You can listen to the Bible while falling asleep tonight without leaving it playing until morning, even though the free Bible Garden app for iPhone and iPad has no sleep timer of its own. There are two ways:
- after a set time: the iPhone's built-in timer. In the Clock app, go to Timers → When Timer Ends → Stop Playing. It pauses any audio, Bible Garden included;
- at the end of a chapter: turn off "Auto-advance to next chapter" in the reading settings, and playback stops when the chapter ends.
Below: both methods step by step, what to set in the app before bed, which voice to pick, and which psalms and Gospel chapters take only a few minutes.
iPhone timer: stop playback after 20–30 minutes
The Clock app's timer has an option that doesn't ring but stops playback instead. Apple suggests it for exactly this: falling asleep while listening (Apple's guide).
- Start a chapter in Bible Garden.
- Open the Clock app and tap Timers (Timer in older versions of iOS).
- Set a duration, for example 30 minutes.
- Tap When Timer Ends, scroll to the bottom of the sound list, and tap Stop Playing.
- Tap Set, then Start.
The timer keeps counting while your iPhone is locked. When it runs out, Bible Garden pauses. In iOS 17 and later, the timer stays in your recent timers, so tomorrow night you can start it with one tap.
Keep in mind that a timer set to Stop Playing makes no sound. Next time you need a regular timer, say in the kitchen, pick a sound under When Timer Ends again.
What to set in Bible Garden before you start the timer
To keep the reading going until the timer stops it, check a few things:
- Audio plays in the background. You can lock your phone. If you're still awake and want to stop, you can pause and resume from the lock screen.
- Auto-advance is on (the default): the next chapter starts on its own, so the reading doesn't end before the timer does. At normal speed with no pauses, 30 minutes covers about 5–6 Gospel chapters or 15–18 psalms, depending on the narrator and the chapters.
- Turn pauses off. Pauses after verses and paragraphs are great for attentive listening. For falling asleep, a steady reading works better: in the settings, under Pause, choose "No pause."
- Stay online. Audio can't be downloaded in advance yet. If you switch on Airplane Mode at night, keep Wi-Fi on: without a connection, playback won't continue.
In the morning, the app opens the chapter where playback stopped. One thing to know if you fell asleep early: by default, the app marks a chapter as read once 90% of its verses have played, even if you were already asleep. You can listen to that chapter again or mark it as unread.
One chapter, then silence: stopping without a timer
Bible Garden can stop on its own at the end of a chapter. Open the reading settings (the gear icon), turn off "Auto-advance to next chapter" under Playback, and tap Save. The chapter plays to the end, and then everything goes quiet. No timer needed.
This works well when you'd rather not fall asleep to the reading but listen to one passage and pray. A Gospel chapter takes about 2 to 10 minutes, 4–6 on average, and about nine in ten psalms take under three. This is also where pauses help: under Pause, choose "Pause for duration" and set a few seconds after each verse or paragraph. That gives you time to reflect after each line, and if you want to go back, the verse buttons jump to the exact start of a verse.
If you listen straight through, chapter after chapter, during the day, turn auto-advance back on in the morning.
In the evening, you can also hear a psalm in two translations. Multi Reading is Bible Garden's key feature: each verse plays in several translations in a row, for example in the BSB read by Bob Souer and then in the WEB read by Winfred Henson. Both number the psalms the same way, so the verses line up. Multi Reading has no auto-advance, so playback stops by itself after the last verse of the chapter. To set it up, see "Bilingual Bible App."
A voice for the night
Four English recordings in the app cover the whole Bible, and none of them has background music:
| Narrator | Translation | Music | In the app |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Souer | Berean Standard Bible (BSB) | No | All 66 books |
| David | Berean Standard Bible (BSB) | No | All 66 books |
| Winfred Henson | World English Bible (WEB), US edition | No | All 66 books |
| Not named by the publisher | World English Bible, British Edition (WEBBE) | No | All 66 books |
So the choice comes down to the voice and the translation. The US edition of the WEB renders God's name as "Yahweh"; the BSB and the British edition read "the LORD." Compare the voices on Psalm 23: "He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters" (Psalm 23:2, BSB).
Listen to Psalm 23 read by each narrator
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
1 Yahweh is my shepherd; I shall lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in Yahweh’s house forever.
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the LORD’s house forever.
You can set the playback speed from 0.6× to 2.0×, so in the evening you can slow the reading down a little. More about each narrator: "Audio Bible narrators."
What to listen to before sleep
These short passages speak of night, sleep, and rest. Durations come from the app's MP3 files at 1× speed, measured on October 4, 2026.
| Passage | Line from the BSB | Bob Souer | David | Winfred Henson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psalm 4 | "I will lie down and sleep in peace" (4:8) | 1:02 | 1:00 | 1:08 |
| Psalm 23 | "The Lord is my shepherd" (23:1) | 0:45 | 0:47 | 0:51 |
| Psalm 63 | "When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night" (63:6) | 1:12 | 1:18 | 1:24 |
| Psalm 91 | "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High" (91:1) | 1:32 | 1:46 | 1:48 |
| Psalm 121 | "…the Protector of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep" (121:4) | 0:45 | 0:47 | 0:50 |
| Psalm 134 | "…who serve by night in the house of the Lord" (134:1) | 0:22 | 0:26 | 0:25 |
| Matthew 6 | "…do not worry about tomorrow" (6:34) | 4:24 | 4:41 | 4:55 |
| Matthew 11 | "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened" (11:28) | 3:47 | 4:04 | 3:59 |
| John 14 | "Do not let your hearts be troubled" (14:1) | 4:08 | 4:23 | 4:21 |
These are the psalm numbers used in English Bibles. Russian Bibles and many Orthodox prayer books follow the Greek numbering, where most numbers are one lower: Psalm 23 is Psalm 22 there. Why: "Psalms Audio."
Play a psalm with auto-advance off, and it stops when the psalm ends. If you'd like to fall asleep to a longer reading, turn auto-advance back on, choose "No pause," start the first psalm in the table, and set the timer: the next psalms will follow on their own. If an evening reading becomes a regular thing, here's how to make it a habit: "How to Read the Bible Every Day."
The app is free, with no ads or in-app purchases. It runs on iPhone and iPad today; listening right on this website and an Android version are in our plans.
Frequently asked questions
Does Bible Garden have a sleep timer?
Not a built-in one. The iPhone's own timer works: in the Clock app, go to Timers → When Timer Ends → Stop Playing. To stop at the end of a chapter instead, turn off "Auto-advance to next chapter" in the settings. Some other apps, such as YouVersion, have a sleep timer built in; for a comparison, see "Free audio Bible apps."
How do I set a sleep timer on iPhone for any app?
In the Clock app, set a timer, tap When Timer Ends, choose Stop Playing at the very bottom of the sound list, then tap Set and Start. When the timer runs out, your iPhone pauses whatever audio or video is playing.
Will playback stop at the end of a chapter?
Yes, if you turn off "Auto-advance to next chapter" in the reading settings. In Multi Reading, there is no auto-advance: playback stops after the last verse of the chapter.
Can I listen to the Bible at night without internet?
Not yet: Bible Garden streams its audio, and you can't download it in advance. If you use Airplane Mode at night, leave Wi-Fi on.
Will a chapter count as read if I fall asleep?
Yes, if 90% of its verses have played (the default threshold): the app marks the chapter on its own. You can mark it as unread or turn off automatic counting in the progress settings.
Is it okay to fall asleep listening to the Bible?
Christians see it differently. Some listen to Scripture to settle down and fall asleep. Others prefer to give it their full attention rather than half-hear it while drifting off. For example, Protodeacon Sergiy Shalberov makes that case in an Orthodox forum discussion (in Russian). If you prefer to listen attentively, listen to one chapter with auto-stop and pauses after verses, and save the timer for nights when you want to fall asleep to the reading.
Is Bible Garden available on Android?
Not yet: the app runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 15 or later. An Android version and listening right on this website are in our plans.