Can anyone recommend a good, easy-to-read, study bible? Also, I’ll mention that I have a short attention span so that’s why I mentioned easy-to-read.
Any suggestions are welcomed.
I will immediately get contradicted, but for ease of reading for English speakers the best affordable, usable, readable, study bible is the Catholic Study Bible NAB from Oxford U Press. It will last a long time, it is the translation used for most of the lectionary, there are plenty of study resources for it, including concordance and dictionary of biblical theology. Get a good orthodox basic guide and read the section on each book before you begin–Fuentes’ Guide to the Bible is best. As a go-with companion to have with you as you do initial studies, How to Book of the Bible from OSV is excellent for beginners.
the single volumes of the Ignatius study bible (RSV-CE) are excellent, but it will be a long time before the entire bible is available in this series but for individual studies of gospels and the NT books available, these would be my first choice. most of the notes are by Scott Hahn, and his EWTN series Our Father’s Plan, available with study guide from Ignatius Press, would be first choice for a beginning bible study you can do in a group or at home on your own, in 26 lessons.
the Navarre bible is of course the gold standard, also based on RSV-CE, but quite expensive for a beginner or casual student. I understand the NT has recently become available in one volume, expensive but not out of reach.
if you find the RSV-CE out of reach because of its language style stick with the NAB.
If you are asking about a bible for devotional use, not formal study, get the one you will read, you like the language style, you like the size and typeface, you like using it. For lectio and other prayer with the bible and devotional reading I like a bible without notes that travels well with me.
My personal preference is and always has been the Jerusalem Bible (1966) esp. for NT, which I have in a one-volume paperback, but the whole thing is now too heavy and hard for me to read and impossible to tote around. I love the pocket size Ignatius bible (RSV-CE) I got for Christmas, perfect size for my chapel bag, no notes to bog me down.
If you are participating in a formal bible study, the RSV-CE will often be the most “ecumenical” to use. If you only have money for one bible go with my first recommendation, I have seen it for $40 or less on Amazon.
