‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God’ was 2021’s Most-read Bible verse

YouVersion, which offers the popular option to read or listen to the Bible on your phone and has over 500 million users worldwide, has announced the most popular Bible verse from this year: Matthew 6:33.

MATTHEW, 6:33

YouVersion Founder Bobby Gruenewald explained that his team is encouraged to see “high levels of Bible engagement again this year” because “it means people are turning to God and the Bible for answers to their questions.”

“Even our Verse of the Year points to the heart of the YouVersion Community to seek God and know Him more,” YouVersion’s leader continued.

The Bible App, launched by Edmond, Oklahoma megachurch Life.Church in 2008, offers more than 2,000 versions of the Bible in more than 1,350 languages.

YouVersion saw increases in community features when the pandemic hit, and those numbers remained high during 2021, according to Jubilee Cast. In particular, the Plans with Friends feature saw a big jump in engagement during the shutdown and continues to see 50% more subscriptions in 2021 compared to pre-pandemic rates.

“Coming off of a record year in 2020, we’re excited to see that so many people are continuing the daily Bible engagement habits they created last year,” said Bobby. “They’re engaging past that initial moment of need and digging deeper to strengthen their relationship with God.”

Our readers should note that the fastest growing geographical areas for both app installs and daily Scripture engagement were Central Africa and Southern Asia.

Specifically, the Democratic Republic of the Congo saw a 49% increase in Bible engagement and Pakistan saw a 69% jump year-over-year. In each of these regions, verse sharing, video plays, and search activity were high throughout the year.

This November, the YouVersion Bible App surpassed 500 million unique installs. As people around the globe installed the app, they returned to regularly engage with the Bible. In 2021 alone, the YouVersion Community:

• Read 55.8 billion chapters
• Played 8.2 billion audio chapters
• Created 2.4 billion Highlights, Bookmarks, and Notes
• Completed 1.4 billion Bible Plan days

YouVersion also added to its Prayer feature in 2021 with the launch of Guided Prayer, which leads people through a series of prompts to help them reflect on Scripture and draw closer to God. In less than a year, a Guided Prayer was completed more than 38.4 million times.