Bible Gateway has revealed the top 10 things people search for when visiting the popular online biblical search engine. The scriptural resource claims it has amassed a staggering 14 billion views since its launch in 1993.
But what are the most popular keyword searches? The website, which has published the word of God in more than 200 translations, and 70 different languages, revealed that the top search was simply, “love.”
The other top nine keyword searches were: “faith,” “peace,” “hope,” “joy,” “prayer,” “Holy Spirit,” “grace,” “healing” and “forgiveness.”
According to Bible Gateway, the most searched verse was the popular John 3:16, which reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The second most searched verse was Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” The third was Philippians 4:13, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength,” followed by Psalm 23:4, which reads, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Very interestingly, it appears that the most popular time to read the Bible is when people are on vacation! This may speak to our tendency to let the busyness of everyday life get in the way of our daily scripture reading, or it may simply suggest that people tend to prefer reading the word of God while relaxing on the beach.
“It appears tropical vacationers and resort tourists enjoy browsing Bible Gateway,” the website’s content manager, Jonathan Petersen, noted in an update to mark Bible Gateway’s 25th anniversary.
“Out of more than 200 countries and territories, the geographic location that spends the most time (on average) on Bible Gateway is Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten, part of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea, comprising two separate countries, divided between its northern French side (Saint-Martin), and its southern Dutch side (Sint Maarten),” he said. “Sudan in northeast Africa is the country that statistically spends the least time on Bible Gateway.”