Sources and licences
Every edition, named.
What each text is, where it came from, and under what terms it is shown. Rights holders can request changes at contact@thedivinereader.com.
The Torah (Judaism)
All 187 chapters of the five books.
- Translation
- JPS Tanakh, Gender-Sensitive Edition — Jewish Publication Society (2023)
- Language
- English
- Licence
- CC BY-NC 4.0
- Source
- Sefaria
- Note
- Translators' footnotes are shown as separate translator's notes. Non-commercial licence: this text is never placed behind a paywall or paired with rewards.
- Original text
- Hebrew (Miqra according to the Masorah) — Masoretic text, Leningrad Codex tradition
- Language
- Hebrew
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Source
- Sefaria
The Bible (Christianity)
All 66 books and 1,189 chapters.
- Translation
- King James Version — Church of England translators, 1611 (1769)
- Language
- English
- Licence
- Public domain (outside the United Kingdom)
- Source
- King James Version, 1769 standard text
- Note
- Translators' marginal notes are shown as separate translator's notes, never as scripture.
The Qur'an (Islam)
26 of 114 surahs. The remaining surahs will be added as they are checked verse-by-verse.
- Translation
- Yusuf Ali (English) — Abdullah Yusuf Ali (1934)
- Language
- English
- Licence
- Public domain in the United States
- Source
- The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary (1934)
- Note
- A translation is an interpretation; Muslims regard only the Arabic as the Qur'an itself.
- Original text
- Arabic (Uthmani script, Hafs)
- Language
- Arabic
- Licence
- Tanzil Project terms — text reproduced unmodified with attribution
- Source
- Tanzil Uthmani text via quran-api
Bhagavad Gita (Hinduism)
Selections — about 240 of roughly 700 shlokas. Passage numbers do not correspond to traditional verse numbers.
- Translation
- Edwin Arnold, The Song Celestial — Sir Edwin Arnold (1885)
- Language
- English
- Licence
- Public domain
- Source
- The Song Celestial, or Bhagavad-Gîtâ (1885)
- Note
- A Victorian verse rendering; passage numbers are Divine Reader's, not the Sanskrit shloka numbers.
The Tipitaka (selections) (Buddhism)
Seven short readings. The Pali Canon runs to tens of volumes; this is an introduction, not the canon.
- Translation
- Plain-English retelling — Divine Reader editorial retelling, after public-domain and free-distribution translations (2026)
- Language
- English
- Licence
- Retelling © Divine Reader; underlying translations acknowledged on the Sources page
- Note
- These are condensed retellings for orientation, not scholarly translations. Passage numbers are editorial.
Sikh Daily Prayers (Nitnem) (Sikhism)
Four banis. The Guru Granth Sahib itself runs to 1,430 angs and is not reproduced here.
- Translation
- English translation — English translation attributed to Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
- Language
- English
- Licence
- Rights status under review — shown with attribution; removed on request of the rights holder
- Note
- Sikhs regard the Gurmukhi text as scripture; English is an aid to understanding.
Tao Te Ching (Taoism)
All 81 chapters. Chapter 1 restored from Legge's text (the previous file duplicated chapter 62).
- Translation
- James Legge (1891) — James Legge (1891)
- Language
- English
- Licence
- Public domain
- Source
- The Sacred Books of the East, vol. 39 (Project Gutenberg #216)
The Kojiki (selections) (Shinto)
Eight condensed episodes from a much longer chronicle.
- Translation
- Condensed English retelling — Divine Reader editorial retelling, drawing on Basil Hall Chamberlain's 1882 translation (2026)
- Language
- English
- Licence
- Retelling © Divine Reader; Chamberlain (1882) is public domain
- Note
- Condensed retellings for orientation, not a complete translation.
Corrections log
| Date | Text | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-12 | Tao Te Ching | Chapter 1 restored from Legge's text; the previous file duplicated chapter 62. |
| 2026-09-12 | Sikh Daily Prayers | Collection renamed from “Guru Granth Sahib” to “Sikh Daily Prayers (Nitnem)”. Jaap Sahib and Chaupai Sahib are now attributed to the Dasam Granth; Japji Sahib and Anand Sahib to the Guru Granth Sahib. |
| 2026-09-12 | Torah | Text re-sourced from Sefaria so that JPS footnotes are separated from the verses; Hebrew Masoretic text added alongside. |
| 2026-09-12 | Bible (KJV) | Marginal notes separated from verse text into translator's notes; books placed in canonical order; stray line breaks and spacing artefacts removed. |
| 2026-09-12 | Qur'an | Surahs placed in canonical order with surah numbers; Bismillah shown as an unnumbered opening formula; Arabic Uthmani text added alongside. 26 of 114 surahs — labelled as incomplete. |
| 2026-09-12 | Bhagavad Gita, Tipitaka, Kojiki | Labelled as selections or retellings; chapters placed in order; translators named; Gutenberg footnote markers removed from the Gita. |
| 2026-09-12 | Kitáb-i-Aqdas | Removed from the library listing until an authorised text is available; listed under Coming soon. |