ESV Verse-by-Verse Reference Bible (TruTone, Brown/Saddle, Timeless Design) Imitation Leather – June 30, 2012

A Review of the ESV Verse-by-Verse Reference Bible, in Black Top Grain Leather.Crossway sent me this beautiful Bible for review. It is a wonderful value. You get so many great features with this Bible. It is also a good multipurpose Bible. Initially I thought the font might be too small for Pastors to use it from the pulpit, but I was wrong. The verse format layout, terrific paper, and crisp clean print, make it well suited to serve as a preaching Bible. It is a reference Bible, so it also lends itself to study. The references and notes are out of the way at the bottom, so it also works good for reading. If you are in the market for a new Bible to fill a few roles, keep reading. I think you’ll be as impressed with this edition as I am.The ESV Verse-by-Verse Reference Bible was packaged in a small white cardboard box.The Bible itself was inside the retail clamshell box. Keep the box for storage. This is not a Bible to be stood up on edge like a hardback book. The Bible arrived undamaged from Crossway. Inside the packaging the Bible was wrapped in clear plastic.Once removed, I was able to begin assessing the top grain leather. It had a very supple feel to it. It was nice and soft. There is also a perimeter groove on the cover.The inside liner seemed to be a bit different than the outside cover. I e-mailed Crossway and asked them about it. They informed me that it is Cromwell® bonded leather. For those of you who are balking at that, keep in mind that Cromwell® bonded leather is not the same as the low grade bonded leather you are used to seeing in the past. It is a far superior product and should last as long as the top grain leather cover, if not longer. One of the bonuses of using this material as a liner is that it can be had in thin sheets. This makes it possible for the bindery to get the cover mated to the liner with more precision and less bulges on the corners.This, being an edge-lined Bible, it is important to not use a heavier material that would reduce the supple feel of the cover.In my opinion, it was implemented quite well. For the price, I would definitely recommend purchasing this edition over the ones with genuine leather or synthetic covers if you can afford the extra money.In the front you’ll find a Presentation Page, Publisher’s Page, Table of Contents, Books of the Bible in Alphabetical Order, Preface, and an Explanation of Features.The spine is ornamented with four spine hubs, and gold lettering.The page edges are gold gilt and the corners are rounded. There are also decorative gold and black, head and tail bands. There are two black ribbons that are decent quality.They are thicker than some less expensive ribbons. For me two ribbons or more is a must. Three ribbons is perfect in my opinion. You get one for the Old Testament reading, one for devotional reading of Proverbs, and one for the New Testament. Of course, two will suffice, and is certainly better than only one. Four just seems supernumerary to me.Of course where this Bible shines is the paper and print. Crossway has done a good job utilizing superior paper compared to their competitors. Rarely do you find Bibles in this niche with paper of the same weight and opacity. Crossway is employing a 36 g.s.m. Apple Thin Opaque paper. Keep in mind that many of their competitors call 28 g.s.m. paper top notch. The print in this black letter edition is sharp and uniform throughout. I haven’t run into any areas where the print fades or is smudged. The font is 9 pt. in size and is Lexicon face. At first glance it seems larger than it is, in my opinion. I think that is due to the opaque paper, print, and line spacing, making it very legible. It is easy on the eyes.Preaching from the pulpit and looking down at a 9 pt. font in another Bible with lesser paper and more ghosting would be a bad idea, but with this Bible you could easily do it. There is also a generous outside margin for some limited note taking.The drawback of course is that some of the type gets lost in the gutter.In some regards, like the paper and print, I would rate this Bible up there with the premium ones. Due to the lack of some of the more ornate features, like art gilt page edges, better ribbons, gilt perimeter lines, and better leather for the inside liner I can’t call it a premium Bible. Of course the price on this edition more than makes up for what little quibbles I might have. I’ve paid over two hundred dollars for an Allan. This Bible can be had for a bit over eighty dollars. That makes it an outstanding value. The suggested retail is one hundred and fourty nine dollars and ninety nine cents. Some publishers list a suggested retail that I would never pay. This Bible is worth the suggested retail. On some retail sites it can be found for as little as eighty four dollars and ninety nine cents. Other than the gutter complaint, the layout is great. You get a double column, verse format, with approximately 80,000 cross references located at the bottom of the pages. You also get a 76 page 3 column concordance, and 8 color maps in the back.At the start of each book is a brief introduction. I personally love well written book introductions.You also get a smyth-sewn spine with this edge-lined Bible adding to the durability and flexibility.You would be hard pressed to find a Bible with all of these features even in a higher price range. In my opinion, Crossway has hit the ball out of the park with this edition and set the standard for their competitors in the eighty to one hundred and fifty dollar range.ISBN-13: 9781433545689

Love the Bible overall, but it does not feel like leather at all, it feels like the type of basketball you could get from a Pizza Hut in the 90's. Of course, everything inside the cover is great, but I'm considering getting the whole thing rebound in actual leather.

I got this Bible because reading the King James version was not fun at all to me. With this Bible, I understand what I am reading and it is all pretty good. A nice Bible to have, for sure!

The only reason this Bible doesn't get a 5 star review is the margin on the right is not wide enough for any serious notes. If you use a Bible for simple marking and comments, it's perfect. That said...it feels really good in the hand, which is very important to me. I don't know if it is Smythe sewn, but it lies flat so the references along the inner seam are very accessible.The references are extensive and user friendly and they do a lot of cross referencing with KJV which most of are familiar with. There are useful but not extensive footnotes and the print there as well as the reference notes is hard to read because it is so small. Otherwise, print is crisp and very readable without much bleed through from other pages. And of course, the verse format is perfect for study. It is not too heavy to carry but it isn't a small Bible and does take space in a backpack or briefcase. There is a decent concordance in the back. Maps are the usual typical ones on heavier paper so they can be marked without any problem. Some Bibles are now given to long prefaces and such which take up a lot of room and are not something that I ever look at twice, if indeed I look the first time. This Bible is brief and concise which I appreciated. There presentation, marriage, birth/adoption, and death records pages in the front. There is a brief introduction to each book at the beginning of each.This is a Crossway ESV translation which tends to be a word-for-word translation, trying to capture the meaning of original texts. But it also takes into consideration between olden and new times with regards to "current literary English." To me, it is a very conservative translation and I use it with that in mind. From their preface: "...some Bible versions have followed a 'thought for thought' rather than a 'word for word' translation philosophy, emphasizing 'dynamic equivalence' rather than 'essential literal' meaning of the original. A 'thought for thought' translation is of necessity more inclined to reflect the interpretive opinions of the translator and the influences of contemporary culture...we have tried to be as 'literal as possible' while maintaining clarity of expression and literary excellence." When I think or "thought for thought" translations, the NRSV and Common English Bibles come readily to mind. They are the texts to which I am most drawn and trusting as they fit more accurately where we are today in God's world. However, comparison is vital in Bible study and the ESV stands well when I use it that way.The price was good from the seller I used at $35 and the money was used for mission work. All in all, this is a useful addition to my collection of Bible translations and I know it will be used regularly.

The Word of God is the most beautiful thing ever. But this Bible is also beautiful. It feels like real leather and even smells great. The verse-by-verse feature is so worthwhile if you are going to be preaching from it and also allows a little more flexibility around making notes in the margins.The cross-referencing in this version of the ESV is also really useful and the book introductions are really helpful to give you a brief understanding of what you are about to read.

The paper is wonderful and print is very black and beautiful as well. It's very easy to read and it just feels like quality when you read it. I love that the cross references is right next to each verse. I love that the pages are fairly big, so that there is a lot of text on each page. That gives a great overview.Normally I would prefer a paragraph setting, but I actually like this verse-by-verse setting. It's very well done and easy to read, and it's very easy to fast locate a verse. If you want to locate five verses in the bible in five totally different places, you can do that in no time. Furthermore the lists and genealogies look wonderful is this setting - like the lists in Ezra 2, Nehemiah 10, Revelation 7 and many other places.The genuine leather binding is also nice. I like that it's a little stiff, which makes it easier to hold and to sit with, since it is a fairly big bible. I love this bible!

Key thing for those who preach - enables finding verses v fast and with no fuss. I find it much easier than any other lay out for that purpose.

Great bible ! love the translation and the verse by verse layout . Exceeded all my expectations, recommended too all !!

My husband loves this bible. It is very clearly laid out verse by verse to make finding the right verse easy if reading in front of a crowd. The cover is very soft and feels nice on the hands. It is bigger than his previous bible, but still smaller than his ESV study bible and better for bringing places. And it comes with a lifetime garauntee on craftsmanship.