Sacred texts & traditions

66 books in Protestant Bibles (39 Old Testament, 27 New Testament), 73 in Catholic Bibles, more in Orthodox Bibles; 1,189 chapters in the Protestant canon

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” — Genesis 1:1–3

24 books in three divisions (Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim), 929 chapters; the same content as the 39-book Protestant Old Testament

“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” — Deuteronomy 6:5–7 (the Shema, continued)

114 surahs of unequal length, about 6,236 verses in the most common (Kufan) count; divided into 30 juz' for recitation

“In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, The Beneficent, the Merciful. Master of the Day of Judgment, Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help. Show us the straight path, The path of those whom Thou hast favoured; Not the (path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.” — Surah 1 (Al-Fatiha), verses 1–7

A liturgical corpus: Yasna (72 chapters, including 17 Gathas), Visperad, Vendidad (22 fargards), 21 Yashts and the Khordeh Avesta

“Thus are the primeval spirits who as a pair (combining their opposite strivings), and (yet each) independent in his action, have been famed (of old). (They are) a better thing, they two, and a worse, as to thought, as to word, and as to deed. And between these two let the wisely acting choose aright. (Choose ye) not (as) the evil-doers!” — Yasna 30.3 (Gatha Ahunavaiti), tr. Mills

190 paragraphs in the main text; the authorized edition adds supplementary texts, 107 Questions and Answers, a Synopsis and Codification and 194 notes

About 700 verses in 18 chapters, mostly in the shloka metre

“Never the spirit was born; the spirit shall cease to be never; Never was time it was not; End and Beginning are dreams! Birthless and deathless and changeless remaineth the spirit for ever; Death hath not touched it at all, dead though the house of it seems!” — Chapter II, c. v. 20

A family of prose and verse texts; about 10–13 principal Upanishads out of more than 200

“ALL this, whatsoever moves on earth, is to be hidden in the Lord (the Self). When thou hast surrendered all this, then thou mayest enjoy. Do not covet the wealth of any man!” — Isa Upanishad, verse 1 (SBE 1, as the Vâgasaneyi-samhitâ-upanishad)

423 verses in 26 chapters

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.” — Chapter I (The Twin-Verses), verse 1

One short sutra, in a shorter and a longer version; about 260 characters in Xuanzang's Chinese

“The venerable Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, performing his study in the deep Pragñâpâramitâ (perfection of wisdom), thought thus: 'There are the five Skandhas, and these he considered as by their nature empty (phenomenal).'” — Opening (setting and the five skandhas)

1,430 angs (pages): Japji and daily prayers, 31 raag sections, then saloks and closing compositions; hymns by six Gurus, bhagats and bhatts

“THERE is but one God whose name is true, the Creator, devoid of fear and enmity, immortal, unborn, self-existent by the favour of the Guru.” — Japji, opening (Mul Mantar)

About 195 aphorisms (sutras) in four books (padas)

“Union, spiritual consciousness, is gained through control of the versatile psychic nature.” — Book I, sutra 2

About 163 verses: a frame dialogue, 112 contemplative practices (dharanas), and a closing teaching

About 350 aphorisms (sutras) in 10 chapters; counts differ between the Svetambara and Digambara recensions

“Right belief, (right) knowledge, (right) conduct, these (together constitute) the path to liberation” — Chapter 1, sutra 1

33 chapters: 7 Inner, 15 Outer, and 11 Miscellaneous

“You, Sir, have a large tree and are troubled because it is of no use;--why do you not plant it in a tract where there is nothing else, or in a wide and barren wild?” — Book I (Hsiâo-yâo Yû), closing exchange with Hui-dze

20 books of short sayings and dialogues, about 500 passages in all

“Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters? Is he not a man of complete virtue, who feels no discomposure though men may take no note of him?” — Book I, chapter 1

Received text of 81 short chapters, traditionally read as a Dao section (1–37) and a De section (38–81). Manuscripts differ in order and contents.