Bible translations and licensing
Which translations this site reproduces, what the terms actually permit, and why several well-known translations are not here.
Last reviewed
Reproducing a Bible translation in full — which is what a site like this requires — is a copyright question, not a technical one. Most modern translations are protected, and their standard permissions allow short quotations rather than storing and serving the entire text.
The position taken here is that a smaller, legally clear selection is better than a larger, uncertain one. Only translations whose current digital reproduction rights have been read in full are enabled, and the record of that review — including who did it and when — is published below.
Nothing on this site assumes that an old translation is automatically in the public domain everywhere. That assumption is wrong in at least one important case, which is explained further down.
Available translations (2)
World English Bible British Edition
WEBBEPublic domainDefaultA modern English translation in contemporary British and international spelling, dedicated to the public domain by its translators. It is a revision of the American Standard Version of 1901 and uses the 66-book Protestant canon.
- Copyright status
- Public domain (dedicated by the translators)
- Licence details
- https://ebible.org/find/details.php?id=engwebpb
- Required attribution
- Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible British Edition, which is in the public domain. “World English Bible” is a trademark of eBible.org.
- Commercial use
- Permitted
- Use in generated images
- Permitted
- Use in printables
- Permitted
- Full-text storage
- Permitted
- Quotation limit
- No limit imposed by the licence
- Source dataset
- eBible.org (Michael Paul Johnson) — engwebpb (Verse-per-line plain text (VPL), 2020 stable text edition)
- Stored content
- 66 books, 1189 chapters, 31,098 verses
- Source checksum (SHA-256)
2966fd5b52a02f207ff5eb94ffa89c4920e6c8c6fac152629108579ac59614d3- Imported
- 2026-07-30
- Licence reviewed
- 2026-07-30 by Verse in Context maintainers
World English Bible
WEBPublic domainThe American-spelling edition of the same public-domain translation. Wording is identical to the British Edition apart from spelling conventions and the handling of the divine name.
- Copyright status
- Public domain (dedicated by the translators)
- Licence details
- https://ebible.org/find/details.php?id=engwebp
- Required attribution
- Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. “World English Bible” is a trademark of eBible.org.
- Commercial use
- Permitted
- Use in generated images
- Permitted
- Use in printables
- Permitted
- Full-text storage
- Permitted
- Quotation limit
- No limit imposed by the licence
- Source dataset
- eBible.org (Michael Paul Johnson) — engwebp (Verse-per-line plain text (VPL), 2020 stable text edition)
- Stored content
- 66 books, 1189 chapters, 31,098 verses
- Source checksum (SHA-256)
e94393e5090704abba7233773be8df546f4fa35eebc3a40e84da8bd5e8f9af8d- Imported
- 2026-07-30
- Licence reviewed
- 2026-07-30 by Verse in Context maintainers
Why some translations are not here
These have been considered and deliberately not enabled. The reasons are recorded so the omissions do not look like oversights.
King James Version (KJV)
The KJV is in the public domain in most of the world, but in the United Kingdom it remains under perpetual Crown copyright administered through letters patent held by Cambridge University Press. Because this site is operated from the UK and serves a UK audience, we are not reproducing it in full until that permission has been sought in writing.
New International Version (NIV)
Under copyright. Reproduction beyond short quotations requires a written licence from the rights holder, and full-text storage is not permitted under the standard terms.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Under copyright. The standard permissions allow limited quotation but not full-text storage, and image or printable use requires separate written permission.
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVue)
Under copyright and administered by the National Council of Churches. A written licence would be required before any full-text use.
American Standard Version (ASV)
Published in 1901 and generally accepted as public domain. It is a strong candidate for a future addition, but its rights position has not yet been formally reviewed and recorded to the standard set out in TRANSLATION_LICENSING.md.
Canon
Both enabled translations use the 66-book Protestant canon. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox traditions recognise additional books, which are not present in these datasets and are therefore not available here.
That is a constraint imposed by the data, not a statement about which canon is correct. More on how the canons differ.
Requesting another translation
Requests are welcome, and the honest answer is usually “only with a written licence”. If you hold or administer rights to a translation and would be willing to license it for full-text use, please get in touch — that is by far the fastest route.
Before any translation is added, its terms are read in full and recorded against every one of the fields above, including image use, printable use and full-text storage. A translation is not enabled until that record exists.
Full configuration record
Every translation in the configuration, enabled or not.
| Translation | Licence type | Enabled | Reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|
| World English Bible British Edition (WEBBE) | public-domain | Yes | 2026-07-30 |
| World English Bible (WEB) | public-domain | Yes | 2026-07-30 |