When their Bible says it differently — compare one word on the verse slide
On a Bible Verse slide in BibleSlides, choose a word and fan out how other translations render it — a short card with that word and the version abbreviation. The same two-arrow tool works in On-the-fly Bible.
Half the room is in the NASB. Someone in the fourth row is in the NLT. A student has the NET. You are on Romans 3:25, and the word on your slide is propitiation. Their page says the sacrifice for sin, or mercy seat. Those are not three sermons. They are one Greek word, rendered so the room can hear what it costs and where it sat.
If you switch the whole verse, you lose the sentence they were just reading. If you leave the difference in your notes, the back row never sees it. BibleSlides can put the other wording on a small card — the aligned word, large, and the abbreviation under it — and then get out of the way so Christ’s Word still has the wall.
One word is enough. A second full Bible on the screen teaches people to watch the software.
What you are comparing
This is the Translation button on a Bible Verse slide. The icon is two arrows, one over the other, pointing opposite ways. The hover note reads: “Compare how a word is translated — click the tool, then click a word to fan out other versions.”
You choose a word in the verse already on the slide. BibleSlides looks up that same place in other English translations and draws a card for each one it can align. The verse you are preaching stays put. The cards are the other wording, for the moment you need it.
| Need | Use |
|---|---|
| The whole passage should be the NLT, or the KJV, for this slide | The translation on the verse. The abbreviation beside the reference opens Bible translation. |
| One word, and how another Bible says it | Translation on the verse slide |
| The Greek or Hebrew behind the word | Language (Ω) on the same toolbar. See markup for teaching. |
| A second full rendering beside a parts-of-speech diagram | Compare translation on a Verse Analysis slide. The menu there is Compare with. |
| A verse that was not in the deck | On-the-fly Bible, then the same two-arrow button |
On the fly already lets you switch the live translation and open Greek or Hebrew. This article is the word-level fan those posts only mention in passing. A Definition slide is still the place for a lexicon gloss you will linger on. The card is a glance.
What the room sees
Each card is a short study box: the other translation’s word in large type, and the abbreviation underneath in smaller capitals — NET, NKJV, NLT. A line runs from the word in the verse to the group of cards.
While the lookup runs, a card can show an ellipsis. A translation that cannot be lined up is removed. You will not get a card that is a guess with an abbreviation under it. If nothing lines up, the fan goes away.
The verse remains the translation you set. Five cards do not replace it. Two cards, on the click where you will say the difference, are usually the ones the room can use.
Which translations
The Translation button runs when the slide itself is ESV, NASB, NASB20, NKJV, KJV, ASV, or YLT. Those are the formal editions BibleSlides can tie to the Hebrew or Greek behind the English.
If the slide is another edition — NLT, NET, WEB, NASB95, AMP, and the rest — the button opens a window titled Translation compare:
Word translation compare is available for formal translations (ESV, NASB, NKJV, KJV, ASV, YLT). Switch the translation in the slide settings, then try again.
OK closes it. NASB20 (NASB 2020) still runs, even though that sentence does not name it. NASB95 does not. If the slide abbreviation is NASB95, switch to NASB. Both are the 1995 text. New accounts open a verse slide on NASB, the 1995 edition. The picker row is NASB.
On those formal editions, BibleSlides prefers the Strong’s number shared by the word you chose, which is how propitiation can land on mercy seat when the English words are not the same. For the other editions in the list, it lines the words up by their place in the sentence. A low-confidence match is left off.
The editions you can check are the English ones your account already offers, minus the one on the slide. In the public list that includes NKJV, NASB, NASB95, NASB20, AMP, NLT, NET, WEB, KJV, YLT, ASV, and BSB. ESV is in that list when your account can select it. Newer accounts turn ESV on with Activate ESV and the free church key from Crossway. Until that key is saved, there is no ESV text to align, and the card is left off. NLT on a newer account is the same kind of step: Activate NLT and the church key from Tyndale. NET is available without a church key.
You can check at most five. The slide’s own translation is never one of the cards.
The first time, before you have chosen, BibleSlides starts from NASB, NASB95, NASB20, and AMP, and drops whichever one is already on the slide. A new NASB slide therefore opens NASB95, NASB20, and AMP — three cards, two of them other NASB editions. Open Translations and check the Bibles your congregation actually holds before Sunday. That choice is remembered for the next word, and for On-the-fly Bible.
How to put it on the slide
- Open the Bible Verse slide. The field is Verse. The abbreviation after the reference is the translation. The hover note is “Change Bible translation.” That window is titled Bible translation. Editions you use often sit under Featured English.
- Leave the slide on a formal edition (NASB, NKJV, KJV, ESV when you can select it, NASB20, ASV, or YLT) if you want the button to run.
- Select the step where you will say the word. The first row is Home — the verse as it first appears. The cards are stored on the step you have selected, and they appear when you advance to that step. All of the cards appear together. There is no click that reveals one translation, then the next.
- A step you add afterward keeps cards that were already visible. If the opening of the verse should stay clear, add the later step first, select it, then use Translation.
- Click Translation. If a word or a short phrase is already selected, the fan uses that selection. Otherwise the instruction reads Click one word in the preview. Under it: “Fans out other translations for that word. Click any callout afterward to choose versions.” Cancel backs out. While it works, the line is Comparing translations…
- Click a card. The bar under the preview is labeled Translations, with a checkbox for each edition that had a matching word. Five is the stop. The last checked edition stays checked. Editions with no match are omitted. If the list is empty, the line is “No other translations have a matching word.” or “No other translations available.”
- Double-click a card for the window Compare translations, with the word you chose after the title. Each row is the abbreviation and the aligned word. Apply saves the set. Cancel closes it. Delete group removes every card. The same Delete group sits on the bar under the preview. Its hover note is “Delete all comparison cards.” The trash control removes the selected card from this step.
- On Sunday, advance to that step when you are ready to say the difference, say it in a sentence, and move on. The verse is still the verse.
Drag a card if it covers the line you need. The line stays with the group.
A Sunday where the Bibles disagree
Romans 3:25, preached from NASB. The wall says propitiation. You know the NLT in the pews says God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin, and the NET says mercy seat — the place where atonement was applied. You do not need three Bibles on the screen to honor that.
Before Sunday, on the step where you will unpack the word, click Translation, click propitiation, and in Translations leave NET and NLT (and NKJV or KJV if the room uses them). Uncheck NASB95 and NASB20 unless you mean to show another NASB edition. If NLT or ESV still shows an activation panel, finish Activate NLT or Activate ESV first. A card only appears when that edition’s text can be read and the word can be lined up. If NLT is missing after that, the alignment was not confident. Say the NLT wording yourself. Do not invent a card the screen refused.
Speak one sentence: what propitiation is doing in this verse, and what their Bible called the same act. Then advance. The next slide should be the text again, or the next phrase, not a second fan.
The same restraint holds for justified, flesh, covenant, or a name the versions transliterate differently. One word. The editions in the room. Then back to the argument of the passage.
If the whole sentence should change — you are about to read the verse in the KJV — change the translation on the slide, or switch it in On-the-fly Bible. A fan of single words will not carry a sentence.
On-the-fly Bible
On the tablet, open Bible. In that header the same icon is a button by itself. The name for it is Compare translations. The hover note is “Compare translations — turn on, then tap a word.” The shortcut help says: “Turn on the compare-translations tool, then tap a word to compare translations.”
Turn it on, then tap a word in the verse that is already bright. A tap on the gray verses around it moves the highlight. Tap the word once that verse is the one in focus. The cards show on the tablet and on the projector. They are for this moment. They are not written into the sermon.
Tap the passage away from the cards, or scroll, and the fan leaves. Jumping to another verse clears it. Opening a Greek or Hebrew card clears it and turns the tool off. Turn Compare translations on again for the next word. SnappyBible, the Bible beside the editor, is for jumping and reading. Its header has the translation menu and the Greek or Hebrew button, and it does not include Compare translations. Prepare the set on a verse slide. On-the-fly Bible uses the translations you last checked there.
ESV is not added to that live fan, even when your account can preach from ESV. If the room needs an ESV card, put it on the verse slide while you prepare, where ESV can be checked after Activate ESV.
When to leave it off
- The verse on the wall already says what you will say. A card beside a clear word splits the room’s eyes.
- You need the Greek or Hebrew form, a gloss, and a Strong’s number. Use Language, or a Definition slide, or Verse Analysis when the sentence structure is the point.
- You would check five editions “just in case.” Two that the room is holding will do. The rest belong in your study, which is where Logos still fits beside the sermon.
- The slide is not a formal edition and you are not ready to switch it. The Translation compare window is the product telling you to change the slide first.
- You have not looked at the cards. NASB95 next to NASB can be true and still be noise.
BibleSlides can hold the other wording next to the word for the sentence you are about to preach. Then the verse should have the screen again.
FAQ
Does this replace the verse?
The verse stays in the translation on the slide. The cards add the aligned word from the editions you checked.
Which Bibles can I compare?
The slide has to be ESV, NASB, NASB20, NKJV, KJV, ASV, or YLT. The checkboxes are the other English editions your account offers, up to five, and never the one already on the slide. ESV appears when your account can select it. Newer accounts use Activate ESV and a Crossway church key. NLT on a newer account uses Activate NLT and a Tyndale church key.
Why did a translation I expected not get a card?
BibleSlides left it off when it could not align the word with confidence, when that edition is not in your list, or when ESV or NLT text is still waiting on a church key. Say that wording yourself.
Do I reveal one translation per click?
The fan appears together on the step you selected. Home shows it with the verse. Select a later step first when the cards should wait.
What about the tablet?
In On-the-fly Bible, turn on Compare translations, then tap a word in the highlighted verse. The cards show on the tablet and the projector and are not saved. Tap away or scroll and they leave. The live fan uses the set you last checked on a verse slide, and it does not add ESV.
Why does the card say Fathers?
The card drops apostrophes and the punctuation on the edges, so Father’s shows as Fathers. Say the word the way the translation prints it.
Related guides
See BibleSlides features
Notes and slides in one document, Bible Verse slides, stepped markup, Verse Analysis, 3D maps, BiblePlaces photos, and tablet presenter apps — built for pastors who teach Scripture.