A modern, responsive Catholic Bible reader built for parallel study across multiple translations. Designed for both personal devotion and scholarly comparison.
- Parallel Two-Panel Reading — Compare any two translations side-by-side with synchronized scrolling
- Passage Picker — Navigate by book, chapter, and verse with intuitive dropdowns
- Translation Selector — Switch between 4 Catholic translations instantly
- Search & Reference Input — Jump to any verse using natural language (e.g., "John 3:16", "Psalm 23")
- Light/Dark Mode — Automatic system detection with manual override
- Heading Toggle — Show/hide sectional headings for cleaner reading
- Verse Synchronization — Both panels stay aligned on the same passage
- URL State Sharing — Share exact panel configurations via URL
- Fully Responsive — Works beautifully on desktop, tablet, and mobile
- Local Persistence — Your preferences (translations, theme, layout) saved automatically
- Type-Safe — Full TypeScript coverage with strict mode
- Zero-Runtime Dependencies — Only React/React-DOM in production
- Static Data Pipeline — Reproducible builds from source texts
- Test Coverage — Unit and integration tests with Vitest
- CI/CD Ready — GitHub Pages deployment configured
| Code | Translation | Language | Books | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
catholic_org |
New Jerusalem Bible | English | 73 (full Catholic canon) | Modern English, literary quality |
sigao |
思高圣经 (Studium Biblicum) | Chinese (Simplified) | 73 | Standard Chinese Catholic translation |
shinkyo |
新共同訳 (Shinkyōdōyaku) | Japanese | 73 | Ecumenical Japanese translation |
vulgate |
Biblia Sacra Vulgata | Latin | 73 | Public domain, Clementine edition |
All translations include the complete 73-book Catholic canon (including deuterocanonical books: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1–2 Maccabees, plus additions to Esther and Daniel).
- Node.js ≥ 20.x
- Python ≥ 3.11 (for data pipeline only)
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/chilliennn/verbumnobis.git
cd verbumnobis
# Install frontend dependencies
npm install
# (Optional) Set up Python environment for data pipeline
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r pipeline/requirements.txt# Start dev server (http://localhost:5173)
npm run dev
# Run tests
npm run test
# Run tests with UI
npm run test:ui
# Validate data integrity
npm run validate:data# Type-check and build
npm run build
# Preview production build locally
npm run previewverbumnobis/
├── app/ # Application entry & routing
├── components/ # React components
│ ├── layout/ # ReaderToolbar, Panel, etc.
│ ├── modals/ # SearchGuideModal, HubModal
│ └── landing/ # HeroSection
├── features/ # Feature-based modules
│ └── references/ # Bible reference parser
├── hooks/ # Custom React hooks
├── lib/ # Utilities & shared logic
├── pipeline/ # Data pipeline (Python)
│ ├── scrapers/ # Source fetchers (Vulgate, Shinkyo, etc.)
│ ├── parsers/ # Format parsers
│ ├── normalizers/ # Canonical verse normalization
│ ├── validators/ # Data quality checks
│ └── data/ # Raw/intermediate outputs (gitignored)
├── public/
│ └── data/ # Static assets served to browser
│ ├── translations.json # Translation metadata
│ ├── availability.json # Book availability per translation
│ └── translations/ # Per-book JSON files
├── scripts/ # Build-time scripts (validate_data.ts)
├── styles.css # Global styles & CSS variables
├── tests/ # Vitest test suite
└── vite.config.ts # Vite configuration
The Bible text data is not committed — it's generated from source texts via a reproducible Python pipeline.
cd pipeline
source ../.venv/bin/activate
# Full pipeline (all translations)
python run_pipeline.py
# Individual translations
python run_vulgate.py
python run_shinkyo.py
python run_sigao.py- Scrape — Fetch source texts from authoritative origins
- Parse — Convert raw formats (HTML, XML, custom) to intermediate JSON
- Normalize — Map to canonical verse references (OSIS standard)
- Validate — Check completeness, verse counts, encoding
- Export — Emit per-book JSON files to
public/data/translations/
- Create scraper in
pipeline/scrapers/<name>/ - Add parser/normalizer if needed
- Register in
translations.jsonwith metadata - Run pipeline and commit generated
public/data/
# Run all tests
npm run test
# Watch mode
npm run test -- --watch
# Coverage report
npm run test -- --coverage
# UI dashboard
npm run test:uiTest files live in tests/ and alongside components as *.test.tsx.
Configured for GitHub Pages via gh-pages package:
# Build and deploy to gh-pages branch
npm run deployThe deploy script runs npm run build then pushes dist/ to the gh-pages branch.
Live demo: https://chilliennn.github.io/verbumnobis/
- Fork the repository
- Create a feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature) - Commit changes (
git commit -m 'Add amazing feature') - Push to branch (
git push origin feature/amazing-feature) - Open a Pull Request
- Follow existing code style (ESLint + Prettier configured)
- Write tests for new features
- Update documentation for user-facing changes
- Keep PRs focused and atomic
The web application interface, search index algorithms, and reader code are open source and licensed under the MIT License.
The MIT License strictly applies only to the software application code. It does not cover, transfer, or license third-party Scripture translations, dictionary datasets, or linguistic resources:
- Scripture texts and linguistic databases remain the intellectual property of their respective copyright holders, Bible societies, and research groups.
- This platform operates strictly as an independent, non-commercial, non-profit academic and devotional study tool. It hosts no advertising, charges no fees, and collects no commercial revenue.
- Biblia Sacra Vulgata (Latin): Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition). Sourced via Sacred-Texts. Public Domain.
- New Jerusalem Bible (English): Text © 1985 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Displayed for comparative theological analysis and personal devotion.
- 思高圣经 (Studium Biblicum Chinese): 中文译本版权归属于 香港方济会思高圣经学会 (Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Hong Kong, 1968). 供天主教教友、慕道班及学者研读比对之用。
- 新共同訳 (Shinkyōdōyaku Japanese): 日本語訳聖書 © 日本聖書協会 (Japan Bible Society), 1987, 1988. Ecumenical edition displayed for cross-language study.
- JMdict (Japanese Dictionary): Property of the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group (EDRDG), used in accordance with the EDRDG Licence (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 / 4.0).
- Tatoeba Project (Example Sentences): Example sentences provided by contributors at Tatoeba.org under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 (CC BY 2.0 FR).
- Kuroshiro & Kuromoji: Morphological analysis and furigana generator libraries under MIT and Apache 2.0 licenses.
- OSIS Standards: Open Scripture Information Standard for canonical Bible book abbreviations and verse references.
VerbumNobis respects intellectual property rights and adheres to the principles of fair dealing and copyright stewardship.
If you are a copyright owner, Bible society, publisher, or authorized legal representative and believe that any text, translation, or content available on this service infringes upon your copyright:
- Please submit a notification to our designated contact:
- Contact:
chillien0815@gmail.com - Subject:
[Copyright Notice] VerbumNobis Content Review
- Contact:
- Please identify the specific translation or passage and evidence of ownership or representation.
- Upon receipt and validation, the disputed material will be promptly restricted or removed within 7 business days.
VerbumNobis was created out of personal passion to bridge Catholic translations for multilingual study and comparative reading.
Why Sponsorship is Mentioned:
- Credibility & Trust: Moving from a temporary
github.iosubdomain to a recognized custom domain (e.g.verbumnobis.org) makes the resource look professional, legitimate, and safe for catechists, parish study groups, and university students. - Search Engine Discovery (SEO): A dedicated top-level domain allows Catholic Scripture students searching for parallel multilingual texts to discover the platform organically on search engines.
- Infrastructure: Covering domain registration renewals and CDN bandwidth.
Zero Monetization Statement: The author does not seek personal profit, financial compensation, or fame from this project. Any potential sponsorship is allocated 100% directly to domain registry costs and CDN infrastructure.
- Issues & Suggestions — GitHub Issues
- Discussions — GitHub Discussions
- Contact — chillien0815@gmail.com
Verbum Caro factum est et habitavit in nobis — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14)