bible-data

Schema

This document specifies the data format for every version in this repository. The same shape applies across all 32 versions.

Directory layout

versions/
└── <lang>/                 ISO 639-1 language code (en, pt, es, de, fr, …)
    └── <slug>/             version slug — short, lowercase, dash-separated
        ├── metadata.json
        ├── <slug>.json     whole Bible
        ├── <slug>.sqlite   SQLite database
        └── books/
            ├── Gen.json
            ├── Exod.json
            └── …           one per book, OSIS-coded filename

Book identifiers

Books use OSIS codes, the de facto standard for biblical reference markup.

OSIS	English	book_id
Gen	Genesis	1
Exod	Exodus	2
Lev	Leviticus	3
…	…	…
Matt	Matthew	40
…	…	…
Rev	Revelation	66

The numeric book_id (1–66) is also exposed for convenience.

metadata.json

{
  "slug": "kjv",
  "shortName": "KJV",
  "name": "King James Version",
  "language": "en",
  "year": 1769,
  "license": "public-domain",
  "licenseNote": "Public domain worldwide (1611, Oxford 1769 standard text).",
  "attribution": null,
  "sourceUrl": null,
  "sourceVerified": false,
  "stats": { "books": 66, "chapters": 1189, "verses": 31102 },
  "readerUrl": "https://midvash.com/kjv",
  "schema": "https://github.com/midvash/bible-data/blob/main/SCHEMA.md"
}

Field	Meaning
license	One of the LicenseTag values below.
attribution	Credit line to reproduce with the text. Required (non-null) for cc-by and cc-by-sa.
sourceUrl	Page of the file the text was imported from, or null when it was not recorded.
sourceVerified	true when the source and its license were checked. false means the public-domain claim is still open (see SOURCES.md).
stats	Counts of books, chapters and verses actually present in the files.
missingChapters	Optional. { "<OSIS>": [chapter, …] } for chapters the source text does not have. Those chapters are absent from every file (not renumbered), so chapters[i] is not always chapter i + 1: look chapters up by their chapter field.

<slug>.json (whole Bible)

interface BibleFile {
  version: string;        // slug, e.g. "kjv"
  name: string;           // full name
  language: string;       // ISO 639-1
  license: LicenseTag;
  books: Book[];
}

interface Book {
  book: string;           // OSIS code, e.g. "John"
  bookId: number;         // 1–66
  englishName: string;    // "John"
  testament: 'OT' | 'NT';
  chapters: Chapter[];
}

interface Chapter {
  chapter: number;        // 1-indexed
  verses: Verse[];
}

interface Verse {
  number: number;         // 1-indexed
  text: string;
}

type LicenseTag =
  | 'public-domain'
  | 'cc0'
  | 'cc-by'
  | 'cc-by-sa'
  | 'wlc-license';

books/<OSIS>.json

Same shape as Book above, plus the version slug at the top level:

interface BookFile {
  version: string;
  book: string;           // OSIS
  bookId: number;
  englishName: string;
  testament: 'OT' | 'NT';
  chapters: Chapter[];
}

<slug>.sqlite

A SQLite 3 database with a single table and two indexes (built by scripts/build-sqlite.mjs, checked by scripts/check.mjs):

CREATE TABLE verses (
  id       INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
  book_id  INTEGER NOT NULL,
  chapter  INTEGER NOT NULL,
  number   INTEGER NOT NULL,
  text     TEXT    NOT NULL
);

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX idx_unique_verse ON verses (book_id, chapter, number);
CREATE        INDEX idx_chapter      ON verses (book_id, chapter);

book_id matches the 1–66 numbering documented above.

OT-only and NT-only versions

Original-language texts cover only part of the canon. The shape is identical; the books array simply contains fewer entries.

• WLC, Aleppo Codex: book_id 1–39 (Old Testament only)
• Textus Receptus: book_id 40–66 (New Testament only)

Notes

• Look chapters up by their chapter field, not by array position: a version with missingChapters skips the number (e.g. vdc John goes 10, 12, 13…).

• Verse text is stored as-is from the source, including original punctuation and casing. No editorial normalization is applied beyond Unicode NFC.
• Chapter and verse numbers follow the Protestant/Masoretic numbering. Versification differences across traditions (LXX/Vulgate Psalm numbering, etc.) are not normalized — each version uses its own conventional numbering.
• Some early translations (Geneva 1599, Diodati 1649, etc.) use archaic spelling preserved verbatim.

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