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Whether your New Year’s resolution is to read the Bible in a year, you’re a crossword puzzle fan who needs an easy reference tool, or you want to read the Bible in an easy format, check out the many free ways you can read the Bible with tech.
YouVersion App
YouVersion is a free and powerful app. Think of it like the Bible as a super-charged ebook. The YouVersion Bible app contains over 200 versions of the Bible, including King James, New American, American Standard, NIV, English Standard, Orthodox Jewish, The Message and many others. The app also includes translations of the Bible into other languages, including Spanish, French, Norwegian, Chinese, Korean, Italian, Japanese, Russian and dozens more.
The app accesses these Bibles over the Internet or you can download a Bible to your device so you can read it when you are offline.
You can search the Bible for phrases or by chapter and verse. The app allows you to take notes and keep them private or share them with others publicly. You can access others’ notes to see their insights and bookmark favorite Bible passages for reference later.
If your church participates with YouVersion, you can follow along with YouVersion Live during a service and read the pastor’s notes, click on verses, send in prayer requests, ask questions, and take notes. YouVersion Live also has expanded messages and related Bible verses to access during the service or later.
If you want to read the entire Bible in a year, YouVersion offers many different reading plans to keep you on track. You can choose:
- the Chronological plan, reading events in the order in which they occurred;
- the Historical plan, reading the Bible in the order in which it was written;
- the Blended plan, where you read both the Old Testament and the New Testament at the same time; or
- many other plans.
Instead of reading the entire Bible in a year, you could also have the app suggest daily devotionals for you to get inspiration each day. YouVersion has many different varieties of devotional plans for you to choose from.
Choose a plan that is a good fit for you and each morning YouVersion will list the Verses you should be reading for the day. After you have read a verse, YouVersion will check it off so you can keep track of what you have read. If you miss some days and get behind in your reading schedule, YouVersion will suggest a catch-up plan for you to get back on track.
You can get the app for free here:
Here is a YouTube video by YouVersion on the app:
YouVersion Website
YouVersion is also available as a website, you can access it here. The website has the same features as the app, including the ability to choose from many versions and languages of the Bible. You can also set a daily reading plan and access YouVision Live for your church services.
Do you have a New Year’s resolution to read the Bible in a year? Do you need a handy reference tool for the Bible? Do you like reading daily devotionals? Let us know in the Comments section below!
This is great! I wasn’t actively looking for this, but now that you posted this I am definitely going to download it and try to read through the Bible in a year – something I have pursued before but never succeeded in. Thanks Carolyn.
Hi Karen, I’m so glad you will find this app helpful. You will be impressed at the different choices of plans you have and the ways YouVersion will help you to stay on schedule. This app makes it a lot easier to read through the Bible in a year.
Good luck and a very happy New Year to you! 🙂
What really got my attention is the daily devotionals. Now that I like. I have several Bible’s but the one I really like is the One Year Bible. You just read a chapter a year starting on January 1st. It’s really great.
My Mom has a small pocket book of daily devotionals but I haven’t been able to find one so this free app will solve that. And I can start on the 1st.
Thanks Carolyn, another fabulous find!
Happy New Year my friend.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, I’m so glad you found this app to be useful to you. I think you’ll like having the app handy wherever you go. Plus you may find the daily reading plans helpful and a bit different from your One Year Bible.
Enjoy!
Carolyn, aloha. This is absolutely amazing. My oldest sister is a nun and I think she has an iPhone. Off to share it with her.
So many people I know will appreciate learning about this.
Is this your last post for the year? Hauoli Makahiki Hou. Janet
P.S. Wasn’t that a fantastic post John Bell did? His descriptions of the various people were excellent.
Hi Janet, That’s wonderful that your sister will enjoy this app! I knew not all of my readers would be interested, but for those that were, I knew this would be a fantastic app for them to discover.
I think this will be my last post for 2011, Janet, but you never know what breaking news will occur with tech!
Yes, John’s post was amazing. For those who want to check it out, here is the link: 2011: The Year my Brain (and my Heart) Swelled…. I was truly honored to be included in his list. I was delighted to see your name there as well, Janet. John has an amazing blog, innovative and inspirational. He deserves support for his great work.
Happy New Year to you too, my dear friend!
Great app! Any bugs other bugs that you think we should know? Thank you and happy new year!
Hi Jim, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! No bugs, but plenty of apps you should know about. Stay tuned in 2012 for more great apps and other personal technology from The Wonder of Tech! 🙂
Wow, what an app! This is actually interesting, this is actually very creative since Bible will be very accessible to everyone anywhere..Cheers to the New Year!
Hi Ernest, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Great point, with YouVersion, the Bible is available to everyone everywhere in almost any language for free, so long as they have a computer and internet access. There are places in the world where the Bible is hard to come by, so this is a valuable resource for many0.
Thanks for your visit, I hope you stop by The Wonder of Tech again soon!
Thanks for the info. I always enjoy your postings…
Hi Lizabet, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Thank you for the kind words. I’m thrilled you are enjoying the blog.
We hope to see you back here for more exciting tech in 2012. Happy New Year, Lizabet!
Hey Carolyn,
This seems interesting! Sorry for missing so many posts of yours!
Wishing you a wonderful and blessed New Year!
Hi Hajra, Yes, you’re right, this is an interesting app. It would have been easier for the developer to have just a few of these features, but it’s packed with plenty of useful enhancements and it’s free!
I hope you have an exceptionally wonderful 2012, Hajra. Thank you for all of your support of The Wonder of Tech! 🙂
This was actually the first app I downloaded, but lost interest in it quickly because I didn’t understand how to use it. Thank you for the great explanation. I just committed to one of its suggested yearly devotional plans. Day 1, done! A great way to start 2012. Thanks, Carolyn!
Hi Riley, I’m so glad you found this post useful, Riley! I think you will enjoy using YouVersion. The app has a lot of features that makes it fun and useful.
I hope this app helps you have a meaningful and productive 2012, Riley! 🙂
Though I am not a reader of the Bible, I can appreciate the value this app adds to all the people out there who will really find it very useful and easy.
It is another one of those great posts from you.
Hi Praveen, Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I knew this post wouldn’t apply to everyone, but if it can help at least one reader, I am happy.
I appreciate your kind words and I wish you the best in the new year!
Carolyn,
I don’t come over very often because really, tech is SO above me!! LOL! THIS, however, I love! I have The Message, My Utmost For His Highest, Holy Bible, Women’s Devotional Bible, The Book of Mormon, Jesus Calling Devotional, The Lost Books of the Bible and The Forgotten Books of Eden, oh… I wish I had known about this app first!!
Thank you for sharing this… really.
~Amber-Lee
Hi Amber-Lee, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! You’re not alone. Tech is confusing for many people, but The Wonder of Tech is all about making tech understandable and exciting for everyone! Plain English is used here, no Geek Speak allowed!
I am glad you enjoyed this post. Even though you have all of those versions of the Bible (wow, that’s a lot!), you may still find value in downloading this free app. With this app you can have the Bible with you wherever you go, along with your notes and bookmarked passages. Very handy!
I hope you stop by again soon, Amber-Lee. New visitors to The Wonder of Tech are always welcome. No tech expertise required! 🙂
I find it pretty straight forward to use. This Bible software is an easy and true king james version. It really helps me in my Bible study.
Hi Shaman, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Good point, YouVerse is very easy to use. I’m very glad that it helps you with your Bible study. Thanks for stopping by and adding to the conversation, Shaman. 🙂
Carolyn, thanks for the informative post. I’ll have to check this app out. Seems like there is a lot going on there. I was toying around with the idea of developing a prayer request app. But, I’m a little hesitant to jump into that pool…
I have a site that processes a lot of prayer requests already. I feel like a mobile version of our service would be really helpful…
Hi Laura, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I think you will really enjoy this app. The features it has really help you explore the Bible and find relevant passages.
Good luck with your prayer request site. I agree, a mobile version would be helpful. Can I ask why you are hesitating to develop an app?
Thanks for stopping by The Wonder of Tech and leaving a comment, Laura! 🙂
Well, for starters, I just got my first smart phone about a month ago! So, lets just say, I’m still exploring the types of functionality that is possible with mobile apps. But, mostly I’m just hesitant to dive into the complexities of working with a developer, etc…
I do imagine that it is something I’ll pursue in the next 6 – 12 months though. Especially since I already have a sizable community of people that I know wold be interested in such a thing.
For now, we are focusing on a site redesign… As you can see, it needs a little work as well.
Wow, sounds as if you have your hands full with all you’re doing. I agree, it’s wise for you to get used to your smartphone so you learn which features you want in your app.
Stay tuned to The Wonder of Tech for some upcoming articles I think you’ll really enjoy! 🙂