Bible Verse Lookup

Choose a book, give a chapter and an optional verse or range, and read the passage. The page sends your reference to a public scripture service and prints what comes back, with a small set of well-known verses built in for when that service cannot be reached.

Note on Sources and Scope

This page is a study aid. Scripture quotations follow the translation named on the page, and verse numbering can differ between translations and traditions. It is not a substitute for the full text, a teacher or a congregation, and it makes no doctrinal judgement.

A Reference In, a Passage Out

The page is a thin front end over a public scripture service. You build a reference from three inputs, the page converts it into a web address and asks the service for the text, then prints the reference and the passage it receives. The interesting part is not the lookup itself but what happens when the service is slow, blocked or offline, because the tool is designed to show something useful even then rather than simply failing.

• The book selector lists all sixty-six books of the Bible in two groups, the Old Testament and the New Testament, running from Genesis through to Revelation.
• The chapter box takes a number and starts at one. The verse box is free text and accepts either a single number such as 16 or a range such as 1-10, which is passed through to the service unchanged.
• The lookup builds its request from the three fields joined together, so the reference John 3:16 becomes a request to a public service for exactly that passage.
• A fourth control sits below the reference fields: a translation selector. Its value is appended to the request as a parameter, so the same reference returns the wording of whichever version you chose. The available versions are public-domain texts the service actually carries — World English Bible, King James Version, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English, Darby, Young's Literal Translation and Douay-Rheims — and the returned reference is labelled with the version name so the choice is visible.
• A second button, Random Verse, does not call any service at all. It picks one entry from a fixed list of well-known verses stored inside the page, so it works with no connection.
• If the service cannot answer, the page prints a short message saying the interface is unavailable and then lists the entire built-in selection as a fallback.

Looking Up a Passage

1. Choose a book from the dropdown. If you leave it on the placeholder and press the button, the page asks you to select a book rather than sending a malformed request.
2. Type the chapter number. The field starts at one and expects a whole number.
3. Optionally type a verse or a range. A single number returns one verse; a range such as 1-10 asks for the span. Leave it empty to request the whole chapter.
4. Pick a translation from the selector. It defaults to the World English Bible; choosing another version changes the wording that comes back, and the reference line names the version that was used.
5. Click Look Up Verse. The panel shows a loading message while the request is in flight, then replaces it with the reference and the text.
6. Press Enter inside the panel as a shortcut if you would rather not reach for the button; the page intercepts the key and runs the same lookup.
7. Use Random Verse when you want something familiar without choosing a reference, or when you have no connection.

What the Page Sends and Shows

The lookup is easy to describe because the request is just a reference glued into a web address. These examples show the pattern, and the last few describe the built-in fallback rather than a live result.

• Choosing John, chapter 3, verse 16 produces a request for the reference John 3:16, with the space and the colon encoded so the address is valid. The translation selector is carried along as a query parameter, so the same reference in the King James Version returns "his only begotten Son" while the World English Bible returns "his one and only Son", and the panel names the version it used.
• Choosing Psalms, chapter 23 and leaving the verse empty produces a request for the whole of that chapter, again with the space encoded.
• Choosing 1 Corinthians, chapter 13 with a verse of 4-7 requests that four-verse span, and the service handles the range rather than the page splitting it.
• When the service answers, the panel prints the reference it returns followed by the passage text. The page does not paraphrase or reformat the wording.
• When the service does not answer, the panel switches to a note that says the interface is unavailable and then prints the built-in verses one after another, each with its own reference.
• The built-in selection holds twenty-six entries, covering well-known passages such as John 3:16, Psalm 23:1, Philippians 4:13, Jeremiah 29:11 and Proverbs 3:5-6, and the help text states the same count. These built-in verses are fixed strings in a modern version's wording, so they do not change when you switch the translation selector; only the live lookup follows it.

Ways to Find a Passage

Alternative	Notes
Ask the live service	The main button. It can return any chapter or range in the sixty-six books, which is far more than the built-in list covers, and it follows the translation selector so you can read the passage in any of seven versions; but it needs a working connection and a responsive third party. It is the only route to an arbitrary reference.
Use the built-in verses	The random button draws from twenty-six familiar passages held inside the page. It needs no connection and always answers, but you cannot choose the passage and you cannot request a range. It is a fallback, not a substitute for the live lookup.
Keep your own list	Typing the verses you use most into a note or a document gives instant, offline access to exactly the passages that matter to you, with no dependence on any service. It takes a little setup and does not scale to the whole Bible.
Use a printed index	A concordance or the index at the back of a physical Bible answers by topic as well as by reference and never goes down. It is slower for a known reference, which is exactly the case this page is quick at.

This One Needs a Connection

Unlike the other tools in the collection, this page is not fully self-contained. The live lookup depends on a public scripture service, and the request leaves your browser. Only a small part of the page works without a connection, and it is worth being clear about which part that is.

• Looking up an arbitrary book, chapter or verse requires an internet connection, because the text is fetched from a third-party host when you press the button. The reference you type is sent to that host.
• The built-in verses are the offline portion. They live inside the page and the random button reads them directly, so that button works with the network switched off.
• If your network blocks the service, or the service is down, the page does not go blank. It reports that the interface is unavailable and shows the built-in list instead, so you always see something.
• The translation you choose is attached to the request as a parameter, so the wording you receive is the version you selected rather than the service's default. The seven versions on offer are public-domain texts the service carries; popular modern versions such as the NIV or ESV are still under copyright and are not available through it.
• The book, chapter and verse boxes are not saved and the answer is not stored. Reloading returns the page to its starting state with no reference and an empty panel.

Lookup Questions

Does this work without an internet connection?

Only partly. The main lookup fetches its text from a public service, so it needs a connection, and a blocked or unavailable service falls back to a fixed list. The Random Verse button is the piece that always works offline, since its verses are stored inside the page rather than fetched.

Can I request a range of verses?

Yes. The verse box accepts a span written as two numbers separated by a hyphen, such as 4-7, and the page passes it straight to the service without splitting it. A single number returns a single verse, and leaving the box empty requests the whole chapter.

Which translation will I get?

Whichever you choose in the translation selector. The choice is sent to the service alongside the reference, so picking the King James Version returns King James wording and the World English Bible returns its own, and the returned reference is labelled with the version name. Seven public-domain versions are offered — WEB, KJV, ASV, BBE, Darby, YLT and Douay-Rheims. Copyrighted modern versions such as the NIV or ESV are not listed because the service does not carry them.

Is my reference or the answer stored anywhere?

Not by the page. The book, chapter and verse are read when you press the button and the returned text is written into the panel, but neither is saved to your device. Reloading clears the reference. The reference itself is sent to the third-party service as part of the request.

Last verified: October 7, 2026

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Maintained by Huang Bin · Last updated October 3, 2026