What is the standard abbreviation system for books of the Bible?

Most academic writing uses the abbreviations in the SBL Handbook of Style (2nd ed., §8.3), such as Gen, Exod, Ps, Matt and 1 Cor, written without periods.

Both are used. Gen is the SBL form. Gn is a shorter form found in some Catholic and reference works, along with Ex, Lv, Nm and Dt.

How many chapters are in the New Testament?

260 chapters across 27 books. Matthew and Acts have the most, with 28 each. Philemon, 2 John, 3 John and Jude have one chapter each.

What does 1 Cor 13:4–7 mean?

1 Corinthians, chapter 13, verses 4 through 7. The number before the colon is the chapter and the numbers after it are the verses.

Bible Book Abbreviations: All 66 Books and Chapters (Chart)

The Protestant Bible has 66 books and 1,189 chapters: 929 chapters in the 39 books of the Old Testament and 260 in the 27 books of the New Testament. The abbreviations below follow the SBL Handbook of Style (2nd edition, §8.3), the system most academic writing and many study Bibles use. For verse counts and the Catholic and Orthodox canons, see How many books are in the Bible?

Old Testament books and abbreviations

39 books, 929 chapters.

#	Book	Abbreviation	Chapters
1	Genesis	Gen	50
2	Exodus	Exod	40
3	Leviticus	Lev	27
4	Numbers	Num	36
5	Deuteronomy	Deut	34
6	Joshua	Josh	24
7	Judges	Judg	21
8	Ruth	Ruth	4
9	1 Samuel	1 Sam	31
10	2 Samuel	2 Sam	24
11	1 Kings	1 Kgs	22
12	2 Kings	2 Kgs	25
13	1 Chronicles	1 Chr	29
14	2 Chronicles	2 Chr	36
15	Ezra	Ezra	10
16	Nehemiah	Neh	13
17	Esther	Esth	10
18	Job	Job	42
19	Psalms	Ps	150
20	Proverbs	Prov	31
21	Ecclesiastes	Eccl	12
22	Song of Songs	Song	8
23	Isaiah	Isa	66
24	Jeremiah	Jer	52
25	Lamentations	Lam	5
26	Ezekiel	Ezek	48
27	Daniel	Dan	12
28	Hosea	Hos	14
29	Joel	Joel	3
30	Amos	Amos	9
31	Obadiah	Obad	1
32	Jonah	Jonah	4
33	Micah	Mic	7
34	Nahum	Nah	3
35	Habakkuk	Hab	3
36	Zephaniah	Zeph	3
37	Haggai	Hag	2
38	Zechariah	Zech	14
39	Malachi	Mal	4

New Testament books and abbreviations

27 books, 260 chapters.

#	Book	Abbreviation	Chapters
40	Matthew	Matt	28
41	Mark	Mark	16
42	Luke	Luke	24
43	John	John	21
44	Acts	Acts	28
45	Romans	Rom	16
46	1 Corinthians	1 Cor	16
47	2 Corinthians	2 Cor	13
48	Galatians	Gal	6
49	Ephesians	Eph	6
50	Philippians	Phil	4
51	Colossians	Col	4
52	1 Thessalonians	1 Thess	5
53	2 Thessalonians	2 Thess	3
54	1 Timothy	1 Tim	6
55	2 Timothy	2 Tim	4
56	Titus	Titus	3
57	Philemon	Phlm	1
58	Hebrews	Heb	13
59	James	Jas	5
60	1 Peter	1 Pet	5
61	2 Peter	2 Pet	3
62	1 John	1 John	5
63	2 John	2 John	1
64	3 John	3 John	1
65	Jude	Jude	1
66	Revelation	Rev	22

How to read a Bible reference

A reference is written as book, chapter, colon, verse. SBL style leaves out periods after the abbreviation and puts a space between a number and the book name, as in 1 Cor.

John 3:16: the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 16.
1 Cor 13:4–7: 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, verses 4 through 7. The en dash marks a range.
Ps 23: a chapter number alone means the whole chapter, here Psalm 23. SBL uses Pss when citing more than one psalm.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16, BSB)

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4–7, BSB)

SBL also recommends spelling the book name out when it appears in running text without a chapter number, or at the start of a sentence. Abbreviations are for references in parentheses, notes and tables.

Numbered books

Seventeen books share a name and carry a number: 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles in the Old Testament, and 1 and 2 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, 1 and 2 Peter, and 1, 2 and 3 John in the New. Write the number as an Arabic numeral before the abbreviation: 1 Sam, 2 Kgs, 3 John.

How the Old Testament is grouped

The 39 books are usually arranged in five groups: 5 + 12 + 5 + 5 + 12 = 39.

Law (5 books, 187 chapters): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
History (12 books, 249 chapters): Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther.
Poetry and Wisdom (5 books, 243 chapters): Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs.
Major Prophets (5 books, 183 chapters): Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel.
Minor Prophets (12 books, 67 chapters): Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

“Major” and “minor” refer to length. All twelve Minor Prophets together have 67 chapters, about the same as Isaiah’s 66.

How the New Testament is grouped

The 27 books fall into five groups: 4 + 1 + 13 + 8 + 1 = 27.

Gospels (4 books, 89 chapters): Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
History (1 book, 28 chapters): Acts.
Pauline Letters (13 books, 87 chapters): Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon.
General Letters (8 books, 34 chapters): Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude.
Prophecy (1 book, 22 chapters): Revelation.

The thirteen Pauline letters each open with Paul’s name. Hebrews does not name its author, so it is usually listed with the General Letters.

Other abbreviation systems

SBL is not the only system. Shorter forms such as Gn, Ex, Lv, Nm and Dt appear in some Catholic and reference works. Some common alternatives:

Book	SBL	Other common forms
Genesis	Gen	Ge, Gn
Exodus	Exod	Ex
Leviticus	Lev	Lv, Le
Numbers	Num	Nm, Nu
Deuteronomy	Deut	Dt, De
Song of Songs	Song	Cant, SS, Sg
Matthew	Matt	Mt, Mat
Mark	Mark	Mk, Mar
Philemon	Phlm	Philem, Phm
Revelation	Rev	Rv, Re

If you are writing for a school, a church bulletin or a publisher, check which style they follow. For personal notes, pick one system and stay with it.

An easy way to learn the order

Write the list out by hand, one group per line. Copying the 66 names with their abbreviations once or twice fixes the order better than reading it. The printables page has a free books-of-the-Bible tracing sheet with every book and its abbreviation in order: trace the light text, then write it yourself on the line below.

Penned Grace lets you write scripture by hand, letter by letter, on iPhone, iPad or Android, with your finger or Apple Pencil. It is free to download.