Bible Review: ESV Prayer Bible

ESV Prayer Bible. 2019. Crossway Books. 1920 pages. [Source: Review copy]

I was so excited to be able to review one of Crossway's newest Bibles, the ESV Prayer Bible.

What makes this one unique? It includes over four hundred prayers--spanning the centuries of Christian thought--linked to specific passages throughout the Old and New Testaments. It also includes an introductory essay by Donald Whitney. (I absolutely loved, loved, loved his book How To Pray the Bible.)

I found the quality of the quotes--the prayers--to be excellent. This would be a GREAT way for readers to learn about new theologians. I love that there's a resource at the back that gives you a bit more information about each author/theologian included.

The size of this one mostly worked for me. I found it small enough and light enough to read in bed. The font of the Scripture text allowed comfortably for this. The font of the quotes--or the prayers--was a bit too tiny.

It was also light enough that one could read it while sitting in a chair--and having tea. But I found myself squinting more when I read this way. (I still did it. I love, love, love having tea and reading the Word.)

As I mentioned before, the font size of the quotes--or the prayers--was small (7.25). They were also printed in GRAY. I think both the smaller size and the lighter font made it more difficult on my eyes for long periods of time. The text of the Word itself was 9.25. (And, of course, it was printed in black.)

 The ESV Prayer Bible is single column paragraph.

There is ghosting or bleed-through. I found this to be most noticeable in the wisdom books--like Psalms--where you could "read" several psalms without ever turning the page. It was also more noticeable with the quotes--or prayers. Sadly this is because the prayers are in gray--as is the ghosted text.

If the pages had been thicker, if the the font size of the prayers had been slightly bigger, if the the color of the prayers had been slightly darker, then I think I would have absolutely loved this one. It is oh-so-close to being ideal.

I would recommend this one. Many people have better eyesight than I do and don't struggle with strained eyes. The quality of the quotes--as I mentioned--is absolutely wonderful! So there's definitely substance here.




© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible