About Bible by Midvash
Bible by Midvash is a public MCP server for reading and studying Scripture across 117 Bible versions in 69 languages. It offers passage lookup, multilingual search, comparison, and study tools without an API key or account.
Key features
- 01Fetch verses, chapters, and passages
- 02Search Bible text across languages
- 03Compare translations and list versions
- 04Search study materials and commentaries
- 05Look up cross-references and Strong’s entries
- 06Expose Bible resources and study prompts
Use cases
- 01Retrieve a passage while preparing a study
- 02Search Scripture in a catalog language
- 03Compare translations of the same passage
- 04Explore commentary and related verses
MCP support
The server uses stateless Streamable HTTP and can be added to MCP clients through a generated connection URL, optionally narrowed by version and language. It exposes tools, Bible resources, study prompts, and structured content.
Configuration
Remote servers need no local install. Pick your client, then copy the config or install in one click.
https://mcp.midvash.com/mcp/registryclaude mcp add --transport http com-midvash-bible https://mcp.midvash.com/mcp/registry{"mcpServers":{"com-midvash-bible":{"type":"http","url":"https://mcp.midvash.com/mcp/registry"}}}Open in Cursor{"servers":{"com-midvash-bible":{"type":"http","url":"https://mcp.midvash.com/mcp/registry"}}}Open in VS Code{"mcpServers":{"com-midvash-bible":{"type":"http","url":"https://mcp.midvash.com/mcp/registry"}}}{"mcpServers":{"com-midvash-bible":{"serverUrl":"https://mcp.midvash.com/mcp/registry"}}}Run commands in a terminal; paste JSON into the client’s MCP config and restart. Servers that need sign-in will prompt on first connect.
Tools
11| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| book | string | Yes | Bible book name, slug, or abbreviation. Accepts supported localized names such as "John", "João", "Salmos", or "1 Sm". |
| verse | integer | Yes | Starting verse number. Must exist in the selected chapter. |
| chapter | integer | Yes | Chapter number within the selected book. Must be 1 or greater. |
| version | string | Yes | Bible version slug to read from, such as "onbv", "kjv", "bsb", or "rvr1909". Must be enabled by the connection URL filters. |
| verse_end | integer | No | Optional ending verse number for a range. Must be greater than or equal to verse and within the same chapter. |
Details
From the project READMEBible MCP
🌐 English · Português (BR) · Español
Free, no-key Model Context Protocol server by Midvash. Read, search and study Scripture across 117 free Bible versions in 69 languages (public domain or openly licensed, the same catalog as api.midvash.com) from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Cursor and any other MCP client. Served from Cloudflare's edge. Powers mcp.midvash.com.
- No API key, no auth, no signup. Just point your client at the URL.
- HTTP Streamable transport (stateless JSON-RPC over
POST). - Built on Cloudflare Workers + R2, backed by the same content as api.midvash.com.
- Search works in every catalog language, including Hebrew and Arabic typed without vowel marks.
- Versions under licenses such as CC BY-SA carry their credit line at the end of every text.
Connecting a client
Generate your personal connection URL at mcp.midvash.com and add it to your MCP client. URLs look like:
https://mcp.midvash.com/mcp/{id}?v=bsb,kjv&lang=en
v: comma-separated version slugs to expose (optional; omit for all). The first one is the connection's default version; with nov, the default is the BSB (English).lang: comma-separated languages to expose (optional; omit for all).
claude.ai / ChatGPT: add the URL as a custom connector (Claude: Customize ›
Connectors; ChatGPT: Settings › Apps with Developer mode on). Gemini CLI:
gemini mcp add --transport http midvash "<url>".
Example (Cursor and other editors, mcp.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"bible": {
"url": "https://mcp.midvash.com/mcp/{id}?v=bsb,kjv&lang=en"
}
}
}
ChatGPT plugin
ChatGPT plugins are MCP servers, so this same server is the plugin. The endpoint registered in the OpenAI plugin portal is:
https://mcp.midvash.com/mcp/chatgpt
get_passage, get_verse and get_chapter point at an interactive view
(ui://midvash/passage-v1.html, MCP Apps
standard) that shows the numbered verses and a button to read the passage on
midvash.com. Hosts without UI support keep getting the Markdown. Submission
data lives in docs/chatgpt-plugin.md.
Tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
get_verse | Fetch a single verse or a verse range. |
get_chapter | Fetch a full chapter. |
get_passage | Fetch a passage from a free-form reference (e.g. "John 3:16-18") — the most natural way to cite scripture. |
search_bible | Search the Bible text for words or an exact phrase, ranked by relevance (BM25) over an FTS5 index. Ignores case, accents and Hebrew/Arabic vowel marks; optionally filtered by book or testament. |
compare_passage | Compare the same passage across multiple Bible versions. |
list_versions | List available Bible versions/translations. |
list_books | List the 66 books, optionally filtered by testament. |
search_study | Search the study library — chapter commentaries, Bible characters, dictionary entries and theology articles — in 9 languages. |
get_commentary | Fetch the commentary for the chapter a reference points to. All 1,189 chapters, in 9 languages. |
get_cross_references | Find other passages that relate to a verse, ranked by how widely the link is attested. 343,546 links. |
get_strongs | Look up a word in Strong's lexicon by number ("H430") or by the word itself. 14,197 entries, definitions in 9 languages. |
Study tools return a summary of up to 500 characters plus a link to the full
article on midvash.com.
Beyond tools, the server exposes Resources — bible://{version}/{book}/{chapter}
addresses the text directly — and four study Prompts: sermon preparation, a
devotional, a word study, and a translation comparison. Book and version
arguments support autocompletion.
Tools that return data also return structuredContent alongside the Markdown,
so a client does not have to parse formatted text.
Limits
The server is public and unauthenticated, so every request is metered:
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Tool calls per IP | 60 per minute |
| JSON-RPC batch size | 5 messages |
| Aggregate tool calls | 1,200 per minute per Cloudflare location |
A batch costs one unit per tools/call, so batching cannot raise the per-IP
ceiling. Tool responses are deterministic and public, so they are cached at the
edge for 24 hours — a repeated call costs nothing and returns in a fraction of
the time.
Current catalog
The MCP currently exposes the version catalog compiled in
src/data/versions.ts: 117 versions, all public domain or
openly licensed, across 69 language codes: ar, as, bn, ceb, ckb, cs, da, de, ee, en, eo, es, fa, fi, fr, gr (Greek), gu, ha, haw, he, hi, hil, hne, ht, hu, id, ig, ilo, it, ja, ki, kn, ko, la, lg, mg, ln, luo, ml, mr, my, nb, nd, ne, nl, ny, om, or, pa, pl, pt-br, ro, ru, sn, sr, sv, sw, ta, te, tl, to, tr, tw, ug, uk, ur, vi, yo, zh. Versions whose license asks for attribution (CC BY-SA and similar) carry a
copyright line, printed at the end of every text the tools return.
The public URL can narrow that catalog per connection:
https://mcp.midvash.com/mcp/{id}?v=bsb,kjv&lang=en
Where the data comes from
| Store | Contents |
|---|---|
R2 bucket bible | Chapter text, {version}/{book}/{chapter}.json, cached at the edge |
D1 midvash-mcp-search | FTS5 index: the text of every catalog version and 18,792 study documents |
The D1 database belongs to this MCP alone. It is a copy, rebuilt by
scripts/seed-mcp-search.sh, and the Worker
only ever reads from it. Keeping it separate means the Cloudflare dashboard
reports this server's usage on its own, and a D1 binding — which grants access
to an entire database — reaches nothing but public Bible content.
Search is ranked per version for every catalog version. Hebrew and Arabic are indexed without vowel marks, so a word typed without them still matches.
Benchmark
The Bible MCP landscape has three useful patterns:
| Server | Strengths | What Midvash should learn from it |
|---|---|---|
tuxr/bible-mcp | Remote-capable lookup, search, navigation, multiple translations, Apocrypha. | Add first-class Bible search and richer navigation helpers. |
molpass/mcp-bible | Multi-version lookup, keyword/semantic search, cross-references, word studies, original-language lexicon data. | Add semantic/keyword search, cross-references, and optional study layers. |
djayatillake/studybible-mcp | Lexicons, morphology, cross-references, contextual notes, deeper study workflow. | Keep Midvash simple by default, but expose advanced study tools when data is available. |
ytssamuel/FHL-MCP-Server | Strong Chinese Bible study resources, commentaries, original-language analysis, Apocrypha, topical studies. | Treat language communities as first-class audiences, not just translation filters. |
Midvash's edge is simplicity: remote, no key, no account, fast Cloudflare delivery, and an open ecosystem around the reader, API, apps, plugins, and data. The next improvements should preserve that low-friction experience while adding the discovery and study tools users expect from Bible-focused MCP servers.
Roadmap
- Expand the MCP catalog to match the broader Midvash data/API coverage.
- Improve
compare_passagewith richer formatting for long passages. - Add study-oriented tools for original-language, lexicon, and morphology data where reliable open data is available.
Development
npm install
npm run dev # wrangler dev (local)
npm run typecheck # tsc --noEmit
Deployment
Deploys to the Cloudflare Worker midvash-mcp (custom domain
mcp.midvash.com) via GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/deploy.yml) —
every push to main is type-checked and deployed automatically. Requires the
repository secrets CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN and CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID. Manual
deploy:
npm run deploy # npx wrangler deploy
License
MIT © Midvash
The Midvash ecosystem
Part of Midvash: Bible & Devotional, a free Bible reading and study platform. Everything is open and interlinks:
| 📖 Reader (web) | midvash.com — 9 languages |
| 📱 iOS and Android apps | App Store · Google Play |
| 🔌 API | api.midvash.com · bible-api |
| 🤖 MCP server | mcp.midvash.com · bible-mcp |
| 🧩 WordPress plugin | midvash.com/wordpress-plugin · bible-wordpress-plugin |
| 🧩 EmDash plugin | midvash.com/emdash-plugin · emdash-plugin-bible |
| 🌐 Chrome extension | midvash.com/chrome-extension · bible-chrome-extension |
| 📦 Open data | bible-data · bible-data-js · bible-cross-references |
Free & open, built by Midvash · midvash.com
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