How long does it take to read the book of Genesis?

About 2 hours 25 minutes if you read it silently. Out loud it's about 3 hours 10 minutes, and an audio Bible takes about 3 hours 40 minutes. Genesis has 50 chapters, 1,533 verses and 34,876 words.

Silently: 2 hr 25 min
Out loud: 3 hr 10 min
Listening: 3 hr 40 min

About Genesis

Genesis tells how God made the world, how sin broke it, and how He began to rescue it by calling Abraham's family, from Isaac and Jacob down to Joseph in Egypt.

The first of the Bible's 66 books, in the Old Testament (The Law).

A tip for reading it

Go slowly through the first eleven chapters, then enjoy the family stories of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph as one connected story.

Plan your reading of Genesis

Choose a finish date or the time you have, and get what to read each day.

What are you reading?

How will you read it?

Plan by

Finish in

Reading days

Reading Genesis silently takes about 2 hours 25 minutes in all.

Each day

3 min

Reading days

You finish

…

That's about a chapter a day, 50 chapters in all.

Your first week

Whole chapters, balanced by length

Day 1Genesis 13 min
Day 2Genesis 23 min
Day 3Genesis 33 min
Day 4Genesis 43 min
Day 5Genesis 52 min
Day 6Genesis 62 min
Day 7Genesis 72 min

Chapter by chapter

Reading silently. The longest is Genesis 24 at about 7 minutes; the shortest, Genesis 16, takes about 2 minutes.

Chapter 131 verses3 min
Chapter 225 verses3 min
Chapter 324 verses3 min
Chapter 426 verses3 min
Chapter 532 verses2 min
Chapter 622 verses2 min
Chapter 724 verses2 min
Chapter 822 verses2 min
Chapter 929 verses3 min
Chapter 1032 verses2 min
Chapter 1132 verses3 min
Chapter 1220 verses2 min
Chapter 1318 verses2 min
Chapter 1424 verses2 min
Chapter 1521 verses2 min
Chapter 1616 verses2 min
Chapter 1727 verses2 min
Chapter 1833 verses3 min
Chapter 1938 verses4 min
Chapter 2018 verses2 min
Chapter 2134 verses3 min
Chapter 2224 verses2 min
Chapter 2320 verses2 min
Chapter 2467 verses7 min
Chapter 2534 verses3 min
Chapter 2635 verses3 min
Chapter 2746 verses5 min
Chapter 2822 verses2 min
Chapter 2935 verses3 min
Chapter 3043 verses4 min

Show all 50 chapters

Chapter 3155 verses6 min
Chapter 3232 verses3 min
Chapter 3320 verses2 min
Chapter 3431 verses3 min
Chapter 3529 verses2 min
Chapter 3643 verses3 min
Chapter 3736 verses4 min
Chapter 3830 verses3 min
Chapter 3923 verses2 min
Chapter 4023 verses2 min
Chapter 4157 verses5 min
Chapter 4238 verses4 min
Chapter 4334 verses4 min
Chapter 4434 verses3 min
Chapter 4528 verses3 min
Chapter 4634 verses3 min
Chapter 4731 verses4 min
Chapter 4822 verses3 min
Chapter 4933 verses3 min
Chapter 5026 verses3 min

Questions about Genesis

How long does it take to read Genesis out loud?

About 3 hours 10 minutes at a comfortable reading-aloud pace. Listening to an audio Bible, it takes about 3 hours 40 minutes.

How many chapters are in Genesis?

Genesis has 50 chapters and 1,533 verses, 34,876 words in the Berean Standard Bible.

Can I read Genesis in one sitting?

You can, but at about 2 hours 25 minutes most people split it up. At one chapter a day you'd finish in 50 days, about 3 minutes a day.

What's the longest chapter in Genesis?

Genesis 24, about 7 minutes to read. The shortest is Genesis 16, about 2 minutes.

What is Genesis about?