KJV Study

A comprehensive web application for deep study of the King James Bible, featuring original language tools, extensive theological resources, and classical scholarly presentation.

Live Site: kjvstudy.org

Quick Start - Run It Yourself

The easiest way to run KJV Study locally is with Docker:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/kennethreitz/kjvstudy.org.git
cd kjvstudy.org

# Start with Docker Compose
docker compose up

Then open your browser to http://localhost:8000

That's it! The application will run with all features enabled.

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Features

Bible Reading & Navigation

• Complete KJV Text - All 66 books, 1,189 chapters, 31,102 verses
• Fast Search - Full-text search with concordance functionality
• Cross-References - Comprehensive verse cross-referencing throughout Scripture
• Verse Linking - Automatic URL generation for easy sharing and bookmarking
• Random Verse - Discover Scripture serendipitously
• Verse of the Day - Daily curated verses with reflection questions

Study Tools

Interlinear Bible

• Greek and Hebrew original language texts
• Word-by-word translation analysis
• Strong's concordance numbers
• Etymology and root word exploration
• Morphological tagging

Study Guides

Comprehensive 8-section guides with extensive Scripture references:

• The Gospel Message - Nature of gospel, Christ's atonement, repentance & faith
• Salvation by Grace - Sin, penalty, grace, justification, eternal security
• New Believer's Guide - Foundational truths for new Christians
• Fruits of the Spirit - Source, cultivation, and evidence of spiritual fruit
• Prayer & Faith - Nature of prayer, biblical faith, growing in both
• Christian Living - Holiness, separation, stewardship, perseverance
• God's Love - Essential nature, covenant faithfulness, responding to love
• Hope & Comfort - God as refuge, resurrection hope, blessed hope
• Wisdom & Guidance - Fear of the Lord, discerning God's will, godly counsel

Biblical Resources

People & Characters:

• The Twelve Apostles - Detailed profiles with biblical accounts
• Women of the Bible - Key female figures and their significance
• Biblical Prophets - Major and minor prophets with historical context
• Biblical Angels - Angelic beings and their roles

Themes & Topics:

• Parables of Jesus - Complete collection with interpretation
• Names of God - Revealing God's character through His names
• The Tetragrammaton - Deep dive into YHWH
• Biblical Covenants - Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, New
• Fruits of the Spirit - Greek word studies and theological exposition
• Biblical Festivals - Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, and more
• Topical Index - Scripture organized by theme and subtopic

Historical Context:

• Biblical Timeline - From Creation through the early Church
• Biblical Maps - Geographic context for biblical narratives
• Family Tree - Genealogies from Adam through biblical history with searchable lineages

Design & User Experience

Tufte CSS Styling:

• Classical typography with serif fonts for optimal readability
• Sidenotes and margin notes for supplementary information
• High contrast and generous white space
• Responsive design that adapts to all screen sizes

Performance:

• Aggressive caching for instant page loads
• Optimized for Fly.io deployment
• Always-on configuration eliminates cold starts
• Lazy loading of interlinear data

Accessibility:

• Semantic HTML structure
• Clear heading hierarchy
• Keyboard navigation support
• High contrast text

Tech Stack

Backend:

• FastAPI - Modern, high-performance Python web framework
• Python 3.13 - Latest Python with performance improvements
• Custom Bible Class - Optimized KJV text access with 31,102 verses from 1769 Cambridge edition
• Jinja2 - Server-side templating with custom filters

Frontend:

• Tufte CSS - Edward Tufte-inspired classical design
• Vanilla JavaScript - Minimal client-side code for enhanced functionality
• Semantic HTML - Accessible, well-structured markup

Infrastructure:

• Docker - Containerized deployment
• Fly.io - Production hosting with global CDN
• uv - Fast Python package management

Installation

Docker (Recommended)

See the Quick Start section above for the easiest way to run locally.

Alternative Docker commands:

# Build and run manually
docker build -t kjvstudy .
docker run -p 8000:8000 kjvstudy

Python Development

For development without Docker:

Prerequisites:

• Python 3.13 or higher
• uv package manager

Steps:

# Install dependencies
uv sync

# Run the development server
uv run kjvstudy-org

# Open http://localhost:8000

Deployment

Fly.io Deployment

The application is optimized for Fly.io with:

• 2GB RAM, shared CPU (2 cores)
• Always-on configuration (min 1 machine)
• Preloaded interlinear data for fast responses
• Health checks and automatic recovery

# Install Fly CLI
curl -L https://fly.io/install.sh | sh

# Login to Fly
fly auth login

# Deploy
fly deploy

# View logs
fly logs

# SSH into machine
fly ssh console

Environment Variables

PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1              # Immediate log output
PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1       # Skip .pyc files
PRELOAD_INTERLINEAR=true        # Load interlinear data on startup

Project Structure

kjvstudy.org/
├── kjvstudy_org/
│   ├── server.py              # Main FastAPI application
│   ├── kjv.py                 # Bible text access
│   ├── cross_references.py    # Cross-reference data
│   ├── topics.py              # Topical index
│   ├── interlinear_loader.py  # Greek/Hebrew data
│   ├── reading_plans.py       # Bible reading plans
│   ├── templates/             # Jinja2 templates
│   │   ├── base.html         # Base template with Tufte CSS
│   │   ├── verse.html        # Individual verse pages
│   │   ├── study_guides.html # Study guide templates
│   │   └── ...
│   └── static/               # Static assets
├── Dockerfile                # Container configuration
├── fly.toml                  # Fly.io deployment config
├── pyproject.toml            # Python dependencies
└── README.md                 # This file

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Areas where you can help:

Development:

• Backend optimization and new features
• Frontend improvements and accessibility
• Mobile app development
• API development for external integrations

Content:

• Theological review for accuracy
• Additional study guides and resources
• Original language expertise (Greek/Hebrew)
• Historical and cultural context

Design:

• UI/UX improvements
• Accessibility enhancements
• Mobile experience optimization
• Print stylesheet development

Documentation:

• Tutorials and how-to guides
• API documentation
• User guides
• Translation to other languages

Roadmap

Planned Features:

• Multiple Bible translations (ESV, NASB, NIV)
• User accounts with note-taking and highlighting
• Bible reading plans with progress tracking
• AI-powered commentary generation
• Mobile applications (iOS/Android)
• Prayer journal integration
• Scripture memorization tools
• Community discussion forums
• Live streaming integration for Bible studies

License

This project is open source and available under the ISC License.

Acknowledgments

• King James Bible (1769) - The foundational text
• FastAPI Community - Excellent web framework
• Edward Tufte - Design philosophy and CSS inspiration
• Open Source Community - Tools and libraries that make this possible

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"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." — 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)