What’s Different About the Daily Reader's Bible?

The NLT Daily Reader’s Bible offers the promise of reading the entire Bible in one year. But rather than providing a canonical progression through the Old Testament and New Testament, each day’s reading includes three passages—a selection from the stories of the Bible (the Old Testament books of Genesis through Esther and the New Testament books of Matthew through Acts); another from the teachings of the Bible, including the prophetic books of the Old Testament (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel through Malachi) and the letters of the New Testament (Romans through Revelation); and a third from the wisdom of the Bible (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Lamentations). The entire text of the Bible is uniquely arranged for daily reading that can be completed in about 15 minutes per day.

Cover of the Daily Reader's Bible, by Tyndale House Publishers

Features

Daily Themes:

The three readings for each day flow from the day’s theme. This thematic approach to devotional Bible reading helps the reader understand how all the genres of Scripture fit together to convey God’s truth.

Story:

The Scripture portions in the story section are drawn from the narrative portions of the Bible. This includes the Old Testament books of Genesis through Esther and the New Testament books of Matthew through Acts. The first reading each day is designed to draw you into the Bible’s story. This section relates primarily to history, or “his Story” (that is, God’s story). The story readings naturally define the structure and overall progression of this reading Bible. The two other daily readings, when possible, are arranged to encourage meaningful reflection on this narrative.

Teaching:

The passages in the teaching section come from the prophetic books of the Old Testament (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel through Malachi) and the letters of the New Testament (Romans through Revelation). These books comment and elaborate on the deeper meaning of the events and instructions recorded in the story section, applying God’s truth to new historical situations. This section explores the significance of these historical events and interprets them in light of the law and the promise (the writings of the prophets) and their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ (the writings of the apostles). This second part seeks to reveal and unpack the story of salvation presented in the historical narrative, which reaches its climax and full realization in God’s Son, Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah and Redeemer.

Wisdom:

The portions in the wisdom section are taken from the Old Testament books traditionally regarded as wisdom writings or books of poetry. These include Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Lamentations. In these books we find wisdom related to the challenges and concerns of everyday life and experience. This section relates to our human responses and interpretations of lived experience and might be described as our story. As part of the Holy Bible, these wisdom responses are “spirited” responses. They were written by people inspired by God’s Spirit, our Advocate, who helps us apply God’s truth to our lives.

No Chapters and Verses:

References are at the top of each reading, but to allow the words to flow in a more natural form, the passages within the daily readings do not include chapter and verse indicators.