Fix text encoding issues in NKJV files by removing UTF-8 BOM in readMarkdownFile

backend/src/index.js

@@ -61,11 +61,12 @@ function getDataDir(version) {
   return esvSearchEngine ? ESV_DATA_DIR : NKJV_DATA_DIR; // default to available version
 }
 
-// Helper function to read markdown files
+// Helper function to read markdown files with encoding normalization
 async function readMarkdownFile(filePath) {
   try {
     const content = await fs.readFile(filePath, 'utf-8');
-    return content;
+    // Remove BOM if present and normalize encoding issues
+    return content.replace(/^\uFEFF/, ''); // Remove UTF-8 BOM
   } catch (error) {
     throw new Error(`Failed to read file: ${filePath}`);
   }