<?php
function limit_words($string, $word_limit) {

    // creates an array of words from $string (this will be our excerpt)
    // explode divides the excerpt up by using a space character

    $words = explode(' ', $string);



    return implode(' ', array_slice($words, 0, $word_limit));

} ?>

// limit $content to 100 words.

<?php $id=9; $post = get_page($id); $content = apply_filters('the_content', $post->post_content); echo limit_words($content(),100); ?>