django-rest-bible - A modern Bible Backend for the Django Web Framework

django-rest-bible is a modern, actively maintained Python package & Django app for interfacing with the King James Version of the Holy Bible. This project is an extension of the unmaintained package django-bible, updated and improved for modern Python environments.

Installation

To install, simply run the script with the install command:

pip install django-rest-bible

Quick start

1. This package depends on rest_framework, django_filters and drf-spectacular packages. Add them and also bible and bible_api to your INSTALLED_APPS setting:

 INSTALLED_APPS = [
        ...,
        "rest_framework",
        "django_filters",
        "drf-spectacular",
        "bible",
        "bible_api",
    ]

2. Include the bible and bible_api URLconf in your project urls.py:

path('', include('bible.urls')),
path('api/v1/', include('api.urls')),

3. Run python manage.py migrate to create the models.

4. Once the tables have been created, you need to populate the tables with Bible data.

Bible Data

A JSON dump of the entire KJV Bible is available for download here.

You can load the downloaded Bible data into your project's database by running the django loaddata command:

python manage.py loaddata kjv_bible.json --app bible

5. Start the development server python manage.py runserver and visit http://127.0.0.1:8000/ for the Index of books. Click each book of the Bible to see its content.

6. To read the whole bible GET /bible/, for old testament only GET /bible/ot/ and GET /bible/nt/ for new testament.

7. A dedicated endpoint is available at GET /api/v1/bible. You can filter for a specific book, chapter or verse using the query parameters chapter__book_slug, chapter__number and number for example: http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/v1/bible/?chapter__book__slug=genesis&chapter__number=2&number=3 should return a serialized Genesis 2:3.

8. For Swagger UI, use drf-spectacular. To configure this, make sure drf-spectacular is added to installed apps in settings.py. Then register the spectacular AutoSchema with DRF:

REST_FRAMEWORK = {
    # YOUR SETTINGS
    'DEFAULT_SCHEMA_CLASS': 'drf_spectacular.openapi.AutoSchema',
}

and specify some metadata:

SPECTACULAR_SETTINGS = {
    'TITLE': 'Your Project API',
    'DESCRIPTION': 'Your project description',
    'VERSION': '1.0.0',
    'SERVE_INCLUDE_SCHEMA': False,
    # OTHER SETTINGS
}

Finally register the endpoints in your project urls.py

from drf_spectacular.views import SpectacularAPIView, SpectacularRedocView, SpectacularSwaggerView

urlpatterns = [
    # YOUR PATTERNS
    path('api/schema/', SpectacularAPIView.as_view(), name='schema'),
    path('api/schema/swagger-ui/', SpectacularSwaggerView.as_view(url_name='schema'), name='swagger-ui'),
    path('api/schema/redoc/', SpectacularRedocView.as_view(url_name='schema'), name='redoc'),
]

Now go to GET /api/schema/swagger-ui/ to access the Swagger UI.

Why This Project Exists

The original project, django-bible, provided a useful foundation but appears to have been unmaintained for many years.

This version was created to:

• Keep the project alive and usable
• Add improvements and bug fixes
• Ensure compatibility with modern Python versions
• Add RESTful API Service
• Provide ongoing maintenance and support

What’s Changed

• Updated dependencies
• Improved code structure
• Added new features and fixes
• Enhanced documentation

License & Attribution

This project is an extension of django-bible, created by David Davis.

The original work is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License This project retains the original license and copyright Additional modifications are © 2026 Uchenna Adubasim

See the LICENSE file for full details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! To contribute,

• Fork the repo
• Create a new branch
• Submit a pull request

Issues

If you find a bug or have a feature request, please open an issue.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to David Davis for building the foundation of this project.

Maintainer

This project is actively maintained by:

• Uchenna Adubasim (Lead Maintainer)

For issues, features, and support, please contact or open an issue in this repository.

Contact

To contact the author, please fill out this form