A few things to consider: 1. Many of the writings are letters, and therefore short. 2. Many of the writings, though grouped together by books, their chapters

A few things to consider: 1. Many of the writings are letters, and therefore short. 2. Many of the writings, though grouped together by books, their chapters really are often distinct documents written at different times. (some are even historical logs like Kings and Chronicles) 3. There are _many_ sections that really do break down by lines and sections. The best examples are Proverbs and Psalms. 4. It's a huge document, and much of it is useful to reference later, and having a system in place for this (of any kind) is helpful for many reasons. Last, I agree with your general sentiment. The first time I read sections of the bible without the artificial breaks and numbers getting in the way gave me a completely different perspective on the _content_. So I make a point to read like this when I feel the numbers may be in the way of comprehension.