Our Editorial Policy

We treat the World English Bible (WEB) as our primary reading translation because it is a modern, public-domain rendering of the Hebrew and Greek that most English readers can follow without footnotes. WEB is our default — but it is never our only reference.

When a passage is theologically contested, ambiguous, or known to be translated differently across traditions (for example Romans 7, John 1:1, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 16:18), we compare the WEB rendering against the King James Version (KJV), American Standard Version (ASV), Young's Literal Translation (YLT), the Douay–Rheims (DRA) for the Catholic tradition, and the Darby Translation (DBY). If the renderings diverge in meaning — not just in style — we say so on the page rather than choosing one silently.

For word studies and disputed terms we consult the underlying Hebrew (Masoretic tradition) and Koine Greek text using Strong's Concordance and Thayer's / BDB lexicons. We do not invent etymologies, and we never claim a Greek or Hebrew word "really means" something its public-domain lexicons do not support.

Cross-references begin with the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK), the most widely cited cross-reference set in modern Bible study. But TSK is a starting point, not a stopping point. Every cross-reference we cite in a piece of commentary is opened, read in context, and judged for whether it actually supports the point we're making. Chains we cannot defend are cut.

We do not copy reference lists from other websites or AI outputs without that verification step. If a verse appears as support on this site, a human editor has read it in its chapter — not just looked up the address.

Devine Scripture is broadly historic Christian and non-denominational. We affirm the ecumenical creeds (Apostles', Nicene) as the boundary inside which we write. We do not advocate for one Protestant denomination over another, and we are not in the business of arguing against Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox readers.

Where serious Christians have read a verse differently for centuries (baptism, communion, end-times, the role of women in ministry, predestination, sanctification), we present the major readings and the texts that support each, rather than collapsing them into a single denominational answer. Our editor's job is to make the disagreement visible and honest, not to win it.

Scripture meets people in the hardest moments of their lives — grief, depression, suicidal ideation, addiction, marriage collapse, terminal diagnoses. We publish topical scripture for those moments, and we follow strict rules when we do:

• We never claim Bible verses are a substitute for licensed medical, psychiatric, or psychological care.
• Pages touching mental-health crisis link to qualified human help: a national crisis line (in the United States, 988), a local clergy contact, or a licensed counselor.
• We do not promise outcomes ("this verse will heal you," "God will lift your depression in 30 days"). We surface what Scripture says and let it speak.
• We do not run sponsored content, affiliate links, or paid placements inside devotionals, commentary, or topical answers. Scripture is not a sales channel.

Every published page is written or reviewed by a named editor with at minimum one of: formal theology training, working competence in biblical Hebrew or Koine Greek, or 10+ years of sustained teaching ministry in a recognized congregation. Real names, real backgrounds — listed on the editorial team page.

Pages still in review are clearly marked "Editorial review pending" and are excluded from our newsletter and home-page feature slots until an editor has signed off.

We distinguish three correction types:

• Typo or formatting — fixed silently within 48 hours.
• Factual (mis-cited verse, wrong date, wrong attribution) — fixed within 5 business days; a dated correction note is added to the bottom of the page.
• Theological (a claim a reasonable Christian reader could fairly object to) — taken to the editor, reviewed against primary sources, and either revised or defended publicly with reasoning on the page.

Send corrections to info@devinescripture.com with the URL and the issue.

Large language models are used on this site for narrow, disclosed tasks: outlining, first-draft summaries, alt-text generation, and proofreading. Models never make theological judgments on our behalf, and no page is published without an editor reading it end to end.

We do not generate Scripture text with AI. Every verse on the site is sourced from a named public-domain translation.

Devine Scripture has no denominational funding, no sponsored content, no affiliate links inside Scripture pages or commentary, and no advertising partnerships. Hosting and domain costs are paid by the founders. The only signal that shapes what we publish is what we believe readers genuinely need.