This is an effort to briefly describe some available versions of the Holy Bible. The following Bibles are specially annotated for the recovering Christian and are an essential tool for recovery. All of these can be purchased online from: RecoveryBooks.com (Look under "Bibles for Recovery")

Serenity: A Companion for Twelve Step Recovery
(New King James Version- New Testament Psalms & Proverbs),
by Dr. Robert Hemfelt and Dr. Richard Fowler,

The Life Recovery Bible
[ISBN 0-8423-2809-2] (excellent for anyone in recovery.)
Stephen Arterburn and David Stoop, editors, Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, IL 1992
A specially annotated version of the entire Living Bible containing extensive supportive readings to aid in recovery. Included are introductory outlines to each book "Twelve Step," "Recovery Principle," and "Serenity Prayer" devotional reading plans, and "Recovery Profiles" illustrating the principles of recovery in action in the lives of over sixty Biblical characters.

Recovery Devotional Bible
(complete Bible-NIV version) Includes 365 meditations and extensive notes Zondorvan Publishers

My Spiritual Journey (Bible and Journal)
This will help readers discover themselves through readings, journaling, and follow-through questions. It includes many features from the Life Recovery Bible, including book introductions Twelve Step devotionals, Recovery Principle devotionals, Serenity Prayer devotionals, and others.

Live It Now New Testament
The topical index in the front of this New Living Translation New Testament points you directly to passages that are relevant to what you are going through right now, thus making it a very useful guide in today's struggles, trials, and needs.

More Bibles [Click Here]

The Bible was written over a period of several centuries. It was originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament). Until the 16th century Bible versions in use in Europe were based on the Latin Vulgate (a Latin translation by Jerome in the 5th century). There were old English versions including the Wycliffe Versions (published in the 1300's) and Tyndale's Versions (published in 1500's).

Of the Bibles currently in regular use in the USA and Canada, the King James Version is the earliest (1611).

There are many translations/versions of the Bible. I use several at once because it enhances my understanding of God's Word.

Various versions I use are:

KJV {1611} King James Version

NKJV {1982} New King James Version (maintains the poetic nature of the words in the KJV but uses words more commonly used in this day)

RSV {1946} Revised Standard Version (a revision of the KJV)

NRSV {1989} New Revised Standard Version (more modern language form of the above).

TEV {1966} Today's English Version (also known as the Good News Bible or the CET Contemporary English Translation) this is one of my favorites. Put out by the American Bible Society)

TLB {1971} The Living Bible (written in very simple and modern language. It is a paraphrase of the Bible).

AB (1958-1965) The Amplified Bible (includes additional words that normally would appear in margins or footnotes).

ASV {1901} American Standard Version

NASB {1960} New American Standard Bible

ERV English Revised Version (used in Great Britain)

ICB {1986} International Children's's Bible (written for children from a 3rd grade reading level up. Great for adults too).

NCV {1991} New Century Version (modern English from a 7th grade level up)

NIV {1973} New International Version (one of the most widely used modern English versions).

DBY {1890} Darby's Version considered one of the most accurate translations)

YLT {1898} Young's Literal Translation (noted for its accurate verb tenses)

Of course there are other versions too! Zondorvan Publishers puts out The Layman's Parallel Bible which has 4 different versions on its pages. Great for studying the Bible.

Bible Software

Bibles are being put out on disk and CD all of the time. There are excellent free versions available for download. There are shareware as well as commercial versions. Click here for a partial listing

Bible Software for Recovery
Free Bible CDs, Encyclopedias, Religious Clip Art, and more.

Although computerized versions of the Bible are handy tools, there is no substitute for reading the word out of your own well read, underlined and annotated paper version. I have at least 30 paper Bibles in my home--all well used.

Steps to choosing a Bible [Click Here]

Feel free to write with any questions you may have. If I do not have the answer, I can generally find it out.

Obie