Let’s chat about bibles. The purpose of this post is NOT help you discern what translation is the best one because 1) My opinions are my own and; 2) Let’s be honest – the BEST bible translation is whichever one makes you pick up your bible, open it up, and start reading. Instead, I want to talk about bibles, in general. I have inadvertently started bible collection. It wasn’t on purpose, but I’ve discovered that I love exploring different translations and bibles that are focused on a specific topic.

Of the Bible’s you see in this picture above, several have a history. For example, the blue one is a Precious Moments bible that I’ve had since I was a little girl. I will never use it because it’s a NKJV translation, which is awful, but I keep it for sentimental reasons. The picture bible belonged to my now-deceased brother, so it’s important. The little paperback, green New Testament is a bible that hid out in my collection of boxes and escaped “the Great Bible Purge of 2015” when I was converting to Judaism and letting go of all the Christianity-related stuff in my life. I have two bibles here – The Jewish Study Bible and the Torah – that are obviously remainders of my five years as a Jew. Everything else  is new… and lovely!

Which brings me to the point of today’s post- We are living in a golden age of bibles. There are topic bibles, journaling bibles, chronological bibles, Bible-in-a-year bibles, gender-specific bibles…. The list goes on and on. There is literally no excuse for not finding the perfect bible that will compel you to read it!

So what are my favorites?

First, I love the Filament-enabled apps from Tyndale. If you don’t know about Filament, you should check it out. It’s an app that, after scanning a particular page in your bible, takes you to videos, articles, and resources to help you dig deeper into the Word. I have two of these, both New Living Translation (NLT) because that’s my favorite. This beautiful, slimline, zippered bible is the one I take with me to church.

Next, I love The Study Bible for Women, Christian Standard Bible (CSB) translation. This bible is gorgeous, inside and out. It’s full of history and dozens of teaching about biblical womanhood. It’s the Bible I use most with my bible studies, even though I don’t love the CSB translation quite as much. The articles and resources contained within this bible make it fantastic reference, though. It’s a true study bible.

Finally, I adore my One Step Closer bible from Candace Cameron Bure. It’s the very first bible I bought upon my return to Christianity, and I just love it so much. It’s also NLT, so it’s highly readable, but the true value of this bible is the HelpFinder section in the back. It’s fantastic for identifying all the biblical passages related to a situation or issue.

Today’s Christians are truly blessed with the amount of bible resources available to us. I plan on doing another blog about bible studies and the fantastic resources I’ve found, but when it comes to bibles themselves, there is a translation and bible out there that will make your bible reading  meaningful and, more importantly, help you put it into action and live out the Word. 

Happy reading!