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Worldwide YouVersion Community Shatters Records Throughout March

When The Bible series was breaking ratings records this past Sunday, attracting nearly 100 million viewers over the course of its run, YouVersion was making history as well with a month full of firsts:

  • The Bible series producers named the Bible App™ their official app of the series even before the first episode aired.

  • During the first episode of The Bible, YouVersion debuted its first-ever national television commercial in the U.S. And it continued to air multiple times each week throughout the series.

  • The brand new Videos feature launched, helping people experience the Bible’s stories and concepts visually from inside the Bible App.

  • Every Sunday in March landed on YouVersion’s top 10 list for most installs in a single day.

  • March 31, Easter Sunday (the same day as The Bible series finale) saw the most installs of the Bible App ever in a single day: more than 3.5 per second… all day.

And while each of these firsts are truly thrilling, even when we take them all together, still they don’t tell the whole story. You, the worldwide YouVersion community, broke several far more important records. Together during March, we:

  • Spent more than 3.4 billion minutes reading God’s Word.

  • Completed almost 671,000 reading plans, and

  • Shared more than 6 million Bible verses through Facebook, Twitter, email, and text messages.

Literally millions of people all over the world discovered the Bible App for the first time during March, thanks in part to your passion for the Bible. Thank you…for reading, listening, watching, and sharing it. You are an inspiration. Together, we’re helping more people engage with God’s Word than ever before.

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America’s Top Football Players Use the Bible App

The biggest day in American sports is here, and the Bible App is part of the conversation for players on both sides of the field.

We had a special opportunity, thanks to 1615.tv, to talk with several players who are competing in the big game today. Like so many of you, their love for God’s Word has grown by being able to read the Bible anytime, anywhere with the Bible App. Whether it’s sharing the Verse of the Day, adding bookmarks, or listening to audio Bibles, these players are an active part of the global community of people seeking God through His Word.

 

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5 Million Bible Plans Completed!

YouVersion first launched Reading Plans in 2009, and since then people have used the Bible App to complete 5 million Plans! Whether you like to read, listen, or watch your daily selection, Bible Plans make it easier than ever to spend meaningful time in God’s Word. Thank you for being a part of what God is doing all over the world through the Bible App!

Making Plans Work for You

People who complete their Bible Plans sometimes get a little help along the way from these handy features. Just go to your plan’s Settings (the gear icon) and look for these useful tools:

  • Catch Me Up. Falling behind? In your plan’s Settings, tap Catch Me Up to shift your start and end dates. Your last fully completed day becomes yesterday. If you have partially completed days, those unfinished selections will remain unchecked.
  • Reminders. Have the Bible App remind you when it’s time to read. In your plan’s Settings, set Reminder to On and specify the time of day you’d like to be reminded. At the time you set, the Bible App pops up a handy reminder.
  • Email Delivery. Get your daily selections delivered to your inbox. In your plan’s Settings, set Email Delivery to On and select the time of day you’d like to receive your daily selection, along with which Bible version you’d like. The Bible App sends it to the email address you specified for your free YouVersion account.

For even more tips and tricks, be sure to check out YouVersion’s Support website!

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The Bible App Now in Finnish and Vietnamese

The Bible App™ now in Finnish and VietnameseWith today’s announcement of the addition of Finnish and Vietnamese, YouVersion is now offering the Bible App in twenty-five languages. This includes not only Bible versions, but all of the menus, settings, and even reading plans. Simply select your desired language from the Bible App’s Settings, or set the language on your device. If you enjoy using the Bible App at YouVersion.com, you can choose from the list of languages at the bottom right. Whether you speak Finnish or Vietnamese, or you have friends who do, please help us spread the word on Facebook and Twitter!

Finnish

You can choose Finnish (Suomi) right now for your Bible App for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch), Android, or at YouVersion.com. (Finnish is also coming soon to the Bible App for Windows Phone!) We offer four Finnish Bible versions: the contemporary Kirkkoraamattu 1992 (KR92) and the traditional Kirkkoraamattu 1933/38 (KINB38), both provided by the Finnish Bible Society, and the Finnish 1776 (FI1776) and Finnish 1938 (FINPR). Also, be sure you check out one of our 25 reading plans in Finnish!

Vietnamese

We’re also pleased to now offer Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt) on the Bible App for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch), Android, BlackBerry, and at YouVersion.com. Look for any of our 25 reading plans in Vietnamese, as well as four different Bible versions. The Revised Vietnamese Version Bible (RVV11) is provided from the United Bible Societies, the modern Thánh Kinh: Bản Phổ thông™ (BPT) comes from the World Bible Translation Center, and the Ban Dich 2011 (BD2011) from the Rev. Bau Dang. You’ll even find the classic 1934 Vietnamese Bible (VI1934).

Because of You

The only way that YouVersion can make God’s Word available to as many people as we do, and in their own heart languages, is through the passionate work of a worldwide community of translation volunteers. These are people just like you who use their gifts to translate menus, settings, screens, and other key text so they can take part in seeing the Bible shared with the world. We never stop improving the Bible App, so there’s always more translation to do. If you can volunteer to translate into Finnish or Vietnamese (or other languages), we’d love to hear from you. Please join us. You’ll be helping people all over the planet fall in love with God’s Word.

We asked a couple of our key volunteers in Finnish and Vietnamese to share with you about why they love working with YouVersion to reach the world. Here’s what they had to say:

YouVersion Finnish language volunteer Juho A. (l) with YouVersion Global Partnership and Community Pastor Brian Russell (r)

“YouVersion translation felt like a natural way for me to contribute to the ministry. Serving others by using my native language (that I’m quite passionate about!) gives me great pleasure. I’m so grateful for the awesome fellowship that we have due to working together in the name of Christ.”
—Juho A., Espoo, Finland

YouVersion Vietnamese language volunteer Tien L.

“I decided to volunteer for YouVersion because I had always been called to the ministry of language translation. What an amazing way to help bring God’s Word to people in my country! Thanks to my experiences volunteering, I’ve come to realize that I did not truly appreciate the abilities and assets God has given me until I used them to serve Him. All glory be to the Lord!”
—Tien L., San Antonio, Texas, U.S.

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Bible.com joins the YouVersion family!

The YouVersion family is growing! Today we’re thrilled to share with you the addition of Bible.com. Starting this month, visiting Bible.com will bring you directly to YouVersion’s free online Bible.

Now everybody can find the same simple, ad-free experience already loved by millions—at the Internet’s best domain for the Bible! We’re happy to welcome everyone who’s already part of the Bible.com community, as well as the many people searching for God’s Word online.

Bible.com now provides the same rich Bible experience as YouVersion.com and the Bible App:

  • Read the Bible: Instantly select from nearly 300 versions (including audio!), compare versions side by side, and choose the font and display size.
  • Study the Bible: Easily add notes, bookmarks, and highlights to personalize and learn from your interaction with Scripture.
  • Subscribe to Reading Plans: Cover the whole Bible, focus on a specific topic you’re interested in, or read a rich devotional from a gifted teacher. Choose your favorite plan, and each day, a fresh Bible selection will be ready and waiting for you.
  • Sync with the Bible App: All of your bookmarks, notes, plans, and progress now sync between the Bible App, YouVersion.com, and Bible.com.
  • Enjoy the Bible in many languages: Not only can you select a Bible in any of 140 languages, you can even choose to display the site’s menus and buttons in your choice of 30 languages.

Together, Bible.com and YouVersion now offer a simple, unified Bible experience that keeps Scripture always within easy reach. Whether you searching for “Bible” in an app store or, now, online, you’re always just one short click away from engaging with God’s Word.

Best of all, welcoming Bible.com into our worldwide YouVersion community introduces even more opportunities for you to help people find their way around and enjoy a meaningful Bible experience. Won’t you join us?

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