Get Started
How each feature works, and what you will see when you use it.
Different Study Tools
Read the doctrines in order, or read the Bible by plan or by book.
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Read the 60 Doctrines
Read the sixty doctrines in order, starting with the Introduction. Each one has a short introduction, a definition, one discussion question, then the passages that support it with commentary.
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The 365-Day Reading Plan
Read the whole Bible in a year with Dr. Joel’s commentary. The plan is 365 days of about three chapters each, and every day opens with a short recap of the day before.
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Read by Book
Prefer to read one book? Pick any book and read it chapter by chapter with Dr. Joel’s commentary. Open Study Tools, choose Read the Bible, then pick a book.
Reading
Doctrine #25 · Truth
Mercy
Imagine yourself at an incredible banquet. People are enjoying conversations, the sublime entrees, and the luxurious setting. You, being a tad klutzy, sitting directly beside the host, fling your arms open wide splashing your champagne all over your host and the amazing table.
How would you want your host to treat you in that moment? What if you were the host, how would you treat your guest?
Discussion Question
Do you believe you are repairing the injustices you have caused?
13But go ye and learn what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice: for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.
CommentaryJesus quoted scripture to say God desires mercy, not sacrifice. If you say you are not a sinner you are justifying yourself and thinking as a man thinks. Sacrifice is a WHAT that brings things back to even. Mercy is a HOW/WHY and allows people time to repair damage they have done.
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Switch Translation
Use the ASV/KJV control at the top right of a passage to switch just that passage. To change the default for the whole site, go to Settings → Default Translation. When a passage has a recommended translation, its control is blue. Press T to change the default translation.
The translation menu, open on a passage. -
King James Version with Strong’s Numbers
Choose it from a passage's translation menu or in Settings. Each word with a Strong’s number then links to the Hebrew or Greek behind it.
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Reading Mode
Hide everything but the text: select Reading Mode under the Previous and Next links, or press F. Select Exit Reading Mode or press Esc to come back. Pages you open next stay in Reading Mode.
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Light, Dark or System Theme
Pick System, Light or Dark from the theme menu in the header, or in Settings. Dark is tuned for reading at night. Press D to step through the three.
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Full or Simple Reading View
Simple view leaves only the text. It hides the chapter link, the translation switch, the collapsed commentary and the On This Page list. Change it in Settings → Reading View. Press S to switch.
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Verse Numbers On or Off
Show verse numbers for reference, or hide them to read without interruption. Change it in Settings. Press V to switch.
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Commentary Below or Beside the Verses
Below puts commentary under the verses it explains. Beside puts scripture on the left and commentary on the right, and keeps the verse in view as you scroll. Beside needs a screen at least 1,280px wide. Change it in Settings → Commentary Layout or press B.
Commentary beside the verses. -
Previews and Related Doctrines
Hover over a doctrine link, a scripture reference or a Strong’s number, or Tab to it, to preview it without leaving the page. On a chapter or plan day, each passage also lists the doctrines that cite it, so you can go from a verse to the teaching built on it.
A Strong’s number, previewed on hover. The doctrines that cite a passage, with one previewed on hover.
Finding
Tap the search icon in the header.Open search with ⌘K, CtrlK or /. Press Esc to close it.
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Type What You Have
Type a reference, a phrase from a verse or a single word. Each result is labeled with how it matched.
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Narrow or Widen the Search
Search starts in the work you are reading. Use the buttons under the field to search Everything, the other work or the Concordance. Each group shows eight results, and Show More loads eight more.
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Search Your Saves and Notes
Saves and notes that match appear first, in a My Study group. Once you have saved or written something, a My Study button limits the search to those.
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The Concordance
The Concordance has an entry for every Strong’s number: the Greek or Hebrew word, its transliteration, where it comes from, its definitions, then the verses that use it. To open one, search for its number, such as “G3056” or “Strong’s 1285”, or select a Strong’s number in the text.
| You type | You get |
|---|---|
| Romans 13:8 | Every doctrine that cites a passage including that verse, with the passage as cited. |
| A phrase from a verse | The doctrine that quotes it. |
| A word or topic | Matches in titles, prose and commentary, titles first. |
| G3056 | That number’s Concordance entry. |
Keeping Your Place
The site remembers where you are in each work, with or without an account. Without one, it remembers on the device you read on.
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Mark as Read
At the end of a doctrine or a plan day, select Mark as Read. The button then changes to “✓ Day 12 Read” with an Undo beside it. The Read marker at the top of the page undoes it too. By default, nothing is marked read until you do it.
The band that closes a plan day, before and after Mark as Read. -
Continue Where You Left Off
The home page and each work’s index name what comes next before you click, such as “Next: 3 · Man’s Thinking”. If you leave a plan day partway through, “Continue at Genesis 36” appears under its title and the chapter is marked “Where You Stopped”.
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Study Tools
The Study Tools menu in the header (the open-book icon on a phone) shows your place in each work once you have one, such as “11 of 60 read” or “Day 12 of 365”. It offers Start at first, then Continue.
The Study Tools menu once you have started reading. -
Mark as Read When Moving On
Prefer it automatic? Turn this on in Settings. Going forward from a doctrine or a plan day then marks the one you leave as read.
My Study
Select My Study in the header. A panel slides in with two tabs: My Library for what you save and My Notes for what you write. It stays available as you move between pages.
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Choose a Verse
Tap a verse to choose it. Tap another verse in the same chapter to choose everything between them. A toolbar appears with Save Verse, Add Note and Copy. Tap the chosen verse again to clear it. On a keyboard, press A to save, N to add a note, C to copy or Esc to clear.
A chosen verse, with the toolbar above it. -
Save Verses and Doctrines
Save Verse adds the verse to My Library. To keep a whole doctrine, use Save Doctrine in its actions. Saved verses are tinted in the text, and a verse saved in one translation is saved in both. You do not need an account to save.
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Collections
After you save, a list of your collections appears, with Add Collection at the bottom. Make one for a sermon, a study or your favorites. A collection can hold verses and doctrines together. Drag to reorder them, or use Move Up and Move Down from a keyboard. Collections need a free account.
The list of collections that opens after you save. -
Notes
Choose a verse, then select Add Note. Bold, italic and lists appear as you write. Your note shows under the commentary for those verses, labeled “Your note”, and every note is listed in the My Notes tab. Notes need a free account.
A note, under the commentary it answers. -
Sync across Devices
Create a free account to carry your place, settings and saves across your phone, tablet and computer. Anything you saved before signing up comes with you.
Getting Around
The Shortcuts page lists every key and gesture. Press ? on any page to open it.
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Previous and Next
Use the links at the bottom of the page, the left and right arrow keys, or swipe. Pages follow one reading order, so there is always a next page.
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Settings
Settings holds the choices that shape how the site reads: Reading, Appearance, Progress and Keyboard. Open it from the account menu in the header, or from the menu on a phone.
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Clear What You Have Kept
In Settings, under Your Data, Clear Data lists your reading progress, My Library and, when you are signed in, your collections and notes, each with what is saved. Tick what to clear, select Clear Selected, then confirm. Clearing is permanent, and when you are signed in it reaches every device.
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More
The More menu in the header links to the authors’ podcasts, videos and other sites, grouped by what you want to do. Each link opens in a new tab.
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Get in Touch
Send a question, correction or note with the form at the bottom of the home page.
Keyboard Shortcuts
- ←→
- Go to the previous or next doctrine, chapter or plan day.
- ⌘K/
- Open search.
- F
- Turn Reading Mode on or off.
- Esc
- Close search, a preview or a note, then clear chosen verses, then leave Reading Mode. Each press does one.
- ↑↓Enter
- Move between verses and choose one. Hold Shift with an arrow to choose a run.
- ANC
- With verses chosen: save, add a note, copy.
- T
- Change the default translation.
- V
- Show or hide verse numbers.
- S
- Switch between Full and Simple view.
- B
- Put commentary below or beside the verses.
- D
- Step through System, Light and Dark.
- ?
- Open the Shortcuts page.