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How long does it take to read the Bible?
The King James Bible is about 788,280 words across 66 books. At an average adult reading pace of 238 words per minute that is roughly 55 hours of reading — about 15 minutes a day for 7 months, or 45 minutes a day for 2.4. Reading speeds vary a lot, though, so this page measures yours with a one-minute test and gives you the number for your own pace rather than an average.
Your reading time
Reading the whole Bible at 238 words per minute takes about 55 hours.
At 15 minutes a day, that is 221 days.
788,280 words across 1,189 chapters, counted in the KJV.
- Old Testament
- 42 hours 30 minutes609,269 words
- New Testament
- 12 hours 30 minutes179,011 words
Now turn that into a plan
55 hours is about 15 minutes a day. Build a dated reading plan from any start date, with rest days, and print it or add it to your calendar.
Bible reading plan generatorBook by book
| Genesis | 50 | 38,262 | 2 hours 40 minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exodus | 40 | 32,685 | 2 hours 15 minutes |
| Leviticus | 27 | 24,541 | 1 hour 45 minutes |
| Numbers | 36 | 32,896 | 2 hours 20 minutes |
| Deuteronomy | 34 | 28,352 | 2 hours |
| Joshua | 24 | 18,854 | 1 hour 20 minutes |
| Judges | 21 | 18,966 | 1 hour 20 minutes |
| Ruth | 4 | 2,574 | 11 minutes |
| 1 Samuel | 31 | 25,048 | 1 hour 45 minutes |
| 2 Samuel | 24 | 20,600 | 1 hour 25 minutes |
| 1 Kings | 22 | 24,513 | 1 hour 45 minutes |
| 2 Kings | 25 | 23,517 | 1 hour 40 minutes |
| 1 Chronicles | 29 | 20,365 | 1 hour 25 minutes |
| 2 Chronicles | 36 | 26,069 | 1 hour 50 minutes |
| Ezra | 10 | 7,440 | 31 minutes |
Each row is rounded on its own, so the rows will not add up to the total exactly.
Measure your reading speed
Read 1 Corinthians 13 (KJV) at your natural pace, then stop the timer. 270 words. This is optional — you can set your speed by hand below instead.
Leave it blank to hide the finish date.
A few minutes a day
Gospel Worship Voices brings a daily Bible verse, short devotionals, prayer and gospel worship music into one calm place — the daily habit that a reading plan needs to survive.
How long the Bible takes at an average pace
Every figure below is at 238 words per minute, the commonly cited average for adult silent reading. Your own pace is what matters, and the test above will tell you it — but these are the numbers most people are looking for.
The whole Bible
788,280 words is about 55 hours of reading. Spread over a year that is roughly nine minutes a day; at 15 minutes a day it takes about 221 days, and at 45 minutes a day about 74. Most people who abandon a read-through do not run out of time — they lose the thread after a fortnight away from it.
The Old Testament and the New Testament
The Old Testament is 609,269 words, about 42 hours 30 minutes. The New Testament is 179,011 words, about 12 hours 30 minutes — a little over a fifth of the whole, which is why reading the New Testament first is such a common starting point. At 15 minutes a day the New Testament alone takes roughly seven weeks.
The Gospels, Psalms and Proverbs
The four Gospels together are about 5 hours 45 minutes. Psalms, the longest book by word count, is about 3 hours, and Proverbs about 1 hour 5 minutes — which is why a chapter of Proverbs a day for a month is such a durable habit. The shortest books, 2 John and 3 John, take well under two minutes each.
How these numbers are calculated
Reading time is the word count divided by your words-per-minute pace. Word counts are for the KJV, the same translation this app publishes. Other translations differ by a few percent, and sources disagree slightly depending on whether italicised supplied words and headings are counted, so treat these as close estimates rather than exact measurements.
The books covered are the 66-book Protestant canon — 609,269 words across 39 Old Testament books and 179,011 across 27 in the New. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include additional deuterocanonical books, which are not counted here.
Times are rounded rather than given to the minute, because an estimate built on an average pace does not support that precision. Nothing you do on this page is uploaded — the reading test and every calculation run entirely in your browser.
Ready to start? Turn this into a dated Bible reading plan, or make a verse share card from today's reading.
Common questions
- How long does it take to read the whole Bible?
- The King James Bible is 788,280 words, so at an average adult reading pace of 238 words per minute it takes about 55 hours. At 15 minutes a day that is roughly 221 days, and at 45 minutes a day about 74.
- How long does it take to read the New Testament?
- The New Testament is 179,011 words in the King James Version, which is about 12 hours 30 minutes at 238 words per minute — roughly a fifth of the whole Bible. The Old Testament is 609,269 words, or about 42 hours 30 minutes.
- How long does it take to read Psalms?
- Psalms is the longest book in the Bible by word count and takes about 3 hours at an average pace. Proverbs takes about 1 hour 5 minutes, and the four Gospels together about 5 hours 45 minutes.
- How many words are in the Bible?
- The King James Version has 788,280 words across 66 books — 609,269 in the Old Testament and 179,011 in the New. Other translations differ by a few percent, and sources disagree slightly depending on whether italicised supplied words are counted.
- How fast does the average person read?
- Adult silent reading of non-fiction is commonly cited at around 238 words per minute, with a wide spread either side. That is an average rather than a fact about any individual, which is why this page offers a one-minute reading test to measure your own pace instead.
- Which translation are these counts based on?
- The King James Version, which is the same translation the Gospel Worship Voices app publishes and is unambiguously free to count. Word counts are translation-specific, so treat these as close estimates for other translations. The books covered are the 66-book Protestant canon; Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include additional books.
A few minutes a day
Gospel Worship Voices brings a daily Bible verse, short devotionals, prayer and gospel worship music into one calm place — the daily habit that a reading plan needs to survive.