Frequently asked questions

The page you read is the King James Version unless you choose another: the Berean Standard Bible or the World English Bible can be the page instead (how). In the Margin you can show the same verse in up to six more Bibles, and you can read two Bibles side by side with Parallel.

Every Bible in the app is either in the public domain or freely licensed by its publisher. That's what lets the app include them at no cost, read them aloud, and let you share a verse. Most popular modern translations, such as the NIV, ESV and NKJV, are under copyright and can only be used with their publishers' permission, so they aren't in the app.

For each language there's a classic translation and a modern one. The five downloads come together, about 28 MB, and can be removed again in Settings.

Try it: “Feed my sheep”, John 21:16

1. Open Settings › Bibles. The Berean is already checked. Tap Download for the other five, then check the ones you'd like to see, and drag them into the order you want (how).

2. Go to John 21, tap verse 16 and open the Margin. Under Parallel Translations, each Bible you checked shows the same verse. Tap Speak on one to hear it, in a Spanish or Chinese voice where the verse is in that language.

Search and Ask still read the King James, whichever Bible is on the page. When another Bible is the page, the Margin's Strong's words and measures are found in its words instead. When Ask puts a verse in today's words, it uses the Berean.

The Nueva Biblia Viva is a paraphrase, like the Living Bible in English, so its card says so. It often joins two or three verses into one sentence; the card then shows the verses it covers, such as “vv. 11–12”.

Each Bible's notice and licence, and anything this app changed, are listed under What's in the app and in the app's Settings › Sources & Licenses.

Yes. In Settings › Bibles › On the Page, choose the Berean Standard Bible, or the World English Bible once it's downloaded. The King James stays the default, and you can go back to it any time.

The page can be one of these three English Bibles. The Spanish and Chinese Bibles can be shown beside it, in the Margin or side by side, but not as the page itself, because the Margin's Strong's words, measures and names, and Ask, all work in English.

Try it: the Berean on the page

1. Open Settings › Bibles. Under On the Page, choose Berean Standard Bible. (The tip “New: choose your Bibles” on the Settings button takes you there with Show Me.)

2. Close Settings. You're on the same chapter and the same verse, and your ribbon is where you left it; only the words have changed. With VoiceOver on, you'll hear “Now reading the Berean Standard Bible.”

3. Open the Margin on John 21:16. The King James is now the first card under Parallel Translations, so it's still a glance away. Strong's Words reads Shepherd, the Berean's word, where the King James says Feed.

4. Go to Matthew 18. The Berean leaves out verse 11, which isn't in the oldest manuscripts, so its row says so instead of the numbers jumping from 10 to 12.

5. To go back, choose King James Version (1769) under On the Page.

What follows the Bible on the page

Where the Berean says a measure another way (“about three or four miles” for “five and twenty or thirty furlongs”), the Margin keeps the King James's words and marks them “(King James)”.

Yes. In Settings › Bibles › In the Margin, a check puts a Bible in the Margin, and you can drag the Bibles into any order. The top one is the first card under Parallel Translations.

The Berean Standard Bible comes with the app. The Download button in the same list adds five more, about 28 MB: the World English Bible, two Spanish and two Chinese Bibles.

Try it: put the Spanish first, John 21:16

1. Open Settings › Bibles. Under In the Margin each Bible on your device has a row. Tap a row to check or uncheck it.

2. Drag Reina-Valera 1909 by its handle (the three lines on the right) to the top of the list. With VoiceOver, swipe up or down on the row and choose Move Up.

3. Go to John 21, tap verse 16 and open the Margin. Under Parallel Translations, the Spanish comes first, then the rest in your order. The word card's In this verse follows the same order.

• When another Bible is on the page, the King James joins this list, at the top until you move it, so it's always a glance away. The page's own Bible is never in the Margin.
• With two Bibles side by side, the second Bible is left out of the Margin while it's open: it's already on the screen.
• A Bible you uncheck, or remove with its download, keeps its place in your order for when it comes back.

Yes. Turn on Parallel and the whole chapter appears in a second Bible, beside the page on an iPad or a Mac and under it on an iPhone. The two stay on the same verse as you read. You can also change the Bible on the page itself.

Choose what to set up:

A number for every Hebrew and Greek word behind the King James Bible. The same number always means the same original word, whatever English word the translators chose.

In 1890 James Strong published his Exhaustive Concordance. It lists every word of the King James Version and every verse it's in. At the back are two small dictionaries: one for the Hebrew (and a little Aramaic) of the Old Testament, numbered H1 to H8674, and one for the Greek of the New Testament, numbered G1 to G5624. Each entry gives the word as it was written, how to say it, where it comes from, what it means, and every way the King James translates it.

The numbers matter because English and the original don't line up one to one. The King James sometimes uses one English word for two different originals, and sometimes several English words for one. John 21:15–17 has both kinds:

Reading the English alone, you'd never know Jesus changed words. With the numbers, you can see it, and you can find every other verse that uses the same word.

Strong's dictionaries are in the public domain. Which Greek or Hebrew word stands behind each English word in the app comes from STEP Bible's word data (Tyndale House, Cambridge). Both are credited under What's in the app.

Tap a word under Strong's Words in the Margin, or ask about an English word in Ask and tap one of its Strong's entries. Either way a card opens with the original word, what it means, Strong's entry, and the other verses and words that go with it.

The Margin and Ask are on the Reference and Ask – Tell Me More reading profiles. If you don't see a Margin or Ask button, choose one of those in Settings › Reading Profile.

Choose where to start:

On either card, select a word or a phrase to copy it, or tap Share to send the whole card with its source to Notes, Messages or Mail.

When a verse names a measure, a coin or a time, the Margin's Measures & Time section says what it is today, in US measures with metric beside them. Tap one for its own card.

It covers weights (a shekel, a talent), lengths (a cubit, a furlong, a day's journey), dry and liquid measures, money (a penny, a mite), the watches of the night, the hours of the day, and the months. For each example below, select the verse, open the Margin, and look for Measures & Time.

Choose an example:

All measures and times, at the foot of the section, opens the whole table: every weight, length, measure, coin, time of day and month, each with its own card.

You can ask too. In Ask, try “What was a shekel worth?” or “What time was the ninth hour?”. The answer is written from the same worked-out figures, and any number the app didn't give is left out.

Sizes are approximate. Scholars differ, and the old dictionaries give the history. Today's value of gold and silver is as of the month the app was built.