KJV and ESV, side by side
Bible Project carries two translations and only two: the King James Version and the English Standard Version. Both live on your device, you can switch between them without losing your place, and you can put a single verse side by side across the pair before drawing a conclusion from its wording.
| King James Version | English Standard Version | |
|---|---|---|
| First published | 1611 | 2001 |
| Register | Early modern English — literary, familiar from memory and liturgy | Contemporary English, deliberately restrained |
| Approach | Formal equivalence, word for word | Essentially literal, word for word where modern English allows |
| Reads well when | You know passages by heart, or your church reads from it | You want the wording to get out of the way |
| In the app | Full text, offline | Full text, offline |
Why compare at all
Any translation is a set of decisions, and the decisions are most visible where two translations diverge. Reading a verse in both is the cheapest way to see where a reading rests on the underlying text and where it rests on a translator's choice of English word — which is exactly the point at which it is worth slowing down.
Here is a verse the app curates under anxiety, in the KJV:
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
Philippians 4:6 · KJV
“Be careful for nothing” meant “be anxious about nothing” in 1611 and means close to its opposite in casual reading today. That is not a flaw in the KJV; it is four centuries of drift in one English word, and it is the kind of thing verse compare exists to surface. The ESV rendering of the same verse is in the app, next to this one.
How it works in the app
- Tap a verse to open a small action card — everything you might want to do with that verse is in one place.
- Choose compare and the verse appears side by side across both translations, in a stable order.
- Switch translation from there, or from the Profile screen, and you stay on the same verse. The app confirms the switch first.
- Ask for an explanation of either wording without leaving the verse — that is Father AI, and it is the one part that needs a connection.
Your chosen translation applies everywhere: the reader, keyword search, the topic collections and the verse of the day all follow it, so the choice is made once rather than repeated per screen.
Questions
Which translations does Bible Project include?
The King James Version and the English Standard Version, and no others. Both are bundled on the device.
Can I switch translation without losing my place?
Yes. Switching from the Profile screen or from the compare screen keeps you on the same verse, and the app asks you to confirm before it switches so an accidental tap never silently changes the text you are reading.
Can I see both translations at once?
Yes. Tap a verse and choose compare, and the same verse is shown side by side across both translations.
Which translation should I read?
Whichever your church, study group or memory prefers — that is what the compare screen is for. The KJV is the older, more literary text; the ESV is a modern translation that stays close to the wording of the original. Reading a verse in both is usually more useful than choosing once.
Compare any verse, offline
Both translations bundled, free on iOS and Android, with nothing to download afterwards.
Free. No ads, no sign-up, no account. Android and iOS.