View source for Chapters and verses of the Bible

{{short description|Divisions of books of the Bible}}
[[File:John 1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[Gospel according to John]] – a text showing chapter and verse divisions ([[King James Version]])]]
{{Bible-related |AD}}

Chapter and verse divisions did not appear in the original texts of Jewish or Christian bibles; such divisions form part of the [[paratext]] of the [[Bible]]. Since the early 13th century, most copies and editions of the Bible have presented all but the shortest of the [[books of the Bible|scriptural books]] with divisions into [[chapter (books)|chapters]], generally a page or so in length. Since the mid-16th century, editors have further subdivided each chapter into verses – each consisting of a few short lines or of one or more sentences. In the [[King James Version]] (KJV) [[Esther 8:9]] is the longest verse<ref name="compellingtruth">{{Cite web|url=https://www.compellingtruth.org/longest-verse-in-the-Bible.html|title=What is the longest verse in the Bible? :: Got Questions Ministries|website= www.compellingtruth.org}}</ref> and [[John 11:35]] is the shortest.<ref name="compellingtruth"/> Sometimes a sentence spans more than one verse, as in the case of [[Ephesians 2:8]]–[[Ephesians 2:9|9]], and sometimes there is more than one sentence in a single verse, as in the case of [[Genesis 1:2]].

The Jewish divisions of the [[Hebrew Bible|Hebrew text]] differ at various points from those used by [[Christian]]s. For instance, Jewish tradition regards the [[Psalms#Superscriptions|ascriptions]] to many [[Psalms]] as independent verses or as parts of the subsequent verses, whereas established Christian practice treats each Psalm ascription as independent and unnumbered, resulting in 116 more verses in Jewish versions than in the Christian texts. Some chapter divisions also occur in different places, e.g. [[Hebrew Bible]]s have [[1 Chronicles 5#Verse numbering|1 Chronicles 5:27–41]]<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|5:27–41|HE}}</ref> where Christian translations have [[1 Chronicles 6#Verse numbering|1 Chronicles 6:1–15]].<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|6:1–15|KJV}}</ref><ref>[https://www.biblica.com/bible/?osis=niv:1_Chronicles.6:1%E2%80%936:15#footnote-10456a Footnote to 1 Chronicles 6:1]</ref>

==History==
[[File:Isaiah Wall.jpg|thumb|left|"...they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." ~ [[Isaiah 2:4]] KJV (Bible verse across the street from the [[Headquarters of the United Nations|United Nations Building]] in [[New York City]])]]

===Chapters===
Early manuscripts of the biblical texts did not contain the chapter and verse divisions in the numbered form familiar to modern readers. In antiquity Hebrew texts were divided into paragraphs ([[parashot]]) that were identified by two letters of the [[Hebrew alphabet]]. [[Pe (Semitic letter)|Peh (פ&lrm;)]] indicated an "open" paragraph that began on a new line, while [[Samekh|Samekh (ס&lrm;)]] indicated a "closed" paragraph that began on the same line after a small space.<ref>Ernst Würthwein, ''The Text of the Old Testament'' (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), p. 20.</ref> These two letters begin the Hebrew words open ({{lang|hbo|'''p'''atuach}}) and closed ({{lang|hbo|'''s'''atum}}), and are, themselves, open in shape (פ) and closed (ס). The earliest known copies of the [[Book of Isaiah]] from the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] used parashot divisions, although they differ slightly from the [[Masoretic text|Masoretic]] divisions.<ref name=Wurthwein-2>Würthwein, ''The Text of the Old Testament'', n. 28.</ref>

The [[Hebrew Bible]] was also divided into some larger sections. In Israel, the [[Torah]] (its first five books) were divided into 154 sections so that they could be read through aloud in weekly worship over the course of three years. In Babylonia, it was divided into 53 or 54 sections ([[Parashat ha-Shavua]]) so it could be read through in one year.<ref name=Wurthwein-2/> The [[New Testament]] was divided into topical sections known as [[kephalaia]] by the fourth century. [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] divided the gospels into parts that he listed in tables or ''canons''. Neither of these systems corresponds with modern chapter divisions.<ref>Kurt and Barbara Aland, ''The Text of the New Testament'' (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans and Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1989), pp. 252 ff.</ref> (See fuller discussions below.)

Chapter divisions, with titles, are also found in the 9th-century Tours manuscript Paris Bibliothèque Nationale MS Lat. 3, the so-called Bible of Rorigo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europeanaregia.eu/en/manuscripts/paris-bibliotheque-nationale-france-mss-latin-3/en|title=Europeana Regia - Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France MSS Latin 3|first=Europeana Regia|last=Consortium}}</ref>

Cardinal archbishop [[Stephen Langton#Chapters of the Bible|Stephen Langton]] and Cardinal [[Hugo de Sancto Caro]] developed different schemas for systematic division of the Bible in the early 13th century. It is the system of Archbishop Langton on which the modern chapter divisions are based.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Hebrew Bible |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07175a.htm |access-date=2023-05-09 |website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref><ref name=Moore /><ref>{{cite book|first1=Bruce M. |last1=Metzger|author-link1=Bruce M. Metzger|title=The Early Versions of the New Testament: Their Origin, Transmission and Limitations|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1977|page=347}} Cited in {{cite book|url=http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2013/06/21/stephen-langton-and-the-modern-chapter-divisions-of-the-bible/ |title=Stephen Langton and the modern chapter divisions of the bible| translator-first=Roger |translator-last=Pearse|access-date= 21 January 2013}}</ref>

While chapter divisions have become nearly universal, editions of the Bible have sometimes been published without them. Such editions, which typically use thematic or literary criteria to divide the biblical books instead, include [[John Locke|John Locke's]] ''Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul'' (1707),<ref>London: Awnsham and John Churchill, 1707</ref> [[Alexander Campbell (clergyman)|Alexander Campbell's]] ''The Sacred Writings'' (1826),<ref>1826; repr. Nashville: Gospel Advocate Restoration Reprints, 2001</ref> [[Daniel Berkeley Updike|Daniel Berkeley Updike's]] fourteen-volume ''The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha,'' [[Richard Green Moulton|Richard Moulton's]] ''The Modern Reader's Bible'' (1907),<ref>New York: Macmillan, 1907</ref> [[Ernest Sutherland Bates|Ernest Sutherland Bates's]] ''The Bible Designed to Be Read as Living Literature'' (1936),<ref>New York: Simon and Schuster, 1936</ref> ''[[The Books of the Bible]]'' (2007) from the [[International Bible Society]] ([[Biblica]]), Adam Lewis Greene's five-volume ''[[Bibliotheca (Bible)|Bibliotheca]]'' (2014),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bibliotheca.co/|title=Bibliotheca Multivolume Readers' Bible Homepage|website=BIBLIOTHECA|language=en-US|access-date=2017-10-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/22/5922855/bibliotheca-bible-kickstarter-campaign-adam-greene-interview|title=The Bible's a mess, but a designer is fixing it|work=The Verge|access-date=2017-10-22}}</ref> and the six-volume [[English Standard Version|ESV Reader's Bible]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.crossway.org/bibles/esv-readers-bible-none-tru/|title=ESV Reader's Bible|date=30 June 2014|isbn=9781433544125|last1=Bibles|first1=Crossway}}</ref> (2016) from [[Good News Publishers|Crossway Books]].

===Verses===
[[File:Elias Hutter 1602.jpg|thumb|[[Isaiah 40|Isaiah chapter 40]], verse 8 in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and German, with the verse analysed word-by-word. In English, this verse is translated "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever." (from [[Elias Hutter]], 1602)]]
Since at least 916 the [[Tanakh]] has contained an extensive system of multiple levels of section, paragraph, and phrasal divisions that were indicated in [[Masoretic]] vocalization and [[Hebrew cantillation|cantillation markings]].<!-- page 75 --> One of the most frequent of these was a special type of punctuation, the ''[[sof passuq]]'', symbol for a period or sentence break, resembling the [[Colon (punctuation)|colon]] (:) of English and Latin orthography. With the advent of the printing press and the translation of the [[Hebrew Bible]] into English, versifications were made that correspond predominantly with the existing Hebrew sentence breaks, with a few isolated exceptions. Most attribute these to Rabbi [[Isaac Nathan ben Kalonymus]]'s work for the first Hebrew [[Bible concordance]] around 1440.<ref name=Moore>Moore, G.F. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3259119 The Vulgate Chapters and Numbered Verses in the Hebrew Bible], pages 73–78 at [[JSTOR]]. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3259119?seq=3 page 75]</ref>

The first person to divide New Testament chapters into verses was the Italian Dominican biblical scholar [[Santes Pagnino]] (1470–1541), but his system was never widely adopted.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Bible: A History|author1=Miller, Stephen M.|author2=Huber, Robert V.|year=2004|publisher=Good Books|isbn=1-56148-414-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/biblehistorymaki0000mill/page/173 173]|url=https://archive.org/details/biblehistorymaki0000mill/page/173}}</ref> His verse divisions in the New Testament were far longer than those known today.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url = http://tools.pitts.emory.edu/Printer/|title = Pitts Theology Library Exhibit on the Verses of the New Testament}}</ref> The Parisian printer [[Robert Estienne]] created another numbering in his 1551 edition of the Greek New Testament,<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Bible Study Magazine |url=https://www.logos.com/grow/bible-study-magazine/ |access-date=2023-05-09 |website=Word by Word |pages=46–47 |language=en-US}}</ref> which was also used in his 1553 publication of the Bible in French. Estienne's system of division was widely adopted, and it is this system which is found in almost all modern Bibles. Estienne produced a 1555 Vulgate that is the first Bible to include the verse numbers integrated into the text. Before this work, they were printed in the margins.<ref name=":0" />

The first English New Testament to use the verse divisions was a 1557 translation by [[William Whittingham]] (c. 1524–1579). The first Bible in English to use both chapters and verses was the [[Geneva Bible]] published shortly afterwards by [[Rowland Hill (MP)|Sir Rowland Hill]]<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yzxfAAAAcAAJ&dq=sir+rowland+hill+bible+geneva+bible&pg=PP27 |title=The Holy Bible ... With a General Introduction and Short Explanatory Notes, by B. Boothroyd |date=1836 |publisher=James Duncan |language=en}}</ref> in 1560. These verse divisions soon gained acceptance as a standard way to notate verses, and have since been used in nearly all English Bibles and the vast majority of those in other languages.<!-- (Nevertheless, some Bibles have removed the verse numbering, including the ones noted above that also removed chapter numbers; a recent example of an edition that removed only verses, not chapters, is [[The Message (Bible)|''The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language'']] by [[Eugene H. Peterson]].)<ref>Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2002</ref> mentioned in other part-->

==Jewish tradition==
{{Main|Hebrew Bible}}
The [[Masoretic Text]] of the Hebrew Bible notes several different kinds of subdivisions within the biblical books:

===''Passukim''===
Most important are the verses, or ''passukim'' ([[Mishnaic Hebrew|MH]] spelling; now pronounced ''pesukim'' by all speakers). According to [[Talmud]]ic tradition, the division of the text into verses is of ancient origin.<ref>Babylonian Talmud, ''Nedarim'' 37b</ref> In Masoretic versions of the Bible, the end of a verse, or ''[[sof passuk]]'', is indicated by a small mark in its final word called a ''silluq'' (which means "stop"). Less formally, verse endings are usually also indicated by two vertical dots following the word with a ''silluq''.

===''Parashot''===
The [[Masoretic Text]] also contains sections, or portions, called ''[[Parashah|parashot]]'' or ''parashiyot''. The end of a ''parashah'' is usually indicated by a space within a line (a "closed" section) or a new line beginning (an "open" section). The division of the text reflected in the ''parashot'' is usually thematic. Unlike chapters, the ''parashot'' are not numbered, but some of them have special titles.

In early manuscripts (most importantly in [[Tiberian vocalization|Tiberian]] Masoretic manuscripts, such as the [[Aleppo codex]]), an "open" section may also be represented by a blank line, and a "closed" section by a new line that is slightly indented (the preceding line may also not be full). These latter conventions are no longer used in Torah scrolls and printed Hebrew Bibles. In this system, the one rule differentiating "open" and "closed" sections is that "open" sections must ''always'' start at the beginning of a new line, while "closed" sections ''never'' start at the beginning of a new line.

===''Sedarim''===
Another division of the biblical books found in the Masoretic Text is the division into ''[[Seder (Bible)|sedarim]]''. This division is not thematic, but is almost entirely based upon the ''quantity'' of text. For the [[Torah]], this division reflects the triennial cycle of reading that was practiced by the Jews of the Land of Israel.

==Christian versions==
The Byzantines also introduced a concept roughly similar to chapter divisions, called ''kephalaia'' (singular ''kephalaion'', literally meaning ''heading'').<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thetextofthegospels.com/2016/04/kephalaia-ancient-chapters-of-gospels.html |title=Kephalaia: The Ancient Chapters of the Gospels |last=Snapp | first=James |date=15 April 2016 |access-date=31 March 2018}}</ref> This system, which was in place no later than the 5th century, is not identical to the present chapters. Unlike the modern chapters, which tend to be of roughly similar length, the distance from one ''kephalaion'' mark to the next varied greatly in length both within a book and from one book to the next. For example, the [[Sermon on the Mount]], comprising three chapters in the modern system, has but one ''kephalaion'' mark, while the single modern [[Matthew 8|chapter 8]] of the [[Gospel of Matthew]] has several, one per miracle. Moreover, there were far fewer ''kephalaia'' in the [[Gospel of John]] than in the [[Gospel of Mark]], even though the latter is the shorter text. In the manuscripts, the ''kephalaia'' with their numbers, their standard titles (''titloi'') and their page numbers would be listed at the beginning of each biblical book; in the book's main body, they would be marked only with arrow-shaped or asterisk-like symbols in the margin, not in the text itself.

The titles usually referred to the first event or the first theological point of the section only, and some ''kephalaia'' are manifestly incomplete if one stops reading at the point where the next ''kephalaion'' begins (for example, the combined accounts of the miracles of the [[Daughter of Jairus]] and of the [[Christ healing the bleeding woman|healing of the woman with a haemorrhage]] gets two marked ''kephalaia'', one titled ''of the daughter of the synagogue ruler'' at the beginning when the ruler approaches Jesus and one titled ''of the woman with the flow of blood'' where the woman enters the picture – well before the ruler's daughter is healed and the storyline of the previous ''kephalaion'' is thus properly concluded). Thus the ''kephalaia'' marks are rather more like a system of bookmarks or links into a continuous text, helping a reader to quickly find one of several well-known episodes, than like a true system of chapter divisions.

Cardinal [[Hugh of St Cher|Hugo de Sancto Caro]] is often given credit for first dividing the [[Latin Vulgate]] into chapters in the real sense, but it is the arrangement of his contemporary and fellow cardinal [[Stephen Langton]] who in 1205 created the chapter divisions which are used today. They were then inserted into Greek manuscripts of the New Testament in the 16th century. [[Robert Estienne]] (Robert Stephanus) was the first to number the verses within each chapter, his verse numbers entering printed editions in 1551 (New Testament) and 1553 (Hebrew Bible).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095504230;jsessionid=3C7543969D4E0D73661D5EA32AA11DF2|title=Oxford Reference}}</ref>

The division of the Bible into chapters and verses has received criticism from some traditionalists and modern scholars. Critics state that the text is often divided in an incoherent way, or at inappropriate rhetorical points, and that it encourages citing passages out of context. Nevertheless, the chapter and verse numbers have become indispensable as technical references for Bible study.

Several modern publications of the Bible have eliminated numbering of chapters and verses. [[Biblica]] published such a version of the [[NIV]] in 2007 and 2011. In 2014, [[Crossway Books|Crossway]] published the [[ESV]] Reader's Bible and ''[[Bibliotheca (Bible)|Bibliotheca]]'' published a modified ASV.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Zylstra |first=Sarah Eekhof |title=Introducing the Bible! Now with Less! |journal=[[Christianity Today]] |date=25 July 2014 |access-date=23 August 2014 |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/july-web-only/bibliotheca-readers-bible.html}}</ref> Projects such as Icthus<ref name="Icthus">{{Cite web|url=http://icthusapp.com/|title=Icthus|website=Icthus}}</ref> also exist which strip chapter and verse numbers from existing translations.

=={{anchor|Statistics}}Bible statistics==
The number of words can vary depending upon aspects such as whether the Hebrew alphabet in Psalm 119, the superscriptions listed in some of the Psalms, and the subscripts traditionally found at the end of the Pauline epistles, are included.

Except where stated, the following apply to the [[King James Version]] of the Bible in its modern 66-book Protestant form including the New Testament and the [[protocanonical]] Old Testament, not the [[deuterocanonical books]].

===Chapters===
* There are 929 chapters in the [[Old Testament]].
** 187 chapters in the [[Pentateuch]]
** 249 chapters in the [[Historical books]]
** 243 chapters in the [[Sapiential Books|Poetic books ("Wisdom")]]
** 183 chapters in the [[Major prophet]]s
** 67 chapters in the [[Twelve Minor Prophets|Minor prophets]]
* There are 260 chapters in the [[New Testament]]. 
** 89 chapters in the [[Gospel]]s
** 28 chapters in [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]]
** 87 chapters in the [[Pauline Epistles]] (excluding [[Epistle to the Hebrews|Hebrews]])
** 34 chapters in the [[General Epistles]] (including Hebrews)
** 22 chapters in [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]]
* This gives a total of 1,189 chapters (on average, 18 per book).
* [[Psalm 117]], the shortest chapter, is also the middle chapter of the Bible, being the 595th Chapter.<ref name=midbible>[http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/midbible.html The Center of the Bible] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050828035123/http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/midbible.html |date=August 28, 2005 }} at Break The Chain.</ref>
* [[Psalm 119]] is the longest chapter of the Bible.
* Five books are a single chapter: [[Book of Obadiah|Obadiah]], [[Epistle to Philemon|Philemon]], [[2 John|2]] & [[3 John]], [[Epistle of Jude|Jude]]. In many printed editions, the chapter number is omitted for these books, and references just use the verse numbers.

{| class="wikitable" style="float:left; margin:25px"
|+ Old Testament – 929 chapters<ref name="blueletterbiblebooks" />
|-
! colspan=2|Book / Division !! colspan=2|Chapters
|- style="border-top-width:3px; border-top-style:solid; font-size:1.1em; font-weight:bold"
| colspan=2|Pentateuch (or the Law) || style="text-align:right;border:none" | 187 || style="border:none"|
|-
| style="border:none"| || [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]]     || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|50
|-
| || [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]]      || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|40
|-
| || [[Leviticus]]   || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|27
|-
| || [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]]     || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|36
|-
| || [[Deuteronomy]] || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|34
|- style="border-top-width:3px; border-top-style:solid; font-size:1.1em; font-weight:bold"
|colspan=2|Historical Books || style="text-align:right;border:none"|249 || style="border:none"|
|-
| || [[Book of Joshua|Joshua]]      || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|24
|-
| || [[Book of Judges|Judges]]      || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|21
|-
| || [[Book of Ruth|Ruth]]        || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|4
|-
| || [[1 Samuel]]    || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|31
|-
| || [[2 Samuel]]    || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|24
|-
| || [[1 Kings]]     || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|22
|-
| || [[2 Kings]]     || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|25
|-
| || [[1 Chronicles]]|| colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|29
|-
| || [[2 Chronicles]]|| colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|36
|-
| || [[Book of Ezra|Ezra]]        || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|10
|-
| || [[Book of Nehemiah|Nehemiah]]    || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|13
|-
| || [[Book of Esther|Esther]]      || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|10
|- style="border-top-width:3px; border-top-style:solid; font-size:1.1em; font-weight:bold"
|colspan=2|Books of Wisdom (or "Poetry") || style="text-align:right;border:none"|243 || style="border:none"|
|-
| || [[Book of Job|Job]]         || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|42
|-
| || [[Book of Psalms|Psalms]]      || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|150
|-
| || [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]]    || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|31
|-
| || [[Ecclesiastes]]|| colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|12
|-
| || [[Song of Solomon]]|| colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|8
|- style="border-top-width:3px; border-top-style:solid; font-size:1.1em; font-weight:bold"
|colspan=2|Major Prophets  || style="text-align:right;border:none"|183 || style="border:none"|
|-
| || [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]]         || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|66
|-
| || [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]]       || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|52
|-
| || [[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]]   || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|5 
|-
| || [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]]        || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|48
|-
| || [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]]         || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|12
|- style="border-top-width:3px; border-top-style:solid; font-size:1.1em; font-weight:bold"
|colspan=2|Minor Prophets  || style="text-align:right;border:none"|67 || style="border:none"|
|-
| || [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]]          || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|14
|-
| || [[Book of Joel|Joel]]           || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|3
|-
| || [[Book of Amos|Amos]]           || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|9
|-
| || [[Book of Obadiah|Obadiah]]        || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|1
|-
| || [[Book of Jonah|Jonah]]          || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|4
|-
| || [[Book of Micah|Micah]]          || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|7
|-
| || [[Book of Nahum|Nahum]]          || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|3
|-
| || [[Book of Habakkuk|Habakkuk]]       || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|3
|-
| || [[Book of Zephaniah|Zephaniah]]      || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|3
|-
| || [[Book of Haggai|Haggai]]         || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|2
|-
| || [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]]      || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|14
|-
| || [[Book of Malachi|Malachi]]        || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|4
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:25px; float:left; clear:right"
|+ New Testament – 260 chapters<ref name="blueletterbiblebooks" />
|-
! colspan=2|Book / Division !! colspan=2|Chapters
|- style="border-top-width:3px; border-top-style:solid; font-size:1.1em; font-weight:bold"
|colspan=2|Gospels || style="text-align:right;border:none"|89 || style="border:none"|
|-
| style="border:none"| || [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]]     || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|28
|-
| || [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]]         || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|16
|-
| || [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]]         || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|24
|-
| || [[The Gospel According to John|John]]         || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|21
|- style="border-top-width:3px; border-top-style:solid; font-size:1.1em; font-weight:bold"
|colspan=2|History || style="text-align:right;border:none"|28 || style="border:none"|
|-
| || [[Acts]]         || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|28
|- style="border-top-width:3px; border-top-style:solid; font-size:1.1em; font-weight:bold"
|colspan=2|Pauline Epistles || style="text-align:right;border:none"|87 || style="border:none"|
|-
| || [[Epistle to the Romans|Romans]]       || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|16
|-
| || [[1 Corinthians]]|| colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|16
|-
| || [[2 Corinthians]]|| colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|13
|-
| || [[Epistle to the Galatians|Galatians]]    || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|6
|-
| || [[Ephesians]]    || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|6
|-
| || [[Philippians]]  || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|4
|-
| || [[Colossians]]   || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|4
|-
| || [[1 Thessalonians]]|| colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|5
|-
| || [[2 Thessalonians]]|| colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|3
|-
| || [[1 Timothy]]    || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|6
|-
| || [[2 Timothy]]    || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|4
|-
| || [[Epistle to Titus|Titus]]        || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|3
|-
| || [[Epistle to Philemon|Philemon]]     || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|1
|- style="border-top-width:3px; border-top-style:solid; font-size:1.1em; font-weight:bold"
|colspan=2|General Epistles || style="text-align:right;border:none"|34 || style="border:none"|
|-
| || [[Epistle to the Hebrews|Hebrews]]      || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|13
|-
| || [[Epistle of James|James]]        || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|5
|-
| || [[1 Peter]]      || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|5
|-
| || [[2 Peter]]      || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|3
|-
| || [[1 John]]       || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|5
|-
| || [[2 John]]       || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|1
|-
| || [[3 John]]       || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|1
|-
| || [[Epistle of Jude|Jude]]         || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|1
|- style="border-top-width:3px; border-top-style:solid; font-size:1.1em; font-weight:bold"
|colspan=2|Apocalyptic Writings
(Prophecy) 
| style="text-align:right;border:none" |22 || style="border:none"|
|-
| || [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]]   || colspan=2 style="text-align:right"|22
|}
{{clear}}

===Verses===
* There are 23,145 verses in the Old Testament and 7,957 verses in the New Testament. This gives a total of 31,102 verses,<ref name="blueletterbiblebooks">{{Cite web |title=The 66 Books of the Bible - Study Resources |url=https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/misc/66books.cfm |access-date=2023-05-09 |website=Blue Letter Bible |language=en}}</ref> which is an average of a little more than 26 verses per chapter and 471 verses per book.
* [[Psalm 103]]:1–2 being the 15,551st and 15,552nd verses is in the middle of the 31,102 verses of the Bible.
* [[John 11:35]]<ref>{{bibleref|John|11:35|NASB}}</ref> ("[[Jesus wept]]") is the shortest verse in most English translations. Some translations—including the New International Version, New Living Translation, New Life Version, Holman Christian Standard Bible and New International Reader's Version—render Job 3:2<ref>{{bibleverse||Job|3:2|HE}}</ref> as "He said". However, that is a translators' condensation of the Hebrew which literally translated is: "And Job answered and said."
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* The shortest verse in the [[Novum Testamentum Graece|Greek New Testament]] is Luke 20:30<ref>{{bibleverse||Luke|20:30|NASB}}</ref> ("και ο δευτερος", "And the second") with twelve letters, according to the [[The New Testament in the Original Greek|Westcott and Hort]] text. In the [[Textus Receptus]], the shortest verse is 1 Thessalonians 5:16<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Thessalonians|5:16|NASB}}</ref> ("παντοτε χαιρετε", "Rejoice always") with fourteen letters,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=5585 |title=First Thessalonians 5:12–28|first1=John |last1=Walvoord|author-link1=John Walvoord|website=Bible.org}}</ref> since [[Robert Estienne|Stephanus]]' rendering of Luke 20:30 includes some additional words.<ref>[http://studybible.info/LXX_WH-IGNT-KJV/Luke%2020:30 Luke 20:30 και ο δευτερος – and the second] with interlinear Greek-English and KJV<br />[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2020:30&version=TR1550;WHNU Luke 20:30], in the 1550 [[Robert Estienne|Stephanus]] New Testament and the 1881 [[The New Testament in the Original Greek|Westcott-Hort]] New Testament.</ref>
* [[1 Chronicles 1]]:24<ref>{{bibleref|1 Chronicles|1:24|ESV}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/13-1suppl-nets.pdf|chapter= 1 Chronicles |title= A New English Translation of the Septuagint}}</ref> ("Σαλα", "[[Selah (biblical figure)|Shelah]]") is the shortest verse in the [[Septuagint]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.academic-bible.com/en/online-bibles/septuagint-lxx/read-the-bible-text/bibel/text/lesen/stelle/13/10001/19999/ch/a90dc3a8a65a5859c839b3468f1ee281/|title=Read the Bible text :: academic-bible.com|website=www.academic-bible.com}}</ref>
* [[1 Kings 12]]:24<ref>{{bibleref|1 Kings|12:24|ESV}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/11-3reigns-nets.pdf |chapter=3 Kings  |title=A New English Translation of the Septuagint}}</ref> is the longest verse in the Septuagint (1,017 words).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.academic-bible.com/en/online-bibles/septuagint-lxx/read-the-bible-text/bibel/text/lesen/stelle/11/120001/129999/ch/ac9a14ada853990388b597084de98d4c/|title=Read the Bible text :: academic-bible.com|website=www.academic-bible.com}}</ref> 
* [[Isaiah 10]]:8<ref>{{bibleref|Isaiah|10:8|ESV}}</ref> ("{{lang|la|Dicet enim}}", "For he shall say") is the shortest verse in the Latin [[Vulgate]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=0&b=27&c=10|title=Isaias 10|website=LatinVulgate.com}}</ref>
* [[Esther 8:9]]<ref>{{bibleverse||Esther|8:9|ESV}}</ref> is the longest verse in the Masoretic Text. The discovery of several manuscripts at [[Qumran]] (in the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]]) has reopened what is considered the most original text of 1 Samuel 11; if one believes that those manuscripts better preserve the text, several verses in 1 Samuel 11 surpass Esther 8:9 in length.
* [[Exodus 20]]:13,14,15<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|20|ESV}}</ref> and [[Deuteronomy 5:17]]<ref>{{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|5:17|ES}}</ref> are the shortest verses in the Masoretic Text.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Read the Bible text :: academic-bible.com |url=https://www.academic-bible.com/en/online-bibles/biblia-hebraica-stuttgartensia-bhs/read-the-bible-text/bibel/text/lesen/stelle/2/200001/209999/ch/ff21ce77cf81042bd9167a711eefbdfe/ |access-date=2023-05-09 |website=www.academic-bible.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Read the Bible text: academic-bible.com |url=https://www.academic-bible.com/en/online-bibles/biblia-hebraica-stuttgartensia-bhs/read-the-bible-text/bibel/text/lesen/stelle/5/50001/59999/ch/fa0bb2f4ac4920b7a4e0d8dd04824775/ |access-date=2023-05-09 |website=www.academic-bible.com}}</ref>
* [[John 11]]:25<ref>{{bibleverse||John|11:25|ESV}}</ref> is the most read verse in funerals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.funeralhomesusa.com/articles/funeral-quotes-from-the-bible/|title=Funeral Quotes from the Bible}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Bible}}
* [[Bible]]
* [[Bible citation]]
* [[List of New Testament verses not included in modern English translations|List of omitted Bible (New Testament) verses]]
* [[Parashah]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://holyword.church/miscellaneous-resources/how-many-words-in-each-book-of-the-bible/ How Many Words In Each Book of the Bible] Sortable table of data about chapters, verses, words, and other info on each Bible book
* [http://www.crosswire.org/bsisg/download.htm STEP Documentation]
* [http://www.ccel.org/refsys/refsys.html OSIS Documentation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014205114/http://www.ccel.org/refsys/refsys.html |date=2012-10-14 }}

{{Books of the Bible|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapters And Verses Of The Bible}}
[[Category:13th-century introductions]]
[[Category:Bible chapters| ]]
[[Category:Bible verses| ]]
[[Category:Referencing systems]]