The Bible was given to us to read, study, meditate on, memorize, apply, and share. As we embark on this joyous discipline of reading God’s Word, we find ourselves at the mercy of those who have gone before us with a vision to facilitate our reading of such a massive text. With the addition of chapters, verses, and headings, we find ourselves able to navigate the text in a smooth, steady, and predictable fashion. As good as the verse and the chapter divisions may be, they can unintentionally guide our reading in such a way as to allow the chapters to dictate how much we read and verses to provide the start and finish of what we memorize. The Bible, however, has been given to us to read in such a fashion that we can be consumed by the text and not distracted by the ending of a chapter, or the awkward division of two chapters (2 Timothy 3 and 2 Timothy 4 anyone?). Well the Reader’s Bible takes care of this dilemma.
Have you tried reading the Scriptures from a Reader’s Bible? If not, let me encourage you to give it a shot. If you’re not familiar, a Reader’s Bible removes information that could prove to be a distraction to your reading. You won’t find foot notes or cross-references that are incredibly helpful for a deeper reading of the text. In addition, however, you also won’t find chapters or verse numbers. So how are we supposed to jump to our favorite verses or passages? Well, that’s kind of the point of the Reader’s Bible, to keep you from doing that. Instead, the Reader’s Bible encourages you to read through the text as it was written; to read the text as a historical narrative, a letter, poetry, etc.
Crossway has released a six-volume Reader’s Bible that displays the beauty of the text in an exquisite design. The 6 volumes include
1. Pentateuch
2. Historical Books
3. Poetry
4. Prophets
5. Gospel and Acts
6. Epistles and Revelation
With black letter text, single-column, paragraph format, and no verse numbers, chapter numbers, or footnotes, this is a beautiful way to read the word of God. As you open one of the volumes to read, you will find yourself confronted with the word of God and the word of God only. The clarity of the font, the high quality European book paper work together in such a way as to provide a highly enjoyable reading experience that will urge you to continue reading rather than stopping at the next verse or the next chapter.
Crossway is offering two versions of this six volume set including a Cloth over Board with Permanent Slipcase, and a Cowhide over Board with Walnut Slipcase. The walnut slipcase is a beautiful piece of art that so elegantly holds and displays the six volumes. This is a product to treasure and utilize for a lifetime. I definitely recommend this product to you as I think it will help draw you into reading the text. I think you will find that you want to simply read the text more and more and take in the broad, sweeping narrative of God’s redemptive story.
