Today, 09/04/2021, I completed another read-through of the Bible. This time the English Standard Version (ESV).
The effort began in September 2017 and I sought to read it through with meticulous attention to word-by-word detail. The whole duration was day-by-day with missing maybe 10% or so of the days between. That is, about 90% of the time, I read each day straight through from NT to OT in chronological sequence. It took 4-years of consistent study.
By necessity, some areas were read more than once and enormous lasting life changes happened along the way. Since I began, my father passed away, I joined and left a company, joined another company, completed two years of Bible college, with one more year to go, sold two houses in California, built one house in Arizona. This period was also through a global pandemic where people I know have passed away from COVID-19. Various other changes have transpired, but overall I am thoroughly grateful for having been able to read through God’s word to completion. That is, at least of the English text.
While making my way through the Bible, I rarely used audio to accompany the reading. Probably less than 20-chapters overall scattered throughout various books. I used a marking system that is color-coordinated and I will continue to use the same system for additional reading as well. Readings usually occurred in the mornings, but there were stretches in the evenings too. Usually never in the afternoon. Daily reading sessions ranged from a few hours to 20 or 30-minutes.
If a word appeared that I didn’t recognize, I looked up the Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic translation. I often compared various additional side-by-side translations of words and sentences to validate a reading. The notes I made were largely interpretive from personal observations, or hermeneutics coursework I’ve completed. Many cross-references were made along with written out historical facts, or meta-details applied to the text as well. People, places, and things that carried some weight would be drawn out in the notes too.
The scripture text itself is the ESV Bible, Heirloom Wide Margin Reference Edition. I chose this version because of the even margins on both the left and right of each page. The top and bottom margins are not as even, but still wide enough for notes and markings. The pens I used were Sakura Pigma Micron 005 fine tips that come in red, blue, black, brown, green, orange, purple, and pink. Along the way, I consumed 4-packs of these pens. They don’t bleed through the thin pages of this Bible. The yellow highlighter is a Gel marker by Thornton’s Office Supplies. It isn’t ink-based, so it doesn’t bleed through either. The gel wrinkles the pages as it dries on each sheet, but it has lasted for years so far. Its marking retention is acceptable and expected to remain for many years to follow.
Below is a video that gives a sense of what the work looked like. It was time well spent as it is and was a source of nourishment that cannot be found anywhere else.
