I really like the New King James Version (NKJV) Giant-Print Bonded-Leather Reference Holy Bible.

This particular Bible is no longer manufactured, but some retailers on the Web sell new ones.

I can understand most of the Old English of the KJV, partly because I've used the KJV since my early teens. To me, the KJV flows much better than all the versions I have read or listened to.

I was given a very nice KJV version Bible in the early 1970's. The paper is India paper. I'm pretty sure, its cover is bonded leather. Yes, the givers were very generous.

I used it at home, took it to church every Sunday, took it to group Bible studies
and so on for over 35 years. Alas, the wear and tear took its toll.

I searched for a replacement. I wanted a version of the Bible that was in modern English, as opposed to the Old English of the KJV, so that when I read it I may better understand some things. Also, when I read and share from it, many listeners may have an easier time understanding the text.

Click here for a link for Free online veiwing of "Appendix A: More Information About the Holy Bible and Which One to Use" from my book Meaning In Life in the Framework of Eternity. This appendix includes information as to why I currently like the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.

The original writings, which are refered to as autographs, no longer exist. There is evidence that there are copies (manuscripts) of the original writings that seem to be very close to the original writing because the copies closely match each other.

There are two major groups of Greek manuscripts of the New Testament books. One of the groups of manuscripts is often referred to as the Majority Text, which is similar to the Textus Receptus (or Received Text). The other major group of manuscripts is often referred as the Alexandrian Text (the text most modern English Bibles are based on).

One of the nice features of the NKJV Bible is that it has comments of both the Majority Text and the Alexandrian Text. So to some degree have the best of both worlds.

In the NKJV Bible, "M-Text" or "M" refers to the Majority Text and "NU" refers a text of the Greek New Testament that is published in the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament (26th edition) (N) and in the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament (3rd edition) (U).

The NKJV Giant-Print Bonded-Leather Reference Holy Bible is bonded leather, which I think will last longer that the versions with imitation leather. But, of course, the bonded ones will normally cost more than the imitation ones.

Other important features I wanted in my Bible were: (a) giant or large print; (b) not too large or too heavy; (c) thick enough paper so that the text on the other side of the page is not easily seen -- so it will not be distracting; and (d) two columns per page -- it is my opinion (for "regular-size" Bibles), that one can find specific verses and words faster if there is two columns per page than if there is one column per page.

Click here to go to the the Amazon webpage for the NKJV Giant-Print Bonded-Leather Reference Holy Bible , which met all my above criteria but it is no longer manufactured, but some retailers on the Web sell new ones. The font size is about 12-point (Times New Roman). Its dimensions are about 10 x 6.9 x 1.8 inches and weights about 2.7 pounds.
2006 copyright
ISBN-13: 9780718019136





Another NKJV Giant-Print Reference Holy Bible (imitation leather)

A similar Bible to the one I have is the New King James Version (NKJV) Giant-Print Reference Holy Bible(Nelson Burgundy) by Thomas Nelson Publishers that has a Bible cover what they call "Leathersoft," which I have never used so I don't if it's better, the same or not as good as bonded leather. A Stormcloud Leathersoft (grayish) will be available on October 12, 2010.