Audio Bibles

There honestly is nothing better than reading through the Bible from cover-to-cover in a relatively short period of time.  In so doing, you will be able to connect the miraculous prophecies of the Old Testament with the New Testament and come to a deeper understanding of how God’s plan has been pointing toward Jesus since the very beginning.  Anyone can easily read the entire Bible in about 90 days.  I have a 90 day Bible reading program posted on this blog that is tied to the Ryrie Study Bible.  This is a very easy to follow plan that can be expanded on the weekends or when you have extra time making it possible to finish in less than 90 days.

What I’ve found to be an enormous help, especially when reading through the Old Testament, is to read the Bible while listening to an audio Bible.  The Old Testament has lots of names that are difficult to pronounce which tends to slow down the reading.  If you read along with a good audio Bible, you will hear the correct pronunciation as you read and thereby have a more full and complete experience.

Another great way to use a good audio Bible is in your daily commute.  Rather than read the Bible, you can listen to the Bible as you drive to and from work or school.  Depending on your length of commute you may be able to listen to the entire Bible in far less than 90 days. Most audio Bibles take around 90 – 100 hours to complete.  If you listen 30 minutes in each direction of your commute you will finish in about 50 days.  And you will be greatly blessed.

There are essentially three Audio Bibles I can recommend. First of all, the Bible Gateway website offers free audio Bibles in several different translations. If you simply click on the speaker icon when viewing any verse, you will be presented with the audio window that includes a pull-down menu from which you can select your preferred audio version.

My second recommendation is “The Word of Promise” which features the voices of Jim Caviezel, Richard Dreyfuss, Gary Sinise, Marisa Tomei, Stacy Keach, Louis Gossett, Jr., Jon Voight, and others.  In addition to the voices of professional actors, this audio Bible includes music and sound effects that bring the stories and Bible times to life.  The Word of Promise features the New King James Version of the Bible.  This is one of my favorite Bible translations which takes the classic King James Version and updates some of the grammar and vocabulary to make it easier to read and understand.

Here’s a good example of the difference:

Genesis 3:5 King James Version (KJV)

“For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Genesis 3:5 New King James Version (NKJV)

“For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

My final recommendation is the “The Bible Experience” which features the voices of Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Blair Underwood, Denzel Washington, and many others.  This is another dramatized version of the Bible that includes great music along with well-crafted Hollywood style sound design that brings the text to life.  The Bible Experience uses the TNIV (Today’s New International Version) of the Bible.  This was a version of the Bible that was supposed to be an update of the very popular NIV (New International Version).  Unfortunately, it didn’t go over very well.  Most people didn’t want their Bible changed.  The goal was to once again bring the language closer to modern English.

In Matthew 1:18, where the NIV says that Mary was “with child,” the TNIV simply says Mary was “pregnant.”

Luke 12:38, in the NIV says “second or third watch of the night” and is changed to “middle of the night or toward daybreak” in the TNIV.

The TNIV also uses gender-neutral language to refer to people.  Genesis 1:27 in the New International Version (NIV) is “God created mankind in his own image.” and in the TNIV we have “God created human beings in his own image.”

If this kind of modern English translation appeals to you or if you simply like the list of actors in this version better, you will certainly enjoy this well-produced audio Bible.

You can find samples of both of these audio Bible versions online.  Listen to each and then select the one that works best for you.  You can’t go wrong with either production.

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