Youth Bibles

Another trend in Bible publishing can be seen in the number of children's, teen, or student Bibles that have appeared on the market. These Bibles come in formats designed with the younger reader in mind.

The choices are many, from easy-to-understand Bible translations, with colorful pictures and maps, for young children, to teen Bibles with the same choices in Bible translations as are available in those used by adults but with special sections that help make the Bible truths relevant to their lives.

Today's youth want Bibles that make the Word of God real to them - relevant, readable, and alive with answers to some of the intense questions that they have about life. They aren't necessarily looking for something easy.

When my 12-year-old nephew came to live with us a few years ago, I bought a teen Bible for him in the New Century translation, thinking that the vocabulary would be easier for him to read than some of the other translations. He liked it well enough, but within a year he came to prefer the New International Version, while I had become more fond of the New Century.

Teen Bibles are available in many translations, each offering a variety of features.

The NIV Study Bible is the one that my nephew settled on, although by now he may have moved on to something else. The NIV Study Bible is the best selling Bible for kids ages twelve to fifteen, because it offers interesting study helps that allow readers to see how the Bible applies to their lives.

The Extreme Teen Bible, in the New King James Version, includes forty full-page profiles tell the stories of amazing, young people in scripture who allowed God to work through them to make an impact on their world.

Your teen might also enjoy the Holy Bible: New Living Translation, Metal Edition, with a metallic cover available in either red or black. On the inside, the New Living Translation, second edition, is a translation that kids can relate to.

NIV True Images: The Bible for Teen Girls is intended specifically for real teenage girls living real teenage lives. Packed with edgy graphics, quizzes, insights, and discussion about real life issues, this Bible is in the New International Version.

Or, soon to be released, is the Revolve Devotional Bible: The Complete Bible for Teen Girls, which is said to be the perfect gift for the teen girl wanting to dig deeper in the Word and develop the discipline of reading Scripture. As of this writing, this one is due to be released in October of 2006.

Not to be left out, and also in the NIV translation, there is NIV Revolution: The Bible for Teen Guys, which deals with issues from a guy's perspective.

The New American Bible: Basic Youth Edition brings biblical topics to life and engages youth to reflect on the Scriptures, Catholic Tradition and beliefs, biblical history and figures, and contemporary issues. By drawing teens into the text, this inclusive Bible gives voice to young people of all cultures and nationalities and provides the necessary tools to make biblical messages relevant to real-world teen issues. Also available is the Catholic Youth Bible, which consists of the New American Bible Including the Revised Psalms and the Revised New Testament.

Another good Bible for Catholic kids is the Fireside Catholic Youth Bible. The Bible text is also written in the New American Bible translation, supplemented with 96 pages of full-color inserts addressing some of the critical topics that teens face.

The Catholic Youth Bible, Revised, includes a concordance, sixty more articles to help young people pray, study, and live the Bible, an expanded lectionary reading plan, nine full-color maps, eight reading plans, four special indexes, a full-color timeline, and four pages of full-color maps; and is available in both the New American Bible translation or in the New Revised Standard version.

These are just a few of the many choices there are for kids of all ages today. For the younger kids, there are any number of illustrated Bibles, intended to grap the attention of even very young children.