SwordSearcher 10 Released with new Natural Language Searching (and more)

[Brandon Staggs]

SwordSearcher 10 is now available!

Current users of SwordSearcher can upgrade at a discount here. Read below for the details or visit the Upgrade FAQ for more information.

Natural Language Bible Search​

SwordSearcher 10 introduces a powerful new way to search the Bible: natural language search. Instead of thinking in keywords, just describe what you're looking for—in your own words.

Search for ideas, topics, and concepts using everyday language and questions:

• help in hard times
• comfort for those who are grieving
• verses about God's love for sinners
• God cares for me more than the birds

This is a semantic search that finds verses by meaning, not just keywords. It's also incredibly useful when you vaguely recall a verse and want to find it. Results are ranked by relevance, with the best matches shown first.

Find Verses About is a dedicated search window for natural language Bible searching. Verse matches update instantly as you type, and you can load results into a full verse list panel for deeper study.

Natural language search is also integrated into the main search bar. Type a phrase like "verses about forgiveness" and SwordSearcher automatically detects it as a natural language query.

Text-to-Speech​

SwordSearcher 10 includes built-in text-to-speech that can read aloud the contents of any panel. Each panel has a speaker button to start playback, or use the right-click menu.

• Verse-level highlighting and auto-scrolling during playback in Bible and Verse List panels.
• Paragraph-level highlighting and scrolling in Commentary and Book panels.
• Pop-up control window with play/pause, volume, and speed controls.
• "Read aloud from here" lets you start from any verse or paragraph via the right-click menu.

Find Similar Verses​

The Find Related Verses tool has been renamed to Find Similar Verses and now includes a new "By Similarity" tab that uses semantic search to find similar verses—in addition to the existing keyword-based method.

New Study Library Modules​

• Hymns and Spiritual Songs — A collection of nearly 1,500 hymns from the 18th and 19th centuries, with full lyrics, author attribution, and scripture references integrated with SwordSearcher's cross-referencing system.
• Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments — by Rev. Joseph Benson (1749–1821). Once the official commentary of the Methodist church.
• Hamilton Smith's Expository Bible Commentary — Compiled from the published works of Hamilton Smith (1862–1943), covering 56 of 66 Bible books.
• William Kelly's Bible Commentary — Compiled from the lectures and expository notes of William Kelly (1821–1906), spanning nearly the entire Bible.

Visual and Interface Improvements​

• Rounded corners for docking panels and a cleaner, more modern appearance.
• Improved dark mode window borders and main menu on Windows 11.
• Support for ultra-high DPI scaling above 225%.
• Verse widgets have a cleaner, more modern appearance, and you can now choose any Windows emoji as your favorite commentary widget.
• Undocked panels now behave as full top-level windows with minimize, maximize, and taskbar support.

What else is new?​

See the complete list of changes in the detailed revision history.

 

[Johnny NL]

What a HUMONGOUS upgrade !!!!!

 

[sanili]

Love it - I upgraded, thank you!

Do you think highlighting in books and commentaries is possible in future versions?

 

[Brandon Staggs]

Do you think highlighting in books and commentaries is possible in future versions?

It's a possibility and is on the feature request list.

 

[RevTim]

Love it... Somehow I missed the Light Bulb! Was really excited and happy for you when I got the update email. A really great update.

 

[Ken Sturgeon]

THANK YOU Brandon!! I absolutely love this new functionality.

 

[Ruthlyn]

Another masterful update towards the fulfilling of the prophesy:-

Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

SwordSearcher is a state of the art program that allows for in depth study of the Holy Scriptures that, believe it or not, just got WAY better. Thanks Brandon

 

[tr21]

Awesome job Brandon, thanks for all that you do for us.

 

[Pastor Langley]

Agree with others, this made SwordSearcher even better. Very useful tools Incorporated into the program. These additions will be used very much. Thank you.

 

[parkernathan]

I upgraded today. Very excited about the new natural language search and the other new features. Some excellent innovations and useful new modules. Well worth the upgrade price.

By the way, SS10 runs well on my M2 MacBook Air under VMware Fusion using Windows on ARM. Even in low power mode it still runs great.

 

[marty]

I love the new features, and the new Commentaries are a great addition! I especially like the poetry in the new module, "SSHymns" along with the verse references.

 

[tr21]

Brandon,

I just tried the Text-to-Speech option, AWESOME!!!!! Thanks.

 

[wsbones]

In the next update could there be an option to insert a NLS search in this dialog? I use the shortcut, alt-ib, often when editing. That would save having to use the code editor to modify the search type.

 

[Pastor Langley]

I found that (if you type the search word then select Test) (after hit enter) it places that shortcut link into your editor entry, this is not what you are speaking about (NLS). but I found that interesting. Over here still learning.
I agree that feature would be handy too.

 

[parkernathan]

I also want to praise Brandon for how rock-solid SS10 is. I have yet to find any show-stopping bugs in it. I have used other Bible study apps over the years with their fair share of bugs. Thank you Brandon for keeping SS releases as solid as possible when releasing them.