e-Sword Logo

e-Sword

About

Many people have asked questions regarding the history of e-Sword, this ministry, who I am, etc. This page will hopefully answer some of those questions, as well as provide a time line of how GOD has blessed this effort.

I (Rick Meyers) was born in 1962 in sunny southern California, saved by the grace of GOD in 1980, married my beautiful wife in 1988, and have two wonderful children—a daughter and son, in that order.

The Holy Spirit chose to give me the gift of teaching, which I have been using since 1991. It was this same time that He gave me the desire to program computers (funny how that works). Nine years later GOD combined my passion for His Word and my pleasure of programming, and e-Sword was birthed!

History of eSword

2000

Jan. 2000
The first lines of code for e-Sword are written. e-Sword is birthed with a clear vision of user interface and study approach: keep it simple and do the obvious!
Apr. 2000
e-Sword version 1.0 is released, complete with its unique user interface layout, popup ToolTips, Study Notes editor, verse comparison, and synchronized commentaries and dictionaries. It was immediately posted on the Internet . . . now if only people can find it!
Aug. 2000
e-Sword version 2.0 is released. Improvements included the ability to search commentaries and dictionaries, and highlighting Scripture.
Sept. 2000
People are starting to find e-Sword on the Internet. Time to find a new host to handle the bandwidth requirements now exceeding 10GB per month.

2001

Jan. 2001
e-Sword version 3.0 is released. Many enhancements to the Study Notes editor, including a spell checker and thesaurus, and the Topic Notes mode was added. Complete control to the layout and appearance of e-Sword, including which resources are displayed.
Mar. 2001
Hosting problems continue. Bandwidth requirements now exceed 50GB per month and no commercial solution can be found. The LORD intervenes and finds a brother with a couple of T-1 lines that I can use. Favorable reviews of e-Sword are popping up all over the Internet, driving even more traffic to the web site.
Apr. 2001
Equipping Ministries Foundation is founded to allow users to contribute financially to this ministry. The first year of supporting the development and deployment of e-Sword was financed entirely by myself, but now it has grown to the point that this is no longer possible.
May 2001
e-Sword version 4.0 is released. Most of the enhancements were to make e-Sword even easier to use and enjoy. The Graphics Viewer was added so that maps and charts could now become part of the ever-growing library of e-Sword resources.
June 2001
The Lockman Foundation grants permission to the use of the "New American Standard Bible" and "La Biblia de las Américas" Bibles. This is the first major publisher to cooperate with e-Sword.
July 2001
The 100,000^th download of e-Sword occurs! Bandwidth is exceeding 100GB per month and the two T-1 lines are not enough. I suppose this is a good problem, but now another new home must be found. The LORD finds another brother who offers a T-3 line to accommodate the load.
Aug. 2001
GOD is good! Much prayer has been lifted to find a permanent solution to the hosting problems. By a miracle, GOD directs the mouse clicks of a brother who "stumbles" upon the e-Sword web site. He has the ultimate solution for hosting e-Sword, directly on the Internet through his Tier One national backbone! Another brother donates a web server, and now e-Sword can be downloaded at unparalleled speed with unlimited bandwidth available! Just in time, too, as the downloads now exceed 500GB per month.
Sep. 2001
e-Sword version 5.0 is released. The parallel Bible feature was added, as well as the ability to maximize the Bible, commentary and dictionary views.

In the three weeks after September 11^th, e-Sword is downloaded over 40,000 times!
Oct. 2001
Sovereign Grace Publishers is now including e-Sword with all new editions of the "Modern King James Bible" and "Literal Translation Version" Bibles.
Nov. 2001
The company I worked for files bankruptcy, and obviously I am no longer employed by them. Through much prayer and confirmation I begin to work on e-Sword on a full time basis. This ministry is the only means of support for me and my family. If you have been blessed by e-Sword, then I wish to encourage you to consider supporting this ministry as the LORD leads.
Dec. 2001
e-Sword version 5.5 is released. New features included Extended Search and Analyze Verses. The e-Sword resource library now exceeds 500MB of disk space.

The 250,000^th download of e-Sword occurs!

2002

Apr. 2002
e-Sword version 6.0 is released. A STEP Reader was added, as well as a Daily Devotion feature. The Study Notes are now tied to verses rather than chapters.
June 2002
The 500,000^th download of e-Sword occurs!
Oct. 2002
e-Sword version 6.5 is released. New features included Prayer Requests and the Topic Notes editor is now separated from the Study Notes editor. The e-Sword resource library now exceeds 1 gigabyte of disk space.

American Bible Society grants permission to the use of the "Contemporary English Version" and "Good News Translation" Bibles for free!

Heritage Educational Systems makes available STEP libraries so that anyone can have a seminary library in their own home!

2003

Feb. 2003
Bandwidth challenges revisited! My gracious bandwidth provider FNSI was sold to Cogent leaving e-Sword without a home. "But GOD ..." (one of my favorite phrases in the Bible) already had a plan in place. Apparently those press releases written by FNSI were written for this very occasion. A fellow Christian brother who runs AO Technologies came across them the very same day and contacted me. His offer was just as gracious, and his bandwidth just as plentiful! Good thing, too, as the downloads now exceed a terabyte each month.
Mar. 2003
e-Sword version 7.0 is released. New features included customizable Bible Reading Plan and Bible Split View. Search capability was added to the STEP Reader.
Apr. 2003
The 1,000,000^th download of e-Sword occurs!
Dec. 2003
Pocket e-Sword version 1.0 is released for use on Pocket PC platforms. The really cool thing about Pocket e-Sword is that you can have a complete seminary library with you wherever you go!

2004

Jan. 2004
1.5 million downloads of e-Sword so far . . . and counting! Pocket e-Sword is downloaded nearly 20,000 times in the first month of its release! Who knew there were that many Pocket PC packin' Christians out there?

The Lockman Foundation grants permission to the use of the "Amplified Bible".
Mar. 2004
AMG Publishers grants permission to the use of "The Complete Word Study Dictionary" series by Dr. Spiros Zodhiates, Dr. Warren Baker and Dr. Eugene Carpenter.
Apr. 2004
Good News Publishers grants permission to the use of the "English Standard Version" Bible for free!
Aug. 2004
The 2,000,000^th download of e-Sword occurs!

The 100,000^th download of Pocket e-Sword also occurs!
Oct. 2004
Pocket e-Sword is named a finalist in the Best Bible Software category of the 2004 Pocket PC Magazine Best Software Awards.

2005

Feb. 2005
AMG Publishers grants permission to the use of "Key Word Commentary" and "Encyclopedia of Bible Facts".
Feb. 2005
The 250,000^th download of Pocket e-Sword occurs!

Downloads now exceed 5 terabytes of bandwidth each month!
July 2005
e-Sword version 7.7 is released. New features included a Scripture Memory tool.
Aug. 2005
The 3,000,000^th download of e-Sword occurs!
Oct. 2005
Pocket e-Sword is named a finalist in the Best Bible Software category of the 2005 Pocket PC Magazine Best Software Awards.

2006

Jan. 2006
The 500,000^th download of Pocket e-Sword occurs!
Mar. 2006
A partnership with eStudySource is created to provide popular copyright protected resources for use in e-Sword.

Over 1 million Bibles and other e-Sword add-on modules are downloaded each month! Because of such heavy traffic, bandwidth can no longer be provided for free. This is a good problem, but an expensive one also.
May 2006
The 4,000,000^th download of e-Sword occurs!
Aug. 2006
On August 17^th the President of the United States of America signed into law the "Pension Protection Act of 2006". While there were many good changes in this bill, one specific change rendered my foundation "Equipping Ministries Foundation" useless for fulfilling the purpose for which it was founded—funding the continued development and deployment of e-Sword. The foundation will be dissolved at the end of the year, and tax-deductible donations can no longer be accepted.

You can still contribute to the cause and get an e-Sword CD, but there is no longer any tax advantage to contributing. All that remains is satisfaction in knowing that you are helping to keep e-Sword available for people all around the world in over 160 countries and territories. Over 5 million people have been blessed by its availability, so hopefully another 5 million will get the same opportunity.
Sep. 2006
Christian Computing Magazine published an article about e-Sword. You can read it here.
Dec. 2006
e-Sword version 7.8 is released. New features included a Gospel Harmony tool.

2007

Jan. 2007
The 5,000,000^th download of e-Sword occurs!
May 2007
The 1,000,000^th download of Pocket e-Sword occurs!
July 2007
The 6,000,000^th download of e-Sword occurs!
Oct. 2007
Pocket e-Sword is named a finalist in the Best Bible Software category of the 2007 Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine Best Software Awards.
Nov. 2007
Christian Computing Magazine published another article about e-Sword. You can read it here.

2008

Jan. 2008
e-Sword version 7.9 is released. New features included a Sermon Illustrations tool and stronger Strong's implementation throughout the program.

The 7,000,000^th download of e-Sword occurs!
May 2008
After 18 months in the making, e-Sword LIVE is launched! If you own a MAC or other non-Windows based computer, visit Internet cafés, or just away from your own PC, you can still have an unparalleled online Bible study experience with e-Sword LIVE.
July 2008
The 8,000,000^th download of e-Sword occurs!
Dec. 2008
e-Sword version 8.0 is released. New features included a completely localized user interface and numerous languages already supported! The Orthodox Apocrypha is now supported, in addition to the Catholic Deuterocanon.

2009

Apr. 2009
After 9 years and 9,000,000 downloads, e-Sword version 9.0 is released!

New features include a completely new database architecture, case-sensitive searches, and Study Notes can be made on any verse in the Bible, now including the Orthodox Apocrypha and the Catholic Deuterocanon.
Sep. 2009
e-Sword version 9.5 is released. New features include a fully dockable user interface which enables you to completely customize the layout in hundreds of different ways!

2010

Jan. 2010
2.5 million downloads of e-Sword in 2009!
Apr. 2010
e-Sword version 9.6 is released. New features include highlighting and marking in commentaries and dictionaries!
Sep. 2010
e-Sword version 9.7 is released. New features include a new Journal Notes editor and searching with Regular Expressions!

Christian Computing Magazine published another article about e-Sword. You can read it here.
Oct. 2010
In the past 6 months e-Sword has been downloaded in 225 countries and territories around the world! The Gospel has found its way into every corner of the world, so come Lord Jesus!

2011

Jan. 2011
Over 3.5 million downloads of e-Sword in 2010, for a grand total of over 15 million downloads!

e-Sword version 9.8 is released. New features include a Module Downloader built into the program enabling you to download any of the available resources directly into e-Sword!
Apr. 2011
e-Sword version 9.9 is released. New features include completely redesigned Search dialogs providing even more information for study!
Nov. 2011
e-Sword version 10.0 is released! New features include completely redesigned Editors providing even more functionality, a new Reference Library, and integrated audio sermons from SermonAudio.com!

2012

Jan. 2012
Nearly 5 million downloads of e-Sword in 2011, for a grand total of 20 million downloads!
Mar. 2012
e-Sword version 10.1 is released. New features include the ability for Commentary, Dictionary, and Devotion views to display pictures, so modules can now be created with pictures in them.
Oct. 2012
e-Sword HD version 1.0 is released for the iPad! The world's most popular Bible study software is now available on the world's most advanced mobile operating system!

2013

Jan. 2013
The 25,000,000^th download of e-Sword occurs! e-Sword is being downloaded in 230 countries and territories around the world!
Mar. 2013
e-Sword LT version 1.0 is released for the iPhone! The world's most popular Bible study software is now available on the world's most advanced mobile operating system!
June 2013
e-Sword version 10.2 is released. New features include the built-in Downloader now allows direct downloading of Premium modules without needing to run separate EXE files.

Christian Computing Magazine published another article about e-Sword. You can read it here.
July 2013
Christian Computing Magazine published another article about e-Sword. You can read it here.
Aug. 2013
Christian Computing Magazine published another article about e-Sword. You can read it here.

2014

Mar. 2014
The 30,000,000^th download of e-Sword occurs!!!
Apr. 2014
e-Sword version 10.3 is released. New features include the Editors now support right-to-left languages such as Hebrew.
July 2014
e-Sword version 10.4 is released. New features include User Files Location field in the Resources dialog for customizing where you wish for your user files to be located. This is very convenient for setting up with backup or synchronizing programs, such as Dropbox.

2015

Mar. 2015
e-Sword X version 1.0 is released for the Mac! The world's most popular Bible study software is now available on the world's most advanced desktop operating system!

2016

May 2016
The 35,000,000^th download of e-Sword occurs! e-Sword is being downloaded in 235 countries and territories around the world!
July 2016
e-Sword version 11.0 is released. New features include all new HTML-based resources, including a new Lexicon module type. There is a new Pericope feature which places section headings throughout the Bible.

2019

Feb 2019
The 40,000,000^th download of e-Sword occurs!!!!
Aug. 2019
e-Sword version 12.0 is released. New features include dark mode and app themes, along with hundreds of refinements throughout the app.

2021

Mar. 2021
e-Sword version 13.0 is released. New Audio Bibles feature! Listen to the Bible being read to you in dramatic fashion. Audio is available for KJV, KJV-BRG, ESV, CEV, WEB, NRSV and Spanish PDT Bibles.

2022

Jan. 2022
e-Sword version 1.0 is released for Android! The world's most popular Bible study software is now available on the world's most popular mobile operating system!