To know God and what he expects from us, we must read his Word, the Bible. There are many great Bible websites and apps available. The following three Bible websites have many translations of the Bible available:
We recommend the English Standard Version, New International Version, New American Standard Bible, or the Holman Christian Standard Bible, though other translations such as the King James Version and the New King James Version are fine choices. As long as you don’t use an intentionally distorted version of the Bible, the best translation is the one that you actually read.
There are many Bible apps for smart phones and tablets:
- YouVersion
- The Bible app from Faithlife for Android
- The Bible app from Faithlife for the iPhone and iPad
Some people benefit from Bible reading plans. Here are three good ones that cover the entire Bible in one year (they start on January 1, but you can adapt them to start your reading on any day), plus a list of other plans:
- A Bible Reading Plan by Denny Burk
- The M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
- Five Day Bible Reading Program
- Some other reading plans listed on the ESV website
- These and other Bible reading plans listed on the Ligonier Ministries website
If you are using the M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan, you may wish to use
D. A. Carson’s devotional, For the Love of God, which features one page of reflections on one of the day’s Scripture passages from a brilliant scholar:
- The “For the Love of God” blog
- Download a PDF version of For the Love of God, Volume 1
- Download a PDF version of For the Love of God, Volume 2
There are also a number of resources available to help you improve your understanding of the Bible. The following are a few good ones that are free and online:
- The Bible Project (their videos can also be viewed on YouTube)
- The Gospel Coalition is developing a concise commentary on the whole Bible.
- InterVarsity Press’s New Testament commentaries are available to read online at biblegateway.com
- There are other study resources also available at biblegateway.com
- Free Bible Commentary (this website is ugly, but click on either “Old Testament Studies” or “New Testament Studies” and then “Written Commentaries” to find the book of the Bible you wish to study further)
- You might want to become familiar with the Logos Bible app or software. You can download the software on your computer or install the app for free. They also have a web-based program. Each month, Logos offers a free book. Other books can be purchased.
Introductions to the Bible
The Bible is a long, complicated book, one with many styles of writing, one that encompasses a history of thousands of years, one that has many themes and lessons to teach. It helps to have a guide to such a book. The resources mentioned above are great, and a study Bible like the ESV Study Bible has introductions to sections of the Bible and each individual book. But here are some shorter books that can help, too:
- Vaughan Roberts, God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible
- Mark Dever, What Does God Want of Us Anyway? A Quick Overview of the Bible
- Greg Gilbert, The Epic Story of the Bible: How to Read and Understand God’s Word