Daily Reading Bibles
Daily reading Bibles are a great way to read the Bible through in a year. They have the Bible arranged for you, separated by day, so you can just pick it up and read the days’ reading without having to put any thought into the reading plan itself. There are many choices. The hard part is knowing which one would work for you.
There are several choices for the plan in daily reading Bibles. You can read the Bible in Biblical order, chronologically, have a morning and evening reading, or read portions from various books (Law, Prophets, Psalms/Proverbs, Gospels, Epistles, etc.). These Bibles often have a devotional, topical index, or sometimes no other features. Most are paperback and well worth their money. Here is a sampling of what is available. All of these Bibles are in double-column, paragraph format with poetry set to verse
ESV Daily Reading Bible
This one presents the text in Biblical order. The date appears in the margin to show that day’s reading. The bottom of the page shows you the other readings for that day. There is a reading plan in the front that gives you a reading from the Old Testament, Psalms, and the New Testament. It takes you through the OT once, and Psalms and the NT twice. In the back there is an introduction to each book and a short topical index. This one also works as a regular Bible.
ISBN: 9781433527302
NKJV The Charles Stanley Life Principles Daily Bible
This is one of the most complex of the daily reading Bibles. Rather than showing the Bible in Biblical order, it shows all of the readings in a daily order. A day’s reading includes the OT, NT, Psalms, Proverbs, and Life Lessons. There are also and Life Principles, Life Examples, Answers to Life’s Questions, and God’s Promises. The Bible reading is given in Biblical order – so you pick up each section where you left off the day before. It’s easy to just read the Bible if you want to skip the extras. This one would be difficult to use for anything but a daily reading Bible.
ISBN: 9780718020101
HCSB Reading God’s Story – A Chronological Daily Bible by George H. Guthrie
This one breaks the Bible up into Acts and Scenes and presents the Bible text in chronological order rather than giving a date it give the week and day (Week 1, Day 1), so it’s easy to pick it up anytime of the year and start at the beginning. It gives you a six day reading and ends each week with a summary and prayer. Acts 1 is God’s Plan for All People. Act 2 is God’s Covenant People, and Act 3 is God’s New Covenant People. The only downside to this format is you don’t get a daily reading from OT, NT, Psalms, etc. You get the portions as they fit chronologically. This Bible also works well just as a chronological Bible.
ISBN: 9781433601125
NIV Once a Day Bible
This one gives you a daily reading that includes the OT, NT, and Psalms or Proverbs (every fourth day is Proverbs). At the end of each day there is a reflection on one of the verses from that day’s reading. The days are numbered (1-365) and that day’s reading is presented under that day’s number, so you get a mix of OT, NT, and Psalms or Proverbs. There is a chart in the front that shows what verses will be read on each day. It would be difficult to use this Bible for anything but daily reading.
ISBN: 9780310950929
Conclusion
These are just a few reading Bibles that are available. Daily Reading Bibles make it easy and they’re inexpensive, and you don’t have to think about your reading plan. Another good option is using a reading plan that will work with any Bible. I especially like the reading plans that are printed in the back of Bibles because your reading plan is always handy (and difficult to lose). The main point is to read the Bible daily. So for the coming year, please pick up your Bible every day and spend some time in God’s Word with prayer.
What is your favorite daily reading Bible or reading plan?
Great post for the new year. I have started my reading plan for the year.I am using my new Cambridge Clarion KJV as my reading bible this year. I have developed a strong liking for goatskin bindings over the past year. I am adjusting to the single column format quite nicely and I love the size/form factor of the Clarion. I was glad to see this post as it answered some questions I had about some of those bibles you reviewed.
Thanks Charles. I’m also using the Clarion for my reading Bible this year. I’ve always used verse format, but the Clarion’s format, size, and shape make it a perfect Bible for holding in one hand to read. It’s so nice that it’s hard to read anything else. Mine is calfskin and lays flat in my hand. I haven’t seen the goatskin edition. Is it easy to use with one hand?
Actually it is easy to use in one hand. The best way I can describe it is that it melts in your hand, as in kind of conforming to its shape. It is a very comfortable lay. I know what you mean about laying flat in your hand because I have a Brown goatskin pitt minion. It has a perfect balance between supple yet firm without being stiff as a brick. I think you will like the goatskin clarion. It truly is amazing. Limp right out of the box. If you are worried about it being droopy, the form factor alleviates that. Because the Clarion is not a large bible, it won’t droop on you. Cambridge really got it right with the form factor. How is the calfskin in terms of the bookboard underneath breaking in? I am thinking about getting a Brown calfskin cameo.
The calfskin itself has a soft feel to it and it has a little bit of flex, but the bookboard doesn’t seem to break in. It might become more flexible if I tried to bend it more often, but I haven’t tried to make it flexible. It’s more flexible than the goatskin Pitt Minion, but not much. I know what you mean about the goatskin and form factor. I have the Cameo in goatskin and it still lays flat in my hand even though the cover is flexible. I was hoping the Clarion had the same feel and it sounds like it does. I like soft and flexible, but I don’t like droopy (unless it’s a Bible I use with 2 hands, lay in my lap, or lay on the table).
I just got out my Pitt Minion and the flexibility is about the same as the Clarion calfskin. The Clarion lays open better and the goatskin on the Pitt Minion has a more pronounced grain. Other than that they feel the same to me.
Thanks for that input. I know what to expect now from that calfskin offering.
Dear Randy:
Daily reading in some organized fashion is in my view essential for growth in the Christian walk with the Lord. I am continually blessed with Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening, by the time the year is over the selections and commentary for January 1 are to me fresh as new. I have never had a Bible set up as a daily read. The closest to that I have come is a reading plan sent to me by a local radio station that is in historical time sequence. I have found the time sequence perspective a good way to get a true picture of the sequence of events. Two of my Bibles include in their appendices a list of readings each day from the Old Testament and the New Testament, these plans are good in that they expose the reader daily to each Testament, but for me lacks the focus of the historical sequence plan. Plans for subject oriented readings are endless in possibility, but some subjects just don’t get covered in any meaningful way leaving one to the tender mercies of a dictionary and concordance; who for instance wants to or is capable of creating a daily reading list focused on the Biblical concept of Time, what it is, how it was created, since it was created, what came before that or is it indeed all that there is? I’m sure you get the point. Prepared lists or even a complete Bible set up for daily devotionals is a good place to start, or even a good place to end up, but there is nothing like getting into chain references focused on such concepts as Time and all the questions surrounding this basic subject and its implication on Christian Life, there are indeed an almost endless lists of subjects such as these that are profitable for study, limited only by one’s imagination.
Yours in Christ
Don Denison
Hi Don. I also like Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening. Your reading plan sounds interesting. I just read several chapters a day in Biblical order. I’ve tried a mix between the OT and NT, but I prefer to stay focused on just one book for my general reading. I love reading chain references through the whole Bible.
Randy
Dear Randy:
The best thing about following chain references is that they can be as detailed or as general as the reader/student desires. Thompson’s Chain Reference Bible is great for this as are Nave’s or other Topical Bibles. Getting into God’s Word is always a blessing regardless of how deeply one goes.
I’ve also found Streams in the Desert, and Daily Light to be good starting points for devotions or beginning a topical or chain reference subject. Commentaries are nice, but tend to be prejudicial if the reader clings too tightly to them, the Bible actually is its on best commentary. A really good cross index reference like the Cambridge Concord, the Westminister Reference Bible, or the Thompson’s Chain Reference Bible, a good Concordance and a Bible Dictionary are really all one needs, these, and time spent in the Word.
Yours In Christ
Don Denison
I love your reviews of study Bibles. I find them to be comprehensive and intriguing. I already want to buy two (or possibly three) study Bibles you have reviewed here, that i might not have know about if not for your articles. Just a note, some of the photos of the above article, when you click on them, appear on their side or upside down. Thought I should let you know–I’m not complaining at all. Thanks for your time and effort on these.
Thanks! I appreciate you letting me know.