Bible Translations and Finding the Best Preaching Bible

What is the best preaching Bible? That’s the question I have been asking lately on my journey to find the best preaching Bible for me.

On this episode of Pro Preacher, I’ll talk a little about Bible translations, and what I am looking for in a preaching Bible.

I have narrowed down my options to the final two best preaching Bibles for me.

Resources Mentioned

• ESV Pastor’s Bible

• ESV Preaching Bible

• Download my Wedding and Funeral Sermons

For other translations, consider these:

• CSB Pastor’s Bible

• NIV Heritage Bible

• NASB Preacher’s Bible

• KJV Preaching Bible

• NKJV Preaching Bible

• NLT Pitt Minion Bible

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Key Takeaways

Here’s a quick list of some of the big takeaways from this episode. Check the timestamp to see when each point is discussed.

Translation

• We are blessed to have a ton of good English translations. Other languages have less or even none. [1:53]

• No translations are perfect.  [2:47]

• My history of growing up with the NIV translation and eventually learning about other translations. [3:32]

• Some Bibles are more loose in their translation (thought for thought), and others are more rigid (word for word). [4:34]

• For my personal study, I now use the ESV because it’s a good balance of staying close to the original text while still being readable. [5:13]

• KJ, NKJ, NASB, and ESV are more close to original language, and NIV, NLT, and CSB are more thought for thought. [5:32]

• After a lot of research, I decided on using either the ESV Pastor’s Bible or ESV Preaching Bible. [6:34]

Price

• Can I afford this Bible or is it way too expensive? [7:23]

• Pastor’s Bible is around $60 on Amazon right now [7:32]

• Preaching Bible is $130 on Amazon right now and can run up to $200. [7:27]

Cover

• The Pastor’s Bible is genuine leather, and it’s more hard and firm. [8:19]

• The Preaching Bible is goatskin leather. It’s high quality, and really soft. [9:25]

• Soft cover makes it less of everyday carry Bible. [11:15]

Size

• Pastor’s Bible is 6” x 9” and 1” thick [11:31]

• Preaching Bible is similar to Pastor’s Bible but it has a bigger lip on the cover and it’s a lot thicker. [11:52]

• Pastor’s Bible is 2.16lbs, and Preaching Bible is 3.26lbs [12:23]

Layout

• Pastor’s Bible is 9pt font, double column, narrow margin, and has cross references. [13:01]

• The paper is thinner and has some ghosting (text showing through from the other side of the paper) [14:04]

• Preaching Bible is a 10pt font, single column, no cross-references, and has wide margins. [14:56]

• The paper is thicker and has less ghosting because it’s text aligned (text on one side of page is on same side as other page). [15:41]

Lay flat test

• Pastor’s Bible stayed flat at Genesis 1 but started to close about a quarter of the way, and did the same in Revelation 22. [17:08]

• Preaching Bible layed flat and stayed flat in Gen 1 and Rev 22. [17:39]

Additional Features

• Pastor’s Bible has Extra articles and resources for pastors like wedding and funeral sermons. [18:09]

• Unlike Pastor’s Bible, the Preaching Bible doesn’t have extra material. It’s all about a simple, clear text. [21:05]

• My conclusion on which Bible is better. [22:50]

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