This is the ncurses interface to the SWORD library. install by running: configure make make install then run: irenaeus When it starts up you will notice text flash on the screen briefly. The way the program is set up, there are a number of 'virtual screens' you can switch between them using the number keys. The '?' key should show a list of the keybindings, and what the keys do. You can look up verses (l), do searches (s), change modules (m), navigate through text (p/n,-/+,_/= do previous/next book,chapter,verse) Some scripting is supported. If you type r followed by the filename scripts/interlin1 then you will see an interlinear comparison of KJV,ASV, and BBE on screens 2,3,4 (if they are in stalled). What are the advantages of a program like irenaeus. Sometimes you only have a text based connection to a machine on which you can install software (telnet). some machines may have very limited graphical capabilities. (hand held devices, although I don't know that sword runs on any such devices yet.) Interfacing to other programs such as text editors or scripts. It can be called on the commandline, or interact through standard io. This means that it interfaces well with other programs. So I can type : irenaeus -c l James1:1 and I get: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends words of love to the twelve tribes of the Jews living in all parts of the earth. In particular I have written an emacs mode (sword.el). This means that you can easily insert biblical reference while writing a file. in emacs I can type cntrl C, l, and then type James1:1, and get the verse in my emacs buffer. Similarly you can do searches, read commentaries