The Best ESV Bible on the Market

I get asked all the time about my favorite Bible or my “go-to” Bible or the best Bible. This is obviously a pretty subjective question, but I’m going to have some fun today and write about what I think is the best ESV Bible on the market. The ESV is my translation of choice and many people also ask me why that is. The answer is much simpler than you may want. I use the ESV mainly because it is a faithful translation, but secondly because I’ve been using it for about 15 years. When I think about Scripture, I think in the ESV. I’ve memorized in the ESV. I’m familiar with it and I love it. There are other great translations out there like the NASB and CSB, but the ESV just connects with me. My advice is use a translation you enjoy reading. The saying goes, “The best Bible is the one you’ll read.”

Now, let’s talk about ESV Bibles. One of the best things about the ESV, in my opinion, is that there are so many options. Crossway is excellent in putting out a wide selection. Even more, you can choose from layouts with Cambridge, Schuyler, and Allan. Thomas Nelson even provides the MacArthur Study Bible in the ESV. You won’t have trouble finding an ESV Bible that works for you. There are a lot of layouts I really like and I think different layouts have different purposes, but if I could only choose one what would it be and why?

I think the best ESV Bible currently in production is Crossway’s ESV Preaching Bible Verse-by-Verse edition. This is a highly subjective take, but if I could only choose one ESV Bible, this would be it. I find this Bible to be the best all around Bible for preaching, teaching, study, and devotion.

First things first, this is a nice Bible! It’s bound in a nice, soft goatskin leather. It has the spine hubs, the art gilt, and the perimeter gilt line. It’s also, as far as premium Bibles go, quite affordable. You can pick this up on Amazon currently for $150, which is a great price for such a nice and well built Bible. That’s the other thing… If you can only have one Bible, you want it to last. This Bible is built to last being Smyth-sewn and edge lined. It also comes with Crossway’s lifetime guarantee. I want a sturdy Bible. I will mention though that I’d love to see Crossway do this layout in a TruTone or hardcover edition because I’d love for them to make such a great layout even more affordable to those who may feel like it’s still a high price.

Let’s talk about the layout itself. The layout is why I love this Bible so much. It is a single column verse-by-verse setting. It’s the only one in production aside from a study Bible made by Harvest House publishers. The NASB has single column verse-by-verse editions in spades, but for whatever reason, the ESV is sparse in this particular layout. I, however, find it to be maybe the most helpful layout out there.

For me, it’s all about simplicity. In general I find verse-by-verse layouts to be helpful and I really love the Cambridge Topaz, which is a double column verse-by-verse layout. However, that’s two columns I have to navigate. In a world filled with distractions, give me one column so I can run down the page looking for my verse number instead of having to scan two columns. I want to find my place quickly.

Finding your place quickly can be especially helpful in teaching and preaching, but I even find it helpful in my devotional time. We have three young children and even when I’m up early there are a lot of interruptions. Being able to find my place easily after a multitude of interruptions is really important for me and I find this layout to be really helpful for that. Many may argue that having a new verse on each line creates a choppy reading experience, but I find that you get used to it quickly and it really isn’t an issue.

Finally, I want to highlight the font size as well as the paper. This Bible has a 9.75 font, which looks nice and big. Not only that, but it jumps off the true white high-quality, coated Bible paper. I love how the paper is so white that it really makes the text look really black and bold. I’d also be mistaken to not mention the nice margin space for note writing. I typically write in a journal, but there is so much margin room in this thing if you wanted to write notes down. It also gives the text a really nice, clean border if you don’t write in it.

All of these different elements combine to make what I think is the best ESV on the market today. I do hope Crossway will make this layout in a cheaper binding like a TruTone or Hardcover. I also hope they will make more single column verse-by-verse layouts like an older one they used to do with references in the inner margin. The more options the better, but for now, this is my go-to ESV.

You can pick up your copy of this Bible from Crossway or Amazon (affiliate).

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this Bible in exchange for a fair and honest review.