An Amazing Online Study Bible

Two days ago I made a brief post on my little over month-long journey reading the Bible between September and October.

It received some very nice responses. And some very well understood complaints about how hard the Bible can be to understand.

For example one person said:

I have never read the bible in order ever, probably never will because it doesn't make any sense...

Another person commented:

If I could think of the most painful thing imaginable to put myself through, it would be trying to read the entire Bible without going insane.

To be sure there are a lot of translations out there. And many of them use archaic and formal language that is not in common use. On top of that ancient languages are being translated that are not fully compatible when translated literally with modern language. Each language is different and different thinking patterns are used in each language. Thus good judgement most be used when translating, when to translate literally, or when it is necessary to use words in the target language that express the idea in the original text correctly.

For example the King James Version translates Matthew 5:3 as: "Blessed are the poor in spirit." In some cases this terminology can literally refer to someone that is mentally unbalanced, lacking in vitality and determination. A more accurate translation that conveys the idea of the original better is: "those conscious of their spiritual need” or “those who know their need for God” as the Bible The New Testament in Modern English translates it.

This brings me to the modern-language easy to read revision of the New World Translation Bible I used.

As the publishers of it state:

The goal of the revised New World Translation is to use easy to understand modern language that encourages reading. In some languages Bibles use words that are found only in religious or archaic literature. However those words are not used by people in everyday life. For example Thai and Burmese Bibles provided by Christendom use a formal honorific language. Those Bibles use forms of address for God that would be used when speaking to a king. But since no one speaks that way in everyday conversation many of the words are not understood by the general public. Also, it is difficult to view Jehovah as a loving Father when one would never speak to his own father in this way. However now that the brothers have the New World Translation in everyday language, many readers have reported that they feel closer to Jehovah.

In the Appendix when explaining how and why it a new revision of the Translation was made it states:

Over the past half century, however, languages have changed. The current New World Bible Translation Committee recognized the need to respond to those changes in order to touch the heart of today’s reader. For this reason, a number of style and vocabulary changes have been made in this revision, with the following objectives in mind:

Use of modern, understandable language. For example, the expression “long-suffering” can be misunderstood to mean “someone who suffers for a long time.” However, the intended idea is that of deliberate restraint, which is better expressed by the term “patience.” (Galatians 5:22) The now obsolete meaning of “dumb” was replaced with “speechless.” (Matthew 9:32, 33) The term “harlot” was changed to “prostitute.” (Genesis 38:15) In this revision, “fornication” is usually rendered as “sexual immorality”; “loose conduct” as “brazen conduct”; and “revelries” as “wild parties.” (Galatians 5:19-21) The expression “time indefinite” was replaced with such terms as “forever,” “lasting,” “everlasting,” or “long ago,” to convey the intended meaning in each context.—Genesis 3:22; Exodus 31:16; Psalm 90:2; Ecclesiastes 1:4; Micah 5:2.

There is a lot more explained in the Appendix. The bottom line is that a fresh, accurate, trustworthy, and easy-to-understand translation that facilitates reading is available. I can attest to the ease of its readability and understandably.


There are some key features of this new Online Bible I wanted to bring to the attention to students of the Bible and others that may be interested in reading it. Firstly, this is available online for free here:

New World Translation (Study Edition)

It is also available for free with the JW Library app on the App Store (for Apple) Google Play (for Andriod), Microsoft (for Windows) and Amazon (for Fire).

It has some wonderful features. With it.

Using the book of Matthew I wanted to share some of them with you.

Opening The Good News According to Matthew will take you to the opening of the book.

Scroll down you will have a video that gives an introduction to the book.

In the introduction you not only have a video but you can scroll down and read some facts about the Bible book.

If you then turn to Matthew Chapter 2 you will notice several things.

You can listen to a reading of it. Each character has its own reader. It is a reading, but you will hear dozens of different voices through the reading throughout.

Notice on the right side you have the study notes. You can click on the verse number and you will get other Bible references and a plethora of other information pertinent to the verse being read.

In fact in my reading through the Bible I noticed that the Study Edition Notes where usually 3 or 4 times the information available as the chapter being read itself. Included are interesting facts, diagrams, and even videos. The media gallery is all narrated.

The Watchtower Society has said that this is the MOST researched publication it has EVER produced. And it is taking a very long time to publish all of it. When it is done, I imagine it will be 4xs the size of the Bible itself.

To give an idea of its ability to help us understand things more clearly. Take for example when in Luke when talking about Jesus' last days on earth. When is prepares to enter Jerusalem, and rides on a colt at Luke 19:29: And when he got near to Bethʹpha·ge and Bethʹa·ny at the mountain called Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples,saying: “Go into the village that is within sight, and after you enter it, you will find a colt tied, on which no man has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here."

Look at the study notes and you will see a video that takes you to the very place where it happened. And you can visualize it even better.

Also, if you're reading through Acts for example, take a look at Appendix B13 and follow along on the map and really understand where the events and locations are that are being described.

Or if you're like me, and having trouble understanding the different currencies, weights, and measurements, just look at the study footnotes. Or you can refer to Appendix B14-A and B14-B

Reading through Genesis take a look at the detailed maps in Appendix B2, follow along in the map while reading about the Exodus in Appendix B3, follow the conquest of the Promised Land in Appendix B4.

There is much more, diagrams of the tabernalce, Temple of Solomon and the second temple. Maps of the settlements in the Promised Land, Hebrew Calender and more.

All of it designed to make reading the Bible easy, enjoyable, and understandable.

To conclude a couple videos about the making of this awesome tool to unite both Jehovah's people, and to call many untold millions more to God before in this awesome time to be living in...

Information From Writing Committee on the Study Edition

English Study Bible Report


Imagine being a part of more than 120,000 congregations around the world that are fed with the same information each week. All serving Jehovah unitedly with up-to-date, accurate, and wonderfully made information.

a reply to: aniceday

Yep helps at first, in the day
All the BIBLES had Iasus, no Iesus like all of them. Kjv, did they not use a j.....I'll go get to the bottom of this but yep, tough wording and also hard sayings.....odd sayings like ....why do you kick at the pricks......?...... means goads...sticks when plowing with an oxen......idk threw me till......

Then the living bible was new.......be wary of the leaving out of grace, the mentioning of grace in all the new versions.
And the missing 18 verses that mean the most, whose idea was that....ha

The SNL church chat lady.....yes him.....she knows, what was it she used to exclaim??

And that dance at the end....something dance? Curious

Check out Heiser!

I read the first chapter of the Gospel of John in the New World "Translation." It was obvious to me that the wording had been shoehorned to fit a predetermined theology. I stay away from denominational Bible versions, such as the Clear Word Bible (SDA) and the like. I don't think the OP mentioned that the Jehovah's Witnesses are behind the NWT. If you are not careful, you will be Tazed.

a reply to: Lazarus Short

Entrusted with Translating the Sacred Pronoucements of God

originally posted by: aniceday
a reply to: Lazarus Short

Entrusted with Translating the Sacred Pronoucements of God

I rather know what YOU think, but JW.org does not encourage that, does it?

a reply to: Lazarus Short

Normaly JW.org doesn't allow their faithful on sites like this where they can't be controlled
So at the very least niceday can be exposed to another view

Not that it's likely

The NWT is a JW.org only bible and witnesses are not encouraged to read it without their JW glasses on

Tell me hounestly niceday, have you ever read any ex witnesses reports about why they left JW.org?

a reply to: Raggedyman

I'd reply what Jesus told those who slandered and lied about his name, righteousness is proved by its works:

"John came neither eating nor drinking, but people say, ‘He has a demon.’  The Son of man did come eating and drinking, but people say, ‘Look! A man who is a glutton and is given to drinking wine, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ All the same, wisdom is proved righteous by its works.” - Matthew 11:18, 19.

And also what certain Romans said when they met with Paul. Hearing many confusing and lying and slanderous sayings about the Christians, they did not blindly believe them. Instead, they were noble-minded and discreet. They said:

"But we think it proper to hear from you what your thoughts are, for truly as regards this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.” Acts 28:22.

So if you are to hear a bad report about something or someone would it not be wise and discreet to get firsthand information about whether it is true or not?

That is why JW.ORG is such a blessed tool. People all over everywhere can investigate firsthand as to whether the lies and slander said against that group of people are true or not. It is opening the eyes of millions of peoples in hundreds upon hundreds of languages all over the world.

Do not believe all of the propaganda you see, whether in the news, or online. There are even people who intentionally are spreading lies.

a reply to: aniceday

So you don't even read the criticisms
As a Christian I read every criticism that is brought up, I try to understand it
I don't defend Christianity, we have made many mistakes, the church has been corrupted by men, women and those in charge
I am not ignorant to deny our failings and see the reality

But you, you have blinkers on, put on by others who don't want you to see the truth
You defend the in defendable, a mere puppet to an organisation

I serve God through Jesus, in my own broken way.
I attend a church but it's not my identity and I see its failings as well
Why can't you be hounest, why can't you see that JW.org is just a
Oh wait, that's right you are taught Jesus is here on earth today?

a reply to: Raggedyman

I see what you are saying. And I respect you. But no, what you said concerning me is not true. I am glad to have cleared that up.

The Bible is the word of truth. Read it, stick to it. It will lead you in all the ways of truth and righteousness. It is like a bright light that shines our pathway.

Like Jesus said, not me, wisdom is proved righteous by its works.

Just as many lied about Jesus, many lie about his followers. In fact that is a mark of being the true Christian congregation. For Jesus said:

“Happy are you when people reproach you and persecute you and lyingly say every sort of wicked thing against you for my sake." - Matthew 5:11.

Did you know that after Jesus was resurrected the Jewish religious leaders, that put him to death, placed guards at his grave so that his followers would not steal his body and say he was raised from the grave?

Well Jehovah God, his Father did raise him from death, after parts of three days. And the guards on duty saw the events, and the angels and they turned tail and ran. And reported to the Sanhedrin. Did those Pharisees repent even then? No. Rather they paid them money to spread lies about what happened. And those lies were being spread about Jesus even long after he was resurrected:

"While they were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12 And after these had gathered with the elders and had consulted together, they gave a considerable number of silver pieces to the soldiers 13 and said: “Say, ‘His disciples came in the night and stole him while we were sleeping.’ 14 And if this gets to the governor’s ears, we will explain the matter to him and you will not need to worry.” 15 So they took the silver pieces and did as they were instructed, and this story has been spread abroad among the Jews up to this very day." - Matthew 28 11-15.

I did not start this thread to talk about the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses or jw.org. Just give a review of the online NWT and all of the benefits I personally received reading through the Bible recently using it. All of the media, notes, maps, charts, and other things that made reading through it enjoyable and understandable.

It should be known to those who brought up some complaints, both in the JW Library App available for download, and the online version, there are other translations available. I have installed (these are available online in the links shared in the op as well) the King James Version, The Byington Bible, and the Kingdom Interlinear, which is of interest to people who understand Greek, or who want to read the literal translation from the Greek to English.

One commentor above made some disparaging remarks about the JW.ORG website. And since I'm here I thought I'd add a couple of comments from others about it, that may help some reading this who are open-minded, to not listen to detractors but find out for yourself to make up your own mind about the matter.

These experiences are from the video you can watch (which I recommend):

Blessings of JW.ORG

Let's talk about Alenka. She's a physics teacher. And one day, she was at the home of an acquaintance, and there was a strange man there - a man that she didn't know. But she was really impressed with this man. He was so friendly - so warm and kind and balanced too. And after he left, she mentioned that to the householder.

And the householder said: "It's all true what you say. But there's one problem. He's one of Jehovah's Witnesses." Another negative comment about Jehovah's Witnesses. What did she do? She went home and she went online and she found our website.

For five months she carefully studied all of the material on our website. And at the end of five months she decided to go to the Kingdom Hall. She made a very interesting comment, something I hadn't really thought about, she said: "Thanks to jw.org, nothing in the hall seemed strange to me - the program, the people - all of it was familiar."

After she attended meetings for a month, she asked for a Bible study.

Dregan was a Franciscan monk in Slovenia. He'd been in the order for a number of years, but there was something missing. There was a void in his life. He realized that his religion was not satisfying his spiritual need. So he went online and he joined a chat room with a bunch of evangelicals.

Well, as you can imagine, eventually some negative comments were made about Jehovah's Witnesses. Did that stop Dregan? No, another fair-minded person. He thought: 'It's not fair to criticize Jehovah's Witnesses when none of Jehovah's Witnesses are in that chat room.'

So he went online and found our website. And he was delighted with the quality of the website. Now, he was a monk, and in the Franciscan Order, that particular Franciscan Order, the monks were only allowed to leave the monastery on Mondays. So one day, he found the address of the branch office in Slovenia, and on a Monday morning, he went to the branch and got a tour. The brothers received him very warmly. He was very impressed with what he saw, and he came away with a novel idea. He came away with the thought that he should be reading the Bible every day.

And so he went back to the monastery, went online, and started reading the Bible online every day. His fellow monks observed this, and they thought this was hilarious. What's a Catholic monk doing reading the Bible? But he didn't allow their opposition to deter him. He kept reading the Bible and then kept consulting jw.org, and he realized, on consulting the website, that the Memorial that year was on a Monday. So he was going to be able to attend, and he did.

And that did it - that meeting. He made the decision to leave the Catholic Church and to leave the monastery. So now, there were a lot of challenges to overcome. It wasn't easy, but he persevered. And in June of 2014, he left the church, he left the monastery; and then in the month of October of that same year, he was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Since, he has served as an auxiliary pioneer.

This...one has to do with Cadja. She was dissatisfied with her church and so she decided to investigate various religions. Now in the old days, people would just go from one church to the other, but modern-day people go on the website; and they want to know what various churches teach.

And as she was investigating the teaching of various religions, she noticed there were a lot of negative comments about Jehovah's Witnesses. Did that stop her? No, because she was a fair-minded person. So she went online and found our website, and she found the "Frequently asked Questions" section of the website, and she loved it.

Every question was answered with the Bible, and that's what she wanted in a religion. Well, she noticed our website that there was an invitation to attend our meetings. And so she talked to a schoolmate into going with her to the Kingdom Hall. She was a schoolgirl.

Now she loved what she heard at the Kingdom Hall, and she was so warmly welcomed. But wouldn't you know it, her parents were opposed. And soon after she made that one foray to the Kingdom Hall, they moved to an isolated area where there were none of Jehovah's Witnesses, and Cadja was cut off from any association with the Witnesses for one year.

But not to be deterred she studied all of our publications on the website. And she kept up-to-date with the truth. In September of 2014, she was again able to make contact with the Jehovah's Witnesses and she accepted a Bible study. And in July, 2015 she was baptized.

There are more experiences in the video. And many many more.

Jesus said by their fruit you will recognize them. God's people are united by love and peace. And produce good fruit, believe in the Bible, are kind to their neighbors, and help them to see the truth as stated in God's word the Bible.

a reply to: aniceday

I disagree, it's not the bible
It's Jesus who restored our relationship with God

You are worshiping the bible
You can't not see that surely

a reply to: aniceday

And I won't sit around and read propaganda and what I call false reviews without commenting

Many critics have slammed the NWT bible translation as a JW.org in house cult copy.

Why do no other church use the NWT, why did you leave out in your review the many criticisms

You may not come here to talk about JW.org but they are the buisness who undertook thr NWT, they are the only ones who use it and they are the ones who say they are the ones who know their NWT is the most accurate

Not telling some things is lying, why not criticise the NWT where it has faults