How many verses are in the Bible?

31,098 — 23,145 in the Old Testament and 7,953 in the New. Verse counts vary slightly between translations because a few verses are numbered differently or omitted; this count is from the World English Bible, counted one verse at a time.

How many books are in the Bible?

66 in the Protestant canon: 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New. A Catholic Bible has 73 and Orthodox Bibles more again, because they include books such as Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach and 1-2 Maccabees.

Which book has the most chapters?

Psalm, with 150 — then Isaiah at 66 and Jeremiah at 52. 5 books have only one chapter: Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, Jude.

Which chapter and verse are in the middle?

There is no single agreed answer, because it depends whether you count by chapter or by verse and which translation you use. Psalm 117, often called the middle chapter, is at least the shortest — two verses. What is not in dispute: Psalm holds the most verses of any book, 2,461.

Counted, not quoted

How many chapters are in the Bible?

1,189 chapters · 929 Old Testament, 260 New
31,098 verses · 23,145 Old Testament, 7,953 New
66 books · 39 Old Testament, 27 New
755,533 words in the World English Bible

Counted one verse at a time from the actual text, not copied from another site. Every figure below adds up to these.

The short answer

The Bible has 1,189 chapters: 929 in the Old Testament and 260 in the New. It has 31,098 verses — 23,145 and 7,953 respectively — across 66 books.

Those numbers describe the Protestant canon. A Catholic Bible has 73 books rather than 66, and Orthodox Bibles more again, because they include the deuterocanonical books — Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, 1-2 Maccabees and others. Chapter and verse totals rise accordingly, which is why you will see different figures quoted in good faith.

Why counts differ between sources

Chapter divisions have been stable since Stephen Langton's work in the early 13th century, so 1,189 is not really in dispute. Verse counts are a different matter. Verse divisions came later — Robert Estienne's, in 1551 — and a handful of passages are numbered differently or bracketed as later additions between translations. That is enough to move a total by a few dozen either way.

This page counts the World English Bible, verse by verse, which is where 31,098 comes from. A count is only meaningful when it names its edition.

Chapters and verses in every book

Book	Chapters	Verses	Words
Genesis	50	1,533	35,788
Exodus	40	1,213	30,915
Leviticus	27	859	23,666
Numbers	36	1,288	31,202
Deuteronomy	34	959	27,347
Joshua	24	658	17,834
Judges	21	618	17,919
Ruth	4	85	2,436
1 Samuel	31	810	23,637
2 Samuel	24	695	19,445
1 Kings	22	816	23,054
2 Kings	25	719	22,224
1 Chronicles	29	942	19,192
2 Chronicles	36	822	24,678
Ezra	10	280	7,059
Nehemiah	13	406	9,995
Esther	10	167	5,405
Job	42	1,070	17,672
Psalm	150	2,461	40,725
Proverbs	31	915	14,535
Ecclesiastes	12	222	5,481
Song of Solomon	8	117	2,548
Isaiah	66	1,292	35,545
Jeremiah	52	1,364	41,145
Lamentations	5	154	3,389
Ezekiel	48	1,273	37,856
Daniel	12	357	11,279
Hosea	14	197	5,049
Joel	3	73	1,933
Amos	9	146	4,047
Obadiah	1	21	619
Jonah	4	48	1,271
Micah	7	105	2,958
Nahum	3	47	1,201
Habakkuk	3	56	1,374
Zephaniah	3	53	1,553
Haggai	2	38	1,051
Zechariah	14	211	6,050
Malachi	4	55	1,710
Matthew	28	1,071	22,832
Mark	16	678	14,260
Luke	24	1,150	24,406
John	21	879	18,690
Acts	28	1,004	23,140
Romans	16	433	9,434
1 Corinthians	16	437	9,342
2 Corinthians	13	257	6,071
Galatians	6	149	3,117
Ephesians	6	155	3,082
Philippians	4	104	2,219
Colossians	4	95	1,990
1 Thessalonians	5	89	1,833
2 Thessalonians	3	47	1,036
1 Timothy	6	113	2,267
2 Timothy	4	83	1,611
Titus	3	46	904
Philemon	1	25	444
Hebrews	13	303	6,873
James	5	108	2,249
1 Peter	5	105	2,416
2 Peter	3	61	1,516
1 John	5	105	2,453
2 John	1	13	296
3 John	1	14	292
Jude	1	25	604
Revelation	22	404	11,369
Old Testament	929	23,145	580,787
New Testament	260	7,953	174,746
Whole Bible	1,189	31,098	755,533

A few things the table shows

Psalm has the most chapters, 150
Psalm has the most verses, 2,461
5 books have a single chapter: Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, Jude
The Old Testament is 78% of the chapters and 77% of the words

Frequently asked questions

How many chapters are in the Bible?: 1,189 — 929 in the Old Testament and 260 in the New. That is the standard Protestant canon of 66 books. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include the deuterocanonical books and so run higher.
How many verses are in the Bible?: 31,098 — 23,145 in the Old Testament and 7,953 in the New. Verse counts vary slightly between translations because a few verses are numbered differently or omitted; this count is from the World English Bible, counted one verse at a time.
How many books are in the Bible?: 66 in the Protestant canon: 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New. A Catholic Bible has 73 and Orthodox Bibles more again, because they include books such as Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach and 1-2 Maccabees.
Which book has the most chapters?: Psalm, with 150 — then Isaiah at 66 and Jeremiah at 52. 5 books have only one chapter: Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, Jude.
Which chapter and verse are in the middle?: There is no single agreed answer, because it depends whether you count by chapter or by verse and which translation you use. Psalm 117, often called the middle chapter, is at least the shortest — two verses. What is not in dispute: Psalm holds the most verses of any book, 2,461.

Would you rather listen to it? Still reads scripture aloud, a chapter at a time, and has a Bible-in-a-year plan — all 1,189 chapters at about 18 minutes a day. Download Still.