Crossway ESV Reader's Bible 6 Vol. Set
About a month ago I did an unboxing video of the ESV Reader's Bible six-volume edition. This is the more in-depth review. It's the edition without chapter and verse numbers, in cowhide, and I ordered mine from Evangelical Bible. (I'm not sponsored by them. I genuinely love their ministry and their Bibles.)
The box, the booklet and the slipcase
It comes in a beautiful black box with a gold logo on the front; I love the detail on that. The set also comes with a little booklet. Some people joke that you know a Bible is nice when it comes with a booklet.
The booklet gives the vision for the set. In short: chapter and verse numbers, footnotes and most section headings have been removed so that the reader can be immersed in the sweep of the Bible's overarching storyline, and the set is manufactured in Italy with the highest-quality materials. That really did influence me to buy it. I wanted something that would last, something I could give to my children and grandchildren. Regular Bibles will last too, but this is so unique and so different from everything else that I wanted to have it to give to them.
- Type: a 12-point font, which is massive for a Bible. That's how they filled six volumes.
- Paper: 80 gsm Munken Premium Cream, uncoated. For reference, my new Crossway Legacy wide margin is 28 gsm. This is some thick paper, the softest, silkiest paper you'll ever feel, and it's a creamy color rather than bleached white. You can look at it for hours without the strain of bright white paper.
- Leather: top-grain cowhide, processed and inspected by hand in Italy. It's the same leather as on my ESV Thinline, really soft and really nice.
- Slipcase: handcrafted by Amish craftsmen in northern Indiana out of black walnut harvested from sustainable forests in the eastern United States. Every slipcase I'd seen before was high-quality cardboard, but cardboard nonetheless. This one is beautiful to look at and extremely durable.
- Printer: LEGO (not the toy). It was founded in 1900 as a Bible and book bindery and still operates today as a fifth-generation family business specializing in thin Bible paper.
- Binding: done in a climate-controlled facility to prevent warping. Each signature is sewn with just the right thread tension for spine flexibility, and cold-setting glue is used so it lays flat.
Evangelical Bible
I've now made two purchases with Evangelical Bible. Their shipping is fantastic: if you order early enough in the day, they process it that day or early the next morning. Their customer service is great too. When I was inspecting the set, I noticed a little detachment of the top ribbon from the text block in volume four. I emailed them a picture, and within a day or two they replied that I was welcome to send it back, that it's a fairly common issue that won't affect the longevity of the book, and that I could fix it with a little glue on a toothpick if I felt comfortable. They responded quickly and gave me options, and they've been that way for both of my purchases.
What I think
I have no authority here; this is just my opinion. I've been using this set for a month now, and I absolutely love it. The text is so large and so easy to read, every page lays flat, and the poetry is still set as poetry. At my church we read the Psalms every week, and if I were ever asked to read one, I'd take this with me instead of really anything else.
My one concern is the missing numbers. Reading without them is amazing; obviously the numbers aren't the Word of God, the text is. But when you're studying, you don't know where you are. You can say it's in a certain book, but not which chapter or verse, unless you look it up in a numbered Bible, and at that point you're defeating the purpose. In apologetics, evangelism, everyday encouragement of fellow believers, and sermon or lesson prep (even a father leading his family in worship), it's almost crucial to know where you're quoting from. So if you're thinking of making this your primary study Bible, I'd steer away from that. For reading, though, whether out loud to your family, your church, your class, or yourself, it's a fantastic Bible.
I bought it with money given to me by friends and family, for the primary use of my children and grandchildren, Lord willing. I'm very pleased with it. If it's preserved and taken care of, it will last your lifetime and your children's.
Soli Deo Gloria!
