Bibleserver.com for Webmasters

The developer tools of the Bibleserver support you with the manual and automatic link of Bible passages on your website. The official API of the Bibleserver will be explained in detail below.

Note: The Bibleserver doesn’t offer API for the content of Bible verses. This is not possible due to license reasons.

The link structure of the Bible server is simple and clear. Without prior experience, any Bible passage or search result can be linked with the Bibleserver. With the current version 2010 of the Bibleserver, the linking has changed. However, links made with former versions still work.

Link Bible passages

The link of a Bible passage has the following structure:
http://www.bibleserver.com/text/{Translation}/{Bible passage}

Example for John 3:16 from the Luther translation:
http://www.bibleserver.com/text/LUT/Johannes3,16

Link search queries

Search queries can be linked as follows:
http://www.bibleserver.com/search/{Translation}/{Search term}

Example for "Tempel" from the Luther translation:
http://www.bibleserver.com/search/LUT/Tempel

Explanations on how to state the translation

Translations are indicated in shortened form. The following table gives an overview of available translations.

Overview of available translations
Abbreviation Name Language Section
LUTLuther 1984GermanOT, NT
ELBElberfelder BibelGermanOT, NT
HFAHoffnung für alleGermanOT, NT
SLTSchlachter 2000GermanOT, NT
NGÜNeue Genfer ÜbersetzungGermanPsalms, NT
GNBGute Nachricht BibelGermanOT, NT, Apocrypha
EUEinheitsübersetzungGermanOT, NT, Apocrypha
NLBNeues Leben. Die BibelGermanOT, NT
NeÜNeue evangelistische ÜbersetzungGermanOT, NT
ESVEnglish Standard VersionEnglishOT, NT
NIVNew International VersionEnglishOT, NT
TNIVToday's New International VersionEnglishOT, NT
NIRVNew Int. Readers VersionEnglishOT, NT
KJVKing James VersionEnglishOT, NT
BDSBible du SemeurFrenchOT, NT
S21Segond 21FrenchOT, NT, Apocrypha
ITALa Parola è VitaItalianNT
NRSNuova Riveduta 2006ItalianOT, NT
HTBHet BoekDutchOT, NT
CSTVersion La Biblia al DiaSpanishOT, NT
NVINueva Versión InternacionalSpanishOT, NT
BTXLa Biblia TextualSpanishOT, NT
PRTO LivroPortugueseOT, NT
NOREn Levende BokNorwegianNT
SVLEn Levande BokSwedishOT, NT
DKBibelen på hverdagsdanskDanishOT, NT
POLSłowo ŻyciaPolishNT
CEPČeský ekumenický překladCzechOT, NT, Apocrypha
SNCSlovo na cestuCzechOT, NT
B21Bible, překlad 21. stoletíCzechOT, NT
NPKNádej pre kazdéhoSlovakNT
KARIBS-fordítás (Új Károli)HungarianOT
HUNHungarianHungarianNT
NTRNoua traducere în limba românãRomanianOT, NT
BLGБългарската БиблияBulgarianOT, NT
CROHrvatskiCroatianNT
RUSНовый перевод на русский языкRussianOT, NT
CRSСвященное ПисаниеRussianOT, NT
TRTürkçeTurkishOT, NT
ARAعربيArabicOT, NT
CUVS中文和合本（简体）ChineseOT, NT

Explanations on how to state the particulate Bible passage

The Bibleserver recognizes all common spellings of a Bible passage. Furthermore, several verses at once can be linked. In order to avoid problems, please use the language of the respective translation when stating the Bible passage.

The Bibleserver offers an interface on the server side by which Bible verses within a text will automatically be recognized and linked. Stating API key is required in order to use the interface. The number of the daily API requests is limited. For this reason, it is recommended to parse the Bible passages while saving the text.

The API is available at http://www.bibleserver.com/api/parser.
The following parameters can be passed per GET or POST:

The following PHP example shows how to use the API on the server side:

// Define POST data
$param = array(
    'key' => 'YOUR_API_KEY',
    'text' => 'Read John 3:16 in the Bible.',
    'lang' => 'en',
    'trl' => 'LUT'
);

$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, 'http://www.bibleserver.com/api/parser');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_REFERER, 'http://'.$_SERVER['SERVER_NAME']);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $param);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);

$result = curl_exec($ch);

curl_close($ch);

Result of the PHP example:

Read John 3:16 in the Bible.

The JavaScript implementation of the API allows the recognition and linking of Bible passages in the browser. Stating API key is required in order to use the JavaScript API.

Note: The JavaScript implementation is a simplified version of the API on the server side. Maybe not every Bible passage will be recognized correctly. Furthermore, problems with JavaScript events may arise due to DOM manipulations.

The following HTML/JavaScript example shows how to use the API on the client side:

<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>[...]</title>

    <!-- The following script needs to be adapted and integrated to your website. -->
    <script type="text/javascript">
    (function() {
        var ga = document.createElement('script');
        ga.src = document.location.protocol + '//www.bibleserver.com/api/parser.js?key=YOUR_API_KEY&lang=de';
        ga.setAttribute('async', 'true');
        document.documentElement.firstChild.appendChild(ga);
    })();

    var bsQuery = '.article'; // jQuery selector for wrapper of search (optional)
    var bsTrl   = 'LUT';      // Linked translation (optional)
    </script>

</head>
<body>
    [...]
    <h1>Johannes 3</h1>
    <div class="article">
        Read John 3:16 in the Bible.
    </div>
    [...]
</body>
</html>

Result of the JavaScript example:

Johannes 3
Read John 3:16 in the Bible.

Parameter for calling the API:

Additional JavaScript options:

Wordpress plugin

The Wordpress plugin "Link to Bible" automatically links Bible verses to Bibleserver.com when saving the article. Please find further information on the plugin website.

Create API key

In order to automatically link Bible passages either on the client side or on the server side, an API key is required. This key depends on the domain and can be ordered here.

My domain:

Note: Bibleserver.com maintains the right to limit the daily API accesses per domain.