diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fc32f7de48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[submodule "jsword"]
+	path = jsword
+	url = git@github.com:AndBible/jsword.git
diff --git a/app/build.gradle.kts b/app/build.gradle.kts
index 12456ae77f..f77b7c1344 100644
--- a/app/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/app/build.gradle.kts
@@ -327,7 +327,6 @@ androidComponents {
 dependencies {
     val commonsTextVersion: String by rootProject.extra
     val jdomVersion: String by rootProject.extra
-    val jswordVersion: String by rootProject.extra
     val kotlinVersion: String by rootProject.extra
     val coroutinesVersion: String by rootProject.extra
     val kotlinxSerializationVersion: String by rootProject.extra
@@ -391,7 +390,7 @@ dependencies {
     implementation("org.apache.commons:commons-lang3:3.12.0") // make sure this is the same version that commons-text depends on
     implementation("org.apache.commons:commons-text:$commonsTextVersion")
 
-    implementation("com.github.AndBible:jsword:$jswordVersion") {
+    implementation(project(":jsword")) {
         exclude("org.apache.httpcomponents")
     }
 
diff --git a/build.gradle.kts b/build.gradle.kts
index 5b2aae68ed..7923f8c33b 100644
--- a/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/build.gradle.kts
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ buildscript {
     val jvmToolChainVersion by extra(17)
     val coreKtxVersion by extra("1.12.0")
     val sqliteAndroidVersion by extra("3.42.0")
-    val jswordVersion by extra("2.4.04")
 
 
     repositories {
diff --git a/db/build.gradle.kts b/db/build.gradle.kts
index ebd7163b2a..386813aa09 100644
--- a/db/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/db/build.gradle.kts
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ dependencies {
     val coroutinesVersion: String by rootProject.extra
     val commonsTextVersion: String by rootProject.extra
     val jdomVersion: String by rootProject.extra
-    val jswordVersion: String by rootProject.extra
     val kotlinxSerializationVersion: String by rootProject.extra
     val roomVersion: String by rootProject.extra
     val coreKtxVersion: String by rootProject.extra
@@ -78,9 +77,11 @@ dependencies {
     implementation("androidx.room:room-ktx:$roomVersion")
     implementation("org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-coroutines-android:${coroutinesVersion}")
     implementation("org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-serialization-json:$kotlinxSerializationVersion")
-    implementation("com.github.AndBible:jsword:$jswordVersion") {
+
+    implementation(project(":jsword")) {
         exclude("org.apache.httpcomponents")
     }
+
     implementation("org.jdom:jdom2:$jdomVersion")
     implementation("org.apache.commons:commons-text:$commonsTextVersion")
     implementation("androidx.core:core-ktx:$coreKtxVersion")
diff --git a/jsword b/jsword
new file mode 160000
index 0000000000..dd3936cfb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jsword
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit dd3936cfb9f7bb1ddc6edcdfdb0d0d065a0aff18
diff --git a/settings.gradle.kts b/settings.gradle.kts
index 4e5d9a7911..00518aa389 100644
--- a/settings.gradle.kts
+++ b/settings.gradle.kts
@@ -15,4 +15,4 @@
  * If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
  */
 
-include(":app", ":db")
+include(":app", ":db", ":jsword")