Diary of a Broken Vessel

My Thomas Nelson New King James Vine’s Expository Reference Edition Bible has been with me for many years. It is hands down one of the best Bibles I have ever owned. This Sword has been through many fights -most of which have been with myself. There are notes, underlines, highlights, brackets, squiggles, and a whole rainbow assortment of markings within it. I love this thing.

But, through the good and bad times it has gone, it is now sadly time to retire this wonderful Bible. It is held together by duct tape, the cover is worn out, the edges are frayed, the ribbon bookmark is stained and fraying, many of the pages are stained, etc. It is just time to let go.

Lately, I have been using a Thomas Nelson Slimline NKJV Bible as my transition Word. The Slimline has been great, but it is only a temporary measure. There isn’t much space to write notes, the concordance is a little weak, it just doesn’t quite have what it takes to go the long haul (except of course for what is written inside. That will go with me through eternity).

I have spent several weeks looking for a replacement Bible. I have considered translation, quality, durability, functionality (notes), type (cross-reference, study, devotional, genre, expository, apologetic, etc.), publisher, and asthetics such as flexibility, look, color, etc.

I first considered the translation I wanted. I have been a long time fan of the NKJV, but for the past couple months I have been leaning towards the NASB for its strict literal translation; so I have decided to go with the NASB (See update below). I also decided that I wanted something that had a strong and durable binding; something that I could pass down the family line, but was also supple and flexible.  I want something that is basic: a center column filled with cross reference notes and a comprehensive concordance. I need something that is not too large, but large enough for me to highlight, box, underline, write notes, etc.

After spending several weeks looking through websites and publishers and not finding what I was searching for, I realized that what I looking for was not going to be a cheap $10-50 Bible. I had to be prepared to make in investment…

With that in mind, I began my search once more. Within a couple days I found exactly what I was looking for:

Cambridge Wide Margin Reference Bible. I think I’m in love. I know what my “allowance” is being put towards.

UPDATE:

Okay, I really like the NASB, but I just can’t get around the NKJV. Maybe I’m just wired to it because of the many years I have used it. It is an equally incredible literal translation, and I prefer it’s wording. I found the aforementioned Bible in a NKJV translation. I’m going in that direction. I’ll get a Thomas Nelson Slimline NASB Bible later on for reference purposes.