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Saturday, September 26, 2009

Audio Bible

I'm in the process of looking for an audio Bible for an older Christian, who has difficulty with reading because of his age. I got one years ago, which I still use, but I don't know much about audio Bibles. I'm looking for recommendations. The best one I've heard so far is David Heath's, which you can listen to here. (Put a Bible passage in the search engine and click on "Listen" in the upper left after the passage comes up on the screen.) I like Heath's rendering because there's no background music, his voice is clear, and it's not as much of a dramatic reading as others I've heard. In my experience, the more dramatic readings tend to be poorly acted, they would be better without the background music, you have to turn down the volume when the reader decides to (often inappropriately) raise his voice for some portion of the text, etc. Heath's rendering may be too subdued for some people, but overall it's the best one I've come across. I'd consider a dramatic reading if it's done better than the ones I've heard so far. I'm interested in recommendations. Or if you want to recommend one for the readers of this blog in general, without my specific circumstances in mind, you can do that.
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9 comments:

  1. Andrew9/26/2009 4:50 PM

    I have an ESV audio bible which is fairly good (no music, would be "non-dramatic" in your sense). Also, as far as dramatic/musical versions, there's actually a fairly good version of the NKJV done entirely by celebrities, with Jim Caviezel as Jesus. I'd recommend both for different settings.

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  2. Andrew9/26/2009 4:51 PM

    the esv was put out by crossway in 2008; I'm not sure who the voice(s) are, but the title is "Hear the Word ESV Audio Bible", so I'm sure one could find it online.

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  3. Henry Middleton9/26/2009 5:05 PM

    The SBC has several audio New Testaments in many languages with several in English at http://www.4truth.net/site/c.hiKXLbPNLrF/b.5107563/k.958E/Free_Audio_Bible.htm.

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  4. Red Monkey9/26/2009 5:25 PM

    I recommend "Inspired By: The Bible Experience"

    It is TNIV, which I'm not a fan of, but it is by far the absolute best dramatic reading of the Bible I've ever heard. There are very very few parts where the acting is bad, but this is more than made up for by the superb acting and background music and effects of the over all product. You can get individual books or sets of books on iTunes for about $3.00.

    I suggest you buy the book of Job for a few bucks and give it a listen to see if you don't love it.

    Prior to hearing it, I hated dramatic readings because of horrible acting (I tried KJV, NKJV and some other ones). But this is the only one I've heard that I think actually enhances the listening experience.

    Of course, the dramatic readings can have a bigger drawback in that the intonation of the speaker can effect your interpretation of what's going on. But this is rather minimal.

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  5. J9/26/2009 5:58 PM

    I got the complete NIV from audible when I signed up. The version I have is from here: http://www.listenersbible.com/. It's an interesting listen. Good quality reading, almost Shakespearian in tone!

    J

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  6. JIBBS9/26/2009 6:09 PM

    I enjoy Max MacLean's version (ESV) available from Ligonier Ministries.

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  7. threegirldad9/26/2009 6:22 PM

    Well, based on your comments and preferences, I think you've already found the best recording available -- with one notable exception.

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  8. Richard Coords9/26/2009 7:13 PM

    The Word of Promise: New Testament Audio Bible (Audio CD)

    http://www.amazon.com/Word-Promise-Testament-Audio-Bible/dp/0718024249/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254006693&sr=8-1

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  9. Matthew9/28/2009 4:54 AM

    I like NaturalReader (text-to-speech).

    How about James Earl Jones Reads the Bible?

    :-)

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