BibleKit

This is a port of the Dart package https://github.com/joshpetit/reference_parser to Swift.

A Swift package that parses strings for bible references. You can parse single references or multiple references from a string in a variety of formats.

Really 99% of what you need to know will be found in Parsing References headers. But if you have more complicated needs this package can handle those!

• Usage
  • Parsing References
  • Objects and References
    • Reference
    • Verses
    • Chapters
    • Books
  • Constructing References
    • Invalid References

Usage

to include this in your Swift application:

import BibleKit

Parsing References

use the parseReference function to retrieve a single reference:

let refs: [Reference] = RefParser.parseReferences("I like Mat 2:4-10 and 1john 3:16")

This will return two reference objects, one describing "Matthew 2:4-10" and the other "1 John 3:16"

Note: The word 'is' will be parsed as the book of Isaiah.

Objects and References

Reference

Reference objects are the broadest kind of reference. You can directly construct one by following this format:

let genesisRef = Reference(book: "Genesis", startChapter: 2, startVerse: 3, endChapter: 4, endVerse: 5)

Their most important fields are these:

genesisRef.reference // The string representation (osisReference, shortReference, and abbr also available)
genesisRef.startVerseNumber
genesisRef.endVerseNumber
genesisRef.startChapterNumber
genesisRef.endChapterNumber
genesisRef.referenceType // VERSE, CHAPTER, VERSE_RANGE, CHAPTER_RANGE

Based on what is passed in, the constructor will figure out certain fields. For example, if you were to construct Reference('James') the last chapter and verse numbers in James will be initialized accordingly.

There are many other fields that may prove useful such as ones that subdivid the reference, look [here](#other-fun stuff)

---

Verses

Reference objects have a startVerse and endVerse field that return objects of the Verse type.

let genbook: Reference = Reference(book: "Genesis")
let firstVerse = genbook.startVerse;

// same as firstVerse above
let first: Verse = Verse(book: "Genesis", chapterNumber: 1, verseNumber: 1)

You can also construct References that 'act' like verses by using the named constructor

let gen11 = Reference.verse(book: "Genesis", chapter: 1, verse: 1)

---

Chapters

let james5 = RefParser.parseReferences("James 5 is a chapter").first

The james5 object now holds a Reference to "James 5". Despite this, startVerseNumber and endVerseNumber are initialized to the first and last verses in James 5.

james5.startVerseNumber // 1
james5.endVerseNumber // 20
james5.referenceType // ReferenceType.CHAPTER

The Reference object also has start/end chapter fields

let james510 = RefParser.parseReferences("James 5-10 is cool").first
james510.startChapterNumber // 5
james510.endChapterNumber // 10

Just like verses you can create chapter objects:

let john1 = Chapter(book: "John", chapterNumber: 1)

---

Books

let ecc = RefParser.parseReferences("Ecclesiastes is hard to spell").first
ecc.startChapterNumber // 1
ecc.endChapterNumber // 12
ecc.ReferenceType // ReferenceType.BOOK

Books don't have their own class, they're the equivalent of a Reference object.

Constructing References

Verses

let matt24 = Reference(book: "Mat", startChapter: 2, startVerse: 4)
let matt24 = Reference.verse(book: "Mat", chapter: 2, verse: 4)
let matt24: Verse = Verse(book: "Matt", chapterNumber: 2, verseNumber: 4)

Note that the verse object has different fields than a Reference object. Check the API.

Verse Ranges

let matt2410 = Reference(book: "Mat", startChapter: 2, startVerse: 4, endChapter: nil, endVerse: 10)
let matt2410 = Reference.verseRange(book: "Mat", chapter: 2, startVerse: 4, endVerse: 10)

These are equivalents that create a reference to 'Matthew 2:4-10'.

The same constructors and classes apply for chapters.

Invalid References

All references have an isValid field that says whether this reference is within the bible.

let mcd = Reference(book: "McDonald", startChapter: 2, startVerse: 4, endChapter: 10)
print(mcd.isValid) // false, as far as I know at least.

Notice that the other fields are still initialized!! So if needed, make sure to check that a reference is valid before using it.

mcd.reference // "McDonald 2:4-10"
mcd.book // "McDonald"
mcd.startVerseNumber // 4
mcd.osisBook // nil, and so will be other formats.

The same logic applies to chapters and verse numbers.

let jude2 = Reference(book: "Jude", startChapter: 2, startVerse: 10)
jude2.isValid // false (Jude only has one chapter)