By The Water
The King James Bible is 789,593 words long. At an ordinary silent reading pace of 200 words a minute that is about 65 hr 48 min in total — 50 hr 46 min for the Old Testament and 15 hr 2 min for the New. Spread over a year it comes to roughly 11 minutes a day; at 15 minutes a day you finish in about 8 and a half months, and at 30 minutes a day in about 4 and a half months. These are counted from the text itself, not estimated.
“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”Psalm 90:12 (KJV)
The full accounting
Most answers to this question are estimates passed between websites. These are not. We counted the King James text that ships inside our app, word by word: 789,593 words across 66 books, 1,189 chapters and 31,102 verses. The Old Testament is 609,254 of those words and the New Testament 180,339 — so roughly 77% of the Bible is the Old Testament, which surprises most people the first time they see it.
At 200 words a minute — an ordinary silent reading pace for an adult — that is 65 hr 48 min of reading: 50 hr 46 min for the Old Testament, 15 hr 2 min for the New. The average chapter is 664 words, or about three and a half minutes.
How long at your reading speed
Reading speed matters more than anything else here, so start by picking the row that sounds like you.
| Reading speed | Who reads at this pace | The whole Bible |
|---|---|---|
| 150 words a minute | Slowly, or reading aloud | 87 hr 44 min |
| 200 words a minute | An ordinary silent reading pace | 65 hr 48 min |
| 250 words a minute | A brisk reader | 52 hr 38 min |
| 300 words a minute | Skimming — not recommended for this | 43 hr 52 min |
An audio Bible takes longer than any of these — most narrations run around 75 hours, because reading aloud is slower than reading silently.
How long at your daily pace
The same total, divided up the way people actually read. At 200 words a minute:
| If you read | That is about | You finish in |
|---|---|---|
| 5 minutes a day | 1.5 chapters | about 2 years and 2 months |
| 10 minutes a day | 3 chapters | about 13 months |
| 15 minutes a day | 4.5 chapters | about 8 and a half months |
| 20 minutes a day | 6 chapters | about 6 and a half months |
| 30 minutes a day | 9 chapters | about 4 and a half months |
| 60 minutes a day | 18.1 chapters | about 9 weeks |
The number worth sitting with is not in the table. About 11 minutes a day finishes the entire Bible in a year — less time than most people spend deciding what to watch. That is the whole argument for a one-year plan: it is not a heroic commitment, it is a small one repeated. See how to read the Bible in a year, or take one of the four free printable reading plans.
How long is each book?
The six longest books, which between them are nearly a third of the Bible:
| Book | Chapters | Words | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psalms | 150 | 42,685 | 3 hr 33 min |
| Jeremiah | 52 | 42,654 | 3 hr 33 min |
| Ezekiel | 48 | 39,402 | 3 hr 17 min |
| Genesis | 50 | 38,265 | 3 hr 11 min |
| Isaiah | 66 | 37,040 | 3 hr 5 min |
| Numbers | 36 | 32,893 | 2 hr 44 min |
- The four Gospels together are 83,883 words — about 6 hr 59 min. You can meet the whole life of Christ in a week of hour-long sittings.
- John alone is 1 hr 35 min, which is why it is the usual place to start.
- Five books are a single chapter — Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John and Jude. 3 John is the shortest book in the Bible at 294 words: under two minutes.
- Even Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible at 176 verses, is only about twelve minutes.
See the chapters, verses, word count and reading time for all 66 books — the full table, printable.
Reading time is not the real cost
Be honest about what actually stops read-throughs: it is rarely the minutes; it is comprehension and momentum. Fifteen dutiful minutes in Ezekiel's temple vision with no idea what is happening will end a plan faster than any busy week. Two remedies:
- Read with explanations at hand. A guided summary of each chapter — context, themes, key verse — keeps the hard chapters moving. By The Water carries one for all 1,189 chapters; the first chapter of every book is free.
- Watch your progress accumulate. A visible “chapters read / chapters left” and an estimated finish date convert an intimidating book into a walkable path — the app shows both, with separate Old and New Testament progress.
“Number your days” cuts both ways: the Bible is far shorter than we fear, and our years are shorter than we assume. Either way the arithmetic argues for starting today. If you're behind an existing plan, here's how to catch up.
Put the math into practice: our free Bible reading plans spread all 1,189 chapters over 365 days, about 11 minutes a day.
Open the word, not just a definition
By The Water does the numbering for you: a 365-day plan with today's chapters chosen, minutes estimated, and an estimated finish date that updates as you read — plus a guided insight for every chapter so the hard hours never go dark.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read the Bible in a year, per day?
About 11 minutes a day. The Bible is 789,593 words; divided over 365 days that is roughly 2,160 words daily, or 3.3 chapters at the average chapter length of 664 words.
How long does the New Testament alone take?
About 15 hr 2 min — 180,339 words across 260 chapters. At one chapter a day it takes under nine months; at 15 minutes a day, about nine weeks.
Can I really read the whole Bible in 90 days?
Yes — it needs about 44 minutes a day, roughly 13 chapters. It is a rewarding immersion if you have the season for it, but the one-year pace survives ordinary life far better.
How many words are in the Bible?
789,593 words in the King James text we counted — 609,254 in the Old Testament and 180,339 in the New. You will also see 783,137 quoted; that figure comes from a different edition and counting method, and the two differ by under a percent.
Does listening to an audio Bible count?
Scripture was written to be heard — most of its first audiences received it read aloud (Nehemiah 8:8, Revelation 1:3). An audio Bible runs around 75 hours, longer than reading it silently, because narration is slower. Many readers pair listening for coverage with reading for study.