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Bible Study Essentials: Bible Gateway Plus

Bible Study Essentials: Bible Gateway Plus

Last updated on: April 9, 2025 at 4:22 pm by Jeff McLain

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Bible Study Essentials: Bible Gateway Plus 2025-04-09T16:22:27-04:00 Jeff McLain

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Bible Study Essentials: Bible Gateway Plus | Image created in Dalle for Patheos.

In this blog post, I’m continuing the Bible Study Essentials series—a journey through the digital resources I’ve come to rely on in my study of the scriptures. This series on my Lead a Quiet Life blog on Patheos is about highlighting the tools that help me grow as a student, pastor, bible nerd, and follower of Jesus. It is my hope that along the way, you will discover resources that will help you study and grow as a follower of Jesus, too.

The first blog post in this series looked at Logos Bible Software. If you are interested in learning more about Logos, I invite you to read the blog post – Bible Study Essentials: From A Shelf of Books to Logos. Also, I would encourage you to just explore Logos for yourself. Through this personalized link, you can download a free book from Logos and try the free version.

Through this post, I am continuing my Bible Study Essentials series with a recommendation and review of Bible Gateway Plus—a simple upgrade to an online bible tool that many of us already know and perhaps have some experience using. Again, I have not been asked to review Bible Gateway Plus, but after using it for a few months in the ministry roles I am involved in, I wanted to share how the paid version of this free tool has quietly become a favorite.

That quiet, slower way of living—the heart of Lead a Quiet Life—requires tools that remove distractions and help us focus on what matters. Bible Gateway Plus has done exactly that for me: removed clutter and helped me engage Scripture more deeply and more clearly.

Why Bible Gateway?

If you’ve ever Googled a scripture passage, chances are that Bible Gateway was one of the first results you clicked on in your Google results. Bible Gateway is an online tool that is known to many – it is familiar, reliable, and easy to use. But what many people don’t have experience with – or perhaps even know about – is that Bible Gateway Plus—the premium upgrade—removes ads, offers helpful tools like Hebrew and Greek word comparisons, and gives access to a library of commentaries, dictionaries, and other biblical study resources.

About Bible Gateway

Bible Gateway is one of the most-used online Bible tools in the world. Their online resource features over 200 Bible versions in more than 70 languages, all of which are searchable, accessible, and free to read and study. Bible Gateway also offers a companion app, study tools, a store for purchasing Bibles and resources, access to devotionals, audio Bibles, newsletters, and insights from trusted scholars. Bible Gateway is more than just a website—it’s a digital hub for students, pastors, bible nerds, and followers of Jesus.

In 2008, Bible Gateway became a division of Zondervan and is, today, a member of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. Additionally, Bible Gateway is part of a broader network of resource platforms connected to HarperCollins Christian Publishing, including FaithGateway, StudyGateway, ChurchSource, Thomas Nelson, WestBow Press, Zondervan, MasterLectures, and more.

However, the story of Bible Gateway starts in 1993 when its earliest version was created by Nick Hengeveld, a student at Calvin College. Bible Gateway was among the first platforms to make the Bible accessible through the internet. Again, these days, it is now part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing and continues to grow, offering deeper functionality and tools like Bible Gateway Plus—which gives access to over 50 premium resources for under $5/month. It has partnerships and collaborations with countless bible societies, theologians, and publishers.

Why I Use Bible Gateway Every Week

At Water Street Mission, where I serve as a pastor among those suffering from homelessness, I use Bible Gateway multiple times each week. Though we give away Bibles freely (we’ve handed out around 90 copies of the bible, gospels of John, and scripture excerpt booklets this year alone), not all guests bring them to chapel—and not all of our guests want a copy of the bible. Also, our Providence Day Shelter is a rotating, non-residential program where people tend to come and go, so rather than relying on personal copies of the bible, at each chapel, I print the scripture passage that we’re exploring —in both English and Spanish. This allows the individuals present for chapel to follow along, to highlight and note where something stood out to them, and it gives them a chance to read the scripture for themselves again later.

The printing feature on Bible Gateway makes that incredibly easy. Its print-friendly format features a clean layout and super-readable font. The clean format and readable font make Bible Gateway my go-to whenever I need to print a Scripture passage for chapel handouts. It’s quick, simple, and consistent—three things I value in the midst of a busy ministry week.

I also use the Bible Gateway app regularly, especially when I am walking around and someone asks a question in passing. The app is as clean of a format and font as the print feature, making it a good choice when I want to look up a passage. It’s clean, user-friendly, and more streamlined than many other Bible apps. You can easily find the Bible Gateway app in your app store, though I’ll admit it’s not as well-known or highly ranked as Life.Church’s Bible App. Still, it offers access to Bible Gateway’s wide range of Bible translations, search features, reading plans, resources, and a space to take notes.

As a Pastor at River Corner Church, I also use Bible Gateway to compare bible translations. I own about 8-10 bibles that are all different translations on my desk in both of my offices (onsite and at home), but I also love comparing the passage I am preaching to many different translations. Through this online resource, comparing translations with each other is so easy.

Screen Shot of Bible Gateway Plus Bible Translation Comparison.

Bible Gateway Free vs. Bible Gateway Plus

That said, the free version comes with one major drawback: ads—lots of them. Sometimes they’re awkward, often they’re game-app-related, and rarely are they helpful and sometimes just plain weird. Sometimes, you will notice it the minute you open a passage on your app: a full-screen ad for a phone game you will never play takes over your whole screen and holds you captive for thirty seconds. There are also ads on the side of the desktop version of Bible Gateway. Recently, I did a free trial of Bible Gateway Plus just to remove the ads, and to explore the premium features of Bible Gateway – and instantly, the difference has been noticeable.

Though I initially upgraded to ditch the ads, I quickly found a feature that I didn’t expect to love so much: parallel Hebrew and Greek word comparison. I have Logos, and I didn’t think I would need much of the additional resources on Bible Gateway. However, I quickly realized there are times I don’t want to open up the Logos software, and just make a quick glance at something. Now, when viewing the New International Version (NIV), I can now instantly see the original language (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek with Strongs numbering) alongside the English—and with a quick hover or click, I can explore definitions, usage, and deeper meaning.

So, though I have access to manuscripts and in-depth study tools through Logos, when someone asks a question and I need a fast, accessible answer, this feature in Bible Gateway Plus has become my new favorite. It’s simple, intuitive, and remarkably helpful for quick study or real-time conversations. I also love the dozens of study bibles that are linked and synced with the verses I am looking at to hear the thoughts of other scholars and academics.

Bible Gateway Plus gives you insights, ad-free. According to Bible Gateway, it comes with access to over $3,100 worth of Bible study tools. Those interested in trying Bible Gateway Plus can do so for 14 days to see if it is right for them. Also, it seems like right now Bible Gateway is having an Easter Sale, which comes with a 15% offer for life. A few commentaries that come with Bible Gateway Plus include the Africa Bible Commentary, Believer’s Bible Commentary, Expositor’s Bible Commentary (OT/NT), NIV Application Commentary, and many more. You can go through Bible Studies from the New Testament Everyday and the NKJV Study Bible. There are 30+ study bibles, a collection of Bible encyclopedias, Dictionaries (Like Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary and the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary), many maps, and more.

New International Version and Koine Greek in Parallel.

Final Thoughts

While Bible Gateway might not be new to most of us, Bible Gateway Plus adds just enough value to make it worth the small monthly investment. That quiet, slower way of living in stillness with the living and breathing scriptures—the heart of Lead a Quiet Life—requires tools that remove distractions and help us focus on what matters. Bible Gateway Plus has done exactly that for me: removed clutter and helped me engage Scripture more deeply and more clearly with practical and everyday insights. It is also fairly affordable. You might not be able to invest a lot in Logos Bible Software right now, but you can get a lot of good research tools from Bible Gateway for a less demanding financial investment. If it would jump up in price, I may reconsider, but on March 25, 2025, I paid just $52.99 for access to Bible Gateway Plus for a year ($49.99 subscription fee and $3.00 in Taxes), and I am glad I did.

Among my Bible Study Essentials is Bible Gateway Plus, which has been a tool that has helped me grow as a student, pastor, bible nerd, and follower of Jesus. I hope you will try out the free trial and discover if it can help you study and grow as a follower of Jesus, too.

Experience Bible Gateway Plus for yourself with a 14-day free trial.

I’m always interested in a good conversation or a cup of coffee. Feel welcome to reach out to me via email —I’d love to hear from you. You can connect with me through Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, X, LinkedIn, Threads, and/or YouTube.

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About Jeff McLain

Through 'Lead a Quiet Life,' Jeff McLain explores his pursuit of simplicity in a tumultuous world as he serves as the Director of Pastoral Ministries at Water Street Mission and as pastor at River Corner Church. Jeff's commitment to Jesus as been shaped by an unconventional journey from activism to hitchhiking, is reflected in his academic pursuits and throughout his involvement with various initiatives. Residing in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Jeff, along with his wife and three daughters, embraces family moments outdoors, while his love for baseball, boardwalks, beaches, and books adds depth to his vibrant life. You can read more about the author here.

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