How to read the Bible like the authors wanted you to

I recently found out about a cool new Bible concept called The Books of the Bible. It contains the entire Bible, but without the verse numbers and chapter headings. It forces you to sit down and read Romans like Paul intended you to: as one long train of thought, not just a random collection of sound-bite verses.

I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right: how could we ever do a Bible study without the references? Imagine a sermon without them: “Please turn to Ephesians, 14th paragraph, unless you’re using an NIV, then it’s the 15th… oh, and 13th in the NASB.” That would never work.

But devotional reading is different. When I go plop into my chair by the window at 6:30 in the morning, I’m not interested in cross-referencing and word studies. I don’t need no stinking verse numbers – I just want to read my Bible!

And that’s why this thing intrigues me. The only hiccup is the translation it uses: TNIV. Not bad, but I’d rather have something more literal than dynamic, like my trusty ESV.

Well, today, after a little Google-fu, I discovered I could. Here’s how: go to the online ESV Bible, then go to the options page. Uncheck all those headings, verse numbers, and chapter numbers and click Save. Then do a search for all the chapters in a book (for example, “Ephesians 1-6”), and you’re in business.

Try it. You’ll love it.