17. NASB 1977 Inductive Study Bible

The New Inductive Study Bible. NASB (New American Standard, 1977). God. 1992. 2296 pages. [Source: Bought] [5/5 stars] 

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Start date: October 20, 2025

End date: December 28, 2025

I absolutely love, love, love the New American Standard Bible, in particular I love, love, love the 1977 edition of the NASB. 

This will not be a review of the "new inductive" features. There is a massive system of bible study--bible marking--involved in the inductive study method. I did not seek to try to learn it. 

Believe it or not, I did *slow* down my reading for this read through. I read ONE book at a time. I underlined. I wrote in the wide margins. I jotted down questions. I intentionally thought about how verses fit into chapters, and how chapters fit into books. I was more observant when it came to recurring themes. I finished the book quickly because I was enthusiastic about spending time in the Word of God. I read twice a day for varying amounts of time.

This one is SINGLE column, black letter, fairly large print. Though I didn't follow the instructions for the inductive method, I did enjoy some of the charts, illustrations, and books introductions. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

16. Holy Bible, KJV (435E1B Paragraph Bible)

435E1B Paragraph Bible, Holy Bible, King James Version. Local Church Publisher. 1950 pages. [Source: Gift] [5 stars]

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

I love, love, love, love, love, love, love, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the ironed calfskin leather. LOVE. The feel was super amazing. It was just a JOY, an absolute joy, to hold this one. Based on how it *felt* it is easily one of my favorite Bibles to hold in hand. 

I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the layout of this Bible. I love that it is 11 point font. I love that it is single column. I love that it is paragraph instead of verse by verse by verse. I love that it is BLACK LETTER. It does NOT have self-pronouncing text. 

I should also note that this Bible while not being marketed as a READERS Bible is without chapters and verses. This may make you super sad or super confused. But for those looking for a PRINT edition of the KJV without verse numbers, it is a dream. (I do own a hardback KJV Readers Bible but the ghosting is absolutely horrible in it. A true distraction.) 

It was a great balance of size and weight. Font is large enough to read easily. NOT a heavy Bible to carry. The paper was not super thin or super thick. There is some bleed through or ghosting. But not more than you'd find in almost any other Bible published in the last ten to twenty years. And I'd say it was probably less ghosting than some Bibles published recently. It wasn't bothersome enough to impact reading or the duration of reading.

Many of the individual books (though not all certainly) were read in one sitting. There was no eye strain. 

This Bible has two ribbons. I personally like ribbons. I am thankful for any Bible with at least two ribbons. Bibles with just one ribbon are a little sad. While there may be such a thing as having too many ribbons in a bible--two is a reasonable amount for most any reader. I've read the Bible through cover to cover and so far the ribbons are holding up well. 

I really love the King James Version. I do. It is not my only translation. I am not King James Only by any stretch of the imagination. But I find the KJV hard to resist. I do. I have a weakness for it. 

This is the Bible that checks all my own personal boxes. 

From the publisher: 

Size: Hand Size
Number of Pages: 1,950
Translators to the Readers: No
Presentation Page/Family Tree: No
Self-Pronouncing Text: No
Center Column Reference: No
Notes: No
Words of Christ in Red: No
Ribbons: Two
Concordance: No
Maps: No
Font Size: 11 Point Font,  Large Font
Cover: Executive (Ironed Calfskin)
Cover Style: 1 Piece Black
Open: 13″ x 8.75″
Closed: 8.75″″ x 6″ x 1.5″
Margins (in/out/top/bottom): 0.5″ x 0.5″ x 0.375″ x 0.375

As of December 2025, it IS in stock at Local Church Bible Publishers. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

15. New American Standard Bible 1995

15. New American Standard Bible (1995 text) Large Print Pew Bible. (Lockman Foundation). 1995/2005. 1267 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars]

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

Start date: October 18, 2025

End date: December 15, 2025

I listened to the NASB (New American Standard Bible, 1995 edition) on audio on YouVersion using the Bible in 90 Days plan from that app. It is *not* the same Bible in 90 Days that you find elsewhere online. The narrator was Dale McConanchie. He was fine as a narrator. 

I love this translation of the Bible. It is always a favorite translation to read.

I do love reading the Bible in 90 days, however, the YouVersion was weird. Maybe some readers don't mind breaking up chapters of the Bible 90% of the time. But I do. So I'd always have to listen to the rest of the chapter from the next day's reading. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, I ended up usually listening to two to three days readings in one day because of it. You might have noticed my start and end dates are NOT in fact 90 days. 

Would I recommend this translation? YES.

Would I recommend this narrator? Maybe. Not the best. Not the worst. Perfectly fine.

Would I recommend this reading plan? Possibly. It was incredibly convenient to have the app keep track of the readings. But they were also broken up in exceedingly odd places. IF one was reading the Bible in 90 Days with others,  you'd have to make sure you were using the *right* Bible in 90 days. If everyone uses this version from the app, no problem. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

13. KJV New Scofield Study Bible

13. The New Scofield Study Bible, King James Version, God. 1967. 1400 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars, Bible]

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Start date: August 27, 2025

End date: October 24, 2025

The King James Version is perhaps my favorite and best translation of the Bible. It is in my top three at any rate. (I also love the New American Standard Bible, 1977, and the New King James Version.) The New Scofield lightly--oh so lightly--updates the text of the KJV gently, softly, mostly for the better. It also features study notes from Dr. C.I. Scofield. These notes--I believe--have been updated, improved, adapted, something along those lines. This is not the original Scofield Bible published in 1909. 

Did I read the notes? the book introductions? Yes and no. I started off reading most of the notes and all the book introductions. At one point--probably when I started Genesis--I stopped reading the notes.  (I didn't start reading with Genesis, by the way. I believe I started with either the Chronicles or perhaps Job.) Of the notes I read, I agreed with some and disagreed with others. There were definitely some helpful notes and charts. I definitely appreciated the extra helps with the major and minor prophets. 

I did appreciate that this one had limited use of the self-pronouncing text--very, very, very lightly used. I loved, loved, loved that it was WORDS OF CHRIST IN BLACK LETTER. I appreciated the double columns and the CENTER COLUMN reference. 

My copy was thrifted and it is the 1967 version. The paper quality is good. Obviously it would have been even better in 1967. There is not much ghosting of the text--when you can read the text on the other side of the page. The printing seems bold enough and not faint. The paper being so old was prone to tearing here and there. I think this was an age issue. I did highlight in it and had some trouble with the pen tearing pages here and there. Again I think it an age issue. The binding is floppy YET holding together just fine. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

12. New King James 746 (Nelson)

12. New King James Version Nelson 746. God. 1983. 1393 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars, Bible]

Start date: August 29, 2025

End date: October 16, 2025

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 

I have come to love the New King James Version in recent years. Is it in my top three? I'm not sure. Is it in my top five? Absolutely. 

The Nelson 746 has a layout and design that is almost perfectly perfectly perfect. IF ONLY it was black letter instead of red letter. IF only the red letter was darker. But the size of the Bible, the weight of the Bible, absolutely perfect. The font size worked with the size and weight. It is, of course, on the smaller size being a compact Bible. I absolutely love, love, love that it is center column reference. It is double column.  

This is one of my favorite thrift-finds. 

As for the Bible, I love, love, love reading the Bible. The New King James Version is a good translation choice. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

11. Berean Standard Bible

Berean Standard Bible, Holy Bible, (BSB) God. 2022. 1504 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Start date: August 2, 2025

End date: October 14, 2025

I used YouVersions 'To the Word' reading plan and mainly exclusively listened to the Berean Standard Bible this time around. I did read several of the days instead of listening. But for the most part, I listened. I enjoyed it. I do prefer reading to listening. HOWEVER, I was looking for a translation that I could listen to in the background as I prepped food, cooked, did dishes, etc. I wanted it to be a translation that I enjoyed and loved. I wanted a good narrator. 

The 'To the Word' reading plan is slightly odd. I'm not sure I'd recommend it over other more traditional reading plans. There is a lot of repetition--for better or worse. For example, once a week, the day's reading would be Exodus 20. There were several days where you would just repeat something you'd already read--in some cases several times. For example, I lost count how many times the plan has you read Ephesians. For the record, I love, love, love Ephesians. But it is a choice, for sure, to repeat readings so often. The plan would alternate between Old Testament and New Testament. Psalms and Proverbs were spread throughout the reading plan. The plan didn't seem to have any outstanding, obvious logic to the order of readings. It wasn't specifically chronological. The choices sometimes seemed intentional but also sometimes random. 

The Berean Standard Bible (originally published as the Berean Study Bible) has become one of my favorite translations. Definitely top five or six material. This, I believe, is the second printing of the BSB. Mine came with some defects, but, the first printing did not. I do not hold it against the translation itself. One of the sheets of paper was NOT attached in anyway. 

From their website, "The Berean Standard Bible is a completely new translation based on the best available manuscripts and sources. Each word is connected back to the Greek or Hebrew text, resulting in a transparent and honest text that can be studied for its root meanings. The Berean Study Bible text is the result of a careful translation and styling process to maintain core meanings and produce an English text of high literary quality, effective for public reading, study, memorization, and evangelism. We believe that the Scriptures are meant to be studied and shared freely. Just as Paul encouraged the churches to pass on his letters, we are developing digital resources that will be free to access and free to share in websites, apps and software."

I do absolutely love, love, love, LOVE, love this translation. It feels like coming home. It feels familiar, right.  Of course, many translations feel familiar. But that is often the result of months even years. It is hard to explain. 

It is black letter, double column, nice layout.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; 

I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness

for the sake of His name.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

9. KJV Thompson Chain Reference (2022)

9. KJV Thompson Chain Reference Bible. God. 1923 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars, Bible]

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Start date: June 26, 2025

End date: August 27, 2025

I've read through the Thompson Chain Reference Bible in several translations--the KJV, the NIV 84, the NASB 77, and the NASB 95. Zondervan acquired the Thompson Chain Reference and they have been republishing the Bible. [Newer layout, slightly rearranging the study helps, etc.] It is now available in Zondervan's "easy-to-read" Comfort Print. (Each translation has their own "Comfort Print.") It is now line-matched as well. Also included in this 'refresh' is the addition of color accents; that is color accents beyond just the Words of Christ being in red. 

It is double columned.

The Words of Christ are in red.

The font size is 9.5 which I think--particularly for a Thompson Chain Reference Bible--is larger than one might expect. The older Thompson Chain Reference Bibles do have a smaller font, I believe.

I love, love, love, love, LOVE the King James Version. I do. It is one of my favorite translations. 

I also have a 'weakness' for the Thompson Chain Reference Bible. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

2. 1611 King James Version

2. The Holy Bible, 1611 Edition, King James Version, 400th Anniversary, Hendrickson Publishers. 1611/2003. God. 1536 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars]

First sentence: In the beginning God created the Heauen and the Earth. And the earth was without forme, and voyd, and darkenesse was vpon the face of the deepe: and the Spirit of God mooued vpon the face of the waters. And God said,  Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God diuided the light from the darkenesse.

I first read the 1611 KJV in digital format in 2021. I was SO thrilled to find a print copy still at a physical store last December. I'd given up hope of finding one. Yes, I could have ordered online. But you can't be discerning about if the layout, the print, the ghosting, the weight, etc., will be *right for you* until you hold it in your hands. Was it? Yes and no. In a perfect world, the font size would be a smidgen bigger--not a horrendous amount. 

I started this one December 25, 2024. I finished this one--minus the apocrypha--on March 18, 2025. 

I absolutely should have remembered that the 1611 KJV included the apocrypha. I didn't. I therefore didn't calculate the time into my reading plan/schedule to include the apocrypha. To be fair, reading it in early-modern English isn't at the top of my to do list. I've read the apocrypha in the KJV, RSV, the NRSV, and I believe the New English Bible? Regardless, I've read it a handful of times in my life. 

I did want the original spelling. I don't know exactly what it is about reading the original spelling that engages and delights me. You might think it would be super difficult or tricky, but your mind can get the hang of it fairly quickly. And the spelling even starts to make some sense if you sound it out in your head. I imagine someone with a drawl. 

The print edition does NOT feature page numbers. I found at least one typo, yet there may be more. (The top of each left hand page includes the title of the book as a header, one of Micah's pages had JOEL substituted. Or to be more accurate, Ioel. It is double column, black letter. Is it a facsimile? No. Yes. Maybe. It is a facsimile of a nineteeth century roman typeface 1611 KJV. It is not a facsimile of the first-first-first ever 1611. It claims to be--and I have no true reason to doubt--that it is word for word, page for page, including the original marginal notes and introductory materials a copy of the original 1611. 

Quotes:

Psalm 34:3 O magnifie the Lord with me, and let vs exalt his name together. 34:4 I sought the Lord, and hee heard me; and deliuered mee from all my feares.

Psalm 37:4 Delight thy selfe also in the Lord; and he shall giue thee the desires of thine heart. 

Psalm 37:5 Commit thy way vnto the Lord: trust also in him, and he shall bring it to passe.

Isaiah 9:6 For vnto vs a child is borne, vnto vs a Sonne is giuen, and the gouernment shalbe vpon his shoulder: and his name shalbe called, Wonderfull, Counseller, The mightie God, The euerlasting Father, The Prince of peace. 

Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his gouernment and peace there shall be no end, vpon the throne of Dauid & vpon his kingdome, to order it, and to stablish it with iudgement and with iustice, from henceforth euen for euer: the zeale of the Lord of hostes will performe this.

Isaiah 40:11 He shall feede his flocke like a shepheard: he shall gather the lambes with his arme; and carie them in his bosome, and shall gently lead those that are with yoong.

John 3:16 For God so loued ye world, that he gaue his only begotten Sonne: that whosoeuer beleeueth in him, should not perish, but haue euerlasting life. 

John 3:17 For God sent not his Sonne into the world to condemne the world: but that the world through him might be saued.

Romans 12:15 Reioyce with them that doe reioice, and weepe with them that weepe.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

1. The Amplified Bible (1965)

1. Amplified Bible (1965 first whole Bible edition, 1978 seventeenth printing). God. Zondervan. 1485 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars (because all Bibles get 5 stars regardless of translation]

First sentence: In the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned,) and created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving, (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.

This was my first time to read through the Amplified cover to cover. I read the New Testament last year. I skimmed the New Testament this time around. This is not the newest edition of the Amplified, but the first edition that published both Old and New Testaments together. I do not how know how this text edition differs to those published in the 80s and beyond. 

The Amplified translation turned out not to be my favorite or best. I found it awkward at times--going a little too far. However, I tried to keep in mind the original audience(s) that would have only had the King James Version and the Revised Standard Version. I thought about how the translation might have helped bridge the gap in terms of understanding and comprehension. Probably most readers were not looking for a total and complete replacement, just an additional resource or aid for helping understand difficult passages. Maybe. That is pure speculation on my part. At the very least, I am reminded that translators wear the second hat of COMMENTATOR as well. It isn't always super obvious in most translations, but in the case of the Amplified that becomes clearer and clearer.

From the foreword: "Its intent is to progress beyond the point where the others have stopped. Its purpose is to reveal, together with the single word English equivalent to each key Hebrew and Greek word, any other clarifying shades of meaning that may be concealed by the traditional word-for-word method of translation. Now, possibly for the first time the full meaning of the key words in the original text is available in an English version of the Bible....In a sense amplification merely helps the English reader comprehend what the Hebrew and Greek listener understood as a matter of course."

I do think as a resource on the side, it has its place. I found it tiresome to read Genesis to Revelation. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible