TelnetBible.com - King James Bible via Telnet & SSH

Features

Read

[0]	Road to Salvation	A guided presentation through Scripture showing God's plan of salvation.
[1]	Read the Bible	Navigate the complete KJV by Testament, Book, Chapter, and Verse. Save your place with a PIN.
[2]	Random Verse	Display a random verse from anywhere in Scripture. Explore forward and backward.
[S]	Search Bible	Full-text search across all 66 books with paginated results.

Games

[3]	Bible Hangman	Classic hangman with Biblical Books, People, or Cities.
[4]	Verse Game	Identify a verse's reference from four multiple-choice options.
[5]	Fill the Blank	Complete the missing word in well-known Bible verses.
[6]	Book Series	Arrange four books of the Bible in their correct canonical order.

Actions

[L]	Login / Sign Up	Create an account or log in. New accounts require SysOp verification.
[B]	Baud Rate Limit	Simulate vintage modem speeds from 300 to 230,400 baud.
[R]	Resume Reading	Return to where you left off. Guests use a 5-digit PIN; users pick from bookmarks.
[A/P]	Toggle Color	Enable or disable ANSI or PETSCII color output.

User Menu

Available after logging in. Press [U] from the Main Menu.

[C]	Chat	Real-time BBS-style terminal-to-terminal chat.
[B]	Bulletins	Community bulletin board with multi-line editor.
[E]	Email	Private messaging between registered users.
[M]	Bookmarks	Save your place in the Bible and return anytime.
[W]	Who's Active	View connected users. Send chat requests or broadcast announcements.
[F]	File Transfer	Upload and download files via XMODEM protocol.
[P]	Edit Profile	Update your alias, name, email address, or password.
[X]	Exit	Disconnect from the server.

Terminal Compatibility

Vintage Hardware

Commodore 64 (PETSCII), Apple II, IMSAI 8080, Altair 8800, and other period terminals. Terminal type is auto-detected.

Modern Terminals

Any ANSI-compatible terminal emulator on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Connect with your preferred telnet or SSH client.

Connecting from a Terminal

Telnet is not enabled by default on most modern operating systems. SSH requires no additional software.

Linux (Debian / Ubuntu)

Install telnet: sudo apt install telnet
Connect via Telnet: telnet telnetbible.com 6400
Or connect via SSH: ssh guest@telnetbible.com

Linux (Fedora / RHEL)

Install telnet: sudo dnf install telnet
Connect via Telnet: telnet telnetbible.com 6400
Or connect via SSH: ssh guest@telnetbible.com

macOS

Install Homebrew if needed: /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
Install telnet: brew install telnet
Connect via Telnet: telnet telnetbible.com 6400
Or connect via SSH: ssh guest@telnetbible.com

Windows 10 / 11

Open Control Panel
Select Programs, then Turn Windows features on or off
Enable Telnet Client and click OK
Open Command Prompt or PowerShell and run: telnet telnetbible.com 6400
Or connect via SSH: ssh guest@telnetbible.com

Using PuTTY

PuTTY is a free terminal emulator. It supports both Telnet and SSH connections.

Telnet

Linux (Debian / Ubuntu)

Install: sudo apt install putty
Launch PuTTY and set Host Name to telnetbible.com, Port to 6400
Select Connection type: Telnet and click Open

Linux (Fedora / RHEL)

Install: sudo dnf install putty
Launch PuTTY and set Host Name to telnetbible.com, Port to 6400
Select Connection type: Telnet and click Open

macOS

Install via Homebrew: brew install putty
Launch PuTTY and set Host Name to telnetbible.com, Port to 6400
Select Connection type: Telnet and click Open

Or download directly from chiark.greenend.org.uk.

Windows

Download PuTTY from chiark.greenend.org.uk
Run the installer or use the standalone executable
Set Host Name to telnetbible.com
Set Port to 6400
Select Connection type: Telnet
Click Open

SSH

All Platforms

Set Host Name to telnetbible.com
Set Port to 22
Select Connection type: SSH
Click Open
Enter username guest and password guest

Alternate SSH port: If port 22 is blocked, use port 8080 instead.

Connecting via SSH

SSH is built into Windows 10+, macOS, and Linux. No additional software required.

Linux, macOS, or Windows

Open a terminal (Terminal, Command Prompt, or PowerShell)
Run: ssh guest@telnetbible.com
Accept the host key fingerprint if prompted (type yes)
Enter the password: guest

Alternate SSH port: If port 22 is blocked, use ssh -p 8080 guest@telnetbible.com

Registered users: Connect with your TelnetBible alias instead of "guest" to arrive already logged in. Example: ssh YourAlias@telnetbible.com

Host Key Rejected? How to Fix It

When you connect via SSH for the first time, your computer saves the server's host key fingerprint. On future connections, SSH verifies that the key matches. If it doesn't, you'll see a warning like:

WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!

This means the key your computer has on file no longer matches the key the server is presenting. There are a few legitimate reasons this can happen:

Server reinstallation or migration — The server was moved to new hardware, reinstalled, or its SSH host key was regenerated during maintenance.
Server software update — An SSH server update may have regenerated the host key.
Connecting on a different port — If you previously connected on port 22 and now use port 8080 (or vice versa), the stored key may differ.

Security Warning: A host key mismatch can also indicate a man-in-the-middle attack, where someone is intercepting your connection. If you are on an untrusted network (public Wi-Fi, etc.) and see this warning unexpectedly, do not connect until you can verify the server's identity. For TelnetBible, if the server was recently updated or migrated, a key change is expected.

Removing the Old Host Key

To clear the saved key and allow a fresh connection, run one of these commands:

Standard port (22): ssh-keygen -R telnetbible.com
Alternate port (8080): ssh-keygen -R [telnetbible.com]:8080

Then reconnect normally. SSH will prompt you to accept the new host key. Type yes to save it.

Windows Users (PuTTY)

PuTTY stores host keys in the Windows Registry. If you see a key mismatch warning:

PuTTY will display a dialog asking if you want to update the cached key
If you trust the connection, click Accept to save the new key
To manually clear it, open Registry Editor (regedit) and delete the entry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY\SshHostKeys