bible-translation-mcp

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables AI to accurately access Bible translations in hundreds of languages, original Greek and Hebrew texts with morphology, word-level interlinear alignments, and lexicons.

Data Sources

Local (Offline) — unfoldingWord

Mirrored as git submodules, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0:

Resource	Description
UGNT	unfoldingWord Greek New Testament — morphologically parsed, lexically tagged
UHB	unfoldingWord Hebrew Bible — morphologically parsed, lexically tagged
ULT	unfoldingWord Literal Text — English translation with word-level alignment to source
UGL	unfoldingWord Greek Lexicon
UHAL	unfoldingWord Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon

API — HelloAO Bible API

Access 100+ translations in many languages via bible.helloao.org:

• BSB (Berean Standard Bible), WEB, NASB, ESV, and many more
• Translations in Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, and dozens of other languages

MCP Tools

Original Language & Scholarly Tools (Local)

Tool	Description
get_verse	Fetch verse(s) in ULT (English), UGNT (Greek), or UHB (Hebrew)
get_interlinear	Word-by-word interlinear alignment (original language + English)
get_morphology	Detailed morphological parsing for every word in a verse
search_text	Full-text search across ULT, UGNT, or UHB
get_lexicon	Look up a word by Strong's number
search_lexicon	Search lexicon entries by word, gloss, or definition

Translation Tools (HelloAO API)

Tool	Description
list_translations	List all available translations, optionally filtered by language
list_translation_books	List books in a specific translation
get_translation_verse	Fetch verse(s) or chapters from any available translation
compare_translations	Compare a verse side-by-side across multiple translations

Setup

# Clone with submodules
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/jeremymikkelsen/bible-translation-mcp.git
cd bible-translation-mcp

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the database from USFM sources
npm run ingest

# Build TypeScript
npm run build

Configure for Claude Code

Add to ~/.claude/claude_code_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bible": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/bible-translation-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Development

# Run in dev mode (no build step)
npm run dev

# Test with MCP Inspector
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js

License

Code: MIT Data: CC BY-SA 4.0 (unfoldingWord)