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Verse statistics

Every key figure about which Bible verses are cited in the reviewed data, for the data chosen in the chart options (time frame, source, denomination or person, inclusion profile, verse sequence, counting rule). Percentages refer to the verses of the verse sequence named below; the public default sequence follows the order and verse labels of the King James Version. By default a verse counts when a citation names it explicitly (counting rule CR-EXPLICIT-VERSE).

Chart options
Filter

One filter at a time. A filtered chart counts only the uses of that source, denomination or person, or dated within the years (a use whose date overlaps them); uses without that information are left out. It is computed on request. Persons appear only with a public page.

A place counts the uses recorded there (a country also through its places), an organization, event or topic the uses that name it; a broader type includes its narrower ones. The age of the person is the age in completed years of a speaker, author or reader at the date of the use, known only from a public birth date; the target age counts every use meant for an age range that overlaps the band. Uses that do not record the data point precisely enough are left out.

A citation without a reference whose sentence also stands in another verse (an identical or nearly identical parallel; formulas do not count) could come from any of these verses. By default it is not counted. Ticked, it counts once for each of these verses. Citations whose sentence stands in one verse only always count. Computed on request.

Inclusion profile: Official official@2
The official profile of every public number: only reviewed and approved entries whose evidence quality is high enough. More on the methodology page
Verse sequence (canon and numbering): Protestant canon, 66 books (KJV numbering) prot66.nrf
The default: the 66 books of the Protestant Bible in the order and verse numbering of the King James Version. About this sequence
Counting rule: Named verses only CR-EXPLICIT-VERSE@1
Like the baseline rule, but only references that name verses count; whole chapters and books are left out. The Top 100 verses use it, so a chapter reference does not lift every verse of the chapter. More on the methodology page

* marks the default. The default view is computed once per epoch; other choices are computed on request. Explanations of profiles and counting rules are on the methodology page.

Verse sequence: Protestant canon, 66 books (KJV numbering). Counts and denominators depend on it.(definition)

At a glance

  • 31,172 Verses in the sequence Every verse of the chosen verse sequence.
  • 19,199 Verses cited 61.59% of all verses have at least one citation (ring).
  • 98,569 Citations Every verse citation together; at most 114 on one verse.
  • 36.94% Effective share Spread as evenly as if every citation fell in equal parts on 11,516 verses.
  • 0.712 Gini coefficient 0 = even, 1 = every citation on one verse (bar).
  • 30% Cited only once of the cited verses have exactly one citation (5,759 verses).
  • 0 Books without a citation of the 66 books of the sequence have not a single cited verse.

Chapter 1 of 4

How much is cited?

How many verses are cited at all, how often, and how that divides between the testaments and the chapters.

61.6% of the verses are cited at least once (19,199 of 31,172).

Key figures

All key figures as a table
Verses and citations of the chosen data
Verses in the sequence31,172Every verse of the verse sequence (a verse placed twice counts once).
Verses cited19,199Verses with at least one citation: 61.59% of all verses.
Verses never cited11,973Verses without any citation in the chosen data.
Citations98,569All verse citations together: 316.21 per 100 verses of the sequence.
Cited once5,759Verses with exactly one citation.
Cited more than once13,440Verses with two or more citations.
Most citations of one verse114The citations of the most cited verse.

Old and New Testament

Share of the verses and of the citations per testament
Verses
Citations
  • Old Testament: 74.5% of the verses, 37.5% of the citations
  • New Testament: 25.5% of the verses, 62.5% of the citations
Verses and citations per testament
PartVersesCitedCitationsShare of citationsCitations per verseCorrected share
Old Testament23,21511,374 (48.99%)36,95037.5%1.591617%
New Testament7,9577,825 (98.34%)61,61962.5%7.74483%

Corrected share: the citations per verse of a testament divided by the sum of the citations per verse of every testament. It shows how the citations would split if every testament had the same number of verses (the Old Testament has about three times as many verses as the New).

Average and median

Citations per verse
OverAverageMedian
All 31,172 verses (uncited verses count as 0)3.1621
The 19,199 cited verses only5.1343

A few very often cited verses pull the average up; the median is the value of the verse in the middle. A median of 0 over all verses means that more than half of the verses are never cited.

Distribution

Cited verses by their number of citations
Citations of a verseVersesShare of the cited verses
15,75930%
23,21816.8%
3–54,36522.7%
6–103,63618.9%
11–201,5548.1%
21–506443.4%
51–100220.1%
101 or more10%

Chapter coverage

Every chapter by the share of its verses that are cited at least once.

The 1,189 chapters by the share of their cited verses
  • no verse cited: 83 chapters (7%)
  • over 0 to 25 % of the verses cited: 208 chapters (17.5%)
  • over 25 to 50 % cited: 110 chapters (9.3%)
  • over 50 to 75 % cited: 120 chapters (10.1%)
  • over 75 %, but not every verse cited: 331 chapters (27.8%)
  • every verse cited: 337 chapters (28.3%)

Back to the contents

Chapter 2 of 4

How unequally are verses cited?

Whether the citations spread over many verses or cluster on a few: spread, concentration and the curves behind them.

9.5% of the verses carry half of all citations (2,960 verses, the most cited first).

Spread rating

36.94% effective share: the citations are spread as evenly as if they fell in equal parts on 11,516 of the 31,172 verses.

How it is measured: the effective number of verses is exp(H), where H is the Shannon entropy of the citation shares over the verses (the Hill number of order 1, known in ecology as the effective number of species); it is divided by the number of verses of the sequence. It reaches 100 % only when every verse is cited equally often, and unlike a count of cited verses it still tells distributions apart when every verse is cited at least once. Next to it: the normalised entropy H / ln(verses) (1 = perfectly even), the Gini coefficient over every verse (0 = even, 1 = every citation on one verse) and the simple ratio of cited verses to citations.

Spread measures
Effective number of verses (share of the sequence)11,516 (36.94%)
Normalised entropy (0 to 1)0.904
Gini coefficient (0 = even, 1 = concentrated)0.712
Cited verses per citation0.195

Concentration

Citations on the most cited verses
Most cited versesCitationsShare of citationsShare of the verses
Top 1004,8104.9%0.32%
Top 1,00026,24626.6%3.21%
Top 5,00064,44865.4%16.04%
Top 10,00085,70887%32.08%
How few verses carry the citations
Share of the citationsVersesShare of the verses
50%2,9609.5%
80%7,87725.27%
90%11,39236.55%

The fewest verses that together hold the given share of all citations, the most cited first.

Citations on the most cited books
Most cited booksCitationsShare of citationsShare of the verses of the sequence
Top 111,00911.2%8.1%
Top 542,44543.1%19.4%
Top 1059,42760.3%31.4%
Top 2079,00280.1%54.5%
Top 3390,79392.1%72.3%

The books are ranked by their citations. The last column is the share of the verses of the sequence that these books hold: where the share of citations is far above it, the citations concentrate on these books.

Curves

0%0%50%50%100%100%never cited: 38%50%80%90%share of the verses, least cited firstshare of the citations
  • The most cited 9.5% of the verses carry 50% of all citations (dot on the curve).
  • The most cited 25.27% of the verses carry 80% of all citations (dot on the curve).
  • The most cited 36.55% of the verses carry 90% of all citations (dot on the curve).
  • 38.4% of the verses are never cited: up to there the curve stays at 0 (line on the horizontal axis).
Lorenz curve: the share of all citations that falls on the least cited share of the verses. The dashed line is a perfectly even spread; the further the curve stays below it, the more the citations concentrate (Gini 0.712).
1: 1142: 835: 6210: 5920: 5250: 46100: 39200: 33500: 231,000: 172,000: 115,000: 610,000: 3Rank 1: 114 citations110,0001114rank (logarithmic, up to 10,000)citations (logarithmic, up to 114)
Rank and frequency on logarithmic axes: the citations of the verse at rank 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and so on. A straight line is the pattern known as Zipf’s law.

Back to the contents

Chapter 3 of 4

Where in the Bible?

Where the citations lie: along the Bible, per book, per group of books, per chapter and in continuous stretches.

11.2% of all citations fall on Psalms, the most cited book.

Distribution along the Bible

The verses of the sequence in their order, cut into 100 stretches of about equal size; each column shows the citations per verse of its stretch. The names below the axis mark where a book begins.

from GEN 1:1: 3.897 citations per versefrom GEN 12:14: 1.179 citations per versefrom GEN 24:33: 0.6282 citations per versefrom GEN 32:8: 0.3942 citations per versefrom GEN 41:53: 0.4679 citations per versefrom EXO 2:6: 0.5641 citations per versefrom EXO 13:5: 1.33 citations per versefrom EXO 24:7: 0.5064 citations per versefrom EXO 33:23: 0.4167 citations per versefrom LEV 4:13: 0.5096 citations per versefrom LEV 14:9: 0.4583 citations per versefrom LEV 23:30: 0.3558 citations per versefrom NUM 4:1: 0.3878 citations per versefrom NUM 11:32: 0.4135 citations per versefrom NUM 21:28: 0.7276 citations per versefrom NUM 31:15: 0.516 citations per versefrom DEU 3:16: 1.657 citations per versefrom DEU 14:13: 0.4808 citations per versefrom DEU 28:4: 1.093 citations per versefrom JOS 4:17: 0.5641 citations per versefrom JOS 15:37: 0.4519 citations per versefrom JDG 2:6: 0.5865 citations per versefrom JDG 11:34: 0.2404 citations per versefrom RUT 3:3: 1.804 citations per versefrom 1SA 13:2: 0.7115 citations per versefrom 1SA 22:11: 0.2853 citations per versefrom 2SA 3:29: 0.4519 citations per versefrom 2SA 15:33: 0.2179 citations per versefrom 1KI 1:17: 0.6506 citations per versefrom 1KI 8:61: 0.2564 citations per versefrom 1KI 18:17: 0.6506 citations per versefrom 2KI 5:22: 0.4263 citations per versefrom 2KI 16:18: 0.3622 citations per versefrom 1CH 1:41: 0.02244 citations per versefrom 1CH 8:30: 0.2404 citations per versefrom 1CH 19:9: 0.3013 citations per versefrom 2CH 2:17: 0.2724 citations per versefrom 2CH 17:17: 0.2821 citations per versefrom 2CH 30:25: 0.2372 citations per versefrom EZR 6:13: 0.2532 citations per versefrom NEH 7:56: 0.4744 citations per versefrom EST 5:9: 1.974 citations per versefrom JOB 10:14: 1.737 citations per versefrom JOB 22:23: 1.631 citations per versefrom JOB 35:4: 3.16 citations per versefrom PSA 9:8: 5.196 citations per versefrom PSA 31:2: 5.753 citations per versefrom PSA 47:8: 3.404 citations per versefrom PSA 68:22: 2.808 citations per versefrom PSA 81:10: 4.574 citations per versefrom PSA 102:11: 3.987 citations per versefrom PSA 115:13: 4.196 citations per versefrom PSA 132:4: 4.26 citations per versefrom PRO 3:10: 2.577 citations per versefrom PRO 14:5: 2.074 citations per versefrom PRO 24:10: 1.987 citations per versefrom ECC 5:4: 3.782 citations per versefrom ISA 3:6: 3.372 citations per versefrom ISA 19:21: 2.494 citations per versefrom ISA 36:7: 3.67 citations per versefrom ISA 49:13: 4.747 citations per versefrom JER 1:16: 2.827 citations per versefrom JER 13:8: 2.436 citations per versefrom JER 26:14: 1.846 citations per versefrom JER 38:3: 0.2115 citations per versefrom JER 50:44: 1.647 citations per versefrom EZK 3:20: 1.33 citations per versefrom EZK 17:9: 1.09 citations per versefrom EZK 27:25: 1.606 citations per versefrom EZK 39:10: 1.202 citations per versefrom DAN 2:12: 2.478 citations per versefrom DAN 12:1: 2.26 citations per versefrom AMO 2:15: 2.65 citations per versefrom NAM 2:6: 2.646 citations per versefrom ZEC 9:17: 8.206 citations per versefrom MAT 7:11: 7.875 citations per versefrom MAT 15:5: 6.82 citations per versefrom MAT 23:31: 7.209 citations per versefrom MRK 1:45: 4.006 citations per versefrom MRK 9:33: 4.601 citations per versefrom MRK 16:9: 8.772 citations per versefrom LUK 6:47: 7.19 citations per versefrom LUK 12:45: 7.434 citations per versefrom LUK 20:36: 8.675 citations per versefrom JHN 3:6: 9.997 citations per versefrom JHN 8:56: 10.19 citations per versefrom JHN 16:22: 8.254 citations per versefrom ACT 4:37: 3.605 citations per versefrom ACT 13:8: 3.186 citations per versefrom ACT 21:18: 2.839 citations per versefrom ROM 3:2: 12.57 citations per versefrom ROM 15:1: 7.309 citations per versefrom 1CO 11:15: 8.807 citations per versefrom 2CO 7:10: 9.219 citations per versefrom EPH 2:9: 13.98 citations per versefrom COL 4:7: 8.601 citations per versefrom 2TI 3:7: 7.733 citations per versefrom HEB 10:38: 9.367 citations per versefrom 2PE 1:3: 8.547 citations per versefrom REV 5:13: 4.257 citations per verseAverage 3.16213.980Citations per verseGENGenesisDEUDeuteronomy1CH1 ChroniclesPROProverbsEZKEzekielJHNJohn
  • Old Testament
  • New Testament
  • Average 3.162
Citations per verse in 100 stretches from the start (left) to the end (right) of the sequence; the highest column has 13.98 citations per verse, dashed: the average over every verse (3.162).

Books as a heatmap

Each box is a book, in the order of the sequence and grouped by testament. The stronger the colour of the box, the higher the value; grey with a dashed edge means never cited. The legend gives the exact range of every step.

Citations per verse, measured against the average of the selection (Ø = 3.162 citations per verse)

Old Testament

New Testament

Legend

  • 0 citations per verse · never cited
  • over 0 to under 0.7905 citations per verse · under ¼ × Ø
  • 0.7905–1.581 citations per verse · ¼–½ × Ø
  • 1.581–3.162 citations per verse · ½–1 × Ø
  • 3.162–6.324 citations per verse · 1–2 × Ø
  • 6.324–12.65 citations per verse · 2–4 × Ø
  • 12.65 or more citations per verse · 4 × Ø or more

Ø = 3.162 citations per verse, the average over every verse of the selection. A value exactly on a boundary counts in the higher step.

The figures of every book are in the table further down: Books by average rank

Share of cited verses per book

Old Testament

New Testament

Legend

  • 0 % · no verse cited
  • over 0 to under 20% of the verses cited
  • 20% to under 40% of the verses cited
  • 40% to under 60% of the verses cited
  • 60% to under 80% of the verses cited
  • 80% to under 100% of the verses cited
  • 100 % · every verse cited

A value exactly on a boundary counts in the higher step.

The figures of every book are in the table further down: Spread per book

Book groups

Citations per group of books (Torah, prophets, gospels, letters, …)
GroupVersesCitedShare of citationsShare of the verses of the sequenceCitations per verse
Torah (Pentateuch)5,85328.9%4.9%18.8%0.822
Historical books7,02121.3%3.3%22.5%0.462
Wisdom books4,85281.3%16.5%15.6%3.358
Major prophets4,43974.8%10.1%14.2%2.246
Minor prophets1,05087.6%2.7%3.4%2.51
Gospels3,77999.4%30%12.1%7.831
Acts1,00692.3%3.5%3.2%3.417
Pauline letters2,03299.6%20.4%6.5%9.89
General letters (with Hebrews)73599.3%6.6%2.4%8.91
Revelation40594.8%2%1.3%4.798

Books by average rank

Every verse of the sequence gets a rank by its citations (1 = most cited). Tied verses share the average of their places, so every uncited verse has rank 25,186 (tied last). The average rank of a book is the mean over all its verses: a low number means that its verses are cited often throughout the book.

  1. Ephesians 14.981 citations per verse · average rank 3,165
  2. 1 John 14.19 citations per verse · average rank 3,213.3
  3. John 10.431 citations per verse · average rank 4,131.2
  4. Romans 11.159 citations per verse · average rank 4,581.2
  5. Galatians 10.906 citations per verse · average rank 4,738.9
  6. Matthew 8.21 citations per verse · average rank 5,033.4
  7. 1 Timothy 9 citations per verse · average rank 5,238.4
  8. Colossians 11.811 citations per verse · average rank 5,243.2
  9. Titus 9.457 citations per verse · average rank 5,315
  10. Hebrews 8.508 citations per verse · average rank 5,469.6

The ten books with the best average rank; the bar shows the citations per verse.

All 66 books as a table
Every book, best average rank first
PlaceBookAverage rankVersesCitedCitationsCitations per verseMost cited verse (citations)
1Ephesians3,165155100%2,32214.981EPH 3:20 (59)
21 John3,213.3105100%1,49014.191JN 1:9 (56)
3John4,131.2879100%9,16910.431JHN 1:1 (114)
4Romans4,581.2433100%4,83211.159ROM 12:2 (52)
5Galatians4,738.9149100%1,62510.906GAL 2:20 (53)
6Matthew5,033.41,07199.9%8,7938.21MAT 11:28 (62)
71 Timothy5,238.4113100%1,01791TI 2:5 (50)
8Colossians5,243.295100%1,12211.811COL 1:13 (48)
9Titus5,31546100%4359.457TIT 2:11 (46)
10Hebrews5,469.6303100%2,5788.508HEB 11:1 (46)
11Philippians5,551.910498.1%1,42813.731PHP 2:6 (60)
12Luke5,556.71,15199.8%8,6427.508LUK 2:14 (50)
131 Peter5,854.110599%1,06910.1811PE 5:7 (56)
142 Thessalonians5,952.547100%37682TH 3:3 (50)
151 Thessalonians5,959.289100%8199.2021TH 5:17 (49)
162 Timothy6,107.48398.8%6858.2532TI 1:7 (46)
171 Corinthians6,458.943799.1%3,3537.6731CO 2:9 (40)
182 Corinthians7,251.2256100%1,9607.6562CO 5:17 (57)
19Philemon7,606.62596%1224.88PHM 1:25 (11)
20James7,777.710898.1%8587.944JAS 5:16 (47)
21Mark8,985.667897.3%2,9904.41MRK 9:23 (29)
22Revelation9,005.640594.8%1,9434.798REV 21:4 (33)
23Jude9,10525100%1265.04JUD 1:25 (19)
242 John10,02713100%423.2312JN 1:6 (8)
252 Peter10,043.16196.7%3435.6232PE 3:9 (46)
26Song of Songs10,369.611790.6%4864.154SNG 1:2 (26)
27Ecclesiastes10,650.322299.1%7163.225ECC 12:13 (22)
283 John11,233.515100%432.8673JN 1:11 (9)
29Psalms11,350.72,52888.6%11,0094.355PSA 23:3 (45)
30Acts11,583.31,00692.3%3,4373.417ACT 1:8 (45)
31Haggai11,736.138100%1042.737HAG 2:9 (10)
32Jonah12,284.548100%1382.875JON 2:2 (18)
33Isaiah13,016.81,29182.3%4,6243.582ISA 61:1 (40)
34Malachi13,130.45581.8%1733.145MAL 1:6 (13)
35Micah13,523.910584.8%3082.933MIC 6:8 (32)
36Daniel13,610.635787.7%8742.448DAN 12:3 (21)
37Zechariah13,93321185.8%5542.626ZEC 14:9 (24)
38Zephaniah14,106.95379.2%1633.075ZEP 3:17 (31)
39Obadiah14,253.82190.5%351.667OBA 1:21 (4)
40Amos14,324.314697.3%3392.322AMO 5:14 (38)
41Job14,3521,07083.5%2,0281.895JOB 37:5 (21)
42Joel14,425.57380.8%2193JOL 2:28 (21)
43Lamentations14,499.815494.2%3382.195LAM 3:22 (24)
44Hosea14,679.219795.9%3891.975HOS 10:12 (21)
45Habakkuk14,933.35669.6%1532.732HAB 2:14 (17)
46Ezekiel16,5981,27376.7%1,7561.379EZK 11:19 (17)
47Jeremiah17,604.21,36460.4%2,3771.743JER 29:11 (28)
48Proverbs17,641.991553.1%2,0522.243PRO 3:5 (37)
49Nahum18,114.94761.7%611.298NAM 1:7 (14)
50Genesis19,510.91,53342.7%2,0221.319GEN 1:1 (35)
511 Samuel19,632.781147.3%8601.061SA 2:2 (25)
52Joshua21,281.365834%4870.74JOS 1:9 (38)
53Leviticus21,995.185929.2%4480.522LEV 19:18 (13)
542 Kings22,018.571931.2%3200.4452KI 19:30 (8)
55Numbers22,1781,28927.8%6230.483NUM 6:24 (19)
56Deuteronomy22,244.295917.3%8860.924DEU 6:5 (37)
57Exodus22,335.11,21321.8%8340.688EXO 20:3 (17)
58Esther22,504.816728.1%550.329EST 4:14 (4)
591 Kings22,549.681722.3%4120.5041KI 8:27 (16)
60Judges22,672.661823.9%2350.38JDG 10:15 (14)
61Ezra23,426.428016.8%810.289EZR 3:11 (12)
622 Samuel23,639.969512.5%2230.3212SA 7:22 (23)
63Nehemiah23,763.540610.8%1560.384NEH 9:6 (24)
64Ruth24,031.2858.2%270.318RUT 1:16 (11)
652 Chronicles24,200.28227.4%2100.2552CH 7:14 (29)
661 Chronicles24,5499434.2%1750.1861CH 29:11 (24)

Spread per book

Which books are cited evenly and which only in a few verses: the effective number of verses inside the book (the citations of the book spread as evenly as if they fell equally on that many of its verses) and its share of the book's verses. 100 % means every verse of the book is cited equally often; a low share means a few verses carry the book. The Gini coefficient counts the book's uncited verses as 0.

  1. Philemon Spread 87.1% · 21.8 effective of 25 verses
  2. 2 John Spread 85.2% · 11.1 effective of 13 verses
  3. Obadiah Spread 81.3% · 17.1 effective of 21 verses
  4. Luke Spread 80.4% · 925 effective of 1,151 verses
  5. Matthew Spread 79.6% · 852.5 effective of 1,071 verses
  6. 3 John Spread 77.3% · 11.6 effective of 15 verses
  7. Ephesians Spread 76.4% · 118.4 effective of 155 verses
  8. Mark Spread 76.3% · 517.4 effective of 678 verses
  9. 1 John Spread 75.9% · 79.7 effective of 105 verses
  10. John Spread 75.9% · 667.1 effective of 879 verses

The ten most evenly cited books; the bar shows the effective share.

All 66 books as a table
Every book, the most evenly cited first
BookVersesCitedCitationsEffective versesSpread (effective share)GiniLongest cited stretch (verses)Share of the bookStretch from–to
Philemon2596%12221.887.1%0.2751352%PHM 1:1–PHM 1:13
2 John13100%4211.185.2%0.31113100%2JN 1:1–2JN 1:13
Obadiah2190.5%3517.181.3%0.321733.3%OBA 1:15–OBA 1:21
Luke1,15199.8%8,64292580.4%0.35572863.2%LUK 9:16–LUK 24:53
Matthew1,07199.9%8,793852.579.6%0.34975570.5%MAT 11:2–MAT 28:20
3 John15100%4311.677.3%0.38115100%3JN 1:1–3JN 1:14
Ephesians155100%2,322118.476.4%0.408155100%EPH 1:1–EPH 6:24
Mark67897.3%2,990517.476.3%0.39516424.2%MRK 7:5–MRK 10:43
1 John105100%1,49079.775.9%0.409105100%1JN 1:1–1JN 5:21
John879100%9,169667.175.9%0.384879100%JHN 1:1–JHN 21:25
1 Timothy113100%1,0178575.2%0.415113100%1TI 1:1–1TI 6:21
Ecclesiastes22299.1%716166.675.1%0.39111049.5%ECC 1:1–ECC 6:8
Haggai38100%10428.374.5%0.40838100%HAG 1:1–HAG 2:23
Hebrews303100%2,57822373.6%0.416303100%HEB 1:1–HEB 13:25
Revelation40594.8%1,94329071.6%0.43113934.3%REV 4:1–REV 12:16
1 Corinthians43799.1%3,353312.971.6%0.44717941%1CO 1:1–1CO 9:2
2 Timothy8398.8%68559.471.5%0.4446983.1%2TI 1:1–2TI 4:8
2 Thessalonians47100%37633.571.3%0.42347100%2TH 1:1–2TH 3:18
Romans433100%4,832305.270.5%0.453433100%ROM 1:1–ROM 16:27
Galatians149100%1,62510369.1%0.459149100%GAL 1:1–GAL 6:18
Colossians95100%1,12264.768.2%0.48495100%COL 1:1–COL 4:18
Job1,07083.5%2,028728.968.1%0.426474.4%JOB 4:1–JOB 5:26
Titus46100%43531.267.9%0.45646100%TIT 1:1–TIT 3:15
Song of Songs11790.6%4867967.5%0.4722521.4%SNG 2:6–SNG 4:2
Jude25100%12616.867.1%0.48625100%JUD 1:1–JUD 1:25
1 Peter10599%1,06969.866.5%0.4937571.4%1PE 1:1–1PE 4:3
1 Thessalonians89100%81959.166.4%0.48989100%1TH 1:1–1TH 5:28
Jonah48100%13830.864.1%0.48548100%JON 1:1–JON 4:11
Acts1,00692.3%3,437630.162.6%0.5929.1%ACT 10:47–ACT 13:35
Philippians10498.1%1,42863.961.5%0.5388783.7%PHP 1:18–PHP 4:23
2 Corinthians256100%1,96015761.3%0.523256100%2CO 1:1–2CO 13:14
Daniel35787.7%87421560.2%0.5144312%DAN 6:19–DAN 8:5
James10898.1%85863.959.2%0.5517165.7%JAS 2:7–JAS 5:16
Hosea19795.9%389115.558.7%0.475929.9%HOS 9:14–HOS 13:14
Ezekiel1,27376.7%1,756737.357.9%0.501453.5%EZK 40:10–EZK 41:5
Malachi5581.8%17331.657.5%0.5581934.5%MAL 3:6–MAL 4:6
Psalms2,52888.6%11,0091,428.556.5%0.567873.4%PSA 113:2–PSA 119:3
2 Peter6196.7%34332.553.3%0.5844675.4%2PE 1:16–2PE 3:18
Zechariah21185.8%554111.552.9%0.573178.1%ZEC 10:1–ZEC 11:5
Lamentations15494.2%33880.852.5%0.5235032.5%LAM 3:19–LAM 4:2
Isaiah1,29182.3%4,624641.349.7%0.613463.6%ISA 9:21–ISA 11:11
Micah10584.8%30851.549.1%0.5835148.6%MIC 2:12–MIC 6:9
Amos14697.3%3397148.6%0.5286343.2%AMO 5:8–AMO 8:12
Habakkuk5669.6%15325.846%0.643916.1%HAB 1:13–HAB 2:4
Joel7380.8%21932.644.7%0.6441013.7%JOL 2:15–JOL 2:24
Zephaniah5379.2%16323.644.5%0.6371426.4%ZEP 3:7–ZEP 3:20
Nahum4761.7%6118.940.1%0.647714.9%NAM 3:12–NAM 3:18
Jeremiah1,36460.4%2,377489.135.9%0.706896.5%JER 17:17–JER 22:8
Proverbs91553.1%2,052279.230.5%0.762212.3%PRO 2:15–PRO 3:13
1 Samuel81147.3%860244.630.2%0.738182.2%1SA 9:12–1SA 10:2
Genesis1,53342.7%2,022418.727.3%0.782785.1%GEN 1:1–GEN 3:22
Esther16728.1%5543.826.2%0.7551911.4%EST 1:1–EST 1:19
2 Kings71931.2%320182.725.4%0.77192.6%2KI 4:17–2KI 4:35
Leviticus85929.2%448179.820.9%0.816273.1%LEV 6:25–LEV 7:21
Joshua65834%487135.320.6%0.812304.6%JOS 21:45–JOS 22:29
Numbers1,28927.8%623254.519.7%0.822403.1%NUM 31:48–NUM 32:33
Judges61823.9%235112.118.1%0.837152.4%JDG 6:33–JDG 7:7
1 Kings81722.3%412122.915%0.876172.1%1KI 19:4–1KI 19:20
Exodus1,21321.8%834166.313.7%0.892393.2%EXO 25:2–EXO 25:40
Deuteronomy95917.3%886123.912.9%0.89570.7%DEU 19:15–DEU 19:21
Ezra28016.8%8131.811.4%0.89572.5%EZR 3:3–EZR 3:9
2 Samuel69512.5%22356.38.1%0.933142%2SA 12:1–2SA 12:14
Nehemiah40610.8%15624.36%0.95141%NEH 9:30–NEH 9:33
Ruth858.2%274.65.4%0.95844.7%RUT 1:1–RUT 1:4
2 Chronicles8227.4%210364.4%0.96491.1%2CH 24:17–2CH 24:25
1 Chronicles9434.2%17526.32.8%0.978101.1%1CH 16:22–1CH 16:31

Longest cited stretches

The longest runs of verses inside one book in which every verse is cited at least once. The table of the spread per book gives the longest cited stretch of every book.

  1. JHN 1:1–JHN 21:25· John 879 verses · 9,169 citations
  2. MAT 11:2–MAT 28:20· Matthew 755 verses · 5,376 citations
  3. LUK 9:16–LUK 24:53· Luke 728 verses · 5,324 citations
  4. ROM 1:1–ROM 16:27· Romans 433 verses · 4,832 citations
  5. MAT 1:1–MAT 10:42· Matthew 315 verses · 3,417 citations
  6. HEB 1:1–HEB 13:25· Hebrews 303 verses · 2,578 citations
  7. 2CO 1:1–2CO 13:14· 2 Corinthians 256 verses · 1,960 citations
  8. LUK 4:38–LUK 9:14· Luke 215 verses · 1,386 citations
  9. LUK 1:1–LUK 4:36· Luke 206 verses · 1,932 citations
  10. 1CO 1:1–1CO 9:2· 1 Corinthians 179 verses · 1,387 citations

Most cited chapters

The chapters with the most citations, with the citations per verse and the number of their cited verses.

  1. ROM 8:1–ROM 8:39· Romans 981 citations · 25.15 per verse · 39 of 39 verses cited
  2. JHN 1:1–JHN 1:51· John 974 citations · 19.1 per verse · 51 of 51 verses cited
  3. LUK 1:1–LUK 1:80· Luke 796 citations · 9.95 per verse · 80 of 80 verses cited
  4. 1CO 15:1–1CO 15:58· 1 Corinthians 701 citations · 12.09 per verse · 58 of 58 verses cited
  5. LUK 2:1–LUK 2:52· Luke 663 citations · 12.75 per verse · 52 of 52 verses cited
  6. MAT 5:1–MAT 5:48· Matthew 658 citations · 13.71 per verse · 48 of 48 verses cited
  7. JHN 8:1–JHN 8:59· John 647 citations · 10.97 per verse · 59 of 59 verses cited
  8. JHN 6:1–JHN 6:71· John 633 citations · 8.92 per verse · 71 of 71 verses cited
  9. MAT 6:1–MAT 6:34· Matthew 601 citations · 17.68 per verse · 34 of 34 verses cited
  10. LUK 12:1–LUK 12:59· Luke 557 citations · 9.44 per verse · 59 of 59 verses cited

Chapters and uncited stretches

1,106 of 1,189 chapters (93%) have at least one cited verse; in 337 chapters every verse is cited.

The longest runs of uncited verses within one book
VersesFromTo
2861CH 4:111CH 11:8
148EXO 35:30EXO 40:1
1472CH 7:152CH 14:10
1421CH 1:11CH 4:9
132NUM 7:1NUM 9:17
1291CH 24:21CH 28:2
109EXO 28:31EXO 31:12
101NUM 33:12NUM 35:27
912SA 19:12SA 21:22
862CH 26:172CH 30:7

Every gap, by book or chapter and with a threshold: Blind spots

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Chapter 4 of 4

Over time and compared

How the spread changes over the decades, the comparison with a denomination or source, and the full ranked list to download.

19,199 cited verses are in the ranked list.

Spread over time

Per decade: the records whose whole date lies inside the decade (as the trends place a record), the spread rating and the share of the Bible's verses they cite. Only decades with at least 30 such records are computed; a decade with fewer than 30 citations is listed without figures. Few records cite few verses, so early decades with little data show a low share for that reason alone.

19902020014%0 to 14.4%
Spread per decade (solid line: effective share; dashed line: share of verses cited), decades with figures from left to right
All decades as a table
Spread and cited verses per decade
DecadeCitationsCitedSpread (effective share)Gini
1990–1999991900 (2.89%) 2.79% 0.974
2000–200913,1884,493 (14.41%) 11.55% 0.908
2010–201914,0884,444 (14.26%) 10.92% 0.913
2020–202911,9654,188 (13.44%) 9.52% 0.924

Side-by-side comparison

Put the data you selected above next to one denomination or source: the same profile, verse system, counting rule and release, with the filter of the comparison instead of yours.

Every cited verse

All 19,199 cited verses, most cited first, 100 per page. Verses with the same number of citations share a rank and follow the order of the sequence.

Verses 1–100 of 19,199
RankVerseCitationsShare of citations
1JHN 1:1· John1140.12%
2JHN 1:14· John830.08%
3JHN 1:3· John660.07%
4MAT 11:28· Matthew620.06%
4JHN 8:12· John620.06%
6JHN 3:16· John610.06%
7PHP 2:6· Philippians600.06%
8JHN 14:6· John590.06%
8EPH 3:20· Ephesians590.06%
8EPH 3:21· Ephesians590.06%
11JHN 3:17· John570.06%
112CO 5:17· 2 Corinthians570.06%
13JHN 10:11· John560.06%
131PE 5:7· 1 Peter560.06%
131JN 1:9· 1 John560.06%
131JN 4:18· 1 John560.06%
17JHN 8:32· John530.05%
17GAL 2:20· Galatians530.05%
17EPH 2:10· Ephesians530.05%
20ROM 12:2· Romans520.05%
21JHN 1:12· John510.05%
21GAL 4:4· Galatians510.05%
21PHP 2:5· Philippians510.05%
24LUK 2:14· Luke500.05%
24JHN 16:33· John500.05%
24GAL 6:2· Galatians500.05%
24PHP 4:7· Philippians500.05%
242TH 3:3· 2 Thessalonians500.05%
241TI 2:5· 1 Timothy500.05%
30ROM 8:2· Romans490.05%
30ROM 8:28· Romans490.05%
302CO 1:3· 2 Corinthians490.05%
301TH 5:17· 1 Thessalonians490.05%
34MAT 7:7· Matthew480.05%
34JHN 17:3· John480.05%
34ROM 8:39· Romans480.05%
342CO 12:9· 2 Corinthians480.05%
34GAL 5:22· Galatians480.05%
34PHP 4:4· Philippians480.05%
34COL 1:13· Colossians480.05%
341TH 5:18· 1 Thessalonians480.05%
42ROM 8:1· Romans470.05%
42ROM 8:18· Romans470.05%
42ROM 8:26· Romans470.05%
42ROM 12:1· Romans470.05%
42JAS 5:16· James470.05%
47MAT 7:14· Matthew460.05%
47JHN 4:24· John460.05%
47ROM 8:38· Romans460.05%
472CO 5:21· 2 Corinthians460.05%
472TI 1:7· 2 Timothy460.05%
47TIT 2:11· Titus460.05%
47HEB 11:1· Hebrews460.05%
472PE 3:9· 2 Peter460.05%
471JN 4:19· 1 John460.05%
56PSA 23:3· Psalms450.05%
56MAT 6:33· Matthew450.05%
56MAT 7:12· Matthew450.05%
56MAT 28:19· Matthew450.05%
56ACT 1:8· Acts450.05%
56ROM 5:5· Romans450.05%
56ROM 11:33· Romans450.05%
56ROM 12:12· Romans450.05%
562CO 1:4· 2 Corinthians450.05%
56PHP 4:6· Philippians450.05%
661TH 5:16· 1 Thessalonians440.04%
67MAT 1:21· Matthew430.04%
67JHN 1:18· John430.04%
67JHN 8:31· John430.04%
67ROM 6:23· Romans430.04%
67GAL 5:23· Galatians430.04%
67GAL 6:7· Galatians430.04%
67PHP 2:9· Philippians430.04%
74MAT 5:14· Matthew420.04%
74ROM 8:15· Romans420.04%
74EPH 4:29· Ephesians420.04%
74PHP 2:10· Philippians420.04%
74PHP 4:19· Philippians420.04%
74COL 3:16· Colossians420.04%
74HEB 12:2· Hebrews420.04%
741JN 4:10· 1 John420.04%
82MAT 5:16· Matthew410.04%
82LUK 2:11· Luke410.04%
82JHN 14:27· John410.04%
82ROM 8:11· Romans410.04%
82ROM 8:35· Romans410.04%
82EPH 2:8· Ephesians410.04%
82PHP 4:13· Philippians410.04%
89ISA 61:1· Isaiah400.04%
89MAT 28:20· Matthew400.04%
89ROM 5:8· Romans400.04%
89ROM 12:10· Romans400.04%
891CO 2:9· 1 Corinthians400.04%
89EPH 6:12· Ephesians400.04%
89HEB 4:12· Hebrews400.04%
89JAS 1:5· James400.04%
97LUK 2:29· Luke390.04%
97LUK 19:10· Luke390.04%
97JHN 1:5· John390.04%
97JHN 14:23· John390.04%

Download the data: CSV JSON Every row, with the full description of how it was computed.

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How this was computed – counting rule: Named verses only; data: Official; as of Nov 8, 2026, 5:15 PM UTC
Metric
Verse-level uses: every citation adds one for each verse it covers, under the counting rule. A citation of three verses adds 3. (definition)
Counting rule
Named verses only Like the baseline rule, but only references that name verses count; whole chapters and books are left out. The Top 100 verses use it, so a chapter reference does not lift every verse of the chapter. (definition)
Profile
Official The official profile of every public number: only reviewed and approved entries whose evidence quality is high enough. (definition) – reviewed and approved data only
One computation of all public numbers. A new epoch is computed every 15 minutes; its numbers are provisional until a data release is frozen. (definition)
122, published Nov 8, 2026, 5:15 PM UTC (provisional)
The order of books, chapters and verses the chart follows: a canon with its verse numbering (versification). (definition)
Protestant canon, 66 books (KJV numbering) prot66.nrf, The state of the verse mappings between the numbering systems that was used. Verses of different Bibles are counted together through these mappings. (definition)
How many approved entries match this chart, and from how many sources they come. (definition)
69,262, from 7 sources
Which part of the total rests on less certain ground: uncertain verse mappings, lower bounds (e.g. a repetition count that is not known) and references to whole chapters. (definition)
uncertain mappings 0%, lower bounds 100%, chapter references 0%
Passages whose reference could not be turned into verses (e.g. an unknown book or a verse that does not exist). They are not counted. (definition)
60
Verse-level uses that fall on verses outside the canon of this chart (e.g. deuterocanonical books in a Protestant canon). They are not part of the chart. (definition)
789
Citations that could come from several verses
0 citations without a reference could come from several verses (the same sentence stands in another verse); they are not counted. With the chart option “Count ambiguous references” they count for every possible verse.
The status of each verse position in this chart. A verse without uses is never just zero: the status says why. (definition)
At least one use was recorded. (definition) 19,199,A verse label of this numbering that is not yet linked to a neutral verse unit. Its citations cannot be counted until it is mapped. (definition) 1,The second place of a verse that an edition prints twice. It gets no counts, so nothing is counted twice. (definition) 56,No recorded use, but the sources do not say whether they cover this verse completely. Most sources do not declare their coverage, so this is the usual state of a verse without uses. (definition) 11,972

Live numbers are recomputed every 15 minutes and are provisional until a data release is frozen. How we count