Holy Bible: The Daily Bible NIV

by Anonymous, F. LaGard Smith (Commentary)

In the hardcover edition of the bestselling and much-loved chronological presentation of the Bible, God's story unfolds before readers each new day, giving a new appreciation of God's plan for their lives. Reading the Bible becomes a fresh, living experience.

The Daily Bible? offers these helpful features:


The New International Version...the most popular modern version of Scripture, a highly respected and understandable translation. Chronological/Historical arrangement of every book of the Bible...lets readers easily understand God's redemptive plan as they read from creation to Revelation in the order the events actually occurred. Devotional commentary...leads smoothly through Scripture, painting the scene for what is about to be read with historical and spiritual insights. 365 convenient daily reading segments...arranged so all of God's Word can be read in one year. Topical arrangements for Proverbs and Ecclesiastes...enables readers to focus on specific aspects of God's Wisdom.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Religion, Devotional, Theology, Spirituality, Faith

1728 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1999

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very precious daily Bible....
I tell you why!!!

First of all it renders the NIV version, one of my favorites....
Then it is arrange chronological, and this means that you read the Scriptures in a very peculiar but interesting way!!!!

Also you have for every day a devotional commentary available...
For me this Bible was a great deal that has helped me trough the year!!!

I'm happy to have had so much blessing available just in this book, and that daily.....

Great daily Bible, and wonderful elaborated.
My full recommendation...

Dean;D

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so proud of having completed this. (more later, perhaps)

[Jenae · Rating 5 out of 5]

How could you give the Good Book any less than 5 stars- it is the greatest story ever told! I have tried (and failed) countless times to read the entire Bible in a year and I finally did it! 🎉 Reading it chronologically was really interesting and insightful (I especially liked the way the gospels were presented as one story rather than separate books). With that being said, the Old Testament lasted through mid-October and was at times difficult to get through (I’m looking at you, Leviticus). The commentary was helpful and insightful as well.

[Darwin · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you love the Bible, that's awesome, I have nothing against that, keep doing you. Reading through the Bible however, just isn't for me. I wanted to read this and treat it secularly to see what value it held as a philosophy, or even self-help, style book. In those regards, I think it fell pretty short. There are plenty of good lessons in either Jesus's teachings, and in Moses's laws as well. However, to "access" the teachings you need to have faith in God. Additionally, being a good person is generally interpreted as means to be with God, rather than something you should be because it is inherently righteous. I get the entire point of the Bible is to explain how and why to be with God, but it feels like you have to start the book already believing in God to reap any of the value. Hence, as secular philosophy book, it fell short. Again, I understand that's not what it is, but that's the premise under which I was interested in reading it.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

If anyone has ever wanted to read the whole bible from cover to cover and has an interest in the time line of human history, this is the bible for you. I had tried several times in the past to do this very thing, Genesis and Exodus are compelling, but making it through Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy is a bit more of a challenge. This version however, breaks up the dry recitation of Law, with the stories that are pertinent to, and are an example of, the blessings of compliance and the curse of defiance, of the Law. This method, simultaneously provides a more insightful as well as more digestible reading experience. The Psalms and Proverbs are intermixed with the stories of those who wrote them, at a time in the story that would be congruent with events that could have inspired them. Other books and stories are inserted into the time line of Chronicles as close to when they most likely occurred. The same is done with the apostles letters of the New Testament intertwined into the Acts. In addition, it also breaks the whole thing into 365 daily reading sections to help in a goal of reading it in it's entirety in a single year, which I found useful.

P.S. It was only a coincidence that I finished it on December 21st 2012. (the end of the Mayan Calendar) However, reading Revelation at that time, made me quite certain that the world was not going to end. However, AN end is in sight. Is it THE end? I don't know, but if we do not heed God's warnings and we do not heed the warnings of history, than it very well may be...

[Jessica]

My husband and I started reading this in January. Basically, there is a Bible reading for every day of the year and at the end of the year, we'll have read through the whole Bible. I am really enjoying it so far, even though some days it can seem like a lot of reading. I love the commentary. It really makes the Scripture come alive.

[Hannah Lavoie Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did it!!!! The fruit of reading God’s word daily is unlike anything else. Thank you Jesus!

[The Batman (Reagan) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revelation 19-22

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

(PLEASE NOTE: I am reviewing this only as a work of literature, one of history with stories and characters and plots and revelations.)
This is certainly an epic literary work which spans from the beginning of our universe as we know it to revelations as to the end of it all. The characters are sensational: Adam, Eve, Moses, David, Solomon, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Judas and finally the heroic Jesus, refusing to back down from his critics. The events are often thrilling, the battles huge in scale, the small and personal stories lovely. Much of this work is beautifully written, and I particularly enjoyed poetry in the book of Psalms. I also like very much Solomon's universal advice to his sons: "Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding." (And that understanding includes the reading of this work in its entirety, not just one or two favorite verses or chapters/books. That would be like reading only the first half of "Anna Karenina", because you really need the big picture, or reading only the first half of 'Atlas Shrugged' as you have to know the answer to the novel's opening line, "Who is John Galt" because without that answer, the book is meaningless.) F. LaGard Smith's annotations are, in general, fascinating, but sometimes are often much too lengthy and interrupt the flow of the story: I'm reminded of Tolstoy's incessant interruptions by stepping into the story and virtually stopping any and all dramatic scenes. There are cases where footnotes come after a certain word/term has already been mentioned many times: no doubt the responsibility of the editors. Overall, Smith's effort is commendable, and he certainly seems to know the subject matter, but he is much like some researchers who have a tendency to include all of their research in a work just to strut there stuff and a reader might be distracted from the actual story. And because of Smith's over-annotations, it took me well over the 365 daily readings stated on the front. All in all, a very enjoyable work that's a bit under-edited and a bit over-annotated (leading to what amounts to Smith's own opinions in some cases).

[Teresa Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

When reading through the Bible in chronological order, you gain so much more of an understanding of the history within the pages. F. LaGard Smith does an excellent job of adding short commentaries throughout the Books and chapters of this Bible. I read this Bible the first time in 2001 and I am now reading it again (2012) and going more in depth with the study by reading other commentaries along with my daily readings. Chapter & verse references are printed in the margins. Otherwise, you will not see them beside each verse. It reads more like a history book this way. There is a convenient index in the back of the Bible if you want to look up a particular verse and the Scripture is the NIV (New International Version). This is not a Study Bible and it is not the type of Bible you would take to church to read along with the pastor's sermon, etc. But I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to read the Bible all the way through with success at not only accomplishing their goal for the year, but to gain a true understanding of God's Word.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Bible is different than any other because someone actually tried to put it in order! Unbelievable! I'm not sure how accurate the ordering is because scholars don't always agree on where to put books like Job. However, I think it really helps reading through the historical books and understanding the place of the prophetic books in their historical context.

[Brandon Buerkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the whole my understanding of Scripture has benefited greatly from the chronological reading. I also greatly appreciated the historical interlude filling the gap between the Old and New Testaments. While some of the notes (especially in Grnesis) I take with a grain of salt, I would highly recommend the Daily Bible to anyone.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I like about this book: daily readings are set out for you every day. Great insights which help explain the passages better.

The only downfall I see to this system is that you don't even reach the New Testament until you are midway through October.

[Beth Farley · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book to spend an entire year with, and a version I would very much recommend to read the Bible through in a year.

[Maria McBride · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very easy read the way the author has it laid out. You read one section each day. At the beginning of the chapter is a summary of what you will read. I found it real easy to read the summary first...then was able to understand more of what i was going to read.

[Sonia Schoenfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was given to me by a pastor more than 10 years ago. I've tried several times to read it all year through but was never able to complete it...until today!

This was a hard challenge for me, and some days I fell behind, but I kept with it. I was surprised by how long it took me to get to the New Testament--we were well into October before we got to Matthew.

One of the things I liked about this book was the chronological arrangement. The history of the Old Testament made a lot more sense for me and helped me see the big picture of the Jewish people, from their patriarchs to freedom from Egypt, then living in the promised land and under kings, then the split of the kingdom, exile, and restoration, all the while waiting for the promised Messiah. In the New Testament part, I liked the way Paul's letters were interspersed with the book of Acts, showing where he might have been when he wrote them. Great context! And speaking of context, I loved the commentary throughout, especially the history between the two testaments. It helped me understand what I was reading without going into a lot of theological depth.

There are some parts of the Bible that are still unclear to me: why Samson is considered a hero, why did the people keep falling away from worshiping God again and again and again...I guess that means that I'll just have to keep reading and reading it to get a better understanding. But I'm not going to start back in with Genesis tomorrow. I feel like I've just run a marathon and need to rest. reading the Bible this year was a major accomplishment for me. Hallelujah!

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first time reading the entire Bible so I thought I'd go for this chronological version. It's obviously slightly Americanised given the publisher but there were only a few passages that stood out as being a little too like "slang" and the rest flows very well. It helps to make a lot of sense of a very complex and diverse number of books and you get a real sense of the scale and scope of the events contained within. A few of the daily entries are a little on the short side and some are far too long, but overall I think it gets the balance just about right. In other words, this is a version that does the job.

[Lindsey Harkness · Rating 5 out of 5]

It wasn’t easy, but I actually did it!!! And I completely recommend this to anyone interested in reading the Bible in a way that is so much easier to understand than attempting to go cover-to-cover. Not only is everything written in chronological order, but the additional insights provided by the compiler make it even more fantastic. I feel like I learned so much, and I definitely want to read it again someday.... just maybe a few years from now.

I’m so excited I can finally say I’ve read the entire Bible! But... I’m also so excited that I can finally read something else. 😜

[Guy Sandison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set myself the challenge of reading it in a year, took me a year and a day.

It’s given me a clearer perspective of the chronology, particularly the intersection between kings and prophets. And the Easter narrative is like reading it anew, such is the clarity the combined accounts give.

Not a study bible as such, but would recommend as way of studying the bible for a year. Found it much better than a reading list.

[Lynn Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beyond words!

Read the Good News! It will literally change your life. Make it a daily habit to read it each and every day.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the Bible chronologically was new to me, and I liked the change. But reading Paul's letters in giant chunks at end of the year was a LOT to get through at the year-end busy season!

[Amanda Tranmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic way to read the Bible in a year, with just enough commentary to orient the reader in history and in the timeline of the true story of the LORD's grand redemptive plan in Jesus...

[LB O'Nan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took two years to go through this chronological Bible. I particularly loved reading David’s psalms interspersed throughout his life events.

[Chuck Engelhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used Daily Bible, with Devotional Insights to Guide You Through God's Word: NIV for my daily readings through 2016. I did find it valuable and helpful in many ways. So why only 4 stars? After all it is the Bible, right? Yes, it is, however, I have several reasons for not giving it a BIG OLE 5. First; although I know that it is extremely popular, the NIV has never been one of my favorite translations. That's a personal preference, not a comment on its legitimacy as a translation. Next, the daily readings were not very equally proportioned. Longer readings were easily three (3) times the length of shorter readings. Finally, I didn't feel that the chronology was consistently applied. For instance, some Psalms were inserted into the narrative representing a time when they presumably were written, but others were not treated in the same manner. Moses' Psalm 90 didn't show up in Exodus, but in a rearranging of the Psalms by topic. The Psalms that were placed in the narrative often were plopped into the text in a way that I found to be disruptive to the flow of the story. Obviously I'm not a fan of how that was done.

I do want to say that a couple specific instances did impress me. Drawing the Prophets to their place in history was helpful in understanding their message. I especially liked how Paul's letters fit into the book of Acts. Being reminded of the trials Paul faced in Thessalonica and then reading how he addressed them in his letter to the Church there added a valuable dimension to my understanding. In addition, no, the NIV is not one of my favorite translations, but I found that reading a different translation than the one I most commonly reference (NASB) made me pay more attention to the reading. Several times I caught myself thinking, "I never read that before." I would then compare what I just read to the NASB and in every instance find that it did indeed say that or at least something very close to that.

Daily reading of the Bible is a valuable discipline for Christians and this provides a good tool to work with. I found the dated daily readings to be incentive to keep up and stay on course.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have just started reading this Bible, and I really like it. It will be on my current reading list for a year, because it is set up to go through the entire Bible in a year. It is unlike any other Bible, in that it is arranged chronologically, which gives a better feel for the history of the times. It would not, therefore, be appropriate to use as your only Bible, because the chapters and verses are not necessarily in their regular order. But it is better for relating the events to one another chronologically, which can sometimes be confusing in the normal way of studying the Bible book by book or by topic, etc. There are also brief introductions to each small section, which help explain what will be happening in that section and give some background information to help in understanding. One very nice thing is that there is a Devotional Journal that you may purchase to accompany the Bible, and this journal asks the same questions each day to help you understand the reading and apply it to your own life. This journal helps to assure that it is a spritual experience and not just a daily reading assignment. I find that doing the reading and the journal usually takes me just a little less than half an hour. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a new approach to Bible reading.

[Abby Lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's only March- and given that this is a Bible with readings for each day of the year to help you tackle the entire book in 365 days, I'm less than half way through it- but a few months of daily readings provides me with enough insight to rate this. This is an excellent approach to Scripture reading because the daily load is very reasonable (I'd say about 25 minutes max). It's important, if you are as busy as I am, not to skip days (like I did on a recent vacation!), because catching up can be difficult, but diligent nighttime reading will get you through the Bible within the year at a manageable pace. My favorite aspect of this edition is that there is an introduction to each day's reading that walks you through what you are about to encounter. This is not an application Bible with reflections on the passages or insights applying what you have read to your own life or the modern era etc, but it would be easy for those with more time on their hands to combine a Bible like this with another that does provide such text. My one suggestion is that this compilation would benefit from the inclusion of maps of the ancient world, particularly in the Old Testament when the Israelites begin to conquer Canaan and other areas of the promised land. I have had to refer to my Life Application Study Bible to understand the geography because otherwise the place names are bewildering.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm breaking the rules by starting this in September instead of January, but I don't think it's a sin. :)

I can give only 4 stars. Not, of course, because of the scripture part. The commentary is pretty good at keeping the flow of events coherent in this chronological adaptation of the Bible. Where it fails is in it's lack of depth of true historical insight, often opting for shallow and trite observations based on today's cultural norms. Also, the repeated use of "fortunately" and "unfortunately" is, from a Biblical point of view, uh, unfortunate. How about happily? Blessedly? Providentially? Regrettably? Sadly? Okay, I'm a little picky about not wanting pagan terms used in my Bible commentary.

Other than that, I've found this a fresh way to experience the old testament and gain a better overall picture of the time-line of events.

[Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always wanted one of these. Maybe it will give me more motivation to keep up my bible study and get through the whole Book in a year. . . .

Later: I'm having a hard time getting used to this version. Maybe it is because I started in the middle (June). This is not your standard bible, but a chronological version. That means that the books of Kings and Chronicles (which are pretty repetitious) have been sliced up and moved around to be in chronological order. The various prophets are inserted in the middle of these histories in their historical context. In some ways this is helpful, but I get disoriented from having my familiar landmarks moved around.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read the Bible threw many times. And, have study it, In saying this, my comment is not about the word of God, But how it was translated. I did find often in reading this book that sometimes the translation was a bit questionable. And maybe could have been expressed in another way. I would often have to stop and think, "Is that what the word of God says""??? And then go to one of my other Bibles to compares scriptures. Now that I have said this, I am glad that I took time every day over the last year to read the Bible threw.

[David A-S · Rating 3 out of 5]

A spiritual practice which has stayed with me over the years is scripture reading that takes me through the bible in a year. I also like to vary the translation year to year. This year I tried this one. The chronological idea is interesting. Smith's arrangement doesn't consider redaction history, rather it tries to put the narrative in order. I have found it especially helpful when placing prophets in their historical and scriptural context. Definitely, worth a try if this is your thing.