How many works are in the Bible?

This article follows on from our earlier article “How Many Words in the Bible” in which we discuss the total number of words in the Bible, and cite 20+ different sources, with different word counts for different versions of the Bible.

We thought you might find it interesting to also see some more facts and figures about the Bible’s 66 different books.  So immediately below is a sortable table, showing the number of chapters, verses and words in each book of the Bible.  You can sort the table by clicking on any of the headings or search for words or word portions in the search box.

We have used the information from this site for the counts of chapters and verses, and the information here for the count of words.  The word count – 788,280 is based on the KJV and seems to be almost exactly as we’d expect (see our page on How Many Words in the Bible for more information on this).

There are some variations between versions with included/excluded text and verses, however, for the purpose of establishing the relative lengths of each book, these counts are very helpful.

#BookChaptersVersesWordsAuthorGenreOT/NT
1 Genesis 50 1533 38262 Moses Law OT
2 Exodus 40 1213 32685 Moses Law OT
3 Leviticus 27 859 24541 Moses Law OT
4 Numbers 36 1289 32896 Moses Law OT
5 Deuteronomy 34 959 28352 Moses Law OT
6 Joshua 24 658 18854 Unknown History OT
7 Judges 21 618 18966 Unknown History OT
8 Ruth 4 85 2574 Unknown History OT
9 1 Samuel 31 810 25048 Unknown History OT
10 2 Samuel 24 695 20600 Unknown History OT
11 1 Kings 22 816 24513 Unknown History OT
12 2 Kings 25 719 23517 Unknown History OT
13 1 Chronicles 29 942 20365 Ezra History OT
14 2 Chronicles 36 822 26069 Ezra History OT
15 Ezra 10 280 7440 Ezra History OT
16 Nehemiah 13 406 10480 Nehemiah History OT
17 Esther 10 167 5633 Unknown History OT
18 Job 42 1070 18098 Unknown Poetry OT
19 Psalms 150 2461 42704 Various Poetry OT
20 Proverbs 31 915 15038 Solomon Poetry OT
21 Ecclesiastes 12 222 5579 Solomon Poetry OT
22 Song of Solomon 8 117 2658 Solomon Poetry OT
23 Isaiah 66 1292 37036 Isaiah Prophecy OT
24 Jeremiah 52 1364 42654 Jeremiah Prophecy OT
25 Lamentations 5 154 3411 Jeremiah Poetry OT
26 Ezekiel 48 1273 39401 Ezekiel Prophecy OT
27 Daniel 12 357 11602 Daniel Prophecy OT
28 Hosea 14 197 5174 Hosea Prophecy OT
29 Joel 3 73 2033 Joel Prophecy OT
30 Amos 9 146 4216 Amos Prophecy OT
31 Obadiah 1 21 669 Obadiah Prophecy OT
32 Jonah 4 48 1320 Jonah Prophecy OT
33 Micah 7 105 3152 Micah Prophecy OT
34 Nahum 3 47 1284 Nahum Prophecy OT
35 Habakkuk 3 56 1475 Habakkuk Prophecy OT
36 Zephaniah 3 53 1616 Zephaniah Prophecy OT
37 Haggai 2 38 1130 Haggai Prophecy OT
38 Zechariah 14 211 6443 Zechariah Prophecy OT
39 Malachi 4 55 1781 Malachi Prophecy OT
40 Matthew 28 1071 23343 Matthew Gospel NT
41 Mark 16 678 14949 Mark Gospel NT
42 Luke 24 1151 25640 Luke Gospel NT
43 John 21 879 18658 John Gospel NT
44 Acts 28 1007 24229 Luke History NT
45 Romans 16 433 9422 Paul Letter NT
46 1 Corinthians 16 437 9462 Paul Letter NT
47 2 Corinthians 13 257 6046 Paul Letter NT
48 Galatians 6 149 3084 Paul Letter NT
49 Ephesians 6 155 3022 Paul Letter NT
50 Philippians 4 104 2183 Paul Letter NT
51 Colossians 4 95 1979 Paul Letter NT
52 1 Thessalonians 5 89 1837 Paul Letter NT
53 2 Thessalonians 3 47 1022 Paul Letter NT
54 1 Timothy 6 113 2244 Paul Letter NT
55 2 Timothy 4 83 1666 Paul Letter NT
56 Titus 3 46 896 Paul Letter NT
57 Philemon 1 25 430 Paul Letter NT
58 Hebrews 13 303 6897 Unknown Letter NT
59 James 5 108 2304 James Letter NT
60 1 Peter 5 105 2476 Peter Letter NT
61 2 Peter 3 61 1553 Peter Letter NT
62 1 John 5 105 2517 John Letter NT
63 2 John 1 13 298 John Letter NT
64 3 John 1 14 294 John Letter NT
65 Jude 1 25 608 Jude Letter NT
66 Revelation 22 404 11952 John Prophecy NT

Old and New Testament Lengths

According to our table of data above, there are 609,269 words in the Old Testament and 179,011 words in the New Testament, making a total of 788,280 words.

Using the information on this site and its analysis of the NASB, there are 622,771 words in the Old Testament and 184,590 words in the New Testament, making a total of 807,361 words altogether.

To offer you some more interesting facts and figures, according to this website, 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 said to be, in some calculates and translations, Psalm 118:8, but this source, citing the KJV, suggests it is Psalm 103:1-2. The middle verse of the Old Testament is [2 Chronicles 20:17], and the middle verse of the New Testament is Acts 17:17.

When using the KJV, there are 929 chapters and 23,145 verses in the Old Testament and 260 chapters and 7,957 verses in the New Testament. This gives a total of 31,102 verses, which is an average of 26.2 verses per chapter, and 25.3 words per verse.

Note that these calculations will vary slightly based on the Bible translation you use.

And, talking about Psalm 119, did you know it is an acrostic Psalm with 22 sections with eight lines. Each of the eight lines in each section starts with a Hebrew letter in the alphabet. The entire Hebrew alphabet outlines the chapter.

An acrostic is a poem, word puzzle, or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words.  In this case, of course, it is the first letter of each line.

How many works are there in the New Testament?

This is a list of the 27 books of the New Testament, ordered canonically according to most Christian traditions.

What are considered works in the Bible?

In Christian theology, good works, or simply works, are a person's (exterior) actions or deeds, in contrast to inner qualities such as grace or faith.

What are the works of the Lord?

What was the Lord's work, according to the evangelical mindset from which my spiritual consciousness emerged? It was ministry, missions, the pastorate; it involved preaching, baptizing, sharing the gospel, and praying.

Are there 66 or 73 books in the Bible?

And the Protestant Bible (which in some ways American culture prioritizes) has 66 books—39 of an 'Old Testament,' and 27 of a 'New Testament.