Where To Begin Reading The Bible

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Hello;

Bibles can be purchased at any well-stocked book store like Barnes & Noble.

Christian supply stores are another source and can be found listed in the
Yellow Pages along with regular types of book stores.

Thrift stores like Good Will and Salvation Army usually have some
inexpensive, second hand Bibles on their shelves.

Please do yourself a favor by using one that reads very close to our own
modern way of speaking. Rickety old antiques like the Douay-Rheims, the
Confraternity, the American Standard Version, and the King James version
are no longer practical because their language and grammar are obsolete.

Select a contemporary version in common use like the New International
(NIV), New American Bible (NAB), Revised Standard (RSV), the New
American Standard (NAS), the English Standard (ESV) and/or the New Living
(NLT).

» I should give you a heads-up that no matter which version of the Bible you
select to read, somebody is going to come along and criticize your choice; so
be ready for that.

The Bible can be a tedious bore for people new to it; so I highly recommend
testing the waters by beginning with the books of Ruth and Esther. The
stories are pretty good, and relatively short.

If those two books fail to discourage you, then I suggest moving on to
Genesis for your third. Lots of really good stuff is in there: the origin of the
cosmos-- all life, matter, and energy --Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah
and the Flood, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Ishmael,
Rebecca, Jacob, Rachel, and Joseph's reunion with his brothers.

When my teen-age son first started reading Genesis, he became very
discouraged. When I asked him what the matter was, he said he couldn’t
figure out the hidden messages. So I told him: Son, forget about hidden
messages. Just read the Bible like a novel or an encyclopedia and you’ll get
a lot more out of it that way; and he did.

NOTE: The information herein isn't intended to counsel scholars and/or
seminary students: it's to advise the mildly curious rather than the deadly
serious.

Buen Camino
(Pleasant Journey)
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The dollar tree has KJV's for $1.00. I buy them by the hand fulls and pass them out. I highly recommend starting in the beginning. No better place to begin.

In the beginning....

Fully concur with your estimation.

Where to recommend a person begins reading probably depends a lot on their background and knowledge. Your recommendations about Ruth, Esther, and Genesis are probably wise. For someone who has a basic knowledge of the Bible, but is open to God and needing to find the pathway to salvation I recommend they read the Gospel of John first.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1:1‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
‭‭John‬ ‭1:1-5‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Those are two very good beginnings...with no end.

amen

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭5:13‬ ‭KJV‬‬

The people who God told of in the beginning, in Genesis lived so many thousands of years ago that it is hard to understand their way of doing and thinking, society changed so. The beginning almost needs someone who has studied that culture to explain what they are saying.

From the beginning, it is the blood of Christ who is at the heart of all scripture. In Lev. 17:11 it tells us that blood that the Lord gave on the altar is necessary for the atonement of souls and that is the gospel, the heart of our need for the Lord.

Christ, as the four gospels tell of Him is the heart of scripture from the beginning, so I think it is best to start there. The letters of Paul are difficult to understand, so from the gospels the need is to go to the first five books of scripture to see what Christ fulfilled. That gives a better understanding of Christ. Then the letters tell how we can live that righteousness.

After 59 years of being a Christian the best place to start is with the Gospel of John-Jude and avoiding the book of Revelation until later. Then go to to the Old testament starting with Genesis. There are too many questions raised when you start with Genesis, Exodus etc. Besides, the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. You want them to know first who is Jesus Christ and then all the other things fall into place.

IN GOD THE SON,
bluto

Whatever God wants us to know is in the Bible. If it ain’t in there, it’s not for me.

It seems to me that there are explanations of what is in the bible as we see God working in our world. If you won't look at this in relation to what is the core of humanity *God- then you don't know God.

God uses people and literal happening to help us understand His ways. The people who lived at the time of Genesis lived a life very different from the life we live. If you refuse to understand those people and what the words they used meant to them, words they used to explain God, then you are blinding yourself to God.

Perhaps I am wrong. I certainly see your point in closing out those self help books and books by false prophets. God is the complete truth of our world.

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The information in post No.1 isn't meant to advise people seeking a faith,
nor to advise people seeking the truth, nor for serious inquiries, rather; it's
meant for the idly curious.
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Good grief! Did you have to throw that into the mix? Me liketh me 'ole King Jim! I would suggest jumping right into those scrumptious genealogies and bylaws of Leviticus...

1:12 And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that [is] on the fire which [is] upon the altar:
1:13 But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring [it] all, and burn [it] upon the altar: it [is] a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.
1:14 And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD [be] of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.
1:15 And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, and burn [it] on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar:
1:16 And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes:

Actually, the KJV is not a bad read when the Holy Spirit is guiding you through, the genealogies are important for timelines, and animal sacrifices are important for their symbolism.

From the day I began my new life in Christ Jesus, I had the strong desire to read a bible. My daughter had a Ryrie Study Bible NASB that I liked becausev it had larger print in it, so that is the one I started with. In ignorance I chose it, but it was a Spirit led choice because anyone who does bible STUDY knows that a Translation is best. Paraphrases are someone's opinion of what the bible says. The absolute worst paraphrase I ever saw was the Good News bible and/or the bible used by Christian Women's Club, yet some are better, like the NIV where you can actually pull out some sound doctrine. When someone asked me where I started to read I said "Genesis, where else does one start to read a book?" And I read it all........well I did cheat a bit with the 'begats' of Chronicles, but I did enjoy the history of it.
I would recommend the ASV, old NASB, KJV or New KJV. I'm sure there are other translations just as worthy.
But when all is said and done about which bible to use......it is the reader with the Holy Spirit who is blessed.

Everyone who seeks truth and has a teachable spirit will grow in faith.

For me it was and remains Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 1.

Just started my third reading.

I read the NASB large print , my eyes are not to good...
But years ago before I was saved , a girl I knew gave me The Living Bible , what are thoughts on this bible?
I have picked it up now and then , and I find the reading easy , but I think it misses a lot , and for that reason I have put it back down...

Any thoughts on this would e appreciated and thank you...
...xox...

if you want, do a side by side reading, that is a good way to see differences between versions .

i did that between the n i v , and the new king james , and the n i v did not hold uo well,,

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I'm beginning to suspect that some of the folk hereabouts are seeing the
title of this thread as how to read the Bible instead of where to begin.
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LIving Bible, I believe, was the effort of Ken Taylor a few decades ago and so far as I know is one of the better paraphrases as he used the ASV as his base. My objection to all paraphrased bible is that they are not the word for word translations of bibles I prefer. To paraphrase is to give one's own words to a phrase that may be influenced by their own doctrine, be it true or false. Read them for enjoyment, use a translation for study. All bible reading is GOOD reading.