Instructions for using the Bible Gateway

Enter the passage you wish to see in the passage field on the form. The format of the passage should look like one of the following examples:

• Genesis 1
• John 3:16
• Exodus 20:1-17
• 1-Corinthians 10:23-11:1
• Matthew 28:11-Mark 1:8

You can also look up multiple passages in one pass by separating them with a comma or semicolon. For example, you can enter a series of passages like "Gen 1:1-10,18-20; 2:3-9; Exo 1-2" and the Gateway will respond correctly.

Note:

• Books in a series can be specified using 1-book, 1book, or I book
• Books with only one chapter treat chapters as verses (eg. "Jude 1-5" returns Jude 1:1-5). To view the whole chapter in such a book, use the name of the book as the passage (eg. "Jude" will return Jude 1:1-25).
• You can use any unique abbreviation for the name of a book (eg. "1 Samuel", "1-Samu", "I Sam", and "1S" will all work).

To use the search feature, type in search word(s) in the search field. Simple boolean searches can be performed using the & (and) or | (or) operators (eg. "beginning & created" or "Cain | Abel"). You can also specify wildcards using the "*" and "?" characters. If you also specify a passage, the passage will be returned with all occurrences of the search word(s) highlighted (case-insensitive). If you do not specify a passage, you will either get the verses containing the search word(s) or a list of passages containing the search word(s), depending on the number of matches. The "Max verses to display" field controls when it will return the verse text or the a list of verses. If the number of matches is less than or equal to this number, the text of all matching verses will be returned; otherwise a list of matching verses will be returned. You can also restrict the search range to any passage by using the restrict search field.