Great Bible Study Tools - Blue Letter Bible & "Greek For The Rest Of Us!"

At church last Sunday I had an opportunity to sit and talk with one of our exceptional young adults, Jonelle Vega.  She told me that she is attending Pacific Baptist College in La Verne, California, which I find exciting.   In our discussion I told her about two favorite Bible study tools I have used over the past 20 years in my writing ministry and in my personal Bible study.

First is the Blue Letter Bible web site.  Over the years I have ventured into other Bible sites and although many had interesting features, none were as complete nor as useful as my old standby, the Blue Letter Bible.

Let me explain my path of illumination regarding this web site.  About 25 years ago I began to do the Sunday bulletin for our Fil-Am church in San Clemente.  Since this was before PowerPoint and the Smart Phone (I realize many of my young Friends will find that hard to grasp) - our Sunday Bulletin had to be a wee bit more inclusive. 

To prevent a cacophony of noise created by many people reading from different Bible Translations, for our Responsive Scripture Reading I included in our bulletin an insert showing our chosen Scripture passage for that Sunday sermon to be read from a chosen translation.  For a long time I was typing the Scripture verses into the computer - and as you may have guessed, even Bill Gray occasionally does make mistakes, i.e., typo errors.

That  is when I began to search for a Bible web site where I could copy/paste the verses - thus eliminating my typos.  The best I found was the early Blue Letter Bible web site, which at that time was relatively new.  You might say the Blue Letter Bible web site and I grew in maturity together.  Today the Blue Letter Bible web site is an extremely useful tool for my writing, for Bible study, and can also be a valuable tool for pastors and Sunday School/Bible Study leaders.

That said, there are two versions of the Blue Letter Bible web site.  The newer version was introduced several years ago and now they have it also as an app for Smart Phones.

Personally I still find the older Blue Letter Bible "Classic" web site more useful for my writings and studies, possibly because I have used it for many years and I am very comfortable with the Classic version.  Just as I am happy with my wife of 42 years - I am happy with my Blue Letter Bible Classic of about 25 years.  Do not ask me to changes horses in mid-stream.  But I do have icons/links for both versions in my browser Favorites Toolbar - and I have their Blue Letter Bible CD for offline use if needed.

Below are URL links for both versions so that you may choose which is more appropriate as a study tool for you:

Blue Letter Bible Web Site
https://www.blueletterbible.org/

Blue Letter Bible Classic Web Site
http://www.blbclassic.org/index.cfm

Also, you may find these two short videos useful:

Important Message From Blue Letter Bible's Co-founders (3 minutes) - 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNhALjske7Q

A Tutorial To Study The Bible With The Blue Letter Bible (16 minutes) - 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQx7gxD-jnk

The following Bible Translations are found In the Blue Letter Bible and can be viewed individually or concurrently - Example using John 1:1:

KJV (King James Version):  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

NKJV (New King James Version):  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

NASB (New American Standard Bible):  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

NLT (New Living Translation):  In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

NIV (New International Version):  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

ESV (English Standard Version):  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

CSB (Christian Standard Bible):  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

RVR60 (Reina-Valera 1960 Version):  En el principio era el Verbo, y el Verbo era con Dios, y el Verbo era Dios.

NET (New English Translation):  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.

RSV (Revised Standard Version):  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

ASV (American Standard Version):  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

YLT (Young's Literal Translation):  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;

DBY (Darby Bible):  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

WEB (World English Bible):  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

HNV (Hebrew Names Version):  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

VUL (Latin Vulgate):  in principio erat Verbum et Verbum erat apud Deum et Deus erat Verbum

WLC (Westminster Leningrad Codex):  No text available.

LXX (Septuagint):  No text available.

mGNT (Morphological Greek New Testament): ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος

TR (Textus Receptus):  Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος

A second Bible study tool I find useful for personal study and for study leader preparation is the book "Greek For The Rest Of Us" by Dr. William Mounce.  It is simple enough for we non-theologians to enhance our personal studies - and complete enough to be a big help to clergy and study leaders for use in preparing their weekly messages.  I shared about this book also with my Christian sister, Jonelle Vega, for it may be useful in her Bible study classes at Pacific Baptist College.

Greek for the Rest of Us: The Essentials of Biblical Greek, Second Edition
By Dr. William D. Mounce

If you’d love to learn Greek so you can study your Bible better, but you can’t spare two years for college or seminary courses, then "Greek for the Rest of Us" is for you.

Developed by renowned Greek teacher William Mounce, this revolutionary crash-course will acquaint you with the essentials of the language and deepen your understanding of God’s Word.

You’ll gain a sound knowledge of basic Greek, and you’ll learn how to use tools that will add muscle to your Bible studies.

You can buy the book today at Christianbook: 

+https://www.christianbook.com/greek-rest-essentials-biblical-second-edition/william-mounce/9780310277101/pd/277106?event=AFF&p=1024296&

I pray you find that these study tools will enhance "your" study of God's Word and brings more excitement to your personal and group studies.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

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