NIV, Reader's Bible, Cloth over Board, Gold/Gray: Designed for a Seamless Reading Experience Hardcover – October 10, 2017

This edition is just the thing I needed for long hours of reading without distractions. Sturdy cover. Nice, thin pages.

Finished my read through using this Reader's Bible late last year and already through Leviticus on my next go-around. Since coming to faith around the age of 13 I've always been one who preferred doing a straight read through of the Bible but often felt distracted by all the footnotes, cross-references, etc. Sometimes it felt like it took away from getting a grasp of the big picture story of scripture, and since so much of the Bible is in narrative form it would be a mistake to miss that. Of course, it's still valuable to have a study Bible and verse numbers when digging deep into a difficult passage or topic or preparing a sermon.Reading is one of my passions and I stopped keeping track many years ago of how many times I have read through the scriptures from start to finish because it was in danger of becoming a source of pride! But even if you are not a big reader and feel like reading through the whole Bible is daunting, I would encourage you to try to do so this year. I am more and more amazed by God's wisdom and plan for human history revealed through his scriptures with every read through. It is truly the most amazing book ever written.Also, if you get bogged down in the Old Testament, try alternating reading one or two books in the old testament for every one book in the new testament back and forth and you will finish both around the same time. This way also avoids all the jumping around from passage to passage that many Bible reading plans suggest.Though I am not a scholar on translations, here's my two cents: I enjoy the readability of the NIV, but also recommend the ESV and NASB for deeper study, and in recent years also really appreciate the CSB, it's the most natural modern English in my opinion.

I've got two other Reader's Bibles in other translations. I'm collecting them. I love reading them rather than the two-column and zillions of center references. This makes my reading easy and more productive. For those who may not know, The pages in Reader's Bibles are a single column. There are no verse numbers on the pages. The pages do have a chapter designation but it is light. It would be nice if every translation had a Reader's Bible.

As much as I enjoy diving deep into the Bible and looking at all the study notes, it is nice to sit back and appreciate the text for what it is. Reading Paul's letters as actual letters, David's poetry formatted more like poetry, and Jesus' teachings without chapter and verse numbers allows the text to come more alive for me. The leather construction seems sturdy to me, and the pages have a nice weight. I am so glad the text is bigger than I expected. I don't need reading glasses, but it was nice having a more digestible font size. I would recommend this product for someone who wants to read a passage several times to "soak" in it a bit more than someone who is bouncing back and forth through the references of a study bible. Looking forward to many years of good use!

I get sooooper distracted by verse numbers and chapter breaks so im LOVING this. Plus, it reads more how it was written, so thats a plus too!

reads like a book has added a new demission to my mornings with Father

A very great product! Without the individual verses, It helps me get engrossed in the story of scripture and understand scripture in context rather than just reading a small section of verses or ending with 1 chapter. The down side of this Bible is that it is not helpful if you need to look up a specific verse since the verse numbers aren’t there. Just be aware of when buying, but I am happy with my purchase! It’s a great Bible but would need to be used along side another Bible if you often reference specific verses in your studies.

Most Americans own a Bible, but few read it. To be more precise, according to LifeWay Research, while 87 percent of all Americans own a Bible, 53 percent have read little to none of it. Only 1 in 5 Americans have read the Bible at least once.No doubt there are many reasons for this disparity between ownership and readership. The Bible is a big book, for one thing. Differences between ancient culture and contemporary culture mean the Bible is not always easy to understand, for another. Finally, it teaches us about God and His ways. If you think God is easy to understand, think again! As the apostle Paul put it in Romans 11:33: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!”Alongside size, age and complexity, I’d like to suggest one more reason why people don’t read the Bible: format. My NIV Thinline is printed with two columns per page and 8.4-point font size. (NIV stands for New International Version, by the way.) It has chapter and verse numbers, section headings and footnotes. Other formats include cross-references on each page.And then there are study Bibles. My NIV Study Bible has 2,560 pages and weighs in at 5.4 pounds. (Strangely, no one calls it a Fatline even though it’s huge.) In addition to all the above, it has over 20,000 study notes, as well as 400 full-color pictures, maps, charts and illustrations. The biblical text is printed in a readable 10-point font, but everything else is much smaller and therefore harder to read.Now, there are many advantages to packing all this information into a single-volume Bible. It’s an economical way to provider readers with high-end scholarship they need to understand God’s Word. It also makes the Bible look like a dictionary, encyclopedia or textbook, and we all know how little Americans like to read those.That’s why I’m glad that so-called Reader’s Bibles are the new trend in Bible publishing. Each page has exactly one column. Font size is bigger. There are no chapter or verse numbers, let alone section headings, footnotes or cross-references. Prose is printed in paragraphs; poetry is printed in stanzas. The Bible is printed like an ordinary book, perfect for ordinary readers.For some time now, I have used the ESV Reader’s Bible for daily devotional reading. (ESV stands for English Standard Version.) The format makes it easier to read and enjoy Scripture over longer periods of time. The problem is, the ESV is not my preferred translation. The NIV is, but there was no comparable NIV product.Until now.This month, Zondervan released the NIV Reader’s Bible with both imitation leather and hardboard covers. It is comparable in size to the ESV Reader’s Bible.While both the ESV and the NIV are reliable translations, the NIV is typically easier to read, in my opinion. It was updated in 2011 to track changes in the English language since its original publication in 1978.When you combine the NIV’s ease of reading with the fact that it is the best-selling contemporary translation in the United States, especially among evangelical Christians, using it is an obvious choice. It is likely the translation used by your pastor, in your pew Bible and in Sunday school and small group curriculum. The NIV is a solid translation from reputable scholars in readable English.And now, the NIV Reader’s Bible puts that readable translation into a readable format. The NIV Reader’s Bible became my go-to devotional Bible the moment I received it. I hope you will give it a look too. The NIV Reader’s Bible will help turn you from a Bible owner to a Bible reader.

Ich bin total begeistert - hätte diese Bibel gern in Deutsch =)Sehr angenehme Haptik. Die Bibel ist noch viel schöner als erwartet!

Superb Bible for extended uninterrupted reading. The paper is great, the text block seems durable, the text is line matched, and while this is not a very portable Bible (it is a thick book), it is meant for long, devotional reading.If NIV is your preferred text of Scripture, this one is a no brainer. Would have loved this same block in the original NIV text.The rating is for the physical book which is superbly constructed. The NIV text which is a 2011 revision would be rated not more than 3/5 by me.

There is small amount of ghosting, but it isn't disturbing. All in all the product is really good for reading larger chunks of text.