It comes as no surprise that the Bible verse that most people can quote from memory is also the most popular one: John 3:16 (NIV): For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
An Australian, Peter Chapman, founder of the Top Verses website, reports that he surveyed 37 million Bible references to rank those biblical verses that are most popular by virtue of their being accessed the most often.
As a result, he has made it easier to search the Web for verses. For example, someone wanting to find John 3:16 likely would remember world as a key word in the verse, and by putting world into the search engine, John 3:16, it would come up first and save nine pages of wrong hits.
Putting the most popular verses first makes the Bible much more accessible, Chapman said. All sorts of people are visiting the site and seeing the Bible in a new way. His website (www.topverses.com) also cherry-picked the favorite verses in each of the 66 books of the Bible. For example, Proverbs, the book that offers straight-forward advice, lists No. 1: Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding.
The Bibles second and third most popular verses are John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the World was with God, and the Word was God; and John 14:6: Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Incidentally, the first verse of the Bible came in seventh overall: Genesis 1:1: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Not surprisingly, No. 4 is this from Matthew 28:19: Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Chapmans work actually takes the 31,101 verses to be found in the standard Bible and ranks them according to their Internet hits history. He not only ranked verses, but chapters and books. The top 10 books of the Bible are all in the New Testaments: 1) Ephesians; 2) James; 3) Titus: 4) 1 John; 5) 2 Peter; 6) John; 7) Philippians; 
Colossians; 9) Romans; and 10) 1 Peter. It wasnt until the 19th book that the Old Testament was first referenced: Malachi, but it could only muster five verses in the entire top 1,000.
Two chapters among the top 10 chapters of the Bible come from the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible. They are Psalm 1, second most popular, and Isaiah 53, No. 6. Most popular chapter is 2 Peter 1. The great cant-we-all-get-along? chapter, James 4 is ranked No. 4.
Clearly, a quick review of popular verses, chapters and book points out the bedrock teachings that pastors and rabbis have returned to again and again for messages. Chapman declares that what he has done is provide pastors especially with an easier way to find scriptures. Top verses will be my new search engine when preparing sermons and for my own Bible study, a Sydney, Australia, pastor declared. You no longer have to search through a hundred verses to find the only you have in mind. Most of the time, I find it on the first.
People are endlessly fascinated by lists. With the Top Verses website, people can also compare what parts of the Good Book most connect with them versus these most popular Internet hits. Interestingly, the most popular verses are those we find starkly printed on billboards on lonely roadways. An example is No. 5: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23.
