By The Water
Ephesians has 6 chapters and 155 verses. In the King James text that is 3,022 words, which takes about 15 min to read at an ordinary pace of 200 words a minute — six chapters, fifteen minutes, and one of the best short books to start with.
Ephesians in numbers
| Chapters | 6 |
|---|---|
| Verses | 155 |
| Words (KJV) | 3,022 |
| Reading time at 200 wpm | 15 min |
| Testament | New Testament |
| Type of writing | Letter |
| Author | Paul, writing from prison |
| Place in the Bible | One of the four “prison letters”, with Philippians, Colossians and Philemon |
Counted from the King James text in the By The Water app, not estimated. See the same figures for all 66 books.
Ephesians is short enough to read in a sitting and rich enough to spend a year on. Six chapters, 155 verses, about fifteen minutes at an ordinary pace — and unusually for Paul, it is not fixing a crisis. There is no scandal being addressed, which leaves the letter free to describe what the church actually is.
It divides exactly in half. Chapters 1–3 are about what God has done: chosen, adopted, raised, brought near, made one people out of two. Chapters 4–6 are about what follows — unity, honest speech, work, marriage, family, and the armour of God at the end. The hinge is the word “therefore” at the start of chapter 4.
Because it is brief and self-contained, Ephesians is one of the best books to read repeatedly. Reading it once a week for a month costs about an hour in total and is a genuinely different experience from reading it once.
Key chapters in Ephesians
- Ephesians 1 — One long sentence in Greek about every spiritual blessing.
- Ephesians 2:1–10 — “By grace are ye saved through faith.”
- Ephesians 2:11–22 — The wall broken down; two made one.
- Ephesians 4 — The “therefore” — and how unity actually works.
- Ephesians 6:10–20 — The whole armour of God.
Read Ephesians in 6 days
Split by verse count rather than by chapter, so the days come out even — no more than about 3 minutes on the heaviest day. Print it, or tick it off on screen.
| Done | Day | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Ephesians 1 | |
| Day 2 | Ephesians 2 | |
| Day 3 | Ephesians 3 | |
| Day 4 | Ephesians 4 | |
| Day 5 | Ephesians 5 | |
| Day 6 | Ephesians 6 |
Where Ephesians falls in a one-year plan
If you are reading the whole Bible in 2027, here is when you reach Ephesians in each of the four plans on this site — computed from the plans themselves, with 2027 dates.
| Plan | When you read Ephesians | Reading days |
|---|---|---|
| Bible in a Year | Days 236–243 (Tue, Aug 24 to Tue, Aug 31) | 6 days |
| Chronological | Days 347–348 (Mon, Dec 13 to Tue, Dec 14) | 2 days |
| Cover to Cover | Days 343–344 (Thu, Dec 9 to Fri, Dec 10) | 2 days |
| New to the Bible | Days 82–83 (Tue, Mar 23 to Wed, Mar 24) | 2 days |
Each plan is printable in full: compare all four reading plans.
Paper plans work — until you miss a day
A printed plan is a good start. The trouble usually comes in February: a busy week, three unticked boxes, then six, and the plan quietly ends. By The Water has this exact plan built in, and it is designed for the days life gets in the way.
- Today's reading, readyOpen the app and today's chapters are waiting on the Today tab. No hunting for where you left off.
- Every chapter tracked and savedEach chapter you read is checked off and saved to your account, so a new phone doesn't mean starting over.
- See how far you've comeA progress ring shows how much of the Bible you've read, and how far through the current book you are.
- A finish date that moves with you“Started Jan 2027 · Estimated finish: Dec 2027” updates as you read, so you always know where you stand.
- Miss a day without falling apartThe plan picks up at your next unread chapter, not a calendar date — so a missed week never becomes a wall of overdue readings.
- Reminders and streaksA daily reminder at the time you choose, and a reading streak to keep you coming back.
Free to start: the reading plans, progress tracking, streaks and reminders are all free in the app.
Nearby books
- The Book of Romans — 16 chapters, 47 min
- The Book of Acts — 28 chapters, 2 hr 1 min
- The Book of John — 21 chapters, 1 hr 35 min
- All 66 books — chapters, verses and reading time
- How long does it take to read the whole Bible?