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Now Available: Choose Your Own Photos for Verse Images

Verse Image is one of the most popular features in YouVersion history, with more than 1.8 million already created since it launched. Hopefully you’ve already been enjoying making your own Verse Images, turning Bible verses into inspirational art that you can share with your community of friends. Today we’re pleased to announce that with the newest release of the Bible App, now you can select your own photos as backgrounds for your Verse Images!

VerseImage-PhaseII

Note: Before you can use Verse Images, make sure you have the most current version of the Bible App installed. Some older versions of Android and iOS may not be supported.

 

On Apple Devices:
From inside the Bible App:

  1. Tap the passage you want to share.
  2. Tap the Share icon.
  3. Tap Image.
  4. Tap the gray image icon in the first square.
  5. Follow the prompts to the photos already on your device and select the one you want.
  6. Customize your image with fonts, colors, and other effects.
  7. Share your Verse Image directly into your Bible App Home feed, as an SMS or email message, or on social media.

 

On Android Devices:
From inside the Bible App:

  1. Tap the passage you want to share.
  2. Tap the Image icon.
  3. Tap the gray image icon in the first square.
  4. Follow the prompts to the photos already on your device and select the one you want.
  5. Customize your image with fonts, colors, and other effects.
  6. Share your Verse Image directly into your Bible App Home feed, as an SMS or email message, or on social media.

Also coming soon…

Add blur.
Blurring your
background picture
can create greater
contrast for your text,
making your Verse
Image easier to read.

 

Adjust text and
line spacing.
Fine-tune space
between the letters
and between the lines
in your Verse Image.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Bible App

The Bible App™ has been installed on more than 170 million unique devices, all over the world. Developed by YouVersion, the Bible App offers more than 1,000 Bible versions, in more than 770 languages. And it’s always completely free.

New Bible App icon
bible.com/app

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Why YouVersion is Bringing the Bible App to Apple Watch

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The power of God’s Word, close at hand.

At YouVersion, we believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, the primary way that He communicates with us. And we believe that the Bible has the power to absolutely transform lives. We’ve seen it happen — again and again and again.

That’s why we keep our mission simple: to help you engage with the Bible. Because we’re convinced that when you spend time with the Bible, either reading or listening, and then carefully reflect on what it’s saying to you, God’s Spirit will do something inside of you. His words will change you, make you into a new person. Ultimately, His words will draw you closer to Him.

That’s what drives every release of the Bible App, every new feature. We research which behaviors seem most likely to help you daily engage with the Bible. We select the ones we believe will be the most effective for the most people, and then we carefully craft features around those.

That’s why we’re bringing the Bible App to Apple Watch.

We’ll be there on launch day, just like we were among the first 200 free apps in Apple’s App Store on the day it launched in 2008. That first version of the Bible App let people have the Bible with them, constantly available everywhere they went. And we never stop evaluating new opportunities that might help you keep God’s Word in front of you.

We realized that certain aspects of this unique platform could deepen the presence of the Bible verses that mean the most to you — those that you tagged specifically with Verse Images, Bookmarks, or Highlights. We even tried to think through how your Apple Watch could help you stay closely connected to your community of Bible App Friends.

After hours of discussing, debating, prototyping, experimenting, tweaking, discarding — then repeating the process — we landed on the features that we think will help you get the most from the Bible App on your Apple Watch. Now we’re looking forward to the new ways we believe God will speak to you through his Word when you’re able to give it this kind of constant, natural presence in your daily life.

Meditation:
Verse of the Day

“Commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine.
Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.”
Deuteronomy 11:18

Every day, the Bible App presents you with the “Verse of the Day,” keystone Bible verses meaningful to believers the world over. With Apple Watch, you can revisit the Verse of the Day anytime you want, with just a glance and a tap.

Biblical Community:
Friend Notifications

“Every time I think of you,
I give thanks to my God.”
Philippians 1:3

Taptic notifications are a brand new feature unique to Apple Watch. If you turn on your Bible App notifications, you’ll feel a tiny vibration each time one of your Bible App Friends likes or comments on your Bible activity. Without even looking, you’ll know that in that very moment, one of your trusted friends is thinking of you, encouraged or inspired by the time you’ve recently spent in God’s Word.

Inspiration:
Trending Verses

Trust in the LORD with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:5–6

Which Scriptures are other believers engaging with right now? With a tap and a scroll, a quick glance at which Bible verses are trending will give you a sense of what’s happening across the worldwide YouVersion community. Available exclusively on Apple Watch.

Mindfulness:
Your Verse Images, Bookmarks, and Highlights

“…set your hearts on things above, where Christ is,
seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
Colossians 3:1–2

Bible App on Apple Watch will let you scroll through and view your own Verse Images, Bookmarks, and Highlights. It’s a simple, practical way that you can find inspiration, encouragement, or even just a reminder of the things you value most.

All over the world, people just like you are connecting with each other through the global YouVersion community, centered around God’s Word. And very soon, the Bible App for Apple Watch will place the power of that community literally at your fingertips. Make the Bible App one of the first apps you connect to your Apple Watch. As long as your iPhone is up-to-date and Apple Watch-compatible, then the day that your Apple Watch arrives, the Bible App will be there.

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American Bible Society Survey: 98% say everyone should be able to get the Bible

While most in the U.S. express strong support that everyone who wants a Bible should be able to have one, few have a clear grasp of the big picture of Bible access, according to the 2015 State of the Bible report just released by American Bible Society. The findings bring key insight about Bible availability and more:

 

ABS-1

Most people (98% of those surveyed) believe everyone should be free to own and read the Bible.

“Eighty-eight percent of American households own at least one Bible,
with the average household owning about four copies” 

Geof Morin, American Bible Society

 

ABS-3

 

Most (72%) also believe that’s already happening. Unfortunately, it’s simply not the case:

 

ABS-4

 

More than half of the world’s 6,901 languages still do not have a complete Bible translation. For speakers of more than 1,859 languages, God simply doesn’t speak their language. Translation of the Bible hasn’t even started in the language they use in their everyday conversations. They’ve never heard truths in their heart language, something most of us take for granted:

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38–39 NIV

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22 ESV

“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.”
Ephesians 3:18 NLT

And for an additional 2,195 languages, speakers only have part of the Bible available in their language.

 

 

Sharing the vision, continuing the work

We live in a unique time in history, equipped with tools that can help us reach more people than ever before with the Gospel. In fact, we have the potential to see the realization of a goal that past generations could only dream about. In our lifetime, we could see the Bible translated into every language on earth. This is only possible thanks to a broad coalition of partners like American Bible Society, publishers, authors, translators, and YouVersion volunteers around the globe. We are working together in unprecedented ways so that every person in the world can connect with the Bible, no matter where they live or what language they speak.

 

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Easter Bible engagement around the world

All day on Sunday, followers and seekers of Christ all over the world were turning to the Bible to read, listen to, and watch the Easter story of Christ’s trial, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. During Holy Week, the number of people opening passages about Jesus’ final week on earth increased by almost 250% over the four weeks preceding Easter.

 

Easter Bible Chapters Read: 5.4 Million

 

Bible Engagement Around the World

Glowing dots on this time-lapse map show where the Bible App was opened (the brighter the area, the more opens). The gradations sliding across the world indicate the time of day, with the flags on the left showing which country was engaging most through the Bible App at that time.

 

 

Holy Week Engagement

Here’s a snapshot of just some of what was happening across the global YouVersion community during Holy Week, which includes Easter and the six days leading up to it:

Top 5 Most Bible-Engaged Countries
United States, South Africa, Brazil, Great Britain, and South Korea

Top 10 Countries with the
most growth in Easter engagement
102% Dominica  91% South Sudan  86% Lithuania  84% Palestine  83% Niger
78% Bulgaria  77% Armenia  72% Myanmar  72% Kazakhstan  71% Albania

Most Popular Verse Easter Weekend

Romans 5:8

Not only was Romans 5:8 the most-shared Bible verse overall, it was also the most-shared in several countries (in various languages and translations): Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, Philippines, Singapore, Colombia, Russia, Argentina, and France.

Many of top verses for Holy Week were also shared as Verse Images from the Bible App:

Top 5 most Bible-engaged languages

English, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, and French

Bible Plan Engagement

Engagement was also up significantly in another key area for the YouVersion community: Bible Plan subscriptions and completions. Lent 2015 saw an 85% increase in Bible Plan subscriptions and 141% increase in Bible plan completions when compared to Lent 2014.

YouVersion Bible Plan Completions and Subscriptions way up for Easter 2015


Help us Spread the Word

A revolution in Bible engagement is taking place in this generation, all over the world. And you can be a part of it, first by consistently spending time in the Bible, and second, by helping others discover the Bible App. Click below to share this good news with your friends and family:

 

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New Bible App for Kids Story: Peter Has a Vision: “Everybody’s Welcome”

In the latest story from the Bible App for Kids, “Everybody’s Welcome,” God shows Peter that Jesus is for everyone. Based on Acts 10, God sends an angel to a Roman officer named Cornelius. The angel tells Cornelius to send some servants to find Peter and invite him to his house. The next day while Peter is praying, God gives him a vision, showing him many animals that Jewish people were not supposed to eat. A voice from Heaven tells Peter to choose one of the animals to eat. Peter tells the voice that he is not supposed to eat those things. But the voice — which is God’s voice — tells Peter that, because God says it’s okay, it’s okay.

Just then, Cornelius’ servants arrive, inviting Peter to come with them to meet Cornelius. Peter takes some of his friends with him to Cornelius’ house, where a bunch of people have gathered, excited to hear what Peter might say. Peter realizes that the vision God gave him was about more than just what kinds of food were okay to eat. So Peter tells them, “God sent His Son not just for some… Jesus is for everyone!” The people are very happy, and they receive God’s Holy Spirit, just like the disciples did at Pentecost. Then Peter baptizes them.


To get “Everybody’s Welcome” right now, just open the Bible App for Kids and tap the new story icon. If you don’t have the Bible App for Kids yet, it’s easy to get, and it’s always free! Just click one of the buttons below.


The Bible App for Kids icon

About the Bible App for Kids

The Bible App for Kids is the newest app from YouVersion, makers of the Bible App™, designed to give children a delight-filled Bible experience all their own. Developed in partnership with OneHope, the Bible App for Kids has already been installed on over 6 million Apple, Android, and Kindle devices, and it’s always completely free. Kids from all over the world are now enjoying the Bible App for Kids — in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese!

 

Get it now

 

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