Can I download the Holy Bible for free?

I know that there are plenty of programs I can buy that include a copy of the Holy Bible in digital form, but I'm wondering whether I can legally download a copy of the Bible without having to buy anything or resort to one of those heinous peer to peer filesharing sites?

Dave's Answer:

Great question! This gives me another chance to tout one of my favorite long-time Internet projects: Project Gutenberg. If you're ever looking for free ebooks to read or analyze, there's no better place to visit, and as of today they're indicating that there are an impressive 18,000 free books in their catalog.

Let me take you on a brief tour to show you the wealth of material they have. First off, of course, go to the site, then click on Online Book Catalog, then search for "bible":

There are 256 book matches, which is great news! In addition to a couple of editions of the Bible itself, there are also these interesting titles available (for free, remember) too:

Impressive, isn't it? Admittedly, none of these are from the last 50 years due to copyright issues, but there's lots of good material from the 1800s and before, and that's what this represents.

In terms of the Bible itself, there are a couple of different editions available from the Gutenberg archives, notably the The King James Version, Douay-Rheims Edition and the World English Bible.

Are these good quality, easily read material? Absolutely, if you get the HTML version rather than the plain "ascii" version. Here's a well-known excerpt from the World English Bible:

Genesis

1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 1:2 Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God's Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

1:3 God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 1:4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. 1:5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. There was evening and there was morning, one day.

1:6 God said, "Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." 1:7 God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 1:8 God called the expanse sky. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.

1:9 God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;" and it was so. 1:10 God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas. God saw that it was good. 1:11 God said, "Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with its seed in it, on the earth;" and it was so. 1:12 The earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with its seed in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. 1:13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

Not too bad for a free download, is it?

Anyway, yes, there are definitely free versions of the Holy Bible available online that don't involve you having to subscribe to dubious file sharing sites. Enjoy!

Categorized: The Writing Business (Article 6600, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: bible download, bible ebook, bible study, holy bible, new testament, old testament
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Comments

I find www.crosswire.org to be one of the best sites to go if you want free Bibles in digital form. They have open source software for many platforms and an up to date listing of non-copyright-protected translations of the Bible in just about every language you can think of (including over 30 in English alone).

Ironic, wouldn't you say? A question about Bibles and an answer involving Project Gutenberg. Who was Johannes Gutenberg anyway?

Posted by: Cooper Strange at June 9, 2006 6:16 AM

e-Sword is a free application you can download for which you can get several versions of the Bible as well as many commentaries and other features. It is a great utility and I use it all the time.

http://www.e-sword.net/

Posted by: Gary Petersen at June 10, 2006 6:58 PM

Additional sources of Bible Software that are search-capable:

Windows
-----------
http://www.online-bible.com/winonlinebible.html
(Scroll down to free download.)

Palm, Symbian, WinCE
-------
www.olivetree.com
(The old KJV is available for free.)

Linux
-------
Regrets, I cannot remember the name of the Linux version I use. There is one available under the GNU GPL, and I use it.

Posted by: Michael B. Johnson at June 23, 2006 8:49 AM

hey,this is really cool man

Posted by: chetanya at February 21, 2007 9:59 PM

I really like Free Bible Explorer. (www.bible-explorer.com) It's really easy and simple. They usually come out with free books every week. There are over 100 Bibles and books for free.

Posted by: Julia Cooper at March 29, 2007 12:33 PM

i want to know if someone can doownload the whole bible on someones pc.

Posted by: Mr Shoyode Taiwo at April 7, 2007 2:46 PM

Just wanna say thank you for helping people find what they need most in digital form. Have nice day!

Posted by: Coert Grobler at December 16, 2007 1:51 AM

Hi, can you tell me one bible ?

Posted by: Nicole at February 24, 2008 6:54 AM

Anyone can tell me or write to me WHERE I FIND a RONGMEI, NAGA BIBLE for download or any form in digital.

Ebenezer Gangmei.

Posted by: Ebenezer Gangmei at June 7, 2008 8:25 AM

Anyone can tell me or write to me WHERE I can FIND a RONGMEI, NAGA BIBLE for download or any form in digital.

Ebenezer Gangmei.

Posted by: Ebenezer Gangmei at June 7, 2008 8:28 AM

Anyone can tell me or write to me WHERE I can find the holy bible to download. Thank you very much

Posted by: jhosep at July 1, 2008 3:13 PM

Do you know of any place I can get free bibles to send to Kenya?

Posted by: Renee Botello at September 10, 2008 4:43 PM

Thanks for this email, you are great.

Posted by: Isaac at September 22, 2008 6:39 AM

I see a lot of comments of folks asking Dave to tell them where to find this or that Bible. Come on guys...type that exact question into Google, and you will find a lot of good answers. In English, there are many Bibles for free. I would suggest going to crosswire.org and download their software and some Bibles. Their software works on Windows, Mac, Linux, PDAs, or the web. In English, they have the ESV available, which is a very new translation and quite accurate to the original langauges.

If in another language, take a look at their Bibles available. They have many, many languages and maybe the one your looking for. If not, just look around using Google.

Posted by: Cooper Strange at February 22, 2009 9:52 PM

i need a holy bible to totally change my life to God.

Posted by: Asante Aboagye at March 21, 2009 9:04 AM

please sir,
i am christian who needs bibles for myself who is 13 years,my younger brother who is also 7 years and the last one for my father's friend.please sir i am kindly requesting for this bibles because we want to more of GOD and his intention for mankind.i asked for this from other ministries and the have not yet granted my request,i know as a GOD fearing ministry,you will hear my cry.
i look forward to hearing from you.
this is my address below;
Thy Grace,
p.o.box 231,
ashaiman-Ghana,
west africa-0233.
i hope my request is granted successfuly.THANKS VERY MUCH and may GOD ALMIGHTY RICHLY BLESS YOUR MINSTRY,for practicing giving.

Posted by: romeo wemegah at May 23, 2009 11:32 AM

grace,mercy,and peace to you,and unto your family in Jesus name.Please,can you link me to any organization that can fund my Ministry?Peace!!!

Posted by: Sanctum at December 2, 2009 6:23 AM

Where can i find the complete Holy Catholic Bible free to download in PDF format!

Posted by: Raj Kumar at February 22, 2010 9:13 PM

it is a privilege to have to receive a copy of the bible from you. God bless you

Posted by: umealo chuks at September 6, 2010 3:46 PM

can i get a new English Bible version in easy English.
thankyou

Posted by: jesse gengmei at October 5, 2010 10:41 PM

Which website can I download free bible that supports iPad?

Posted by: Ken at October 6, 2010 7:15 AM

PLEASE I NEED BIBLE

Posted by: OBED ARTHUR at January 4, 2011 8:46 AM

To this day I have never seen online that you can download the Holy Bible free and legally. The closest thing I can remember was going to the dollars store and buying a bible for one dollar and I might add that was the best dollar I have ever spent in my life.

There are places where you can use the bible FREE only if you are online. However I have a website (just click my name) that has a host of helpful Christian insight as God leads me. I add more each week so check it out now. I am an affiliate for for bible based information and even the King James Bible Download.

Most of it does have a price however there are a few ebooks full of empowering nuggets that will impact your life and you will never be the same. We're talking from average to blessed and HIGHLY FAVORED! It all starts with renewing you mind.

Hope this has been helpful. Be Blessed and remember this....Jesus Is Lord!

Posted by: Darryl William Crawford at June 11, 2011 4:42 PM

One more note I just remembered I do remember there was a Free bible download I recall that I did download, however sadly it was full of viruses for my computer and I had to get a cleaner system to get rid of it.

Sadly some (NOT ALL but some) people who give ebooks for Free, there is a price. The have a host of viruses within the download and infect your computer which tells you where to get rid of the viruses which is linked to their free ebook which most people don't know.I didn't but thank God I know now.

It's sad but true. Now there are some who give Free ebooks and they are honest people and really see you as a person and not a dollar bill.

If you do go to my site please make sure you download the FREE book on Passion Prayer By Elisha Goodman and enjoy. Would you do me a favor and click the "LIKE" button. Thanks in advance.

There are host of other helpful things as well that have a price but ask yourself this question....What are you worth?

IN MY ESTIMATION IF YOU ARE SEEKING GOD AND DESIRE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HIM, YOU ARE PRICELESS ,WHAT YOU ARE SEARCHING FOR IS PRICELESS AND YOU SHOULD NEVER GIVE UP ON PASSION YOUR FOR GOD.

Keep pressing in.

Jesus Loves You.

PS. GOD SAID SO TOO.

Posted by: Darryl William Crawford at June 11, 2011 5:01 PM

it is a privilege to have to receive a copy of the bible from you. God bless you

Posted by: sagar at June 25, 2011 12:38 AM

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!