Whatever your language, there is a Bible for you

By ANN RODGERS April 24, 2007

The digital world is no stranger to the Bible, and the Web can help with everything from choosing a translation to delivering a daily verse to your cell phone.

The American Bible Society has a simple guide to a dozen of the most popular English versions at www.bibles.com.

But Chris White, who trains college students to be Bible study leaders for the Coalition for Christian Outreach, recommends going beyond that with the many translations available at www.biblegateway.com. It offers 20 English versions and a multitude of other languages from Arabic to Vietnamese.

"They can check out different translations and see what they like," he said.

At Biblegateway.com you can also type in a phrase from the Bible that you are trying to identify. If you're reasonably accurate, it will retrieve chapter and verse.

Olive Tree Software, a leading purveyor of digital Bibles for handhelds, also has many translations in many languages at www.olivetree.com. If your handheld cost so much that you can't afford software, Olive Tree offers free downloads of Bibles and study aids that are either in the public domain or whose authors have asked that they be distributed free. See www.olivetree.com/free/

To encourage Catholics to read the Bible, the Catholic Book Publishers Association has created www.CatholicsRead.org (click on "current"). It offers online the books that are part of the current liturgical cycle, and some study aids.

Visitors to the site will now find English and Spanish texts of Isaiah, Mark and Revelation, some with extensive notes. Questions for reflection and study are in English only. It's not just the book publishers who are pushing Catholics to read the Bible. The next synod of bishops that Pope Benedict XVI has scheduled will be devoted to the Bible.

Zondervan's The Bible Experience is the first audiobook offered in stereo at iTunes. Find it by searching at http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/audiobooks.html. Samples and behind-the-scenes video of the artists working on The Bible Experience at are on Zondervan's page at http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Product/Bible/The+Bible+Experience.htm?QueryStringSite=Zondervan.

For those who want visuals with their digital Bible, the WatchWORD New Testament is available at www.watchyourbible.com in downloads designed to be read over one year. It works on an annual subscription for $49.95, and includes a search engine and software to track your reading.

If you're so busy that even God can't reach you without a text message, Mobile Verses will deliver a daily verse to your cell phone at http://www.mobileverses.com/. The $9.99 monthly fee comes in your cell phone bill. If you'd rather save that money to buy a top quality study Bible, for 50 cents you can send a single verse to someone you love.

The Web is about creating community, and that's what Thomas Nelson hopes will happen with The Voice, its new Bible for young post-moderns. Log on at www.hearthevoice.com to sample the translation, exchange thoughts with other readers and check out the music that's been written to go with it.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com.)

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