--- title: "Gospel of John: Summary & All 21 Chapters · Bless" url: https://blessbible.app/bible/john/ description: "The Gospel of John, one of the four Gospels, in 21 chapters. Bp. Challoner’s summary of all 21 chapters, and the full text free." --- New Testament # The Gospel of John The Gospel of John is the fourth of the 27 books of the New Testament: 21 chapters and 879 verses. [Start reading: John 1](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/1/) Chapters 1–21: [1](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/1/) … [21](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/21/) ## About John About John · Gospel John is the last and deepest of the Gospels, opening not in Bethlehem but before creation: the Word was God, and the Word became flesh. The Church received it from the tradition of the beloved disciple, John, and it differs from the other three by design — long discourses instead of parables, seven great signs, and an unmatched intimacy in the upper room. It was written, as it says plainly, so that readers may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing may have life in his name. *John in Bless* | | | |---|---| | Testament | New Testament — book 4 of 27, 50 of 73 in the Bible | | Canon | Protocanonical (in every Christian canon) | | Chapters | 21 | | Verses | 879, as Bless numbers them | | Latin | Clementine Vulgate, 20 of 21 chapters | | Bp. Challoner | Summaries of all 21 chapters · 32 notes | | Catechism | 305 paragraphs cite it | Chapter by chapter ## All 21 chapters, *in brief.* Bishop Richard Challoner’s summary of each chapter, from his revision of the Douay-Rheims (1749–52). Open a chapter for the full text. 1. ### [John 1](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/1/) 51 verses The divinity and incarnation of Christ. John bears witness of him. He begins to call his disciples. 2. ### [John 2](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/2/) 25 verses Christ changes water into wine. He casts the sellers out of the temple. 3. ### [John 3](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/3/) 36 verses Christ's discourse with Nicodemus. John's testimony. 4. ### [John 4](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/4/) 54 verses Christ talks with the Samaritan woman. He heals the ruler's son. 5. ### [John 5](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/5/) 47 verses Christ heals on the sabbath the man languishing thirty-eight years. His discourse upon this occasion. 6. ### [John 6](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/6/) 72 verses Christ feeds five thousand with five loaves. He walks upon the sea and discourses of the bread of life. 7. ### [John 7](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/7/) 53 verses Christ goes up to the feast of the tabernacles. He teaches in the temple. 8. ### [John 8](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/8/) 59 verses The woman taken in adultery. Christ justifies his doctrine. 9. ### [John 9](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/9/) 41 verses He gives sight to the man born blind. 10. ### [John 10](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/10/) 42 verses Christ is the door and the good shepherd. He and his Father are one. 11. ### [John 11](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/11/) 57 verses Christ raises Lazarus to life. The rulers resolve to put him to death. 12. ### [John 12](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/12/) 50 verses The anointing of Christ's feet. His riding into Jerusalem upon an ass. A voice from heaven. 13. ### [John 13](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/13/) 38 verses Christ washes his disciples' feet. The treason of Judas. The new commandment of love. 14. ### [John 14](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/14/) 31 verses Christ's discourse after his last supper. 15. ### [John 15](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/15/) 27 verses A continuation of Christ's discourse to his disciples. 16. ### [John 16](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/16/) 33 verses The conclusion of Christ's last discourse to his disciples. 17. ### [John 17](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/17/) 26 verses Christ's prayer for his disciples. 18. ### [John 18](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/18/) 40 verses The history of the passion of Christ. 19. ### [John 19](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/19/) 42 verses The continuation of the history of the Passion of Christ. 20. ### [John 20](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/20/) 31 verses Christ's resurrection and manifestation to his disciples. 21. ### [John 21](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/21/) 25 verses Christ manifests himself to his disciples by the sea side and gives Peter the charge of his sheep. Bp. Richard Challoner · chapter summaries In the comments ## What the saints *said.* 36 quotations from 24 saints linked to passages of John in Bless. Each names the work it comes from. [St. Jerome](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-jerome/) · on [John 5:39](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/5/#v39) On this verse > Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. Commentary on Isaiah, prologue, c. 408 [St. Ambrose](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-ambrose/) · on [John 1:3](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/1/#v3) On this theme > The Word of Christ made out of nothing what was not; can it not change the things that are into what they were not? On the Mysteries, 9, c. 390 [St. Irenaeus](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-irenaeus/) · on [John 1:14](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/1/#v14) On this theme > The Word of God became what we are, that He might make us what He Himself is. Against Heresies, III.19.1, c. 180 [St. Athanasius](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-athanasius/) · on [John 1:14](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/1/#v14) On this theme > He became man that we might become divine. On the Incarnation, 54, c. 318 [St. Thomas Aquinas](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-thomas-aquinas/) · on [John 1:16](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/1/#v16) On this theme > Grace does not destroy nature but perfects it. Summa Theologiae, I q.1 a.8, c. 1265 [St. John the Baptist](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-the-baptist/) · on [John 1:29](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/1/#v29) On this theme > Behold, the Lamb of God. Behold, he who takes away the sin of the world. John 1:29 (CPDV), c. 30 ### 30 more, on the chapter pages - [John 2:3](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/2/#v3) St. Alphonsus Liguori - [John 2:5](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/2/#v5) St. Louis de Montfort - [John 3:30](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/3/#v30) St. John the Baptist - [John 4:14](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/4/#v14) St. Ignatius of Antioch - [John 4:34](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/4/#v34) St. Alphonsus Liguori - [John 4:34](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/4/#v34) St. Elizabeth Ann Seton - [John 5:39](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/5/#v39) St. Gregory the Great - [John 6:51](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/6/#v51) St. Ignatius of Antioch - [John 6:51](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/6/#v51) St. Pius X · attributed - [John 6:54](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/6/#v54) St. Irenaeus - [John 6:55](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/6/#v55) St. Thomas Aquinas - [John 6:56](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/6/#v56) St. Alphonsus Liguori - [John 6:56](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/6/#v56) St. Leo the Great - [John 10:10](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/10/#v10) St. Irenaeus - [John 10:11](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/10/#v11) St. Thomas Becket - [John 12:24](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/12/#v24) St. Ignatius of Antioch - [John 13:1](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/13/#v1) St. Thomas Aquinas - [John 13:34](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/13/#v34) St. Francis de Sales · attributed - [John 13:35](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/13/#v35) St. John Bosco - [John 14:6](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/14/#v6) St. Catherine of Siena · attributed - [John 15:5](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/15/#v5) St. Augustine of Hippo - [John 15:5](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/15/#v5) St. Catherine of Siena - [John 15:13](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/15/#v13) St. Margaret Mary Alacoque - [John 15:15](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/15/#v15) St. Teresa of Ávila - [John 15:15](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/15/#v15) St. Thomas Aquinas - [John 16:8](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/16/#v8) St. John Vianney - [John 17:9](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/17/#v9) St. Francis of Assisi - [John 17:23](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/17/#v23) St. Catherine of Genoa · attributed - [John 19:27](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/19/#v27) St. Bernard of Clairvaux - [John 20:29](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/20/#v29) St. Thomas Aquinas · attributed Coming up ## Read at *Mass.* From October 29, 2026 to October 28, 2027, John is read at the principal Mass on 136 days in the US calendar. The next 8 readings: | Date | Celebration | Reading | Citation | |---|---|---|---| | [Fri, Oct 30, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/10/30/) | Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time | Alleluia | [John 10:27](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/10/) | | [Mon, Nov 2, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/11/02/) | The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed | Gospel | [John 6:37-40](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/6/) | | [Mon, Nov 9, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/11/09/) | Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome | Gospel | [John 2:13-22](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/2/) | | [Tue, Nov 10, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/11/10/) | St. Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church | Alleluia | [John 14:23](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/14/) | | [Thu, Nov 12, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/11/12/) | St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr | Alleluia | [John 15:5](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/15/) | | [Sun, Nov 15, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/11/15/) | Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time | Alleluia | [John 15:4a, 5b](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/15/) | | [Mon, Nov 16, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/11/16/) | Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time | Alleluia | [John 8:12](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/8/) | | [Wed, Nov 18, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/11/18/) | Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time | Alleluia | [See John 15:16](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/15/) | Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option). Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish. [Previous book The Gospel of Luke](https://blessbible.app/bible/luke/) [Next book The Acts of the Apostles](https://blessbible.app/bible/acts/)