Tyndale sent us a copy of the ESV One Year Bible. The One Year Bibles are designed to make it easy for you to read through the entire Bible in a year.
ISBN:9781496443694 Printed in the United States of America
Tyndale provided this Bible in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
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This Bible is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
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Construction and Materials
Paperback editions are the main format that Tyndale One year Bibles are available in. This ESV has a glossy on the outside thick cardstock cover and a glued binding.
The Bible measures approximately 8 3/8″ x 5 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ and weighs about 1 pound, 14 1/2 ounces.
The paper is probably in the upper 30s to 40 gsm but doesn’t feel quite like a standard Bible paper to me. It is definitely closer to Bible paper than the paper found in most paperbacks, being noticeably whiter and smoother than any paperback I had handy. It is very opaque and easy to turn.
This Bible is much easier to use holding it in your hands than laying on a desk. It won’t stay open on its own for most of January or December. (After daily use December might lay flat by the time you get there.)
It is also available in eBook format
Typography and Layout
This Bible has a 9 point font. 5 lines of text and five spaces fit in the height of a penny. It is blackletter throughout. The ink is a medium darkness and is very consistent. One verse (or short passage) per day is done in bold. It is the publisher’s suggested daily memory verse or thought for the day.
The layout is a double-column paragraph format. Poetry is set in stanzas. The header contains the date for that reading in the outer corner and the page number in the inner corner.
The only footnotes are translation notes and they are in a single column that runs the full width of the page. They are keyed using only matching superscript numbers in the text and footnote.
Daily Readings
Each daily reading contains four smaller readings: 1 from the Old Testament, 1 from the New Testament, 1 from Psalms, and 1 from Proverbs. If you follow the plan as written you will read through the entire Bible once and Psalms a second time in a year. They are designed to take an average reader about 15 minutes a day.
The sample reading here (June 25th) is about 3 1/2 pages long. Daily readings typically range from 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pages. They have mostly found good places to divide the passages (not an easy task if you want to keep reading lengths even semi-consistent). Pages that have more than 1 day on them have the first day taking both columns at the top, then a thin black line, then the second day taking both columns at the bottom. The page is always labeled with the second day’s date.
Suggestions for dividing the daily readings further to read twice a day or to take 2 or 3 years instead of 1 to read the Bible are included.
Other Features
This Bible includes the Preface to the English Standard Version. I really like that this included even though it is frequently left out of more compact Bibles. It is very handy to have this to refer to if you are using one of these reading plan Bibles to read a translation you are less familiar with.
There are 2 lists in the back of the Bible that would make this Bible a little easier to use for more than just a daily reading.
The first is a 5-page list that helps you find where some important and most looked for Bible passages are since this Bible isn’t arranged like a typical one. This would make it at least somewhat easier to use to read a Bible story to someone or to find some passages you might want to use while witnessing.
The second is 7 pages of “Verses to Remember”. Several verses that weren’t chosen as daily memory verses but that the editors felt would be useful for encouragement and direction are reprinted here. There are 1 to 4 verses or passages included for each of the subtopics under “About Salvation” and “About the Christian Life”.
I would have liked another page or two and more subtopics in the Salvation section. (Though that could have slanted it more towards one church’s or another’s doctrinal viewpoint so maybe less is better.) I think the Christian Life section is very well done especially for the amount of space it takes up
Final Thoughts on the ESV One Year Bible
The ESV One Year Bible is a nice inexpensive Bible to use for daily reading. Having each day’s readings all in one place makes it much easier to stick with and use a reading plan that has you read from multiple places in the Bible. While these paperback Bibles might not be in the best condition after 1 or 2 complete readthroughs they are a great way to try new reading plans or to read through a new to you translation. Being less expensive also means you worry less when you carry it with you or leave it sitting where it will be most convenient making it easier to actually read it every day. The ESV One Year Bible is a good one to consider for your next readthrough of the Bible.
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This Bible is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
_________________________________________________________
Photography by Lucinda Brown
Tyndale provided this Bible in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
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