ScriptureFlow Bible Data

ScriptureFlow Bible Data is structured, multilingual Bible data infrastructure — not a Bible website scraper. This Apify Actor returns clean Bible data as JSON across 200+ translations in many languages: look up any verse or passage, discover available Bible translations in dozens of languages, resolve localized book names (e.g. Juan 3:16 in Spanish or Yohana in Swahili), and validate Scripture references before you use them downstream. It calls the public ScriptureFlow API — no scraping, no setup, no broken HTML selectors — making it dependable for Apify datasets, n8n automations, and AI agents.

What is ScriptureFlow Bible Data?

ScriptureFlow Bible Data is an Apify Actor for builders who need Scripture data that is structured, translation-aware, and language-aware and ready to drop into automation workflows. You request Bible data by translationId and reference, and the Actor writes predictable rows to the Apify default dataset and an OUTPUT_SUMMARY.json to the default key-value store.

It is not a Bible website scraper. It does not scrape BibleGateway, YouVersion, Blue Letter Bible, Logos, or any third-party Bible website, and it does not depend on any of them keeping the same page layout. It also does not generate sermons, devotionals, commentary, theological interpretation, embeddings, or RAG chunks, and it does not modify Scripture source text.

Why ScriptureFlow is structured Bible data infrastructure, not a scraper

Scraper-based Bible tools break when a third-party Bible website changes its HTML layout. ScriptureFlow takes a different approach: it returns structured Bible data from a prepared catalog, with deterministic translation IDs, so the same workflow produces the same shape every run. That makes it suitable for repeatable automation and API-style workflows instead of fragile scraper-based pipelines.

You also get the full Apify platform behind it: scheduling, monitoring, the Apify API, dataset storage, and native integrations with tools like n8n — all wrapped around a reliable Bible API call.

Multilingual, language-aware Bible data across many languages

Multilingual support is a core strength of ScriptureFlow Bible Data, not an afterthought. The Actor ships with 200+ translations ready across many languages, and because it is translation-aware and language-aware, the same workflow can serve completely different audiences just by changing the translationId — no separate pipeline per language.

It also understands localized book names. Where ScriptureFlow has localized book aliases available, reference lookup resolves names in the reader's own language instead of forcing English:

• 🇪🇸 Spanish — Juan 3:16 resolves without rewriting it to John 3:16
• 🇰🇪 Swahili — swh-onen exposes localized books like Yohana (John) and Warumi (Romans)
• 🌍 African-language coverage — including Akuapem Twi, Asante Twi, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, and Ewe

That makes it well suited for ministries, Bible apps, and study tools that need to reach multilingual audiences, including languages that are often missing from mainstream Bible tooling. Alias availability varies by language and translation, so use catalog and translation_books to confirm what's available, and validate_reference before going to production.

Representative coverage includes Protestant, public-domain, open-license, multilingual, and Catholic / deuterocanonical-friendly examples such as the Douay-Rheims American Edition. A few verified translation IDs from the catalog:

Translation ID	Translation	Language
en-kjv	King James Version	English
en-lsv	Literal Standard Version	English
en-oeb	Open English Bible	English
en-dra	Douay-Rheims American Edition 1899 (Catholic / deuterocanonical-friendly)	English
es-vbl	Versión Biblia Libre	Spanish
es-rv09	Reina Valera 1909	Spanish
de-luther1912	Luther 1912	German
it-db1885	Italian Diodati Bible 1885	Italian
swh-onen	Biblica Open Kiswahili Contemporary Version	Swahili
tw-wakna	Biblica Open Akuapem Twi Contemporary Bible 2020	Akuapem Twi
tw-wasna	Biblica Open Asante Twi Contemporary Bible 2020	Asante Twi
yo-oycb	Biblica Open Yoruba Contemporary Bible 2017	Yoruba
ha-bsrk	Biblica Open Hausa Contemporary Bible 2020	Hausa
ig-biuo	Biblica Open Igbo Contemporary Bible 2020	Igbo
ee-oal	eweOAL20	Ewe

To see the exact, current list of supported translations and languages, use catalog mode (see Catalog discovery below) — that is always the source of truth.

What can this Actor do?

ScriptureFlow Bible Data supports four focused modes:

• 📖 passage — fetch a single verse or a same-chapter passage (e.g. John 3:16, John 3:16-18, Romans 8:28-30, Psalm 23, 1 John 1:9), using free-text references or structured book / chapter / verse / endVerse fields.
• 🌍 catalog — discover available Bible translations and their language codes; ideal for populating app dropdowns or letting an AI agent pick a valid translationId.
• 📚 translation_books — list metadata-only book names for a selected translation (one row per book). Useful for discovering localized book names before a passage lookup.
• ✅ validate_reference — check whether a reference resolves before sending it into an automation, database, or agent workflow.
• 🧱 Structured error rows — invalid references, unsupported formats, and invalid translation IDs return dataset rows instead of crashing the run.

This Actor intentionally stays narrow. translation_books is metadata discovery only — it is not full Bible export, book mode, chapter mode, bulk export, or random verse mode.

What data does ScriptureFlow Bible Data return?

The Actor writes structured JSON rows to the default Apify dataset. Every row includes recordType, mode, and source (the source field is always an object describing ScriptureFlow as the provider, never a plain string).

Field	Description
recordType	Row type: translation, book, verse, validation, or error.
mode	Mode that produced the row: catalog, translation_books, passage, or validate_reference.
source	Object describing ScriptureFlow as provider, endpoint used, docs URL, CTA URL, and retrieval time.
translationId	ScriptureFlow translation ID, such as en-kjv or swh-onen.
languageCode	Language code for catalog rows when available.
translationName	Human-readable translation name when available.
reference	Resolved Scripture reference for verse rows.
inputReference	Reference originally supplied by the user.
normalizedReference	Reference normalized by ScriptureFlow validation when available.
book	Resolved book identifier or human-facing book name for book metadata rows.
bookSlug	Book slug when available.
canonicalBook	Canonical book key when available.
chaptersFound	Number of chapters found for a book metadata row or catalog metadata.
firstChapter / lastChapter	Lowest / highest chapter number found for a book metadata row.
totalVerses	Sum of available chapter verse counts for a book metadata row.
chapter / verse	Resolved chapter and verse numbers.
text	Scripture text returned by ScriptureFlow for passage mode.
valid	Whether the reference or result is valid.
errorCode	Structured code for user / input error rows.
message	Human-readable message for validation or error rows.
status	Translation status for catalog rows, or HTTP / user-error status when available.
metadata	Optional supporting metadata from ScriptureFlow.

You can download the resulting dataset in various formats such as JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML directly from the Apify platform.

How to use ScriptureFlow Bible Data

Quick start

Run the Actor with the default input. It writes one verse row to the default dataset and OUTPUT_SUMMARY.json to the default key-value store:

{
  "mode": "passage",
  "translationId": "en-kjv",
  "reference": "John 3:16",
  "includeMetadata": true,
  "maxResults": 100
}

Discover translations with catalog mode

{
  "mode": "catalog",
  "languageCode": "eng",
  "maxResults": 100
}

List book names for a translation

translation_books returns metadata only — one row per book — not Scripture text or a full Bible export. Useful for discovering valid localized book names (e.g. Swahili swh-onen):

{
  "mode": "translation_books",
  "translationId": "swh-onen",
  "includeMetadata": true,
  "maxResults": 100
}

Fetch a passage by free-text reference

{
  "mode": "passage",
  "translationId": "en-kjv",
  "reference": "John 3:16",
  "includeMetadata": true
}

Fetch a passage with structured, localized fields

When localized book names or slugs work better as API fields than as free text, use structured input:

{
  "mode": "passage",
  "translationId": "swh-onen",
  "book": "yohana",
  "chapter": 3,
  "verse": 2,
  "includeMetadata": true
}

Fetch a same-chapter verse range

Use endVerse for same-chapter structured ranges:

{
  "mode": "passage",
  "translationId": "swh-onen",
  "book": "warumi",
  "chapter": 8,
  "verse": 28,
  "endVerse": 30,
  "includeMetadata": true
}

Validate a reference before using it downstream

{
  "mode": "validate_reference",
  "translationId": "en-kjv",
  "reference": "Romans 8:28"
}

Recommended multilingual workflow

1. Run catalog with a language code, e.g. swh.
2. Run translation_books for the returned translation ID, e.g. swh-onen.
3. Use the returned bookSlug or book name in structured passage input.
4. Retrieve Scripture text.

Using ScriptureFlow Bible Data in n8n

Manual Trigger → HTTP Request node calling the Apify Actor → Parse returned dataset item → Use Scripture text downstream

After the run finishes, read the default dataset items and use fields such as text, reference, translationId, book, chapter, and verse in later n8n nodes. Use translation_books first when you need to discover localized book names before building a passage reference.

Using ScriptureFlow Bible Data with AI agents and MCP

This Actor is useful for agents that need structured Scripture lookup, reference validation, catalog discovery, or translation book metadata. It does not provide theological interpretation, sermon writing, devotional content, embeddings, or RAG chunks.

• Use catalog to discover valid translation IDs and language codes.
• Use translation_books to discover book names before lookup.
• Use validate_reference before taking downstream action on a user-provided reference.
• Use passage with structured fields when localized references are better represented as API fields than free text, or with reference for simple English / canonical free-text lookup.

Output examples

Translation row (catalog)

{
  "recordType": "translation",
  "mode": "catalog",
  "source": {
    "provider": "ScriptureFlow",
    "endpoint": "/public-catalog.json",
    "docsUrl": "https://scriptureflow-dev-docs.pages.dev",
    "apiCtaUrl": "https://scriptureflow-dev-docs.pages.dev?utm_source=apify&utm_medium=actor&utm_campaign=scriptureflow_bible_data",
    "retrievedAt": "2026-06-13T00:00:00.000Z"
  },
  "translationId": "en-kjv",
  "languageCode": "eng",
  "translationName": "King James Version",
  "status": "ready"
}

Book row (translation_books)

{
  "recordType": "book",
  "mode": "translation_books",
  "translationId": "swh-onen",
  "book": "Yohana",
  "bookSlug": "yohana",
  "canonicalBook": "john",
  "chaptersFound": 21,
  "firstChapter": 1,
  "lastChapter": 21,
  "totalVerses": 879,
  "source": {
    "provider": "ScriptureFlow",
    "endpoint": "/swh-onen/chapters.json",
    "docsUrl": "https://scriptureflow-dev-docs.pages.dev",
    "apiCtaUrl": "https://scriptureflow-dev-docs.pages.dev?utm_source=apify&utm_medium=actor&utm_campaign=scriptureflow_bible_data",
    "retrievedAt": "2026-06-13T00:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

Verse row (passage)

{
  "recordType": "verse",
  "mode": "passage",
  "source": {
    "provider": "ScriptureFlow",
    "endpoint": "/api/verse",
    "docsUrl": "https://scriptureflow-dev-docs.pages.dev",
    "apiCtaUrl": "https://scriptureflow-dev-docs.pages.dev?utm_source=apify&utm_medium=actor&utm_campaign=scriptureflow_bible_data",
    "retrievedAt": "2026-06-13T00:00:00.000Z"
  },
  "valid": true,
  "translationId": "en-kjv",
  "reference": "John 3:16",
  "book": "john",
  "chapter": 3,
  "verse": 16,
  "text": "For God so loved the world..."
}

Validation row (validate_reference)

{
  "recordType": "validation",
  "mode": "validate_reference",
  "source": {
    "provider": "ScriptureFlow",
    "endpoint": "/api/verse",
    "docsUrl": "https://scriptureflow-dev-docs.pages.dev",
    "apiCtaUrl": "https://scriptureflow-dev-docs.pages.dev?utm_source=apify&utm_medium=actor&utm_campaign=scriptureflow_bible_data",
    "retrievedAt": "2026-06-13T00:00:00.000Z"
  },
  "valid": true,
  "translationId": "en-kjv",
  "inputReference": "Romans 8:28",
  "normalizedReference": "Romans 8:28",
  "book": "romans",
  "chapter": 8,
  "verse": 28
}

Error row (structured, does not crash the run)

{
  "recordType": "error",
  "mode": "translation_books",
  "source": {
    "provider": "ScriptureFlow",
    "endpoint": "/bad-id/chapters.json",
    "docsUrl": "https://scriptureflow-dev-docs.pages.dev",
    "apiCtaUrl": "https://scriptureflow-dev-docs.pages.dev?utm_source=apify&utm_medium=actor&utm_campaign=scriptureflow_bible_data",
    "retrievedAt": "2026-06-13T00:00:00.000Z"
  },
  "valid": false,
  "errorCode": "REFERENCE_NOT_FOUND",
  "message": "ScriptureFlow could not resolve the requested translation.",
  "translationId": "bad-id",
  "inputReference": null,
  "status": 404
}

User / input errors do not fail the Actor — they write structured rows and exit successfully. Infrastructure errors (ScriptureFlow API downtime, malformed JSON, request timeouts after retries, unexpected response shapes, unhealthy status, or Apify storage failure) fail clearly. The Actor does not fake Scripture data and does not use fallback Scripture text.

Input reference

Default input:

{
  "mode": "passage",
  "translationId": "en-kjv",
  "reference": "John 3:16",
  "includeMetadata": true,
  "maxResults": 100
}

Field	Description
mode	One of catalog, translation_books, passage, validate_reference.
translationId	ScriptureFlow translation ID (e.g. en-kjv, swh-onen); required for translation_books, passage, and validate_reference.
reference	e.g. John 3:16; used for free-text passage and required for validate_reference. Localized names like Juan 3:16 may work when the translation and ScriptureFlow's canonical book map support that alias.
book	Structured passage book value, e.g. yohana; use the bookSlug or book name returned by translation_books.
chapter	Structured passage chapter number; required when any structured passage field is used.
verse	Structured passage starting verse; required when any structured passage field is used.
endVerse	Optional same-chapter ending verse for structured ranges.
languageCode	Optional catalog filter for translation language.
includeMetadata	Include available non-text metadata in verse rows.
maxResults	Maximum number of catalog or translation-book metadata rows to write.

Supported reference formats: John 3:16, John 3:16-18, Romans 8:28-30, Psalm 23, 1 John 1:9. Localized book aliases (e.g. Juan 3:16) work where they exist in ScriptureFlow's canonical book map. Multi-reference input such as John 3:16; Romans 8:28 is not supported in this version.

If any structured fields are provided, the Actor uses structured lookup and requires book, chapter, and verse; endVerse is optional. For multilingual workflows, structured passage input is often more reliable than free-text localized references. Because mode is a dropdown enum in the Apify UI, invalid mode values may be rejected by the platform before runtime; the Actor still keeps a code-level INVALID_MODE handler as a defensive fallback for local runs and direct API calls. Click the Input tab for the full schema.

Discover the full Bible translation catalog

The most reliable way to see every supported translation is to run the Actor in catalog mode, which lists each available translation and its language code — perfect for app dropdowns, multilingual workflows, or agent translation selection.

A preview translations list is also available here:

https://scriptureflow-api-preview.pages.dev/translations.json

Note that this is a preview endpoint, so treat catalog mode as the authoritative source when building production workflows.

Use cases

• 🔎 Bible verse lookup for apps, spreadsheets, and dashboards.
• 🌐 Multilingual Scripture workflows where users select a translation by language.
• 📚 Discovering localized book names for translations such as Swahili swh-onen.
• ⚙️ n8n automations that need clean Scripture text and reference fields.
• 🤖 AI agents that need safe catalog discovery, translation book metadata, reference validation, or structured passage lookup.
• 🧪 Form validation for Bible references before writing to a database.
• 📝 Translation dropdowns powered by ScriptureFlow catalog metadata.
• 🧱 Lightweight Scripture lookup without scraping Bible websites.

Known limitations

In the interest of being upfront — please review these before building production workflows:

• Some translations are full Bible; others are New Testament or portion-only.
• Book names and coverage may vary by translation.
• Use catalog (and translation_books) mode to confirm supported translations and books before building production workflows.
• Licensing and usage terms may vary by translation (see the disclaimer below).

Why this matters for production workflows

Because ScriptureFlow returns structured data with deterministic translation IDs and does not depend on any third-party Bible website's HTML, your automations are far less likely to silently break when an external site changes. Structured JSON output, a discoverable catalog, documented modes, predictable dataset rows, and structured error rows instead of crashes give you the repeatability that API-style and agent workflows need. Combined with the Apify platform's scheduling, monitoring, API access, and integrations, that makes ScriptureFlow Bible Data a dependable foundation rather than a fragile scraper.

Is ScriptureFlow Bible Data free?

This Actor does not include pay-per-event logic, API key gating, or custom monetization. Normal Apify platform compute and storage usage may still apply based on your Apify plan. Default passage and validation runs are intentionally small, and catalog and translation-book output can be bounded with maxResults.

Pricing and licensing of Bible translations

ScriptureFlow Bible Data provides structured access to ScriptureFlow data. You are responsible for confirming that your use of any translation complies with applicable copyright, licensing, and attribution requirements. ScriptureFlow does not grant rights to restricted Bible translations unless those rights are explicitly stated.

Need higher volume or a custom integration? Use the ScriptureFlow API directly

For higher-volume API access, custom integrations, or direct ScriptureFlow API use, visit the ScriptureFlow developer docs:

➡️ ScriptureFlow developer docs

For Actor run support, include the run ID, input JSON, and OUTPUT_SUMMARY.json content when requesting help.

FAQ

Does this Actor scrape Bible websites?

No. ScriptureFlow Bible Data calls the public ScriptureFlow API only. It does not scrape BibleGateway, YouVersion, Blue Letter Bible, Logos, or any third-party Bible website, and it does not depend on their page layouts.

Can this Actor fetch an entire Bible?

No. It supports catalog lookup, metadata-only translation_books discovery, passage lookup, and validate_reference only. It does not provide full Bible export, book mode, chapter mode, random verse mode, or bulk export.

Does this Actor generate sermons, devotionals, or commentary?

No. It returns structured Scripture data and validation results only. It does not generate theological interpretation, sermon content, devotional content, commentary, embeddings, or RAG chunks.

Does ScriptureFlow Bible Data support multilingual Bible references?

Yes. ScriptureFlow is built around translation-aware and language-aware Bible data. Use catalog mode to discover available translations and language codes, then choose your translationId. Where ScriptureFlow has localized book aliases available, the Actor can resolve names such as Juan 3:16 for Spanish workflows. Alias availability varies by language and translation, so validate references before using them downstream. Use translation_books mode to discover book names for a translation before building passage references.

Is this machine translation?

No. The Actor does not translate Scripture text or convert references between languages. It looks up ScriptureFlow translations and can use localized book aliases only where ScriptureFlow already has them available.

What do the error codes mean?

• UNSUPPORTED_REFERENCE_FORMAT — the reference is outside the supported simple-reference formats.
• REFERENCE_NOT_FOUND — ScriptureFlow could not resolve the requested reference or translation.
• INVALID_MODE — the requested mode is not supported. Use only catalog, translation_books, passage, or validate_reference.
• REQUEST_FAILED_AFTER_RETRIES — ScriptureFlow returned a retryable infrastructure error after bounded retries.

Can I use this in n8n or AI agents?

Yes. The Actor writes predictable dataset rows and includes output and dataset schemas to help automations and agents understand the result structure.

Where is the changelog?

See ./CHANGELOG.md.