Bible APIbible.com ↗
Access Bible verses, full chapters, verse of the day, and multiple translations from Bible.com via a structured JSON API. Supports NIV, KJV, ESV, NLT, and more.
What is the Bible API?
The Bible.com API provides 5 endpoints for retrieving scripture data from YouVersion's Bible.com, covering verse-level lookups, full chapter retrieval, multi-translation comparisons, and the daily Verse of the Day. The get_verse endpoint returns text from up to 10 English translations simultaneously for a single USFM reference, while get_versions exposes translation availability across all supported languages including version IDs, abbreviations, titles, and publisher metadata.
curl -X GET 'https://api.parse.bot/scraper/fd4c6ebc-c797-4fd4-a542-9522b01e4d7d/get_verse_of_the_day?version_id=111' \ -H 'X-API-Key: $PARSE_API_KEY'
Retrieve today's Verse of the Day from Bible.com. Returns the verse reference, text content, date, and an associated image URL. The verse changes daily and is the same for all users on a given day.
| Param | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| version_id | string | Numeric Bible version ID. 111 = NIV, 1 = KJV, 59 = ESV, 116 = NLT, 114 = NKJV, 97 = MSG, 1713 = CSB, 2692 = NASB2020, 1588 = AMP, 107 = NET. |
{
"type": "object",
"fields": {
"date": "string",
"usfm": "string",
"image_url": "string",
"reference": "string",
"verse_text": "string",
"version_id": "integer",
"book_and_chapter": "string"
},
"sample": {
"data": {
"date": "2026-06-16T20:39:14.967Z",
"usfm": "MIC.6.8",
"image_url": "https://imageproxy.youversionapi.com/1280x1280/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static-youversionapi-com/images/base/117915/1280x1280.jpg",
"reference": "Micah 6:8",
"verse_text": "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.\nAnd what does the LORD require of you?\nTo act justly and to love mercy\nand to walk humbly with your God.",
"version_id": 111,
"book_and_chapter": "Micah 6"
},
"status": "success"
}
}About the Bible API
Endpoints and Core Data
The API exposes five endpoints. get_verse_of_the_day returns the current daily verse including its reference, verse_text, usfm identifier, an image_url, and the date — useful for daily devotional features. get_chapter returns the full set of verses for a given book and chapter using three-letter USFM book codes (e.g. GEN, PSA, JHN), with each verse object carrying a usfm identifier, verse_number, and text. The response also includes next_chapter and previous_chapter navigation strings and a copyright field.
Multi-Translation Lookups
get_verse accepts a USFM reference — single verse (JHN.3.16) or a range (JHN.3.16-18) — and returns that passage across up to 10 translations in one call. Each entry in the translations array includes the version_id, abbreviation, title, and the matched verses. The get_verses endpoint covers similar ground to get_chapter but returns only the flat verse list without navigation metadata, making it better suited for bulk text extraction from a single chapter and version.
Translation Discovery
get_versions accepts a language parameter as a 3-letter tag (eng, spa, fra, por) or a 2-letter ISO 639-1 code, and returns an array of version objects with id, abbreviation, title, and publisher_id. The response also surfaces total_languages and total_versions_all_languages — global counts across the full Bible.com platform — giving a sense of the breadth of available content even beyond English. Common version IDs: NIV = 111, KJV = 1, ESV = 59, NLT = 116, NKJV = 114, MSG = 97.
The Bible API is a managed, monitored endpoint for bible.com — not a raw scraper you maintain. Every endpoint is automatically health-checked on a schedule, and when bible.com changes and a check fails, the API is automatically queued for repair and re-verified. It is built to keep working as the site underneath it changes.
This isn't an official bible.com API — it's an independent, maintained REST wrapper over public data. Where the source has no official API (or only a limited one), Parse gives you a stable contract over a source that never promised one, and keeps it current. Need a new endpoint or field? You can revise it yourself in plain English and the agent rebuilds it against the live site in minutes — contributing the change back to the shared API is free.
Will this API break when the source site changes?+
Is this an official API from the source site?+
Can I fix or extend this API myself if I need a new endpoint or field?+
What happens if I call an endpoint that has an issue?+
- Display a daily scripture widget using
get_verse_of_the_dayincluding the associatedimage_urlandverse_text. - Build a side-by-side translation comparison tool using
get_verseto fetch up to 10 versions of the same reference at once. - Populate a Bible reading app with full chapter text and navigation by chaining
get_chapterresponses vianext_chapterandprevious_chapter. - Generate sermon or study notes by pulling all verse objects from a chapter with
get_versesand processing the flat text array. - Let users select their preferred translation by first calling
get_versionsto list availableid,abbreviation, andtitlevalues for a chosen language. - Build multilingual scripture tools by querying
get_versionswith ISO language codes to discover available translations in Spanish, French, or Portuguese. - Archive or index chapter-level scripture content by iterating through books and chapters using
get_chapterwith a fixedversion_id.
| Tier | Price | Credits/month | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 200 | 5 req/min |
| Hobby | $30/mo | 1,000 | 20 req/min |
| Developer | $100/mo | 5,000 | 100 req/min |
| Team | $300/mo | 20,000 | 300 req/min |
| Company | $1,000/mo | 100,000 | 500 req/min |
Each endpoint has a fixed posted price per successful call — most fall between 1 and 10 credits — shown on this API's page before you run it. Exceeding the rate limit returns a 429 response. Authenticate with the X-API-Key header.
Does Bible.com (YouVersion) have an official developer API?+
What does `get_verse` return differently from `get_chapter`?+
get_verse accepts a USFM reference for a specific verse or range and returns that passage across multiple translations simultaneously — each with its own version_id, abbreviation, and verses array. get_chapter returns all verses for an entire chapter in a single chosen translation, plus next_chapter and previous_chapter navigation strings and copyright text. Use get_verse when comparing translations; use get_chapter when you need full sequential chapter content.Does the Verse of the Day differ by translation?+
reference and date regardless of the requested version_id, but the verse_text reflects the chosen translation. The optional version_id parameter accepts numeric IDs such as 111 (NIV), 1 (KJV), or 59 (ESV).Does the API cover audio Bible content, reading plans, or user account data?+
Are non-English Bible translations supported?+
get_versions accepts a language parameter and returns version metadata for any language available on Bible.com. However, the verse and chapter retrieval endpoints accept a version_id — once you have the correct ID for a non-English version from get_versions, you can query get_chapter or get_verse in that language. Coverage depends on what YouVersion has published for that language.