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Bibles with no Headings / Chapter/Verse Numbers

December 18th, 2014

I’m curious about Bibles without the chapter headings and without chapter and verse numbers.

They are available in translations that I read, but I was wondering if anyone has one, what their experience has been with it?

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  • Wendyl Leslie The New Inductive Study Bible -NASB, doesn’t have chapter headings. The idea being that you read the chapter for yourself and write in the heading you think would be the heading. I find it to be a helpful tool in remembering the theme(s) of the chapter because it’s your heading, not someone else’s.
    December 14 at 2:10pm · Like · 3
  • Kristi-Joy Matovich I read one without chapter or verse headings once very briefly. I remember that after I got over feeling like it wasn’t actually a Bible, I felt far more connected with the text.
    December 15 at 1:34pm · Like · 2
  • Kathy Martel Our church is going to be doing an 8-week small groups bible study on the New Testament with one of these bibles, starting at the end of January. We’ve heard from other churches that can be life changing for many people. Will post the link to the resource when I get it in a few weeks…
    December 15 at 8:52pm · Like · 1
  • Ed Chait I’ve been curious about reading one for a while because the chapter and verse numbers have always bugged me. They’re certainly useful, but I think they may also get in the way of that connectedness that Kristi-Joy mentions. Kathy, I’m really curious about how the Bible study goes! Please let us know. I’m going to get one and will report back also..
    December 15 at 10:14pm · Like
  • Ed Chait I like the idea of writing in my own chapter headings Wendyl, but if I write in a Bible I use erasable pencil because the Word is living and active and my headings might change
    December 15 at 10:25pm · Edited · Like · 2
  • MeLissa LeFleur Houdmann Yes, it helped me read through it more like a book and less like a segmented text.
    December 15 at 10:26pm · Like · 2
  • Ed Chait I got the Kindle edition of the ESV Reader’s Bible for $10 to see how it would go. I has chapter numbers but no verse numbers or chapter headings.

    I’ve only done a little reading in it, but at the very least, it reads significantly more fluidly for me. Your mileage may vary.
    Yesterday at 11:35am · Like · 1
  • Ed Chait I began getting curious about this when I would include a passage of Scripture in my answers but would delete the verse numbers and just provide the range of verses in the reference, i.e. Ephesians 2:7-14.

    When I would remove the verse numbers from the body of the passage, it was good reading for my spirit. That’s the best way I can describe it.

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