ESV Reader’s Bible: a review

But it’s not for everyone. I’d be interested in the impressions of others who have used it.

It is printed on the kind of paper you would find in a quality paperback, also formatted for easy reading, wide margin, largish font.

It is meant for personal reading, not for church use. You would have a real hard time finding your spot if the preacher called out a passage.

Fully agree about the section headings. That’s a deal-breaker for me, since I consider them more distracting than the chapter/verse divisions.

I suppose I should clarify that there are only some headings. Quite a bit less than in traditional chapter and verse Bibles. For example, in Genesis, there are these headings

Creation and the Fall
Noah
The Tower of Babel
Abraham and the Beginning of the People of God
Isaac
Jacob
Joseph

In some books I think there are fewer than that. It just seemed somewhat incongruous to put in the headings in a “text only” Bible.

Don,

You mentioned in your review that you prefer to read the Bible chronologically. Care to share how that is structured? We’re just about finished reading through the Bible as a family, and I’m thinking about starting a chronological plan with them next.

Paul

I’ve cobbled together my own. I have a copy available in PDF on my church website, not sure if it is the latest edition. I find that I make little adjustments each time I go through. There are portions where we are simply guessing, the chronology markers are not always clear. I will check later today and send a link.

I have been meaning to get this. I have read from this set, and from a reading perspective, I feel that it puts Scripture in a whole different light. I agree, I wouldn’t use this in worship or preaching, but in terms of just reading, I would recommend everyone to try it.

For me, the reader’s Bible helps me read larger chunks of Scripture in one sitting. I had previously been unaware of how much the chapter and verse divisions slowed me down. In fact, prior to first reading my ESV Reader’s Bible, I scoffed at a friend who told me that I would find that to be true.

This is one of the things were different people are going to respond differently as readers to different things. I appreciate Don’s honesty and humility with his review.

I’m waiting to be in a group setting (Sunday school, Bible study, etc.) where someone brings a reader’s Bible. I will then spring an impromptu Bible Sword Drill on the group.

I’m not sold on the notion of thicker paper being helpful—I’ve got a number of Bibles that I’ve read through multiple times, and it’s the binding that gives way, not the paper—but I wonder whether it would be nice to eliminate the chapter and verse for reading. I do know that, absent those things in ordinary books, I can read hundreds of pages at a sitting. Maybe it would be the same with God’s Word.

A friend of mine is a paper snob. He’s very picky about the paper, binding, and ink used in Bibles. He’s explained to me what’s wrong with the paper in my single volume ESV Reader’s Bible. I didn’t listen close enough to tell you what’s wrong with the paper, though.

I wrote a blog for our church people with various plans, you can find it here. My 2018 Chronological plan is there, it is my most current version. I’ll do an update in December to publish a 2019 plan.

I also have links to some nice alternate plans provided by the Navigators, and Murray M’cheyne’s plan also.

I have a NIV set-up in chronological order to be read in a year which I read though periodically. We did it as a church a number of years ago with a blog talking about what we were reading each day. I’ve enjoyed the complete Bible some years and others I’ve dug into things more and not covered that much ground. This Readers Bible is intriguing to me.