The 100 most-read Bible verses
May 22nd, 2009 by Victor
I came across an article recently which broke down the 100 most read Bible verses at the online Bible site BibleGateway.com. I thought it was interesting to note what was being searched for - and on the flip side, what people were not looking for.
This list isn’t actually based on a straight popularity count; simply tallying the most-read verses results in a top 100 list that consists almost entirely of John 3:16and verses from 1 Corinthians 13, Genesis 1, Romans 8, and Psalm 23. Our list instead considers instances in which BibleGateway.com users looked at three or fewer verses at one time.
If you’re curious to know what the least popular Bible passage is, it’s 1 Chronicles 23-27, which details the organization of the priests and officials under King David.
Here is the list in its entirety -
Here is a simple tally of some observations I had about this list.
Times the following words appear:
“Kingdom (of God)” - 1 (#34 - Matthew 6:33)
“Repent” - 1 (#59 - Acts 2:38)
“love” - 15 (#1, 3,12, 18, 23, 24, 50, 63, 70, 74, 75, 78, 81, 95, 100)
“gospel” - 0
Verses from the New Testament - 81
Verses from the Gospels - Matthew - 9, Mark - 0, Luke - 0, John - 14
Verses from Romans - 11
Verses from the Old Testament - 19
Verses of the Old Testament which are from Psalms or Proverbs - 6
Deuteronomy 6:4 - 0
Verses that mention “trinity” - 0
Verse which talk about going to heaven - 0
What do you think about these stats? Is there anything telling about which verses appear on the list? What about those which don’t? Notice anything telling about the church, the world, the gospel, what’s on people’s minds, etc? What do you think?
lol
Sean, I’m curious, were you able to look at this list and did you notice any sort of trend/theme in the list?
nope…should I?
I see that the word “love” is clearly in the lead.
I suppose that’s what people are looking for. It must be what they
want most of all. Maybe they go to those verses to see what it is
and what it is not.
I wonder if they are thinking that it’s so often missing in the world
around them. Maybe they go there to see if they are walking in it.
I suppose we all want the best.
Is it God that is calling us to read the verses on love as well as the
new testament?
I find this interesting because it’s not as if this was a survey of one
denomination, or one particular Christian publication. Sometimes
I noticed that what never appears in a certain Christian publication
is the thing that is needed the most in that particular denomination.
But this survey isn’t about one particular denomination that is putting out what they want to put out. This is about people freely
coming to a site to visit certain verses and nothing is missing.
The enemy has a counterfeit for love. I think that’s where the battle
has been the greatest. God’s people will come out of the snares of
the enemy and find the real thing by Jesus Christ.
Ray, I think it is interesting that love is a prevailing theme in this list as well. It’s interesting that there aren’t many verses on the wrath of God - people aren’t looking for that I guess
But it did seem to me that there were a lot of verses about man getting things from God - being blessed by Him, being taken care of by Him, etc - certainly these things are true - but I thought it was an indication of how self-focused (what can God do for me) we are today as opposed to God glorifying (what can we do for God).
Good observation Victor.
Are we more self-focused today than people were in the past? Or is it basic human nature?
About being self-focused,
I think a lot about our focus is revealed by our worship. We live in
a time when musicians and writers do want to move into their own
worship music, and so we see so much new music in many churches
today.
In some churches we see very few of the old hymns, though some
of them show up and I’m blessed by them as some of them are very good.
Some of the old hymns seemed to have bee written at a time when
there must have been a great move of God, or at a time when there was a great spiritual depth and beauty.
I see Matthew 6:33 on the list and when I look at it, is it because I
want more things or is it because the things I have do not satisfy
me?
I suppose if I were a preacher trying to either raise money for ministry, or one who truely wanted to encourage people to give to help them get out of the material world, that they might have something in heaven to look forward to, or have their view toward
heaven and find release from the selfish ways of this world and receive some joy, hope, or confidence in God because they gave,
then I might go to that verse.
This may be a little off the subject but here’s something on worship:
Psalm 115
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.
Psalm 115 was written by someone who really knew how to worship. The writer of this Psalm no doubt lived in worship, and the worship was not on himself. His “self” was not his focus, unless
it was to see his weak condition by himself, or if it be his strength,
only because God was with him. When he views himself, it’s in humility, otherwise his eyes are on God and his works which he has
done.
Have you ever taken the words of a worship song and drew a vertical line on a blank page, and on one side wrote “I worship, or
worship of self, or glory to self, or attention to self” and on the other side, wrote “worship to God, or glory to God, or splendor and
magnificence of God”, and then took the words of the song and put
each line on one side or the other to see who is is that is getting the worship?
I’ve done that with a few and sometimes the score was “Self”- 10
and “God”- 2. So, what were we worshipping, did we even know?
I saw that in the Psalms there were times when men had focus on
self, for we are men, but usually God always got the greater score.
I began to think that real worship doesn’t even begin till we at least get more on God’s side of the line than on our own, only then
does worship of God really begin.
When we do worhip God, I get the sence that heaven joins in, that
his spirit is near, that something in the atmosphere is better. Worship changes things spiritually. When I am in worship I am not
aware of that fact, but I am aware of the change. Later I might be
aware of the fact.
When we worhip God we begin to be instructed by him.
So what are the results of self-worship? Psalm 115 reveals some things.
There is something else that is interesting to me which I believe that may be why so many churches and humans are confused about the whole trinity thing, there are MANY more New testiment verses being read than the Old testiment (as shown in the chart), when I had first started reading the bible I started with the New testiment myself, and it is mostly talking about Jesus, when I read the Old testiment first and the entire bible from begining to end it clarified so many things especially how the old testiment focuses on God only and explains things to come but doesnt even mention Jesus (specifically), it says things about what Jesus will be and how he will be born in a way but nothing he did just what God has done and will do and it is specific to God the new testiment focuses more on Jesus God’s son, I just can see how so many people belive in Jesus and what he taught on and think he is God but if everyone read the bible from begining to end instead of just the New testiment then I believe the trinity would die out, and better understanding on the whole word of God not just pieces and people could know the truth, that God is ONE!
Did you ever read John 1:2 like this? This is how I read it:
John 1:1,2
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God.
The same (but different) was in the beginning with God.
Someone can be the same but different than another can’t they?
Twins are often like that. That’s just one example. I’m sure there
are more. Some people can be the same way and look completely
different.
There’s also something in the Greek there about a “definate article” or something, that indicates something different which I
read about, though I am not much into Greek. I have more than
enough trouble with English.
The word “with” in John 1:1 shows us that there is a distinction
of persons.
Now in what sense was the Word God? In many I suppose. No doubt the Word had the dominion and the power of God. No doubt
the Word has the life of God. No doubt the Word is the light of God,
as John later reveals.
Psalm 139:4
For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
So it is with the children of God.
Jesus is the SAME as God. Just as God was in the beginning, so
was Jesus. Same in every way as God, we see only a distinction because John said that this Word was WITH God in the beginning.
(emphasis is mine)
God knows us before he made us. He knows our thoughts before
we even think them. He knew how we would be before we were
made in the womb. He put us in the time he wanted us to be in.
Calling us to be as Jesus, he perfects us for his purposes in him,
which purposes are in himself. God will see if there is any wicked
way in us and lead us into life everlasting, as the Psalmist said.
(Psalm 139:24)