1,189 Chapters to Read Slow and Fast
The Bible contains 1,189 chapters. 929 chapters are in the Old Testament, 260 chapters are in the New Testament. If you read roughly 3.25 chapters a day, you will read the entire Bible in one year. BUT, you have zero pressure and command from God to do this.
God’s call is for you to listen to and obey his voice. How you do this listening/reading is a matter of wisdom and choice. Variety is the spice of life, and Bible reading. I enjoy and recommend varying your pace and approach to the Bible’s 1,189 chapters.
This is what I do: About once every four years I read through the whole Bible in a year. I love it and look forward to it. Other years I travel through parts of the Bible at a much slower and varied pace. Last year I focused on reading and praying through The Psalms and Proverbs. Other than sermon prep, I read only those two books of the Bible. If memory serves, I journeyed through Proverbs three times and The Psalms twice. I loved what God did in my heart through that focused year in 181 chapters. This year I’ve been chasing my curiosity and interest to a few different places in the Word. I’ve spent a lot of time in the life of David. I’ve spent the past three weeks slowly reading, thinking, and praying through 1 Samuel 17. I’ll likely spend another week in this one chapter—I sense there’s more for me to listen to here.
We want to expose ourselves to the whole counsel of God’s Word, so we want to journey through the entire Bible. But you’re free to choose your pace and approach. For me, I’ve found it most Life-giving to vary my journeys in and through the greatest book ever written.
Interestingly, the shortest chapter in the Bible is also the middle chapter of the Bible: Psalm 117. If you’re looking for a new place to start a journey through God’s Word, maybe start in the middle (“in medias res,” Latin: “in the midst of things”) with this powerful song:
Praise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all people!
For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the Lord!