Berean Bible
Berean Study Bible
TLDR: A Bible to Share
I know your time is valuable, so I’ll start at the end. The Berean Study Bible is a new translation, in current English, and available for free. You can find it at https://berean.bible. You can also get audio from https://audiobible.org
“Why Choose the BSB? Authenticity The Berean Standard Bible is a completely new translation based on the best available manuscripts and sources. Each word is connected back to the Greek or Hebrew text, resulting in a transparent and honest text that can be studied for its root meanings.
Elegance The Berean Standard Bible text is the result of a careful translation and styling process to maintain core meanings and produce an English text of high literary quality, effective for public reading, study, memorization, and evangelism.
Availability We believe that the Scriptures are meant to be studied and shared freely. Just as Paul encouraged the churches to pass on his letters, we are developing digital resources that will be free to access and free to share in websites, apps and software.”
Now let’s start at the beginning
You’re probably familiar with the idea that we have multiple translations of the Bible, but you may not know why. There’s a lot of things that are difficult to explain in other languages.
Imagine telling someone about a message. The note says, “I love my spouse, my career, microwave popcorn, and sleeping with the TV on”.
There’s a few problems here:
Your one word has multiple meanings
The person is from a country that’s never heard of electricity
There’s no words in their language for microwave or television
Oh yeah, you don’t speak the same language
What is your solution?
Let’s imagine that you have an app to help you translate the message. How do you decide what to say? Do you change words to keep the meaning? Do you say the closest equivalent in their language? Is it ok if you change any of the words so they can understand what you’re talking about?
You can take someone else’s old translation and update it. Since it’s out of copyright, there’s no fees for using it. You can go back to the oldest known sources. You can look at many translations from different areas and times throughout history.
Ultimately, the choices have a lot to do with what you plan on doing with it. Do you want it for easy reading? Do you need everything numbered so you can reference a specific verse? Do you want to have cross references noted? How about commentary to help you understand the context?
Now, the Bible has over 30,000 verses and the meaning isn’t something trivial, like my imaginary note. The process of translating old languages, especially this quantity, is an amazingly time intensive exercise. It’s a common practice for translations to be protected by copyright, because of the investment involved in making it. Under copy protection, there are restrictions on what you can do and how much of the text is available with and without permission.
So what’s the big deal?
The Berean Study Bible is free to use and share, like the King James Version. They’re also current English like the New International Version or New Living Translation. Combining the quality of work produced in the NIV without the copyright limitations is a wonderful gift to God’s people.
Please, read your Bible Today
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17
As soon as night had fallen, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true. As a result, many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men.
But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that Paul was also proclaiming the word of God in Berea, they went there themselves to incite and agitate the crowds. The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then returned with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible. - Acts 17:10-15
Licensing:
The Berean Bible and Majority Bible texts are officially placed into the public domain as of April 30, 2023. See terms and conditions.
Licensing is not required for any use. However, you are welcome to complete the licensing form in order to receive communications as we develop new resources.