By The Water
Genesis has 50 chapters and 1,533 verses. In the King James text that is 38,265 words, which takes about 3 hr 11 min to read at an ordinary pace of 200 words a minute — the Bible’s book of beginnings — creation, the flood, and one family called to bless the world. That makes it the fourth longest book in the Bible by word count.
Genesis in numbers
| Chapters | 50 |
|---|---|
| Verses | 1,533 |
| Words (KJV) | 38,265 |
| Reading time at 200 wpm | 3 hr 11 min |
| Testament | Old Testament |
| Type of writing | Narrative and genealogy |
| Author | Traditionally attributed to Moses |
| Place in the Bible | Set at the beginning; written or compiled in its present form well before the exile |
Counted from the King James text in the By The Water app, not estimated. See the same figures for all 66 books.
Genesis is the book everything else refers back to. It opens with creation and the garden, moves through the flood and the scattering at Babel, and then narrows sharply: from the whole human race down to one man, Abraham, and the promise that through his family “all the families of the earth” will be blessed. The last half is a family story — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph — told with unusual honesty about how badly that family behaves.
Two things surprise first-time readers. The first is how quickly it moves: eleven chapters cover everything from creation to Abraham, then thirty-nine chapters cover four generations of one household. The weight of the book is on the family, not the cosmos. The second is that the chosen family is never the tidy one. Jacob deceives his father, his sons sell their brother into slavery, and the book still ends with Joseph telling them God meant it for good.
If you are starting the Bible, Genesis is the right place to start. Almost every image the rest of Scripture uses — garden, flood, covenant, promise, exile, a sacrifice in the place of a son — is introduced here first.
Key chapters in Genesis
- Genesis 1–2 — Creation, and the seventh-day rest the rest of the Bible keeps returning to.
- Genesis 3 — The garden, the serpent and the first promise of a rescuer.
- Genesis 12 — God calls Abram and makes the promise the whole Bible then follows.
- Genesis 22 — Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah — the hardest chapter in the book.
- Genesis 37–50 — The Joseph story, and the line that ends it: “ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good.”
Read Genesis in a month
Split by verse count rather than by chapter, so the days come out even — no more than about 10 minutes on the heaviest day. Print it, or tick it off on screen.
| Done | Day | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Genesis 1–2 | |
| Day 2 | Genesis 3–4 | |
| Day 3 | Genesis 5–6 | |
| Day 4 | Genesis 7–8 | |
| Day 5 | Genesis 9–10 | |
| Day 6 | Genesis 11 | |
| Day 7 | Genesis 12–14 | |
| Day 8 | Genesis 15–16 | |
| Day 9 | Genesis 17–18 | |
| Day 10 | Genesis 19–20 | |
| Day 11 | Genesis 21–22 | |
| Day 12 | Genesis 23 | |
| Day 13 | Genesis 24 | |
| Day 14 | Genesis 25–26 | |
| Day 15 | Genesis 27 | |
| Day 16 | Genesis 28–29 | |
| Day 17 | Genesis 30 | |
| Day 18 | Genesis 31 | |
| Day 19 | Genesis 32 | |
| Day 20 | Genesis 33–34 | |
| Day 21 | Genesis 35–36 | |
| Day 22 | Genesis 37 | |
| Day 23 | Genesis 38–39 | |
| Day 24 | Genesis 40–41 | |
| Day 25 | Genesis 42 | |
| Day 26 | Genesis 43 | |
| Day 27 | Genesis 44–45 | |
| Day 28 | Genesis 46 | |
| Day 29 | Genesis 47–48 | |
| Day 30 | Genesis 49–50 |
Where Genesis falls in a one-year plan
If you are reading the whole Bible in 2027, here is when you reach Genesis in each of the four plans on this site — computed from the plans themselves, with 2027 dates.
| Plan | When you read Genesis | Reading days |
|---|---|---|
| Bible in a Year | Days 1–20 (Fri, Jan 1 to Wed, Jan 20) | 20 days |
| Chronological | Days 1–32 (Fri, Jan 1 to Mon, Feb 1) | 20 days |
| Cover to Cover | Days 1–19 (Fri, Jan 1 to Tue, Jan 19) | 19 days |
| New to the Bible | Days 18–36 (Mon, Jan 18 to Fri, Feb 5) | 19 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 Exodus — 40 chapters, 2 hr 43 min
- The Book of Job — 42 chapters, 1 hr 30 min
- The Book of Psalms — 150 chapters, 3 hr 33 min
- All 66 books — chapters, verses and reading time
- How long does it take to read the whole Bible?