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Chapters and verses of the Bible facts for kids

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John 1
Gospel according to John showing chapters and verses (King James Version)

The Bible is a compilation of many shorter books written at different times by a variety of authors, and later assembled into the biblical canon. All but the shortest of these books have been divided into chapters, generally a page or so in length, since the early 13th century. Since the mid-16th century, each chapter has been further divided into "verses" of a few short lines or sentences.

Chapters

Isaiah Wall
"...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 United Nations Building in New York City)
  • There are 929 chapters in the Old Testament.
    • 187 chapters in the Pentateuch
    • 249 chapters in the Historical books
    • 243 chapters in the Poetic books ("Wisdom")
    • 183 chapters in the Major prophets
    • 67 chapters in the Minor prophets
  • There are 260 chapters in the New Testament.
    • 89 chapters in the Gospels
    • 28 chapters in Acts
    • 87 chapters in the Pauline Epistles (excluding Hebrews)
    • 34 chapters in the General Epistles (including Hebrews)
    • 22 chapters in Revelation
  • This gives a total of 1,189 chapters (on average, 18 per book).
  • Psalm 117 is the middle chapter of the Bible, being the 595th Chapter.
  • Psalm 117 is also the shortest chapter of the Bible.
  • Psalm 119 is the longest chapter of the Bible.
  • Five books are a single chapter: Obadiah, Philemon, 2 & 3 John, Jude. In many printed editions, the chapter number is omitted for these books, and references just use the verse numbers.
Old Testament - 929 chapters
Book / Division Chapters
Pentateuch 187
Genesis 50
Exodus 40
Leviticus 27
Numbers 36
Deuteronomy 34
Historical Books 249
Joshua 24
Judges 21
Ruth 4
1 Samuel 31
2 Samuel 24
1 Kings 22
2 Kings 25
1 Chronicles 29
2 Chronicles 36
Ezra 10
Nehemiah 13
Esther 10
Books of Wisdom (or "Poetry") 243
Job 42
Psalms 150
Proverbs 31
Ecclesiastes 12
Song of Solomon 8
Major Prophets 183
Isaiah 66
Jeremiah 52
Lamentations 5
Ezekiel 48
Daniel 12
Minor Prophets 67
Hosea 14
Joel 3
Amos 9
Obadiah 1
Jonah 4
Micah 7
Nahum 3
Habakkuk 3
Zephaniah 3
Haggai 2
Zechariah 14
Malachi 4
New Testament - 260 chapters
Book / Division Chapters
Gospels 89
Matthew 28
Mark 16
Luke 24
John 21
History 28
Acts 28
Pauline Epistles 87
Romans 16
1 Corinthians 16
2 Corinthians 13
Galatians 6
Ephesians 6
Philippians 4
Colossians 4
1 Thessalonians 5
2 Thessalonians 3
1 Timothy 6
2 Timothy 4
Titus 3
Philemon 1
General Epistles 34
Hebrews 13
James 5
1 Peter 5
2 Peter 3
1 John 5
2 John 1
3 John 1
Jude 1
Apocalyptic Writings 22
Revelation 22

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Chapters and verses of the Bible Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.