Return to the Bible quotes scripture from a curated set of modern translations, chosen to fit each passage. Most chapters use the World English Bible (WEB), a public-domain modern translation, as the default. Specific verses are quoted from major modern translations where their rendering serves the commentary better, where a word study benefits from a different reading, or where a side-by-side comparison teaches something about how translation choices shape interpretation.
Each verse block on the site indicates its source translation in the caption beneath it. The full attribution for each translation we use is below. We operate within the free-use quotas published by each translation’s rights holder.
World English Bible (WEB)
Scripture quotations from the World English Bible, in the public domain.
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVue)
Scripture quotations marked NRSVue are from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible®. Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
New International Version (NIV)
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®. © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
NET Bible
Scripture quotations marked NET are from the NET Bible®. Copyright © 1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. www.netbible.com. Scripture quoted by permission. All rights reserved.
Kingdom New Testament (Wright, KNT)
Scripture quotations marked Kingdom NT or Wright, KNT are from N.T. Wright’s The Kingdom New Testament: A Contemporary Translation (HarperOne, 2011), published in the UK as The New Testament for Everyone (SPCK). Copyright © 2011 by Nicholas Thomas Wright. Used briefly with attribution for commentary purposes. Wright’s translation is used selectively where his rendering illuminates the Greek or recovers a kingdom-of-God emphasis the commentary is highlighting.
Permissions and questions
Return to the Bible operates within the free-use quotas published by each translation’s rights holder. If you represent one of these publishers and have questions about our use, please reach out via the contact page.
Hebrew and Greek transliterations follow standard academic conventions. Translation choices in the commentary draw on the work of John H. Walton, J. Richard Middleton, Robert Alter, Everett Fox, N.T. Wright, Tim Mackie, and Marty Solomon, among others, with attribution given inline where a specific reading originates with a specific scholar.