KJV CLI

Command

kjv <subcommand> [options]

Subcommands

list

Usage:

kjv list [query...] [--json]

Description:

• Lists all books and abbreviations.
• Optional query filters results using case-insensitive contains on both book name and abbreviation.

Text output:

• One line per book
• Comma-delimited: {book},{abbreviation}
• No headings

JSON output (--json):

[{ "title": "Genesis", "abbreviation": "Ge" }]

show <reference...>

Usage:

kjv show <reference...> [--json]

Description:

• Shows one verse, a verse selection, or a full chapter.

Supported reference forms (single chapter only):

• Genesis 1:1
• Genesis 1:3-10
• Genesis 1:3,4,7
• Genesis 1

Reference rules:

• Book names/abbreviations are case-insensitive.
• Multi-word books can be passed as separate args (for example: kjv show 1 John 1:1).
• Verse selections are normalized to ascending order and deduplicated.
• Cross-chapter references are not supported.

Text output:

Single verse:

{book} {chapter}:{verse}

{verse} {text-of-verse}

Verse range/selection:

{book} {chapter}:{verse-or-range}

{verse-1} {text-of-verse-1}
{verse-2} {text-of-verse-2}
...

Whole chapter:

{book} {chapter}

{verse-1} {text-of-verse-1}
{verse-2} {text-of-verse-2}
...

JSON output (--json):

[
  {
    "book": "Genesis",
    "chapter": 1,
    "verse": 1,
    "text": "In the beginning..."
  }
]

define <term>

Usage:

kjv define <term> [--json]

Description:

• Shows the first-mention verse for a single term.

Rules:

• <term> must be a single word/term.
• Matching is case-insensitive.
• Uses closest Levenshtein match when exact term is not found.

Text output:

{book} {chapter}:{verse}

{verse} {text-of-verse}

JSON output (--json):

[
  {
    "book": "Exodus",
    "chapter": 4,
    "verse": 14,
    "text": "And the anger of the LORD..."
  }
]

Options

--json

Available on all subcommands:

• kjv list --json
• kjv show <reference...> --json
• kjv define <term> --json