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A BiblicalLens

LIBRARY

8 built-in translations
Translation sources

Genesis / Chapter 1

Offline

OLD TESTAMENT

Genesis 1

WEB

World English Bible · Public domain

✳

A place to pause

Double-tap a verse (then tap more to add them), then use the pencil button to highlight them or write a note. Tap a single word to look it up.

SELECTED

HIGHLIGHT

YOUR NOTE

ASK AI

Your question

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WHICH AI DO YOU USE?

Ask

Your question opens in your own AI app or account with the passage you’re reading. A Biblical Lens sends nothing to an AI itself, and your notes are never included.

A Biblical Lens doesn’t review or endorse any answer an AI gives. Test what it says against Scripture and do your own research.

YOUR STUDY

My notes

Saved on this device in this browser.

PROFILE AND PREFERENCES

My profile

Reading and display

THEME

ThemeDeviceLightDarkBlackSepiaMidnightForestPlumFallSeasonal · autumn orange and a leaf frameCalvaryThree crosses under a golden skyDesertRed rock canyons at sunsetJerusalemThe old city walls at duskAutumnMaple hills above a riverWinterSnowy peaks over a still lake

ACCENT COLOR

Picture themes use their own accent color.

HIGHLIGHTS

Natural highlighterHighlights look hand-drawn, like a real highlighter.

Intensity

SoftMediumStrong

READ PAGE

Page turnsThe chapter reads as book pages that turn. Off: one long page you scroll, as before.Readable backgroundA soft, darkened panel behind the Bible text, for picture themes.Book artEach chapter title framed in its book’s painting. Scripture rests on your theme’s paper color.

ASK AI WITH

Ask AI opens your question in this AI’s app on your phone (or its website), ready to send.

MENU ICONS · bottom menu on phones

Menu iconsSimpleColorNeutral

TEXT SIZE · whole app

18

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

FONT

Notifications

Replies to my commentsWhen a friend replies to you.Prayer requestsWhen a friend asks you to pray.When friends pray for meAt most one notification an hour for each request.Verse of the dayA daily reminder with the day’s verse, around the time you pick.Remind me around

Account

After a review of reported content, your account can no longer post, comment or share. You can still read, study and pray.

Community Guidelines

TODAY

Today

YOUR JOURNEY

Badges

Badges & achievementsEarn badges for reading, study and exploring.

A chapter counts as read after 20 seconds on it, once you scroll to its end. Streaks count days in a row with at least one chapter read. Your progress is saved to your Google account, so it follows you to every device.

YOUR MEDIA

Media

SHARE AND PRAY TOGETHER

Friends

Write a post

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“Carry each other’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”Galatians 6:2

WELCOME

Welcome to A Biblical Lens

Read eight public domain Bibles for free, even offline after they are saved on this device. Sign in whenever you want notes, study tools, listening, plans, or friends.

Free, always. No ads and no subscriptions.
We never sell your data. Your notes and highlights are yours alone.
Saved everywhere with an account. Sign in when you want your study to follow you.

Signing in with Google only shares your name and email with us, so we can save your study and let friends you invite find you.

LISTENING

Share with friends

Add a thought (optional)

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A blank boardSave passages here from the verse actions, add notes, draw, or pick the T and tap anywhere to write.

WORK STATIONS

Save to a work station

SEARCH

Search the Bible

READING PLANS

Reading plans

LIBRARY

People of the Bible

COMMENTARIES

Commentary

CHAPTER SUMMARY

STUDY

Places from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Map by OpenFreeMap · © OpenMapTiles · data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Elevation from Terrain Tiles (Mapzen, with SRTM, GMTED2010, ETOPO1 and others).

Swipe up for the next video

YouTube

Watch on YouTube ↗

LISTEN

Speed and voice

SPEED 1×

0.5×1×1.5×2×

AUDIO BIBLES

WHEN YOU’RE OFFLINE

The most natural voices are listed first. Tap one to hear it.

Want a more natural voice? They’re free:

Windows or Mac: open the app in the Microsoft Edge browser for Microsoft’s Natural voices.
iPhone or iPad: Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Voices → English, then download an Enhanced or Premium voice.
Android: Settings → search “Text-to-speech” → choose Speech Services by Google and download a high-quality English voice.

Tap the medal to spin it, or drag to turn it

The translations

How each Bible here reads, which one to try if you already love another, and which you can listen to.

Every Bible except the NIV and NKJV is part of the app and works offline. The NIV and NKJV need an internet connection and a signed-in account. Where each translation comes from

Your bookmarks

Help & tips

Reading

Open ☰ to choose a book, and tap the chapter button to jump to any chapter.
Search the Bible: type in the box under ☰ and tap Search the Bible (or press Enter). Words can be in any order; put a phrase in quotes ("Jesus wept"); type a reference like John 3:16 to go straight there. Filter by Old or New Testament or the book you’re in.
Select a verse and open the Study tab for Tyndale’s study notes and articles on it, Related verses (passages that speak to the same thing, from OpenBible.info), and Commentaries on this verse.
Tap Study beside the chapter, then About this book, for the book’s introduction, in tabs: Intro, Setting, Summary, Author & Date, History, and Meaning & Message.
Open ☰ for People of the Bible (124 profiles) and Commentaries (Matthew Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, John Gill, Adam Clarke, Keil & Delitzsch and John Calvin). Commentaries need an internet connection; chapters you’ve read stay available offline.
Open ☰ and tap Reading plans to follow a plan: the Bible in a year, the New Testament, the Gospels, Psalms & Proverbs, the weekly Torah portions, or a short topical plan. Tap Read to open the day’s chapter, then ✓ Done (at the top or the end of the chapter) when you finish. The plan bar only shows while you’re reading your plan; tap × to hide it. You can see which plans your friends are on.
The verse of the day is at the top of Read: read it in context, or share it with friends or as an image. Tap × to hide it until tomorrow, or turn it off in My profile → Reading and display. For a daily reminder, turn on Verse of the day under My profile → Notifications and pick a time.
Change the translation under the chapter title. NIV and NKJV need an internet connection.
Open My profile → Reading and display for theme, accent color, natural highlighter and highlighter intensity (Soft, Medium, Strong), text size (it resizes the whole app) and font.

Highlights and notes

Double-tap a verse to select it, then tap more verses to add them (or tap a verse number). Tap the pencil button when you’re ready.
Tap any word to see its meaning in English and the Greek or Hebrew word behind it, with that word’s definition. Tap Ask AI on the card to go deeper.
Names with a gold underline have a People of the Bible profile: tap one to read about that person.
Pick a highlight color, try another, or tap × to remove it. The panel stays open until you tap × or pull the handle down.
Write a note in the box and tap Save. Your other notes in that chapter appear below Clear selection.
My Notes files every note by book and chapter as sticky notes you can open and edit.

Listen

Tap Listen to hear the chapter read aloud, with each verse marked as it is read. Reading the BSB, you hear the BSB read by Michael, a natural AI voice. Otherwise you hear a narrator from the NIV audio Bible, and the page switches to the NIV so the words match. Tap the microphone in the player to choose another recording.
Offline, your device’s own voice reads the chapter instead, in your usual translation, highlighting each word as it is spoken.
Select a verse first to start from there. Use the player to pause, skip, change speed or stop.
Tap the microphone in the player to choose the voice your device uses offline. For the most natural, free voices use Microsoft Edge on a computer, or download an Enhanced voice in your phone’s settings.

Ask AI

Open Ask AI and type your own question. Select verses first to ask about them, or ask about the whole chapter. On a word card, Ask AI writes a question about the Greek or Hebrew word for you.
Ask opens your question in the AI you use (Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude or Venice), in its app on your phone, with the passage you’re reading. A Biblical Lens doesn’t review or endorse what an AI answers, so test it against Scripture. ChatGPT and Claude are filled in for you; for Gemini and Venice, paste (it’s copied). Copy copies your question with the passage for any AI. Change your AI in My profile → Reading and display.
Use answers alongside your own study of Scripture.

Media

Media has videos, articles and podcasts only from the creators you follow. Tap Explore creators to browse the catalog by category, preview what each creator posts and follow, and Manage to unfollow or unmute.
Tap ⋯ on anything to hide, mute, unfollow or report. Hide and mute are for what you’d rather not see; report is for what breaks the Community Guidelines.
Swipe up or down in the video player to move to the next video. Turn your phone sideways for a bigger view.
Tap the small-screen button beside × to keep a video playing in a mini player you can drag anywhere while you read or scroll. YouTube requires videos to stay visible, so the smallest a video gets is the mini player.
Podcast episodes play in a bar above the menu that keeps going while you read the Bible or move between pages, and remembers where you stopped.
Tap the repost icon (two arrows) to repost to your friends, with or without your thoughts.
Tap the bookmark icon on a video, episode or article (or in the video player) to save it; the bookmark button at the top of Media lists everything you saved for later.
Shorts have their own tab. Swipe up for the next one; each Short loops until you move on.
Tap More from… under a video, episode or article to see that creator’s latest without leaving your feed, and follow them from there.

Friends

Share your friend code or invite link from My profile.
Share a verse from the pencil menu. Like, comment and reply (replies start with @name) under Friends → Posts.
The bell at the top of Friends lists replies, likes and prayer for you. Turn on notifications in My profile to hear about them on your phone.

Prayer

Open Friends → Prayer and tap Ask friends to pray. Share with all your friends, or choose just a few for personal requests.
Tap Pray on a friend’s request, then Amen, I prayed. They’ll see who prayed. You can also send a private encouragement only they can read.
Post updates on your own requests, and mark them answered to share what God did. Requests stay open for 30 days unless you keep them open.
Prayer requests never appear in the Friends feed and can’t be reposted.

Badges and progress

A chapter counts as read after 20 seconds on it, once you scroll to its end. Streaks count days in a row with a chapter read.
Badges can be turned off in My profile.

Saving and offline

Everything saves on your device right away and works offline, then backs up to your Google account and syncs across your devices.
The built-in translation you’re reading downloads in the background, with the word dictionary, so you can read without an internet connection. NIV and NKJV always need the internet.

NEW IN THIS UPDATE

A Fall theme is here

Dark teal with autumn orange, framed by a soft border of leaves and pumpkins. It’s a seasonal theme, so enjoy it while the leaves are turning.

To turn it on, open My profile, then choose Fall under Theme in Reading and display.

THE FEED HAS CHANGED

A curated Feed

Your Feed now draws from a catalog of Christian creators, podcasts and websites, chosen because they hold to the authority of Scripture. Explore it by category, preview what each one posts, and follow the ones you love.

Why the change? Every creator anyone added used to be fetched on its own, so feeds grew slower and less reliable as more people joined. Now each creator is fetched once, on a shared schedule, for everyone, so your Feed opens quickly and keeps working.

It also keeps the app’s running costs small and predictable, which is what lets A Biblical Lens stay free, without ads, for everyone.

Inclusion in the catalog does not mean A Biblical Lens endorses every view expressed.

ASK AI HAS CHANGED

Ask AI, your way

Ask AI now opens in the AI you already use every day. Your question arrives with the passage you’re reading, ready to send. A Biblical Lens doesn’t endorse what an AI answers, so test it against Scripture and do your own research.

This keeps A Biblical Lens free for everyone, and gives you a more personal AI that knows how you like to learn, under your own account.

Which AI do you use? You can change it any time in My profile.

NEW IN THIS UPDATE

Go deeper

Study: tap Study beside the chapter for the chapter’s study notes, verse by verse, with articles and related verses.
People of the Bible: 124 profiles, in ☰ under Reading plans.
Commentaries: Matthew Henry, John Gill, Calvin and more, in ☰ or from Study.
About this book: in the same Study menu, the book’s introduction, in tabs.

Notifications

BEFORE YOU ADD OR SHARE

Keep A Biblical Lens Christ-centered

A Biblical Lens is a Christian platform. Creators and content shared through the community should be Christian in nature and respect our Terms and Community Guidelines.

Theological disagreement between Christians is permitted. Content that fundamentally rejects the Christian purpose of A Biblical Lens or violates our Community Guidelines may be removed.

View Community Guidelines ↗

Report

Reports are for content you believe breaks our Community Guidelines. If you simply disagree with it or would rather not see it, use Hide, Mute or Unfollow instead.

Reason

Anything else a moderator should know? (optional)

Donate to this Ministry

A Biblical Lens is run by one developer, and growing it comes with real costs. I want to steward this gift and vision well, to spread God’s word. Any support helps move the needle.

Where we hope to go

More translationsMore Bibles to read, compare and study side by side.
Better AI studyRicher, more helpful Ask AI answers.
More languagesThe app and Scripture in more of the world’s languages.
Better audio narrationMore natural, high-quality voices for listening to the Bible.
More platformsToday we’re a website and installable app. We’d love to be on Android, iPhone and Windows as native apps.
Stronger communityBetter moderation and more ways to grow in faith together.

Ways to give

PayPal@JesseNorthup24 Venmo@JesseNorthup Cash App$JesseNorthup11

Thank you for your prayers and support.

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Chapters