By The Water
Job has 42 chapters and 1,070 verses. In the King James text that is 18,098 words, which takes about 1 hr 30 min to read at an ordinary pace of 200 words a minute — the Bible’s long, unflinching argument about why good people suffer.
Job in numbers
| Chapters | 42 |
|---|---|
| Verses | 1,070 |
| Words (KJV) | 18,098 |
| Reading time at 200 wpm | 1 hr 30 min |
| Testament | Old Testament |
| Type of writing | Hebrew poetry with a prose frame |
| Author | Unknown |
| Place in the Bible | Possibly the oldest book in the Bible; the setting is patriarchal |
Counted from the King James text in the By The Water app, not estimated. See the same figures for all 66 books.
Job is 42 chapters about a question the book refuses to answer cheaply. A blameless man loses his children, his wealth and his health in a matter of days. Three friends arrive, sit with him in silence for a week — the best thing they do — and then spend twenty-five chapters explaining that he must have deserved it.
The structure is the thing to understand before you start, because almost all of the middle is speeches, and many of those speeches are wrong. The friends argue that suffering is always punishment. Job insists he is innocent and demands a hearing. When God finally speaks from the whirlwind, he does not explain the suffering at all; he asks Job sixty questions about the world Job did not make. And then he tells the friends they have not spoken rightly of him — and Job has.
Job is quoted at funerals and in hospital rooms more than almost any book except Psalms, and it earns that by never pretending the pain is small.
Key chapters in Job
- Job 1–2 — The prologue, and the only place where the reader is told what is going on.
- Job 3 — Job curses the day he was born — the tone of the next thirty chapters.
- Job 19:25 — “I know that my redeemer liveth.”
- Job 38–41 — God answers out of the whirlwind.
- Job 42 — Job’s reply, and God’s verdict on the friends.
Read Job in a month
Split by verse count rather than by chapter, so the days come out even — no more than about 5 minutes on the heaviest day. Print it, or tick it off on screen.
| Done | Day | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Job 1–2 | |
| Day 2 | Job 3 | |
| Day 3 | Job 4–5 | |
| Day 4 | Job 6 | |
| Day 5 | Job 7–8 | |
| Day 6 | Job 9 | |
| Day 7 | Job 10–11 | |
| Day 8 | Job 12 | |
| Day 9 | Job 13 | |
| Day 10 | Job 14–15 | |
| Day 11 | Job 16 | |
| Day 12 | Job 17–18 | |
| Day 13 | Job 19 | |
| Day 14 | Job 20 | |
| Day 15 | Job 21 | |
| Day 16 | Job 22–23 | |
| Day 17 | Job 24–26 | |
| Day 18 | Job 27 | |
| Day 19 | Job 28–29 | |
| Day 20 | Job 30 | |
| Day 21 | Job 31 | |
| Day 22 | Job 32 | |
| Day 23 | Job 33 | |
| Day 24 | Job 34 | |
| Day 25 | Job 35–36 | |
| Day 26 | Job 37 | |
| Day 27 | Job 38 | |
| Day 28 | Job 39 | |
| Day 29 | Job 40 | |
| Day 30 | Job 41–42 |
Where Job falls in a one-year plan
If you are reading the whole Bible in 2027, here is when you reach Job in each of the four plans on this site — computed from the plans themselves, with 2027 dates.
| Plan | When you read Job | Reading days |
|---|---|---|
| Bible in a Year | Days 172–188 (Mon, Jun 21 to Wed, Jul 7) | 17 days |
| Chronological | Days 4–16 (Mon, Jan 4 to Sat, Jan 16) | 13 days |
| Cover to Cover | Days 153–164 (Wed, Jun 2 to Sun, Jun 13) | 12 days |
| New to the Bible | Days 226–237 (Sat, Aug 14 to Wed, Aug 25) | 12 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 Psalms — 150 chapters, 3 hr 33 min
- The Book of Proverbs — 31 chapters, 1 hr 15 min
- The Book of Isaiah — 66 chapters, 3 hr 5 min
- All 66 books — chapters, verses and reading time
- How long does it take to read the whole Bible?