Bibles

Last Christmas I purchased a paralell bible for my wife. She was wanting The Message and our pastor often reads from the New International Version so I bought one that has both versions side by side. It was a smaller leather bound bible and she loves it. Since it was smaller it only cost $35. The larger leather ones run up to $80 and higher. Ever since then I have really wanted to buy myself a new bible. I've had my last NIV maroon leather bible since about 1992. It is the bible that I marked many sermon dates from 1993-1996 and there are plenty of underlined favorite sections. My favorite bible that I've had was The Life Application hardback student bible that has lots of notes at the bottom. I still have it, but it hasn't had a cover on it in over 5 years. I do usually turn to it when I am doing some serious research.

The first bible that I actually remember receiving as a gift was a New American Standard bible that my mom gave me back in 1981 when I got baptised. It did the job for a while before I bought the ultra slim, sleek, NIV leather bible. I ended up not liking that bible that much and gave it away pre-1990.

That said, when I purchased my wife's birthday gifts on Sept. 2nd I ended up buying myself a similar sized, smaller NIV leather bible like my wife's. I really like it. The print is a decent size. The bible is small and convenient to carry. My first casualty came Sunday when my daughter used it as she drew pictures on paper during church. She missed the paper a few times. I guess I could try to use our couch leather cleaner on it.

One thing I've learned in the past is that leather bibles are pretty durable. My maroon leather bible once got drenched as it road in the trunk of an older Mustang one night. To date it is still a durable bible.