One of the most frequently-asked questions we receive at the Bible Gateway is “Can I read more than one Bible in parallel?” Yes, you can! You can view up to five different Bibles simultaneously, and you can display them side-by-side to compare a passage in several different versions. Read on for a short tutorial that shows you how to do so.
A parallel Bible view is easy to set up. First, go to the Passage Lookup page (located in the navigation bar on the left).
Type in the passage to look up, like you normally would–but before you click the button to perform the search, take note of the version selector:
Click the “Lookup passage in multiple versions” link below the selector. Several more drop-down selectors will appear, where you can choose additional Bibles to add to your search. Choose the additional Bibles you want to view:
Then click on the Lookup Passage button to look up the passage you entered.
There! The same passage is displayed in each of the Bible versions you chose. By default, the versions are displayed in a list (scroll down to see the passage in all of the Bible versions). However, if you’d like to view all of the Bibles side-by-side, click on the “Columns” layout option:
The end result should look something like this:
You can toggle between a List and Column layout by switching between those two options.
And that’s it! You can update the multiple versions (or change which versions you’re viewing in parallel) from the passage results page. If you have questions or problems viewing the Bible in parallel that aren’t answered in this FAQ, don’t hesitate to contact us.