Very Cool!

It’s my understanding that in the US, the fairly new translation of the Bible, the ESV (English Standard Version) is making a big hit. I was thrilled when my friend Franklin brought one back from the US for me. It is a very literal, yet modern translation. I had been progressing very nicely with my McCheyne Bible reading plan I began in January and was really enjoying it. When I hit August, however, our church began a Bible reading campaign (that I was spearheading!) of reading the Bible in 125 days. That’s because our church turned 125 years old. And also because the end of the reading would coincide with “Bible Sunday” on December 13th. I kind of resisted switching reading plans. I had already finished the New Testament, Proverbs and Psalms, and was reading them through a second time. I had finished the historical books and was deeply into the prophecies.

Upon acquiring the new Bible, however, I decided to switch over. Unfortunately I decided somewhere after August 15th, which meant I was far behind in the 125 day plan. I had developed the plan, and it requires a 30-40 minute daily commitment, whereas my current plan was about 15 minutes. Yet, when I looked at it like that, it wasn’t so much. I have been known to sit up all night and read a novel. So I jumped in, trying to catch up by reading 20-30 chapters a day. To help me along in that, I downloaded a dramatized ESV audio New Testament for free! It can be found at the Faith Come By Hearing website. The Revelation recording is just out of this world and I remembered a New Testament prof at the seminary who always claimed this book was meant to be dramatized. I plan on listening a second time to Revelation! I transferred it to my mp3 and suddenly I was totally addicted to reading/listening to the New Testament. I could hardly make myself quit listening.

I also downloaded a paid version of the ESV Old Testament, but found Proverbs, Job, Genesis hard to just “listen” to. So I now go to the ESV study Bible page (when you purchase one of the Bibles you automatically get a free subscription to the online Bible) and opened the Bible and followed along as I listen (they offer that option). Boy does that help my concentration. There is a free site that offers a similar option of listening online and following along. At this ESV page, I found several very interesting Bible reading  plans as well.

Frankly, I don’t like the physical format of the ESV Bible I have. Maybe I just need to get used to. It too thick and heavy and doesn’t lay open on your lap or on a table for that matter. It’s just awkward to handle. I miss my NIV Bible I’ve used for 16 years. It’s all underlined and soft and the pages flip open easily. I find anything I want in the Bible. And since I’ve used this translation since 1982, it’s nearly as comfortable to me as The King James Version. Truth be told, I just don’t like breaking in a new Bible. Do you feel that way as well?

For now I’ll keep using NIV for my physical reading of the Bible and slugging away at the “virtual” copy of the ESV. I may eventually make the transition, or maybe I’ll find a copy of the ESV that easier to handle for “just” reading, with no study notes.

To make things complicated I also have a new Bible in Portuguese (for those who will understand, this is the “Almeida Século 21” version) that our church personalized for our anniversary. My adaption to it has been somewhat easier, although I will confess that even after so many years in Brazil, I just prefer reading the Bible in English. Just lazy I guess, but next year I hope to do 2 complete readings of the Bible, with one being in Portuguese and another in English. Maybe I’ll do them “side-by-side”. What do you think?

Well that’s probably way more than you wanted to know about my Bible reading, but I hasten to add that I wanted to write about this to express how MUCH I love reading the Bible and how the more I read it, the more I want to read it. It really is listening to the voice of God. I can’t imagine why I ever made such silly excuses about not having time. Get real!!!! 30 minutes a day is no sacrifice. It has become my motivation to get out of bed every day as I think of how wonderful it will be to read or hear more of what God has to say to me! How cool is that????