Chapters and verses of the Bible facts for kids

The Gospel of John showing chapters and verses (King James Version)

The Bible is a collection of many shorter books. These books were written at different times by various authors. Later, they were put together to form the Bible we know today. Most of these books have been divided into chapters. These chapters are usually about a page long. This division started in the early 1200s. Since the mid-1500s, each chapter has been further divided into "verses." Verses are typically just a few short lines or sentences.

How the Bible is Organized

The Bible is split into two main parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. Each part contains many books, and each book is divided into chapters and verses. This makes it easier to find specific parts of the Bible.

Chapters in the Bible

"They will turn their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not fight against other nations, and they will not train for war anymore." ~ Isaiah 2:4 KJV (A Bible verse displayed across the street from the United Nations Building in New York City)

There are 929 chapters in the Old Testament. These chapters are grouped into different types of books:

• 187 chapters are in the Pentateuch (the first five books).
• 249 chapters are in the Historical books.
• 243 chapters are in the Poetic books, also called "Wisdom" books.
• 183 chapters are in the Major prophets.
• 67 chapters are in the Minor prophets.

There are 260 chapters in the New Testament. These are also grouped:

• 89 chapters are in the Gospels (stories about Jesus's life).
• 28 chapters are in the book of Acts (about the early church).
• 87 chapters are in the letters written by Paul (Pauline Epistles, not including Hebrews).
• 34 chapters are in the General Epistles (other letters, including Hebrews).
• 22 chapters are in Revelation (a book of prophecy).

In total, the Bible has 1,189 chapters. On average, each book has about 18 chapters.

Interesting Facts About Chapters

• Psalm 117 is the middle chapter of the entire Bible. It is the 595th chapter.
• Psalm 117 is also the shortest chapter in the Bible.
• Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible.
• Five books in the Bible have only one chapter. These are Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude. In many printed Bibles, the chapter number is left out for these books. You just use the verse numbers to find a specific part.

Images for kids

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  Isaiah chapter 40, verse 8 in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and German. This image shows the verse analyzed word-by-word. In English, this verse means "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever." (from Elias Hutter, 1602)