Search

Search for verses containing specific words or phrases.

Search Verses

Find verses matching a search query.

GET /v1/search

Query Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
q	string	Yes	Search query
version	string	No	Version ID (defaults to "rvr60")
book	string	No	Limit search to a specific book ID
testament	string	No	Limit to "OT" or "NT"
limit	number	No	Max results (default: 20, max: 100)
offset	number	No	Pagination offset (default: 0)

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "query": "amor",
    "version": "rvr60",
    "total": 245,
    "limit": 20,
    "offset": 0,
    "results": [
      {
        "verse_id": "joh_3_16",
        "reference": "Juan 3:16",
        "book": {
          "id": "joh",
          "name": "Juan"
        },
        "chapter": 3,
        "verse": 16,
        "text": "Porque de tal manera amó Dios al mundo...",
        "highlight": "Porque de tal manera <mark>amó</mark> Dios al mundo..."
      }
    ]
  }
}

Examples

Basic Search

curl "https://api.apibiblia.com/v1/search?q=amor&version=rvr60" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Search in Specific Book

curl "https://api.apibiblia.com/v1/search?q=fe&book=rom" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Search New Testament Only

curl "https://api.apibiblia.com/v1/search?q=gracia&testament=NT" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Paginated Results

curl "https://api.apibiblia.com/v1/search?q=paz&limit=10&offset=20" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Search Tips

Phrase Search

Use quotes for exact phrase matching:

curl "https://api.apibiblia.com/v1/search?q=\"vida eterna\"" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Multiple Words

By default, searches find verses containing all words:

# Finds verses with both "fe" AND "esperanza"
curl "https://api.apibiblia.com/v1/search?q=fe esperanza" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Highlighted Results

The highlight field contains the verse text with matching terms wrapped in <mark> tags:

{
  "text": "Porque de tal manera amó Dios al mundo...",
  "highlight": "Porque de tal manera <mark>amó</mark> Dios al mundo..."
}

Use this for displaying search results with highlighted matches.

Pagination

For large result sets, use limit and offset:

// Page 1 (results 0-19)
const page1 = await fetch('/v1/search?q=amor&limit=20&offset=0');

// Page 2 (results 20-39)
const page2 = await fetch('/v1/search?q=amor&limit=20&offset=20');

// Page 3 (results 40-59)
const page3 = await fetch('/v1/search?q=amor&limit=20&offset=40');

Performance

For better performance, limit searches to specific books or testaments when possible.