The short answer
About 53 hours. The World English Bible has 756,207 words, and adults read about 238 words a minute on average, so the whole Bible takes roughly 53 hours: about 41 for the Old Testament and 12 for the New. Spread over a year, that is about 9 minutes a day.
How we timed the Bible
We counted every word of the World English Bible, the modern-English edition included in Versomi: 756,207 words in 66 books and 1,189 chapters. Then we divided by 238 words a minute, the average silent reading speed for adults reading non-fiction, from a 2019 review of reading-rate research by the psychologist Marc Brysbaert.
Your own time will differ. Lists of names go quickly, while poetry and Paul’s longer arguments go slowly, and stopping to think is part of the point. Treat these numbers as a planning guide, not a target.
How long does the whole Bible take at different speeds?
- 200 words a minute, an unhurried pace: about 63 hours.
- 238 words a minute, the adult average: about 53 hours.
- 300 words a minute, a fast reader: about 42 hours.
- Listening: audiobook narrators often read at about 150 to 160 words a minute, so an audio Bible runs roughly 80 to 85 hours.
Other translations land close to these numbers. The American Standard Version is a little longer, at about 785,000 words, and the Berean Standard Bible a little shorter, at about 726,000.
How long each part of the Bible takes
The Old Testament is about three quarters of the Bible: 581,460 words, or about 41 hours of reading. The New Testament has 174,747 words, about 12 hours, which you could finish in a month at 25 minutes a day.
| Section | Books | Reading time |
|---|---|---|
| Law (Genesis to Deuteronomy) | 5 | 10 h 25 min |
| History (Joshua to Esther) | 12 | 13 h 30 min |
| Poetry and wisdom (Job to Song of Solomon) | 5 | 5 h 45 min |
| Major prophets (Isaiah to Daniel) | 5 | 9 h 2 min |
| Minor prophets (Hosea to Malachi) | 12 | 2 h 1 min |
| Gospels (Matthew to John) | 4 | 5 h 37 min |
| Acts | 1 | 1 h 37 min |
| Paul’s letters (Romans to Philemon) | 13 | 3 h 2 min |
| Other letters (Hebrews to Jude) | 8 | 1 h 10 min |
| Revelation | 1 | 48 min |
How long does each book of the Bible take to read?
Here is every book in the order most Bibles print them, timed at 238 words a minute and rounded to the nearest minute.
| Book | Chapters | Reading time |
|---|---|---|
| Genesis | 50 | 2 h 30 min |
| Exodus | 40 | 2 h 10 min |
| Leviticus | 27 | 1 h 39 min |
| Numbers | 36 | 2 h 11 min |
| Deuteronomy | 34 | 1 h 55 min |
| Joshua | 24 | 1 h 15 min |
| Judges | 21 | 1 h 15 min |
| Ruth | 4 | 10 min |
| 1 Samuel | 31 | 1 h 39 min |
| 2 Samuel | 24 | 1 h 22 min |
| 1 Kings | 22 | 1 h 37 min |
| 2 Kings | 25 | 1 h 33 min |
| 1 Chronicles | 29 | 1 h 21 min |
| 2 Chronicles | 36 | 1 h 44 min |
| Ezra | 10 | 30 min |
| Nehemiah | 13 | 42 min |
| Esther | 10 | 23 min |
| Job | 42 | 1 h 14 min |
| Psalms | 150 | 2 h 56 min |
| Proverbs | 31 | 1 h 1 min |
| Ecclesiastes | 12 | 23 min |
| Song of Solomon | 8 | 11 min |
| Isaiah | 66 | 2 h 29 min |
| Jeremiah | 52 | 2 h 53 min |
| Lamentations | 5 | 14 min |
| Ezekiel | 48 | 2 h 38 min |
| Daniel | 12 | 47 min |
| Hosea | 14 | 21 min |
| Joel | 3 | 8 min |
| Amos | 9 | 17 min |
| Obadiah | 1 | 3 min |
| Jonah | 4 | 5 min |
| Micah | 7 | 12 min |
| Nahum | 3 | 5 min |
| Habakkuk | 3 | 6 min |
| Zephaniah | 3 | 7 min |
| Haggai | 2 | 4 min |
| Zechariah | 14 | 25 min |
| Malachi | 4 | 7 min |
| Book | Chapters | Reading time |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew | 28 | 1 h 36 min |
| Mark | 16 | 1 h |
| Luke | 24 | 1 h 43 min |
| John | 21 | 1 h 19 min |
| Acts | 28 | 1 h 37 min |
| Romans | 16 | 40 min |
| 1 Corinthians | 16 | 39 min |
| 2 Corinthians | 13 | 26 min |
| Galatians | 6 | 13 min |
| Ephesians | 6 | 13 min |
| Philippians | 4 | 9 min |
| Colossians | 4 | 8 min |
| 1 Thessalonians | 5 | 8 min |
| 2 Thessalonians | 3 | 4 min |
| 1 Timothy | 6 | 10 min |
| 2 Timothy | 4 | 7 min |
| Titus | 3 | 4 min |
| Philemon | 1 | 2 min |
| Hebrews | 13 | 29 min |
| James | 5 | 9 min |
| 1 Peter | 5 | 10 min |
| 2 Peter | 3 | 6 min |
| 1 John | 5 | 10 min |
| 2 John | 1 | 1 min |
| 3 John | 1 | 1 min |
| Jude | 1 | 3 min |
| Revelation | 22 | 48 min |
Which books of the Bible can you read in one sitting?
Short books are a good way to start, because you finish something on the first day.
- Jonah: 4 chapters, about 5 minutes.
- Philippians: Paul’s warmest letter, about 9 minutes.
- James: practical and direct, about 9 minutes.
- Ruth: a family story in 4 chapters, about 10 minutes.
- 1 John: about 10 minutes.
- Mark: the shortest Gospel, about an hour, or a week at 10 minutes a day.
The longest books are Psalms (about 2 hours 56 minutes), Jeremiah (2 hours 53 minutes), Ezekiel, Genesis and Isaiah. Psalms reads best a few at a time anyway.
How long it takes at 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes a day
A small daily goal gets through the whole Bible sooner than most people expect:
- 5 minutes a day: about 21 months.
- 10 minutes a day: about 10½ months.
- 15 minutes a day: about 7 months.
- 20 minutes a day: a little over 5 months.
Those are the goal sizes in Versomi. Pick one and the app times your reading, keeps your place, and marks each day you reach the goal, so you don’t need a chart or a bookmark.
Should you read faster to finish sooner?
No. Speed is the least useful number on this page. A chapter you read slowly and remember does more than three you skim, and the Bible’s poetry and letters are written to be read more than once.
If the totals feel big, start with a single book and a small daily goal; our guide to where to start reading the Bible suggests which. If reading is hard for you, listening counts too. Versomi’s Listen (beta) reads verses aloud with your iPhone’s built-in voice, even offline.
Common questions
How long does it take to read the New Testament?
About 12 hours at an average reading pace. The New Testament has 27 books and 174,747 words in the World English Bible, so 25 minutes a day finishes it in about a month.
How long does it take to read the Bible out loud?
Roughly 80 to 85 hours at a typical audiobook pace of 150 to 160 words a minute, compared with about 53 hours of silent reading at 238 words a minute.
What is the longest book of the Bible?
Psalms, by chapters and by words: 150 chapters and about 41,800 words in the World English Bible, or close to 3 hours of reading. Jeremiah is a close second by words.