✦ About the translations
Why we can give Scripture away
Glory reads from the World English Bible (WEB), and you can also read the whole Word in the King James Version (KJV). The WEB was not chosen because it is the best English Bible for every reader; both were chosen for one unusual quality: they are in the public domain.
Public domain means we can give it away
Well-loved translations like the ESV, NIV, or NLT are excellent, but they are copyrighted works. Quoting them at length, or reproducing them inside an app, requires a license and usually a fee. The WEB carries no such restriction: anyone may copy, print, quote, and redistribute it without permission.
That matters to how Glory works. The entire Bible, all 66 books, is built into this site so that every chapter you read and every verse you open loads instantly, works offline, and can be shared freely with anyone, anywhere, with no strings attached. That is only possible with a public domain text.
A trustworthy lineage
The WEB is a modern English update of the American Standard Version of 1901, which itself stands in the tradition of the Revised Version. It is a literal, word-for-word style translation completed by Michael Paul Johnson and volunteers, and it has been in open development since 1997. You can read more about it and download it in many formats at ebible.org/web.
Why we say “Yahweh” where your Bible says “LORD”
The Hebrew text reveals God’s personal name, written with four letters, YHWH. Because it is so sacred, most English translations render it as “LORD” (or “GOD”) in small capitals, a practice that began with the King James Version. The WEB, by contrast, prints the name as it is spoken: Yahweh.
In Glory’s own words, in the studies and notes that sit alongside Scripture, we keep “Yahweh” on purpose. It is not a different translation of the verse; it is the name itself, no longer hidden. So you may read a study saying “the Spirit of Yahweh” while your open Bible says “the Spirit of the LORD.” They are the same Person, the same name, only rendered differently. If a question ever turns on how a word is rendered, we say so plainly rather than hiding behind one version.
Read alongside what you know
If your heart belongs to another translation, keep reading it. The differences between faithful translations are matters of wording, not of message, and comparing renderings is one of the oldest and richest habits in Bible study.
Our study, Why do Bible translations differ?, takes up that question in Scripture itself.