What is the longest chapter in the Bible? Psalm 119 and the top 10
The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119: 176 verses and 2,467 words in the KJV. See how its 22-letter acrostic works and the top 10 longest chapters.
In this article
The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119, with 176 verses and 2,467 words in the King James Version (counting its 22 stanza headings). It is built as an acrostic: 22 stanzas of 8 verses, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and almost every verse speaks of God's word, law or commandments. The shortest chapter is Psalm 117, two chapters earlier, with just 2 verses.
Psalm 119 is long by any measure. The next longest chapter by verses, Numbers 7, has 89 verses, roughly half as many. By words, the runner-up is 1 Kings 8, Solomon's temple dedication, at 2,139 words.
Below are the top 10 longest chapters (by verses and by words, because the lists differ), how the acrostic works, the eight words for Scripture that run through it, and a simple way to read it in a week.
The 10 longest chapters in the Bible
All counts come from the KJV text used in the Bible Academy app, counted with a short script. The average chapter in the Bible has about 26 verses and 665 words, which puts these numbers in perspective.
By number of verses:
| Rank | Chapter | Verses | Words (KJV) | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psalm 119 | 176 | 2,467 | A long prayer of love for God's word |
| 2 | Numbers 7 | 89 | 1,939 | The tribal leaders' offerings at the tabernacle |
| 3 | 1 Chronicles 6 | 81 | 1,341 | The genealogy of the Levites |
| 4 | Luke 1 | 80 | 1,583 | The births of John the Baptist and Jesus announced |
| 5 | Matthew 26 | 75 | 1,625 | The Last Supper, Gethsemane and Jesus' arrest |
| 6 | Nehemiah 7 | 73 | 1,176 | The list of exiles who returned |
| 7 | Psalm 78 | 72 | 1,228 | Israel's history retold as a warning |
| 7 | Mark 14 | 72 | 1,595 | The Last Supper, Gethsemane and Peter's denial |
| 9 | Luke 22 | 71 | 1,396 | The Last Supper and the arrest |
| 9 | John 6 | 71 | 1,506 | Feeding the 5,000 and the bread of life |
By number of words:
| Rank | Chapter | Words (KJV) | Verses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psalm 119 | 2,467 | 176 |
| 2 | 1 Kings 8 | 2,139 | 66 |
| 3 | Deuteronomy 28 | 2,075 | 68 |
| 4 | Numbers 7 | 1,939 | 89 |
| 5 | Leviticus 13 | 1,857 | 59 |
| 6 | Jeremiah 51 | 1,853 | 64 |
| 7 | Ezekiel 16 | 1,820 | 63 |
| 8 | Genesis 24 | 1,816 | 67 |
| 9 | 1 Samuel 17 | 1,719 | 58 |
| 10 | Leviticus 14 | 1,713 | 57 |
The two lists overlap only at Psalm 119 and Numbers 7. Lists and genealogies (1 Chronicles 6, Nehemiah 7) have many short verses, so they climb the verse ranking. Speeches and stories with long sentences (Solomon's prayer in 1 Kings 8, the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy 28, the story of finding a wife for Isaac in Genesis 24) climb the word ranking.
A fun detail: three of the longest New Testament chapters (Matthew 26, Mark 14 and Luke 22) tell the same night, the Last Supper and the arrest of Jesus. The Gospel writers slow down for the events that matter most.
1 Samuel 17 is on the list too. That's David and Goliath, one of the longest single stories in a single chapter. You can test yourself on it with the David and Goliath story and its short quiz.
If you like this kind of question, the app's quizzes cover every book and chapter, and each answer shows its verse.
How Psalm 119 is built: a 22-letter acrostic
Psalm 119 is an alphabet poem. The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, and the psalm gives each letter a stanza of 8 verses. In Hebrew, all 8 verses of a stanza begin with that letter. So the first 8 verses start with aleph, the next 8 with beth, and so on to tav. That's where the number 176 comes from: 22 × 8.
The KJV keeps the letter names as headings, which you can still see in the app's text. Verse 1 starts with "ALEPH", verse 9 with "BETH", verse 17 with "GIMEL". Here are all 22:
| Verses | Letter | Verses | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–8 | Aleph | 89–96 | Lamed |
| 9–16 | Beth | 97–104 | Mem |
| 17–24 | Gimel | 105–112 | Nun |
| 25–32 | Daleth | 113–120 | Samech |
| 33–40 | He | 121–128 | Ain |
| 41–48 | Vau | 129–136 | Pe |
| 49–56 | Zain | 137–144 | Tzaddi |
| 57–64 | Cheth | 145–152 | Koph |
| 65–72 | Teth | 153–160 | Resh |
| 73–80 | Jod | 161–168 | Schin |
| 81–88 | Caph | 169–176 | Tau |
English translations can't keep the letter pattern, but you can still feel the structure: each stanza is a small, complete prayer, and the whole psalm moves from A to Z, as if to say there is no part of life that God's word doesn't speak to.
Psalm 119 isn't the only acrostic. Psalms 25, 34, 37, 111, 112 and 145 follow the alphabet too, as do Proverbs 31:10-31 (the "virtuous woman") and the first four chapters of Lamentations. Psalm 119 is the most elaborate.
The eight words for God's word
Read Psalm 119 slowly and you'll notice the same few words returning. The psalmist uses a cluster of terms for Scripture, almost like synonyms in a thesaurus. Here's how often each appears in the KJV text of the psalm, by our count:
| Word (KJV) | Times in Psalm 119 |
|---|---|
| word (and words) | 42 |
| law | 25 |
| testimonies (and testimony) | 23 |
| statutes | 22 |
| precepts | 21 |
| commandments (and commandment) | 22 |
| judgments | 18 |
| way (and ways) | 18 |
By our count, 170 of the 176 verses use at least one of these words, or "ordinances" or "righteousness" in the same sense. The six exceptions are verses 84, 90, 121, 122, 132 and 149, and even most of those speak of God's judgment, faithfulness or lovingkindness. (Other translations use different English words, so their counts will differ.)
Two verses from Psalm 119 are among the most memorized in the whole Bible:
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
The second is verse 105, which in the KJV reads: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
The first is why many people start Scripture memory with Psalm 119. If you want to try, our guide on how to memorize Scripture gives a simple method.
How to read Psalm 119 in a week
At 2,467 words, Psalm 119 takes about 12 minutes to read aloud at 200 words per minute. You can read it in one sitting, but it was written to be prayed slowly. A good rhythm is three stanzas a day (24 verses) for a week, with the last day lighter.
| Day | Stanzas | Verses |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleph, Beth, Gimel | 1–24 |
| 2 | Daleth, He, Vau | 25–48 |
| 3 | Zain, Cheth, Teth | 49–72 |
| 4 | Jod, Caph, Lamed | 73–96 |
| 5 | Mem, Nun, Samech | 97–120 |
| 6 | Ain, Pe, Tzaddi | 121–144 |
| 7 | Koph, Resh, Schin, Tau | 145–176 |
For each stanza, ask three questions: What does the psalmist say God's word does? What does he ask God for? What is happening in his life (often trouble, enemies or grief)? That last question is the surprise of Psalm 119. It isn't written by someone with an easy life. Look at verse 71: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes."
The app's SOAP journal is a good fit for this kind of reading: write the verse, an observation, an application and a prayer, one stanza at a time.
The shortest chapter in the Bible: Psalm 117
Two psalms before the longest chapter sits the shortest: Psalm 117, with 2 verses and 33 words in the KJV. Here it is in full:
O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord.
Small as it is, it reaches the whole world: "all ye nations... all ye people". Paul quotes its first verse in Romans 15:11 to show that God always meant to include the Gentiles.
The next shortest chapters by verses are Esther 10, Psalm 131, Psalm 133 and Psalm 134, each with 3 verses. In the New Testament, the shortest chapter is Revelation 15, with 8 verses.
Psalm 117 is also the middle chapter of the Bible, with 594 chapters before it and 594 after, by our count of the 1,189 chapters in the Protestant Bible. That fact is often mixed up with the claim that Psalm 118:8 is the middle verse. We checked that one too: see what the middle verse of the Bible really is.
Longest chapters in the New Testament
| Chapter | Verses | Words (KJV) |
|---|---|---|
| Luke 1 | 80 | 1,583 |
| Matthew 26 | 75 | 1,625 |
| Mark 14 | 72 | 1,595 |
| Luke 22 | 71 | 1,396 |
| John 6 | 71 | 1,506 |
Luke 1 has the most verses, and it includes two of the Bible's great songs: Mary's song (Luke 1:46-55) and Zechariah's (Luke 1:68-79). Matthew 26 has the most words, covering the plot against Jesus, the anointing at Bethany, the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the arrest, the trial before Caiaphas and Peter's denial.
Test yourself on the Psalms
Here are three questions from the app's Psalms quiz:
Quick quiz: Psalms
Which word opens the first psalm?
The book opens with “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.” “Why” opens Psalm 2. Psalms 1:1
Which psalm begins with “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want”?
It is Psalm 23, a psalm of David: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalms 23:1
Which psalm begins with “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name”?
Psalm 103, by David, opens this way and urges us not to forget “all his benefits.” Psalms 103:1–2
There are many more questions like these in Bible Academy, each with its explanation and verse. Start free, no card needed.
For more, take the full Psalms quiz or read the Psalms book overview. For the biggest books rather than chapters, see the longest book in the Bible, and for the smallest unit of all, the shortest verse in the Bible.
Frequently asked questions
What is the longest chapter in the Bible?
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, with 176 verses and 2,467 words in the King James Version. It is an acrostic poem with 22 stanzas of 8 verses, one stanza for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The next longest chapter by verses is Numbers 7, with 89 verses.
Why does Psalm 119 have 176 verses?
Because it is an alphabet poem. The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, and Psalm 119 gives each letter a stanza of 8 verses, all beginning with that letter in Hebrew. Twenty-two stanzas times eight verses equals 176. The KJV prints the Hebrew letter names, such as ALEPH and BETH, at the start of each stanza.
What is the shortest chapter in the Bible?
Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible, with 2 verses and 33 words in the KJV. It calls all nations and all peoples to praise the Lord for his merciful kindness and his truth that endures forever. Paul quotes it in Romans 15:11. It is also the middle chapter of the Bible's 1,189 chapters.
What is the longest chapter in the New Testament?
Luke 1 is the longest chapter in the New Testament by verses, with 80. By words, Matthew 26 is longest, with 1,625 words in the KJV against 1,583 for Luke 1. Luke 1 tells of the announcements of the births of John the Baptist and Jesus; Matthew 26 covers the Last Supper, Gethsemane and the arrest.
How long does it take to read Psalm 119?
Psalm 119 has 2,467 words in the KJV, so it takes about 12 minutes to read aloud at 200 words per minute, a little less silently. Many readers prefer to spread it over a week, three stanzas a day, because each 8-verse stanza works well as a short prayer.