If you’re in the market for gifts to encourage Bible study, here are our top recommendations. We’ve reviewed most of these products on this site at many times and in many ways, but here they are in one place for you. Many wonderful new resources came out this year, so check around the guide for what’s new!
Bibles
You can’t beat a good Bible. Our top recommendation is to get yourself or someone you love one of the best editions of the Bible to hit the western world: the ESV Reader’s Bible, 6 Volume Set.
Our first review. Second review.
Get it at Amazon | Westminster
And while we use the ESV translation more than any other, we must mention that the 4-volume NIV Sola Scriptura Bible Project has perhaps the most innovative layout and presentation of the Scriptures, which make it a sheer delight to read.
If 6 volumes seem too much to you, the single volume ESV Reader’s Bible is still well worth picking up.
Cloth over board: Get it at Amazon | Westminster
Reader’s Bibles are arriving with increasing frequency in other translations as well. See our reviews of the CSB, NIV one-volume, NIV 4-volume, and ESV Gospels. They’re even starting to come out with editions for kids.
And for something completely different, consider getting an entire book of the New Testament on a single page spread, with the ESV Panorama New Testament.
Chronological Bible
NEW: Though I haven’t had time to review it yet, the ESV Chronological Bible is worth your attention. Get it at Amazon
Study Bibles
There are so many options. See our buying guide for recommendations about which ones succeed at promoting OIA Bible study.
Markup Bibles
For something you can write in with greater ease, see our recommendations. Also consider large print and journaling Bibles. Or Scripture journals. If you prefer more space between lines of text, see the Inductive Version of the Journaling New Testament.
Journibles
If you or a loved one like the idea of copying out the Scriptures by hand, you might want to consider a Journible.
Audio Bibles
The Dwell app for mobile devices is a remarkable tool designed completely for listening to the Bible. NIV Live is a terrific dramatized audio Bible.
Bible Study
For a snapshot of the OIA process, see this blog post.
For a little more explanation of the principles, see our free booklet.
To go even further, with lots of illustrations, examples to follow, and exercises to practice, see One-to-One Bible Reading or Peter’s book Knowable Word (now revised and expanded).
If you’re familiar with the OIA model, and you’d like to hone your skills to perfection, consider getting Methodical Bible Study by Robert Traina. This book is dry and doesn’t tell many stories. But it delves the depths of the model like nothing else.
Leading
If you’d like to grow as a Bible study leader see Peter’s book Sowable Word or Colin Marshall’s terrific book Growth Groups.
Commentaries
See our page with recommended commentaries that promote OIA Bible study skills. We don’t have recommendations for every Bible book yet, but we update this page as we come across helpful volumes.
Beginners
Great places for beginners to start in gaining familiarity with the Bible’s layout and message are The Beginner’s Guide to the Bible (see Peter’s review), The Visual Theology Guide to the Bible (see Ryan’s review), and The Visual Word (see Ryan’s review).
Software
Peter still happily recommends Logos Bible Software, as it has drastically improved the speed and quality of his Bible study. See his reviews of Logos 7, Logos 8, and Logos 9 for details (Logos 10 is the latest version). Also see Ryan’s review of E-Sword free software.
Children’s Resources
The best thing you and your church can do for your children is to buy them a Bible and teach them to use it. In my household, that means we buy ESV pew Bibles (the cheapest we can find) almost by the case. These things will get beat up and need to be replaced often, so there’s no use in getting the authentic-porpoise-leather-imported-from-Mars-heirloom-editions just yet.
When children are first learning to read, it may be helpful to give them the NIrV. This builds their confidence in reading the very words of God in their own language. Remember, the story Bibles are good, but God’s undiluted word is even better.
And before dipping into the supplemental resources below, perhaps you’d consider printing out a few simple devotional pages for your kids, so they can explore the Scriptures for themselves before hearing what others have to say about the Scriptures.
Ages 0-2
The Big Picture Story Bible – A marvelous overview of the Bible’s rich storyline: The people of God under the rule of God in the place God gives. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
Read Aloud Bible Stories – Brief Bible stories that draw in young children, letting the children know these are their stories. Get it at Amazon.
Ages 3-5
The Gospel Story Bible – Retellings of 156 Bible stories, synchronized with the Gospel Story for Kids curriculum, and devotionals Long Story Short and Old Story New. The best part of these stories are that much use is made in the retelling of the actual text of Scripture. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
NEW: God’s BIG Promises Bible Storybook – Traces 5 major promises through the Bible from beginning to end. Great to read aloud to preschoolers, or to have young elementary read themselves. See my review. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
The Jesus Storybook Bible – Gripping gospel focus, though it sometimes seems to suggest that Bible stories are not meant to serve as examples (contrast with 1 Cor 10:6, 11, etc.). Get it at Amazon | Westminster
Ages 5-7
Mark’s Marvellous Book – I still hope this becomes more of a trend: A children’s story Bible that follows the shape and themes of a book of the Bible (rather than cherry-picking certain stories, ignoring the fact that they were written to an audience in a context). See my review. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
NEW: God’s Daring Dozen – Similar to Mark’s Marvellous Book, these short volumes each follow the shape and theme of a book of the Bible. These sets work through the twelve minor prophets, from Hosea to Malachi. And they are simply extraordinary. See my review. Get box 1 (Amazon | Westminster) or box 2 (Amazon | Westminster). Even better, get both, and wait eagerly for box 3 to come out!
The Big Picture Story Bible – A marvelous overview of the Bible’s rich storyline: The people of God under the rule of God in the place God gives. Read this to your kids at ages 0-2; then have them read it to themselves at ages 5-7. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
Ages 8-14
The Radical Book for Kids – This is the kind of gift you get for your kids, but it’s also, sort of, partly, perhaps, for you. You know, like Legos, football tickets, or family room surround sound systems. It’s an engaging and delightful handbook of the Christian faith. See my review. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
NEW: The Really Radical Book for Kids – Just as wonderfully radical as the first one, only really so. See my review. Get it at Amazon | Westminster. Or get a deal on both Radical books at Westminster.
Or perhaps you’d like to consider getting them their own beginner reader’s Bible.
Family Devotions
I highly recommend the series of devotionals by Marty Machowski. These volumes don’t merely communicate Christian truth, as important as that is; they train children to study the Bible and find that truth for themselves. In addition, the “daily” family devotions take only 5 days/week, and they truly take only 10 minutes per day. The payoff is high, but the price of entry is low. This makes it more likely you’ll be able to stay consistent with them. Every volume in this series has the same high quality; each also has the same basic structure for each day’s devotion. See my review.
- Long Story Short – 78 weeks in the Old Testament. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
- Old Story New – 78 weeks in the New Testament. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
- Prepare Him Room – 4 weeks in Advent season. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
- Wise Up – 12 weeks in Proverbs. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
- Listen Up – 13 weeks in the parables of Jesus. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
Happy gift shopping!
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Thank you for these recommendations. I got a couple to read with my kids. However, you lose a little credibility by recommending the Jesus Storybook Bible. I found too many issues with it. Plus, there’s the authors stance on homosexuality.
Great recommendations!
Regarding the ESV Reader’s Bible, 6 Volume Set:
1. Just make sure to get the one that’s printed by Royal Jongbloed in the Netherlands, not the one that’s printed in China. The one printed in China looks nice, but only if you’ve never seen the one printed in the Netherlands, which just looks far better, at least in my opinion. I mean, the China one is good aesthetically (so if you end up with that one, no huge deal or anything, I guess), but again the Netherlands one is next level. (And politically speaking, there are serious concerns about China, especially with how they have behaved toward Christians and Bibles in China.)
2. Crossway has two versions of the ESV Reader’s Bible, 6 Volume Set. One with chapter and verse numbers and one without chapter and verse numbers. I know, I know, a reader’s Bible with chapter and verse numbers seems to defeat the purpose of a reader’s Bible! But to be fair, the chapter and verse numbers are small enough where they’re not super intrusive and don’t impede the reading experience too much. Still, I personally prefer the one without chapter and verse numbers since I prefer a “pure” reader’s Bible, as it were.