Reading offline & choosing a Bible translation
Pick from more than 50 translations, and download a Bible so you can study with no connection.
Homiletics shows your passage in the Bible translation you choose. Most translations are read online, and some can be downloaded so they work anywhere — on a plane, at a retreat, or in a church basement with no signal.
Choose your translation
You can change translation in two places:
- While studying: tap the translation button on the passage (for example, WEB).
- For everything: open Settings (the gear on the home screen) and tap Preferred Bible version.
The list is grouped by language. It includes popular English translations such as the NIV, ESV, NASB, NLT, NKJV, CSB, NRSV and KJV, plus Bibles in Español, 中文 (简体 and 繁體), Français, Português and Kiswahili. There are also Bibles in Yorùbá, Chichewa, Luganda, Somali, Twi and Arabic. Altogether there are more than 50.
Download a Bible for offline reading
Translations marked Offline in the list, with their size (about 1–1.5 MB each), can be downloaded:
- Open the translation list from the passage or from Settings.
- Tap the download button next to a translation marked Offline.
- When it says Downloaded, that Bible works with no connection.
Downloaded Bibles are shown natively in the app rather than as a web page.
Bibles you can download
| Language | Translations |
|---|---|
| English | Bible in Basic English (BBE), King James Version (KJV), World English Bible (WEB) |
| Español | Reina-Valera 1909 |
| 简体中文 | 新标点和合本, 当代译本 |
| 繁體中文 | 新標點和合本, 當代譯本 |
| Français | Louis Segond |
| Português | Bíblia Livre |
| Kiswahili | Neno: Bibilia Takatifu |
When you’re offline
Translations that aren’t downloaded come from Bible Gateway and need the internet. If you open one with no connection, the app tells you. If that translation can be downloaded, it offers to download it so it works anywhere next time; otherwise, switch to a Bible you’ve downloaded.
To free up space, tap the same button again to remove a download.
Good to know
- Your notes don’t depend on the translation. Switching Bibles never changes what you’ve written.
- Some Bibles are New Testament only. These are marked in the list.