June 01, 2012

Two Indispensable Online Bible Sites

Many of us have trouble keeping our attention on things for any period of time, even on the most important of activities: reading the Bible. Yet I have found two great Scripture-reading sites that provide a valuable jump-start. The first, Blue Letter Bible, is terrific not only because of the many different Bible versions you can choose but also because of the little details . . . if a particular verse has a hymn associated with it, or has commentary, or has the option of comparing with other languages, etc, icons at the side of the page say so. 

For instance, if you click on the music note button beside the verse Ephesians 2:8, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” a list of corresponding songs can be found: In this case, “By Grace I’m Saved,” “A Message Sweet Is Borne To Me,” and “Not What My Hands Have Done.” Not all verses have hymns. The icons represent “Treasury of Scripture Knowledge,” “Concordance and Hebrew/Greek Lexicon,” “List Audio, Study Tools, and Commentaries,” “Images and/or Maps,” “Versions/Translations,” and “Dictionary Aids.” Each verse will have some of these but not all. 

The second website is Bible Gateway. This is very handy because Bible Gateway will send reminders of which verses to read each day. For convenience, the Scripture readings are located directly in the mailbox if you do not want to open a new page. Bible Gateway also has a number of newsletters available. I personally receive “Faithful Through the Ages,” one which details various men and women throughout Christian history who made a difference. 

I am very glad to have found both these sites. I began reading the Bible every day in September and have been able to keep up with the prescribed verses every day thanks to them. Bible Gateway’s contribution is usually four verses a day (three from the Old Testament and one from the New) but there are sometimes three a day. The format on both sites is easy to read. Whether one chooses Bible Gateway or Blue Letter Bible is a matter of aesthetic preference, I think, and if one enjoys concordances and corresponding hymns. 

(c) 2012 Joyously Saved