancel debts.
On: Debt
If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, and serves you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.
Common questions
How many times is year in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 832 of the 908 uses are in the Old Testament and 76 in the New Testament. Year appears in 45 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Genesis has the most (122), then Numbers (92) and 2 Kings (90).
Where is year first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 1:14: "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:" The last is Revelation 20:7.
More word counts: Mephibosheth, Benaiah, Eliab, Ehud, gentleness, jealousy, Barak, Sennacherib, or all 635 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 2026-10-24.