God

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

I am hoping that this will be the only "messy" review of a Bible. Messy in that I literally read from three different physical Bibles--all the King James Version. I do typically try to read physical bibles cover to cover. I don't usually mix-and-match physical bibles. However, circumstances. I read from the RAINBOW STUDY BIBLE, the KJV Creedal Bible, and a vintage KJV published by World. I read probably fifty percent from the World one. There is NO copyright date. It is not in GoodReads or Amazon's databases.

I love, love, love the King James Version. I especially love older editions of the King James Version. The print seems to be blacker, darker. The paper can often be nicer--better quality. The gilding of this one is red. It is double column. Words of Christ in red. Self-pronouncing text. No cross references. Separate pagination for Old and New Testaments. 954 for the Old Testament. 292 for the New Testament.… (lisätietoja)

New King James Version, Sovereign Collection, Wide Margin. God. (Thomas Nelson Publisher). 2022. 1696 pages. [Source: Bought] [Bible]

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

This one was a birthday present. 2023 was the year I discovered I actually liked the New King James Version. This was my FIRST experience with a wide margin Bible.

I love, love, love, love, LOVE the layout of this Wide Margin Bible in the Sovereign collection published by Thomas Nelson. It is DOUBLE COLUMN. It is red letter. [I would have preferred black letter, but you can't have everything.] The margins are just about perfect.

There are many New King James text-only Bibles out there. There are probably even many wide margin New King James Bibles out there. I love the quality of the Sovereign collection.

Is it a must if you already have a New King James Bible you love? Probably not. But if you are looking for either a wide margin Bible [this one comes in the New King James and the King James Version] OR a NKJV with great layout, then this one is worth considering.… (lisätietoja)

The New Chronological Bible (Large Print) (King James Version) God. Edited by R. Jerome Boone. 1980. 1551 pages. World Bible Publishers. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

There have been other Bibles in the King James Version that have been arranged chronologically. This one is from 1980. I am guessing--pure speculation--that it was not a huge success from a publishing standpoint and did not stay in print. Then again, I had never heard of World Bible Publishers until I started thrifting.

This one is double column, words of Christ in BLACK. The font size is nice.

What makes this one unique? Or mostly unique? It is arranged chronologically. Any verse from any chapter any book could be spliced--rearranged--according to one man's editing desires. Some are obvious editorial choices; perhaps others less so. I would love a behind the scenes peek into WHY he put certain verses/chapters where he did.

The Bible is arranged in an outline with twelve major headings.
Development of the Early World
Development of Israel as a Tribe
Development of Israel as a Nation
Development of Israel as a Kingdom
Division of Israel into a Dual Kingdom
Survival of Israel in the Southern Kingdom
Captivity of Israel in Babylonia
Restoration of Israel as a Nation
Preservation of Israel During the Intertestamental Period
Inauguration of the Kingdom of God on Earth
Continuation of the Kingdom of God on Earth
Consummation of the Kingdom of God on Earth
The earliest section, so far, is the most choppy. I don't envy anyone the task of trying to mix and blend the whole Bible into a grand opening. (I personally would not mess with Genesis 1:1, but that is just me)

Here is how Boone worked it:
Psalms 93:2
Psalms 90:2
Colossians 1:17
John 1:1-2
Proverbs 8:12-31
Genesis 1:1
Genesis 2:4
Genesis 1:2-5, 6-8,
Genesis 2:5-6
Genesis 1:9-13, 14-19, 20-23, 24-26,
Genesis 2:7
Genesis 5:1
Genesis 2:18-25
Genesis 3:20
Genesis 1:27
Genesis 5:2
Genesis 1:28-31
Genesis 2:2-3
Genesis 2:1
Isaiah 45:18
Colossians 1:16
John 1:3
Isaiah 14:12-15
Ezekiel 28:13-16
Genesis 2:8-17
Genesis 3:1-7, 8-24

Any arrangement is going to obviously reveal the theological belief system of the arranger, the editor. For example, in this instance the interpretation that Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 refer to Satan's fall. He also places the book of Ruth and the last five chapters of Judges BEFORE the rest of the book. (Perhaps with the exception of Judges 1). He also has SAMUEL contemporaries with SAMPSON.

He arranges some sections with parallel passages. (Though thankfully not in the New Testament). I found this more annoying than not. I found myself unable to read both in any meaningful way. I was more having to pick and choose which column to focus on and which to skim. And the passages may have dealt with the same king, etc., but the phrasing wasn't the same. So in my personal opinion not all that "parallel."

Though I didn't particularly know this at the start, I ended up not really being a fan of chronological arrangement. (This isn't to say that I regret my time in God's Word). I much prefer to read whole books to reading spliced books. To each his/her own however. I have no issue with readers--believers--who greatly appreciate/love this method of Bible reading.

This will almost definitely be my final Bible to complete in 2023.… (lisätietoja)