Bible Question:
How many chapters, verses, and words are in the Bible?
Bible Answer:
You will soon discover how many chapters verses and words are in the Bible. But first, it is important to know that the number of chapters, verses and words in the Old Testament, New Testament and the entire Bible depends upon the Bible version! The number of books and chapters in most Protestant Bibles will be the same. How many books are there in the Bible? The answer is thirty-nine books in the Old Testament and twenty-seven books in the New Testament for a total of sixty-six books. How many chapters are there in the Bible? The answer is given in the chart below. But each Bible will have a different number of verses and words as the translators try to accurately communicate the sense of the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The differences should be small.
Comparison of King James Version Bible and Other Bibles
For example, the King James Bible, New International Version Bible (NIV) and the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) have only fourteen verses in 3 John. But the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the NET Bible, The New Living Translation (NLT) and the New Century Bible have fifteen verses—one more verse. The number of words in each Bible will be significantly different. The number of words in the Greek New Testament are also provided in a link below.
Therefore, the information provided in the chart below is for the chapters, verses and words in the New American Standard Bible (NASB). In the Suggested Links section below, you can download a PDF of all the chapters and verses of the Bible.
Chapters, Verses and Words in the Bible
The Old Testament and New Testaments were written without chapters and verses. The books of the Bible were like a long letter. The first Bible to include both chapter and verse divisions was the Latin Vulgate edition of Robert Stephanus in A.D. 1555. For more information visit, “Who divided the Bible into chapters and verses? Why was it divided?” The number of chapters and verses in the Bible are as follows:
Old Testament Chapters and Verses
The chapter divisions that we see in our Bibles today were first created in A.D. 1127 and in A.D. 1330 they were placed into the margins. Examples can be found in the text of the Complutensian Polygot. For more information visit, “Who divided the Bible into chapters and verses? Why was it divided?” The number of chapters and verses in the Old Testament are as follows:
New Testament Chapters and Verses
These first verse divisions into the chapters that we see in our Bibles today were first created in A.D. 1555. These divisions were included in a Latin Vulgate edition. Please note the number of verses in 3 John will vary with the Bible version (please see the introductory comments). For more information visit, “Who divided the Bible into chapters and verses? Why was it divided?” The number of chapters and verses in the New Testament are as follows:
Conclusion:
The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119, and the middle and shortest chapter is Psalm 117. The middle chapter of the Old Testament is Job 29 and the middle chapter of the New Testament is Romans 13. The middle verse of the Bible is Psalm 118:8. The middle verse of the Old Testament is 2 Chronicles 20:17, and the middle verse of the New Testament is Acts 17:17.1
Psalm 119 is an acrostic Psalm with 22 sections of eight lines each. Each of the eight lines in each section starts with a Hebrew letter in the alphabet. The entire Hebrew alphabet outlines the chapter.2
Is it not amazing that God used about 40 authors to write the Bible, and yet the flow of the Bible is consistent and unchanged? It all points to Jesus Christ. The prophecies point to Him. The miracles He performed remind us that He is God. His teachings were amazing, and His control of nature was real. The entire Bible is about Him. It is about our God.
References:
1. The Open Bible. New American Standard Bible. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1977. p. 1227.
2. Menahem Mansoor. Biblical Hebrew. Baker Book House. 1980. vol. 1. pp. 13-14.
Suggested Links:
How many words are in the Greek New Testament?Chapters and Verses of the Bible - PDF
Who divided the Bible into chapters and verses? Why was it divided?
How Accurate Is the Bible?
How is the Jewish Bible or Tanakh different from the Bible?