Most Bible apps try to be everything — devotionals, community features, reading plans, videos. Literal Word takes the opposite approach: strip away every distraction and let Scripture speak for itself. If you've ever opened a Bible app and felt overwhelmed by everything competing for your attention before you even get to the text, this app was built for you.^1
Literal Word offers four word-for-word translations — NASB 1995, the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB), ESV (including the 2025 edition), and KJV — chosen specifically for their faithfulness to the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. What sets it apart from other Bible apps isn't just the clean reading experience; it's the built-in study tools. Tap any word and pull up the full Greek lexicon (Abbott-Smith) or Hebrew lexicon (BDB) without leaving the passage. A unique visual word search interface lets you organize and filter results across the entire Bible with precision that most apps can't match.^2
Created by Nicholas Honda and a small team who describe themselves as "three sinners saved by grace through faith in Christ," the Literal Word website first launched in 2011 before the mobile app arrived in 2019 to rave reviews — including an endorsement from Three Sixteen Publishing, the NASB's own publisher, who called it "one of the sleekest, easiest to use, and beautifully designed Bible apps I've ever seen."^3 Keith Fong of The Art of Godliness, an early adopter since the web launch, wrote that he's "never gone back to any other Bible website" and highlighted the search feature as "blazing fast."^5
Why Christians Love Literal Word: "I've used many Bible apps and this is the absolute best, exactly what I needed. Simple, robust, many options and features. Thank you for providing us access to this app for free. We need Jesus and this is the best app version of the Bible yet. Glory to God for access to His Word in our pocket."^6 Users consistently praise the distraction-free design and the depth of the original-language tools. One reviewer with dyslexia shared, "Super easy to use, feature rich, distraction free reading. I think I have tried all the Bible mobile apps, this one is the most intuitive I have used. The search works so well I haven't had to leave this app. May the Lord richly bless the devs!"^6 A Play Store reviewer put it simply: "Phenomenal Bible app... It's easy to navigate, has a beautiful design, built-in lexicon, easy access for notes in highlighting... I would give more than 5 stars if possible, amazing study aid/tool!"^7
Platforms: iOS, Android, Web, Amazon, Apple Vision Pricing: Free
