Holy Bible: English Standard Version, New Testament With Psalms and Proverbs

A beautiful New Testament, with Psalms and Proverbs. Elegantly simple, with no notes, footnotes or index. Just pure scripture. It opens in the hand as though inviting you to read. Taste and see that the Lord is good! Very good quality leather binding with a lifetime guarantee. I’m so happy that I bought it. The ESV translation is soon to be used in the Catholic lectionary, so I wanted to familiarise myself with it. It’s an elegant translation and based on my old friend the RSV. So we’re becoming acquainted very easily and the luxurious binding and presentation of this edition makes it even more of a pleasure. As you may have guessed by now; I highly recommend it!

This is the best new testament I've ever had. The font is comfortable enough to read while the size is easy to hold and lightweight. It has great binding that allows it to lay flat. Paper quality is also good.

I will skip the parts about how I love the translation and share my advice for breaking in a genuine leather book of this smaller size. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT CRACK THE SPINE! While the Bible has Smyth-sewn binding, is not a hardcover and you will need to take a different approach to loosen it up to where it will naturally lay flat. When you first receive it, start by creasing the front cover at the edge next to the spine and hold it perfectly straight for 1-2 seconds, then slowly flex it as far as it will go. Make sure you’re creasing that edge in as straight a line as possible. Then do the same thing with the back cover, very gently bending straight at the edge. Now, when you read the Bible, hold it however the spine falls naturally. At first, the pages will not lay flat; they will sort of “arch” by the spine. But hold it in your hands a few times a day while you’re reading and after about one week you will notice the binding is gradually starting to lay flatter. Still, DO NOT FORCE THE SPINE. It will not lay flat for a little while. It is not ready yet. No harsh bending! Follow along with this every day, multiple times a day if possible, even if you’re not going to read from it. Just pick it up and open to a few random pages. Even the body heat from your hands will help the leather soften. After a few weeks, the cover and the spine will have softened considerably. I took a picture of my progress here after just two weeks. The leather will be so soft you will be able to totally curl the covers back and they will lay flat again when you put the book back down. The Smyth-sewn binding will now lay flat when you place it on a table and leave it open. Congrats! You have now broken in your small, amazingly well made Bible! The more and more you use it, the softer the cover and spine will become. Just remember that since this is genuine leather, you will want to look up proper tips for oiling the cover so it doesn’t crack. You should do this if you go a while without handling it, at minimum once a year. And now as for my review of the product itself: my new favorite Bible, tied with the New Catholic Bible New Testament (single-column pocket version). It’s a great size for portability, while having an attractive, readable font that I can pore over for hours. The single-column version definitely helps with this. The section headings in a lighter gold color makes them less distracting and easier to skip over, while the lack of headings entirely in the Psalms makes it easier to focus on their content and not their paraphrase, which is rarely accurate in any translation anyway. To my Catholics out there: DO NOT HESITATE TO PICK UP THIS TRANSLATION!! The ESV does now have an official Imprimatur and is gradually on its way to becoming the liturgical standard in some English-speaking countries; you can even find complete ESV Catholic Bibles with Anglicized spelling now. Bear in mind that many beloved “Catholic” translations are also based on so-called Protestant translations; just like the ESV, the hyper-beloved RSV2CE has its roots in the KJV (which originally included the deuterocanon), as does even the Dhouay-Reims-Challoner in many places. The Bible is not about sectarianism, it is about bringing together people that love The Word and want to share that with each other. The Church starting to welcoming the ESV into its library is a beautiful sign of that in work. So pick up this beautiful Bible to match!

This review is for ESV New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs in genuine leather. It was a pleasant surprise to see a small and thin form factor despite a readable single column format. The line spacing and line-matched font combined with gold section headings and chapter numbers give it a simple and classic look. I enjoy reading from this more than from the ESV Single Column Heritage because of the thin volume and paper. The genuine leather with vinyl liner is not as stiff as other genuine leather, making it rather floppy and not overly so. This is the best if not one of the best New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs if ESV is for you. Can’t beat the price and durability. I like it so much I reach for it whenever I think of reading the Bible, so I got a second copy to keep as a spare for a lifetime of use.

Pros: Quality black leather Comfortable print Two ribbon bookmarks Cons: No footnotes, which means you might need to do your own cross references. Summary: The perfect Bible for those already familiar with the Scripture :)