Holy Bible: New International Version

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First off, I don't think I actually would recommend reading the Old Testament (or indeed the Bible) through from start to finish as I did. It wasn't written or compiled to be read in that way, and it doesn't do the text any services to read as if it were a novel, a short story collection, or a book of essays and meditations. I chose this approach because I wanted to feel that I had control of what I was reading, and that I was not missing anything, but if you want to get a fair flavour of it, it's probably better to follow one of the many reading guides available online and elsewhere, which are designed both to showcase the good bits and to keep the show more reader interested.

Second, a lot of it is pretty dull, actually. 2 Chronicles in particular comes close to Mark Twain's description of the Book of Mormon, as "choroform in print". Large chunks of the Pentateuch are lists of laws and, even less exciting, census returns. The historical bits have an awful lot of tediously horrible ethnic cleansing and dynastic struggle, leavened by the occasional good bit (the Saul/David/Solomon succession in particular). The prophets are rather indistinguishable in tone of outrage. I recommend finding some way of skipping the dull bits.

Third, the good bits are indeed good. I've singled out the Book of Job in a previous post; I found the Psalms generally inspiring and uplifting, and I've always been a fan of Ecclesiastes. The narrative histories, which I thought I knew fairly well, still had some surprises for me - in Numbers 12, God smites Moses' sister with leprosy for racism towards Moses' black wife, for instance. There are some fun bits in the prophets - Jonah, and the deuterocanonical addenda to Daniel (Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon). I also rather liked Sirach, aka Ecclesiasticus, which again is deuterocanonical. And 2 Maccabees is a fairly lucid, if brutal, historical note to finish on.

Fourth, there were indeed a few themes running through the entire OT whose importance I hadn't perhaps fully grasped: the importance of God's endowing his people with the land, the importance of the cult of the Temple, and the trauma of the Babylonian exile (which of course shaped most of the text we have very directly). I'm not saying that these are the only or even the main main themes, but that these are the ones whose importance was enhanced for me by reading through the entire thing.

As for the New Testament: it falls rather naturally into three sections. The Gospels and Acts are among the most readable narratives in the Bible; the most striking things are that the three synoptic gospels are so very close to each other, leaving John as the outlier, and that Luke's better Greek prose style comes through in almost any translation of his gospel and Acts. I am also struck every time that the Feeding of the Five Thousand is the only miracle other than the Resurrection reported in all four gospels.

I was much less familiar with the various epistles. They are not as easy to read as the gospels, combining as they do advice on local disputed, personal salutations, declarations about correct practice and belief, and attempts to put words on the ineffable (Hebrews in particular is an attempt at a theological manifesto avant la lettre). I was struck by how hardline Paul is, particularly in the early letters, on the issues that hardliners still stick to today, and also on the question of justification by faith; but there is a significant counterbalance from some of the later letters, especially 1 Peter which seems to be a direct response in some ways. (And the Epistle of Jude seems strangely familiar after 2 Peter ch 2...)

Finally, Revelation is the most Old Testament-y of the New Testament books. (There is nothing like the letters in the Old Testament, and the gospels and Acts are quite different in style from the OT historical books.) Again, Revelation is an attempt to express in words that which cannot be expressed in words; it is clearly not meant to be taken literally, but as one person's attempt to concretise the underlying truths. show less

As far as translated versions go, this is one of the more popular ones, even if in recent years it has lost some footing to the English Standard Version in terms of exactness of translation and conveyance of meaning. So whatever Bible is preferred is up to the reader/scholars who peruse and study it, my rating is not based on the exactness/word choice used in translation, but its content.

As far as a story/chronicle goes, this is all over the map - which is understandable as not one single person worte it, and the various books within it were collected over hundreds of years, with a bug difference in the narrative of the Old Testament and New Testament.

There's some good advice in here, but it's advice that can be found elsewhere. I.e. be show more frugal, be kind, be honest, etc etc. There's a lot of awful stuff in here, much of it enabled if not actually committed by Jehovah/YHVH himself. Hell, the story of Genesis is pretty fucked in itself. Adam and Eve were ignorant, because they'd never known hurt or other bad things while living in Eden, so how could Eve NOT be decieved by the serpent who tempted her to eat the forbidden fruit which sat there in Eden with no barrier?

The fruit was knowledge of good and evil - which means that before Eve ate the fruit, she literally did not know what good or evil was. So how could she have performed a misdeed, not knowing what a misdeed was? This was a game that Adam and Eve were set up to fail, especially because if Jehovah created everything, that means he also created the serpent.

And ever since then, man has continued to fail all these tests that have been thrown at him by a god who seems determined to see people fail and suffer.

Christians like to harp on about how loving their god is, but really, would someone who was loving and sane treat people that way? This book has done so much harm through the ages, from different Christian factions fighting one another (i.e. Catholics vs Protestants) to religious folks shoving Christianity down the throats of foreigners and indigenous folk, through force and brutality. A truly loving god wouldn't be allowing this kind of shit to be committed under his name, but the excuse is that he has a "plan".

Yeah, no.

I only gave this book an extra star because of its historical context, particularly the Old Testament. It should not be used for anything else. show less

This was my first read-through of the NIV since I was in junior high school (I'm in my mid-30s now) and it was so nostalgic to come back to it! The Bible version used at my school from 1st through 8th grades was an NIV and all of my early memorization was done with it, so reading through this version again felt like coming home and opening up boxes of treasures that were hidden in my heart. It has been updated from the earlier versions of the NIV and I found that I did like the changes.

I still have a few more versions to read through before declaring a solid favorite English translation but this one is definitely in the running. At present, I would say that it is at the top of the list as a whole version but that I really do love show more Romans and Hebrews in the NRSV.

This edition (the premium single-column reference Bible printed by Zondervan) is so beautiful. The cover is supple and soft and the size is perfect. It feels so good in the hands whilst reading and I love that it has three bookmark ribbons. Single-column Bibles are my preference these days. They feel so much more readable and I find that my mind is able to focus better when reading in this format. show less

The NIV Clear Focus Bible is a unique Bible, specially crafted for individuals with ADHD, Dyslexia, or anyone who finds it challenging to concentrate while reading Scripture.

Before this Bible, I wasn’t familiar with the Bionic Reading Method, but now I see how transformative it can be for those who struggle with focusing and understanding what they’re reading.

The Bionic Reading Method uses a distinctive text layout, bolding certain parts of words. (e.g. 𝐓he 𝐋ord 𝐢s 𝐦y 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐩herd.) Initially, I found this a bit alarming—likely because I personally don’t struggle with focus—but I soon realized that the strategic bolding helps the eyes move smoothly from word to word. While I may not completely grasp the show more science behind it, the brain seems to process the information it needs from the bolded parts of each word. The last page of each chapter offers notes and cross-references, keeping the reading pages clean and clear of distractions.

The physical design is also noteworthy, featuring colored and textured dots on a soft and pretty charcoal brown Leathersoft cover, two satin ribbon bookmarks, a table of contents, an introduction page, NIV Preface, full text of the Old and New Testaments, a weights and measures page, and a handy reading plan. The Bible feels good in my hands, features a lay-flat design, and includes a presentation page for gifting. This is such a unique, thoughtful, and impactful gift for anyone who has difficulty reading or maintaining focus.

Genre: Bible, NIV
Page Count: 1952

#CoverLoverBookReview received a review copy of this book. Opinions are 100% my own.
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I read the King James (KJV) and the New International Version (NIV) at the same time (which might explain why it took nearly two years to finish), and this is not a review of the content so much as a review of the two translations.

KJV is beautiful, and there is a reason it has been considered the standard English version for 4 centuries. But it is also 4 centuries old, which makes some of the language at times difficult to completely understand for modern readers.

NIV was first published in 1978, translated from original sources into modern English. There were many times during this reading project when I read the KJV chapter, and then read the same NIV chapter and revised my understanding of what was being said. If I were ever to read show more the bible from cover to cover again (unlikely), I would probably go with the NIV.

Nutshell: read the KJV for the poetry and the literary history, read the NIV for understanding. show less

This review is based on an epub version of the 2011 revision of the NIV. It does not reflect my attitude toward the Bible, just my profound disappointment with the 2011 revision of the NIV.

This Bible was my first purchase for my Sony Pocket eReader. I chose it because it promised ease of navigation. The ability to quickly locate specific references was the most important consideration in my decision to purchase. This was also my first exposure to the new revision of the NIV. I am appalled that the translation committee decided to sacrifice grammatical correctness for gender neutrality. Plural pronouns are regularly used as substitutes for singular nouns. Although this is common usage in informal speech, it is not acceptable in formal show more writing. As an educator, I often see such errors in student writing. I always mark these errors and expect students to correct them in their final submissions. I don't expect to pay a publisher for the privilege of reading incorrect grammar. I don't think I'll be able to turn off my internal editor in order to use this translation. I'll be looking for a different, grammatically correct translation to use instead. Immediately. show less

I read the King James (KJV) and the New International Version (NIV) at the same time (which might explain why it took nearly two years to finish), and this is not a review of the content so much as a review of the two translations.

KJV is beautiful, and there is a reason it has been considered the standard English version for 4 centuries. But it is also 4 centuries old, which makes some of the language at times difficult to completely understand for modern readers.

NIV was first published in 1978, translated from original sources into modern English. There were many times during this reading project when I read the KJV chapter, and then read the same NIV chapter and revised my understanding of what was being said. If I were ever to read show more the bible from cover to cover again (unlikely), I would probably go with the NIV.

Nutshell: read the KJV for the poetry and the literary history, read the NIV for understanding. show less