Bible API
Agent-ready OpenAPI document · curated by JenticEducationLmsnone6 EndpointsREST
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For Agents
Look up Bible verses by reference, browse books and chapters, and fetch a random verse from public-domain Bible translations.
Use for: I need to look up John 3:16 in the World English Bible, Get a random Bible verse, List the available Bible translations, Retrieve every verse in Genesis chapter 1
Not supported: Does not handle audio, commentary, or licensed translations such as NIV and ESV, and refuses any reference spanning more than one whole chapter - use for free public-domain Bible verse lookup only.
Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI specification for Bible API, keeping it validated and agent-ready. Bible API is a free Bible verse lookup service that returns scripture passages by reference, lists available translations, and serves random verses. The default translation is the World English Bible (WEB); another is chosen with the translation query parameter on a reference lookup, for example /john+3:16?translation=kjv, or by walking the /data/{translationId} tree of books, chapters, and verses. Agents can fetch a verse by passing a human-readable reference such as 'John 3:16' directly in the path. No authentication is required, and the service is rate limited to 15 requests every 30 seconds per IP address, which suits side projects and embedded scripture displays rather than bulk downloads.
Install Jentic One Beta
Connect the Bible API to your agent
Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the Bible API, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.
Two steps, two machines. Install the instance in a safe environment, then register your agent from wherever it runs.
1
Step 1: Jentic One Host machine
# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fbible-api.com%2Fbible-api" | sh2
Step 2: Agent machine
# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fbible-api.com%2Fbible-api" | sh
jentic register # connects your agent to your Jentic One instanceJentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.
Capabilities
What an agent can do with Bible API.
Look up a Bible passage by reference such as John 3:16 or Romans 8:28-30
List the available Bible translations supported by the API
Browse the books inside a specific translation
List the chapters available within a specific book
Retrieve every verse in a chapter for full chapter reading
Fetch a random verse for a daily-verse widget
Use Cases
Patterns agents use Bible API for, with concrete tasks.
★ Daily Verse Widget
Display a random Bible verse on a homepage or send one to subscribers each morning. The /data/{translationId}/random endpoint returns the chosen translation plus one verse with its book, chapter, verse number and text. Because the API is unauthenticated and the vendor supports CORS, the widget can call directly from the browser; cache the verse server-side anyway, since the 15-requests-per-30-seconds ceiling is counted per IP address and a browser widget spends its visitors' addresses rather than one server's.
Call /data/web/random and return the book, chapter, verse number and text for a homepage banner.
Reference Lookup Chat Bot
Build a chat bot that resolves user-typed references like 'show me Romans 8:28' into the verse text. The /{reference} endpoint accepts the reference directly in the URL, supporting single verses, ranges, and multi-chapter references. Because no API key is required, the bot can run as a lightweight serverless function with no credential management.
Call /John+3:16 and return the verse text in the WEB translation.
Multi-Translation Comparison Reader
Render the same chapter across multiple translations side by side. Call /data to list translations, then /data/{translationId}/{bookId}/{chapter} for each translation chosen, using the short book id such as GEN or JHN rather than the book name. Each response carries the verses of that one chapter as a JSON array, making side-by-side rendering straightforward; request one chapter at a time, because a broader reference is refused.
Fetch /data/web/GEN/1 and /data/kjv/GEN/1 and align verses by verse number for a comparison view.
AI Agent Scripture Reference Resolver
An AI assistant explaining a sermon can fetch the cited verse text on demand through Jentic. The agent searches by intent such as 'look up John 3:16', gets back the /{reference} operation with its input schema, calls it, and quotes the verse with citation in its answer. Because the API is unauthenticated, Jentic still earns its place by routing the agent to the right operation and applying your own rules, so the agent never has to learn the reference path scheme.
Search Jentic for 'look up Bible verse by reference', call /John+3:16, and return the verse text.
Key Endpoints
6 endpoints — jentic publishes the only available openapi specification for bible api, keeping it validated and agent-ready.
METHOD
PATH
DESCRIPTION
GET
/{reference}
Look up verses by reference string
GET
/data
List available translations
GET
/data/{translationId}
List books in a translation
GET
/data/{translationId}/{bookId}/{chapter}
Read a chapter
GET
/data/{translationId}/random
Get a random verse
GET
/{reference}
Look up verses by reference string
GET
/data
List available translations
GET
/data/{translationId}
List books in a translation
GET
/data/{translationId}/{bookId}/{chapter}
Read a chapter
GET
/data/{translationId}/random
Get a random verse
Why Jentic?
What agents get from Jentic-routed access to this vendor.
Setup
Wiring the Bible API by hand means building free-form reference and translation paths yourself, keeping to the 15-requests-per-30-seconds ceiling, and learning that the parameterized routes key on book ids like GEN rather than book names. With self-hosted Jentic One you install the instance once, add the Bible API from the API Directory, and your agent calls it even though no credential is required, so every call still leaves from your own instance under your own rules.
Permission scoping
The Bible API puts the reference and translation id in the URL path (/{reference}, /data/{translationId}/{bookId}/{chapter}), so a rule can pin your agent to one translation. Every operation is read-only verse lookup, so no write path is reachable regardless of the set you allow.
Credential isolation
The Bible API requires no credential, so there is nothing to store, yet your own Jentic One instance still mediates each call and keeps it out of the agent's prompt, logs, or context. No secret ever passes through the agent.
Intent-based discovery
Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'look up a Bible verse by reference' or 'get a random verse from a translation', and Jentic returns the matching operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.
Related APIs
Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.
FAQs
Specific to using Bible API through Jentic.
What authentication does Bible API use?
Bible API requires no authentication - every endpoint is public, and there is no key to request. The maintainer does publish a numeric ceiling: the service is rate limited to 15 requests every 30 seconds, counted per IP address. Because you run Jentic One yourself, calls still leave from your own instance under your own rules even though there is no credential to store.
Can I look up a verse by reference like John 3:16?
Yes. Pass the reference directly in the URL path, for example /John+3:16 or /Romans+8:28-30. The response includes the parsed reference, verse-by-verse text, and the translation identifier (default WEB).
Which Bible translations are available?
Call GET /data to retrieve the list of supported translations - 17 at the time of writing, every one of them public domain. The default is the World English Bible (WEB), a public-domain modern English translation. To read another, either pass its identifier in the translation query parameter on a reference lookup, as in /john+3:16?translation=kjv, or walk the /data/{translationId} tree.
How do I get a random verse through Jentic?
Install self-hosted Jentic One and add the Bible API from the API Directory. Your agent then searches for 'random Bible verse', gets back the GET /data/{translationId}/random operation with its input schema, and calls it with translationId 'web' for the default. There is no credential step, because the API is public.
Is Bible API free?
Yes. The maintainer's terms read 'This service is free for anyone to use as long as you don't abuse my server', with the 15-requests-per-30-seconds ceiling per IP address and a request not to use the API to download an entire bible - the open bible data is on GitHub for that. He also warns 'I make no guarantees about this service's availability, quality, or correctness', so if your agent depends on it, cache aggressively or run the open-source app yourself.
Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the Bible API?
Yes. Because you run Jentic One yourself, your own rules decide which Bible API operations and paths the agent may call, so you can allow only reference lookups like /John+3:16 or the random-verse endpoint while blocking the rest. Since the translation id sits in the path (/data/{translationId}/{bookId}/{chapter}), a rule can also pin the agent to a single translation such as the World English Bible. Every Bible API operation is read-only verse lookup, so no matter which set you permit, the agent can only read scripture and never write.
Is there a Bible API MCP server?
You don't need an MCP server to give your agent Bible API. Jentic connects it directly from the API Directory: add it once and your agent calls it, with no credential to store because every endpoint is public.
Why is there no official OpenAPI spec for Bible API?
Bible API is a single-maintainer free service documented as one HTML page on bible-api.com, and the GitHub repository it points to holds the Ruby application and the open bible data rather than a machine-readable API description. Jentic built this specification from that documentation, validates it, and publishes it in the API Directory so an agent can discover and call the API from a schema.
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