There are countless models of the Bible, and not for nothing is it the best-selling and most stolen book in the world. If you want to know more about the Bible, let’s start by learning how many verses the Catholic Bible has.
To complement this reading, I recommend our articles on how to start reading the Catholic Bible without complicating your life.
We have all looked at a Bible.
No one can alter its scripture by adding or subtracting a single letter, as this is considered a sin.
There are Bibles of all sizes and colours, with different designs and even classified, as in the case of the Bibles of Promises.
Every day they are improved, with aids, views and concordances that make them easier to read.
It doesn’t matter whether the Bible you have at home has a luxurious cover or fancy gold pages.
What really matters is that you read it!
Parts of the Bible
Before we know how many verses there are in the Catholic Bible, we need to know how it is made up.
For now, it is interesting to know that the Catholic Bible is divided into two parts:
The Old Testament
It is divided into 39 books, beginning with the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy).
Then there are the historical books (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, I and II Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, Tobit*, Judith*, Esther, I and II Maccabees*).
*These books do not appear in the Christian Bible.
If you want more information, you can read our article on how many books are in the contemporary Queen Valera Bible.
Then there are the poetic books (Job, Psalms, Song of Solomon, Lamentations and Daniel).
The books of the major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel).
The books of the minor prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi).
Although you do not yet know how many verses the Catholic Bible has, I can tell you that so far it has 23,146 verses.
The New Testament
It is divided into 27 books:
The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).
The Acts of the Apostles
The letters of Paul (I, II and III John, Romans, I and II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I and II Thessalonians and Philemon).
The Trito-Pauline epistles (written by the third generation of Paul’s disciples: I and II Timothy and Titus).
The letters of other prophets (Hebrews, James, I and II Peter and Jude)
The Revelations (Apocalypse)
As you can see, the number of books is less than that of the Old Testament, and even less than the number of verses (7,958).
Explore this information further in our article How many books are in the New Testament of the Bible?
how many verses is the catholic bible?
In order to know how many verses there are in the Catholic Bible, we first need to know what a verse is and, above all, what its function is.
Just as we have seen that the Bible is divided into 66 books, so these are divided into chapters, which are in turn divided into verses.
For example:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” Genesis 1:1.
This means that these words are found in the book of Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1.
The function of the verses is to isolate the meaning intended by the author(s) to make the content easier to understand. See how to read the Bible to understand and practise it.
But the most important thing about the verses is that they convey the Word of God, what He wants to tell us.
Just one Bible verse can make a difference to the person who reads it.
They have the power to inspire, to confront and to rebuke because they are words written by men, but inspired by God Himself.
If we combine the 23,146 verses that tell the story of the Old Testament with the 7,958 verses of the New Testament, we have a total of 31,104 verses from Genesis to Revelation.
Why should I believe what the Bible says?
Many people ask this question because it was written by man.
But even if it were, the Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
And 2 Peter 1:20 confirms that no part of the Bible is of private interpretation, but that men were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write it.
“Inspired by God” means that it is what He wants us to do, His law,
That is why the Bible is often called “the manual of life”.
It doesn’t really matter how many books or how many verses the Catholic Bible has, or how they are distributed throughout it.
What really matters is to give it the value that the Bible has in itself.
Have you ever tried to build something without a manual?
It is cumbersome, super difficult and often fruitless!
We should be thankful for the immense love God has shown us by leaving us this manual for life!
It contains His words of what He wants us to do, what He wants us to do, and what He wants us to do.
We can find all the answers there, just read it!
Above I mentioned the power of a single verse, remember?
It has the power to inspire, to confront and to rebuke, and it also has the power to comfort and to encourage.
Just one verse!
Imagine for a moment just how powerful the Bible is!
Final exhortation
Dear reader, today I want to encourage you to seek God while He is still to be found.
If you have not yet had an intimate encounter with Him, now is the time!
Open your heart to Jesus and acknowledge Him as your only Lord and Saviour.
With a sincere heart, you can ask Him to forgive all your sins.
Write your name on the Book of Life.
Remember the great sacrifice He made by dying for you on the cross.
His blood shed there has power
Power to cleanse, to heal and to forgive!
Welcome the Lord your God into the centre of your heart.
