Member-only story
I Read the Entire Bible
Here are things it says and things it does NOT.
I set out a few years ago to read the entire Bible. That’s right, everything from “In the beginning” to “Amen.” I have finally finished that quest, every single word. And before I try to explain just what it was that I read, I will invoke this passage from Psalms 119 verse 31:
“Lord, don’t let me make a mess of things.”
Since I am not a Biblical scholar, or any other type of scholar for that matter, I am really going out on a theological and philosophical limb here. But bear with me and let’s see if I can make sense of what I read.
There are numerous translations of the Bible. I read the Living Bible, a paraphrase. Being a paraphrase rather than a literal translation, it was easier to read than one such as the King James Version. The Living Bible uses more modern phrasing but provides footnotes throughout to provide additional clarification and in some cases the original wording.
It took a little over two years to read all of the Bible. This isn’t something you decide to do over a rainy weekend. This isn’t binge watching the Soprano’s. I began by reading two chapters a day, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. The New Testament is much shorter so when I finished it I simply started it again while I toiled on through Numbers…
