The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People

This has been the best way for me to understand the Bible as a whole. I've read through it multiple times, and nothing else has helped me to remember the storyline of the Bible more than this book has.

I had purchased this book mainly because it was being used at our church for small group studies. I knew it was a paraphrase and not a substitute for the Bible itself. With that being the case, I found the book to be fascinating. What I learned the most about was the Old Testament. I've never read the Old Testament before, at least not in its entirety. I noticed a reoccurring theme in the Old Testament and it made me wonder if God is going to punish our country in same way that he punished Israel for turning its back on Him. Solomon was definitely my favorite person in the Old Testament and the reason is because he asked for knowledge and wisdom and not material possession which he received from God anyways. Another part that I was not aware of in the New Testament was the full story about the Apostle Paul and when he was arrested by the Romans and forced to give an account. It was very interesting to read how this Jew, who persecuted those who followed The Way, would become one of the most ardent Christians of that time.

It can be very hard getting through books like Numbers when reading the Bible to children or for a new Bible reader. This book is VERY well done, giving the stories in chronological order and using major sections of the NIV Bible which is an easy Bible to read for meaning. Summary notes before each section are great. We gave one each to our grandsons (6, 8 and 8) and they love them. I use it for students, and they love it. This does NOT replace a regular Bible for those who know the Bible and/or are involved in Bible studies. This is ideal for its purpose, though, which is to acquaint the reader with the stories in the Bible -- the history, the prophecies, the books of wisdom. Very well done.

I like it very much; I would give it five stars if I weren’t so fond of the Bible as written. It is a presentation, a very skillful presentation, of the major stories of the Holy Bible. For some, it is a great starting place in understanding Christianity. For others, it is a review. For all, the book has value.

Scholars re-write the Bible in story form rather than the usual list of books in the Bible divided into chapters and verses. It is written in the New International Version English so it is very understandable and easy to read. It is VERY helpful for those who are intimidated by the idea of reading the "traditional" layout of the Bible, but still gives them the major themes and story line without so much detail that they are bogged down by too many details. I believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, but I am sure that every detail is not necessary to get the story across. This is the perfect gift, suggestion, resource to share with someone who wants to read the word of God but is overwhelmed at the thought of diving into the original layout. My church used this as a resource for a year and now I am reading through it on my own as well as listening on my Kindle.

I have been enjoying reading this book. I just got into the New Testament. One should know it has Bible content, but is not a Bible. Much of the old testament is kind of a summation of the books, I just got into the New Testament. It is just something you have to read for yourself, but I find it worth the time to read if you really enjoy the Bible.

Would like to give it 4 or 5 stars, but book arrived looking like someone stepped on the box. It was wet on one corner. Shipping/handling - disappointed. Book is a great chronological version of the Bible.

I wanted to do a year through the Bible and several folks suggested The Story. So five of us are enjoying the stories and important lessons in this Biblical synopsis by Max Lucado and Randy Frazee. They take out all the begets, the instructions for sacrifices and leave the meat of the Biblical stories and characters. Lots of lessons to be learned while holding the interest of the reader. There are six questions for each of the 31 chapters. Our class adds questions and we can rarely get them answered in an hour. If you've always wanted to read the Bible through in a year, this may be the best introduction.

I bought a this book because a church I was attending was using it for a weekly study. However, I found it to be more a manipulation of Scripture than a meaningful representation. My first read by this author, and probably my last.

I love this book!! Love how it reads like a story, so easy to listen to and follow. My grandson loves it! It does leave some of the Word out though, especially in the New Testament so be prepared for that. Love it!

This has been the best way for me to understand the Bible as a whole. I've read through it multiple times, and nothing else has helped me to remember the storyline of the Bible more than this book has.

I had purchased this book mainly because it was being used at our church for small group studies. I knew it was a paraphrase and not a substitute for the Bible itself. With that being the case, I found the book to be fascinating. What I learned the most about was the Old Testament. I've never read the Old Testament before, at least not in its entirety. I noticed a reoccurring theme in the Old Testament and it made me wonder if God is going to punish our country in same way that he punished Israel for turning its back on Him. Solomon was definitely my favorite person in the Old Testament and the reason is because he asked for knowledge and wisdom and not material possession which he received from God anyways. Another part that I was not aware of in the New Testament was the full story about the Apostle Paul and when he was arrested by the Romans and forced to give an account. It was very interesting to read how this Jew, who persecuted those who followed The Way, would become one of the most ardent Christians of that time.

It can be very hard getting through books like Numbers when reading the Bible to children or for a new Bible reader. This book is VERY well done, giving the stories in chronological order and using major sections of the NIV Bible which is an easy Bible to read for meaning. Summary notes before each section are great. We gave one each to our grandsons (6, 8 and 8) and they love them. I use it for students, and they love it. This does NOT replace a regular Bible for those who know the Bible and/or are involved in Bible studies. This is ideal for its purpose, though, which is to acquaint the reader with the stories in the Bible -- the history, the prophecies, the books of wisdom. Very well done.

I like it very much; I would give it five stars if I weren’t so fond of the Bible as written. It is a presentation, a very skillful presentation, of the major stories of the Holy Bible. For some, it is a great starting place in understanding Christianity. For others, it is a review. For all, the book has value.

Scholars re-write the Bible in story form rather than the usual list of books in the Bible divided into chapters and verses. It is written in the New International Version English so it is very understandable and easy to read. It is VERY helpful for those who are intimidated by the idea of reading the "traditional" layout of the Bible, but still gives them the major themes and story line without so much detail that they are bogged down by too many details. I believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, but I am sure that every detail is not necessary to get the story across. This is the perfect gift, suggestion, resource to share with someone who wants to read the word of God but is overwhelmed at the thought of diving into the original layout. My church used this as a resource for a year and now I am reading through it on my own as well as listening on my Kindle.

I have been enjoying reading this book. I just got into the New Testament. One should know it has Bible content, but is not a Bible. Much of the old testament is kind of a summation of the books, I just got into the New Testament. It is just something you have to read for yourself, but I find it worth the time to read if you really enjoy the Bible.

Would like to give it 4 or 5 stars, but book arrived looking like someone stepped on the box. It was wet on one corner. Shipping/handling - disappointed. Book is a great chronological version of the Bible.

I wanted to do a year through the Bible and several folks suggested The Story. So five of us are enjoying the stories and important lessons in this Biblical synopsis by Max Lucado and Randy Frazee. They take out all the begets, the instructions for sacrifices and leave the meat of the Biblical stories and characters. Lots of lessons to be learned while holding the interest of the reader. There are six questions for each of the 31 chapters. Our class adds questions and we can rarely get them answered in an hour. If you've always wanted to read the Bible through in a year, this may be the best introduction.

I bought a this book because a church I was attending was using it for a weekly study. However, I found it to be more a manipulation of Scripture than a meaningful representation. My first read by this author, and probably my last.

I love this book!! Love how it reads like a story, so easy to listen to and follow. My grandson loves it! It does leave some of the Word out though, especially in the New Testament so be prepared for that. Love it!

Great concept, and in general the language is easy-to-understood, but it's a little strange as far as readability goes. It's like a mishmash of literal, actual Scripture with some content that seems like a summary or maybe historical context (?) kind of added in...? It's very weird for me to read, but I am used to reading the Bible OR a book and this feels kind of in-between. I have volunteered in a Christian bookstore and several people came in raving about this book, so I think you should take this review (and others) with a grain of salt!

Not for anyone who wants to study the Bible, I personally think that this bible study has confused and wasted people's time and really is just an excuse for the church not to dig into the word of God the way they should. Now if you are listening to it while driving for entertainment that, that would be ok. But there again why not just listen to The Bible and if you want watered down or easy listening then get one of those new watered down versions that are out there. Anyway not a fan.

At first this book was a little intimidating due to the fact there are no reference chapter or verse numbers. But now I read it like a novel....I love it! It is in language of today...very easy read!

I’ve been looking for a read with the Bible in chronological order and this one had great reviews. I am very pleased and already have had people saying they want to read it too. Well written and recommended. A great way to read the Bible and actually understand it. Made it easier to read the actual bible after and have an understanding of what’s happening

If the Bible is intimidating to you or you just want a different perspective, this book is for you! It doesn’t hit every single part of the Bible but is still great. Max lucado is an amazing Christian author. Book is great for new people in faith or old. Makes a great gift!!

I enjoyed this book. It flowed well until Revelation, at that point the authors cut out 4 of the 7 churches without discussion as to why, leaving the reader flipping back and forth looking for the missing churches. A few short words of explanation would have helped.

So easy to read and understand what is going on. Takes the Bible and puts it into English so it so much easier to understand. Very well worth it. I'm learning so much that I thought I knew, now understand it so much better.

Not what I expected but for someone looking for synopsis of Bible stories this works well. Misses a lot of needed detail if you want to know the true Bible facts. Cliff notes version of a Bible read

A great chronological reading of the biblical story, a few deeper theological points and nuances are missing but anyone that would love to dive deeper has endless opportunity through their local church. Would recommend for new and long time believers alike.

I bought this e-book although I do have a print book version. My church is using this as an additional text to the Bible for introducing the whole story of the Bible to those who may be new to Bible study. It is not a replacement for the Bible! Has the text in chronological order to help understand what happened when. Although I have been studying the Bible for 60 years, I am learning some new thoughts in some of these chapters.

I’m enjoying this. I’ve had other Bible on CDs through the years but this one is different because there is some music, and the voices change with the various speakers. It is more than a narration which can become monotonous afterwhile in my opinion. This is a little bit more like listening to a play.

I love this study, I like that it's a very short version of the bible and that you can also buy a study guide and I find it very useful. Glad I made the purchase of this bible and it's study guide

Having read the Bible through several times in various translations & versions, I found this to be a nice way to read the story or history of the Bible without a word for word rendering. It is not intended to be word for word, but I believe it stays true to the Word as GOD would like us to know , remember, and apply the Story or His Story. I would give it five stars except for the fact I was disappointed that more description was not given in Revelation. Otherwise great read!

If you have not read the Bible or know little about the Bible, this is a great first step toward the goal of reading through the Bible; if you know very little about the Bible, it reads as a history book, putting people and events in chronological order. This volume is easy to read and gives the reader the beginning picture of what the Bible is all about. If you are looking for details this is not the book for you. If you are educated in Bible history and have read through the Bible, this book will not give you any new insights and will probably leave out more than it includes from your point of view. This book is a very simple overview of the Bible and provides a timeline and a basic structure, hitting all of the high points of the Jewish history in the Old Testament with the story of Christ and the beginning of the Christian church in the New Testament. It is easy to understand, easy to read and is a great introduction book for anyone that is new to the Bible. I found it easy to follow the each of the kings in Northern and Southern divisions during the exile. Just a wonderful book that could be passed on to tweens and teens or perhaps to a new Christian --these are the people that are just starting their adventures in the Bible. Max Lucado has worked a miracle in taking on the whole of scripture and developing this wonderful book!

For me, reading the Bible has always been quite daunting. The tiny text, thin pages, narrow paragraphs, and not to mention the formality of it all! It feels like I should be sitting at my desk with neat hair and a good posture. That makes it quite difficult to get through the whole Bible in a reasonable amount of time. I found that reading The Story was a different experience altogether. The novel-feeling is great, I had no shame in relaxing on the couch under some blankets and reading the day away. It was like reading any other book, only the story line was at its greatest! Now I know some people are being picky, because a lot is skipped in The Story. Quite frankly, you can read this compressed version of the Bible in as little as a month (reading a chapter a day), and that's enough to convince me. And the way it was written, you know when something has been left out. I kept my 'real' Bible next to me while reading, and if I wanted to know more at any point, I could easily cross reference. I think I only did this about twice though, as I was very satisfied with the way The Story was written and explained. It was certainly a great experience to get through the entire story of the Bible in such a short time, and I would recommend it to anyone. I think that especially for new believers it can be a great help. Instead of taking a year to read the whole Bible, and possibly losing interest in the first month or two, I say, let them read The Story!

Our church chose this book not only as a study within our Life Groups, but also for weekly sermons. We watched the videos that accompanied the book, as well. Be prepared to read a shortened version of the Bible. I study the KJV so The Story was a quick, easy read. I gave a copy to my 13-year-old grandson because I felt he could better comprehend the overall concept of the Old and New Testament. However, nothing replaces the true Word of God.

"The Bible" the title and words immediately bring ideas, opinions and reactions. A couple months back I sat with the rest of my staff hearing popular pastor, Alistair Begg. He was speaking at a lunch at our local Christian bookstore. He spoke about our responsibility to preach the Word. At the end of the lunch we were given gift bags with a The Story, a narrative Bible that includes selections from the NIV. What I found ironic was after hearing about the responsibility of preserving every passage and word of scripture we were given a paraphrase. I use the word "paraphrase" lightly, because really isn't even that. The Story is an attempt to rewrite the storyline of the Bible in a 32 chapter book form. The teen version follows very closely to the adult version in many ways. The teen version includes a "flip book" feature on each page with 4 main icons. The flip book feature allows easy identification of what is the theme of the passage, as well as creating a quick flip book through the story of the Bible to play out. Another helpful addition is the 7 tabbed sections that once again connect the historical period to the storyline It is a difficult task that the authors and publishers have undertaken in writing this book. I must given them credit and respect for what I am sure were long hours of work. I see this as a helpful tool for teens, especially the young teen that I work with, but however am not completely sold on the whole of it. I can see that they have tried very hard to preserve the story, but I am not sure that the integrity of scripture is fully intact in the end. Please do not get me wrong, I did enjoy reading it. I like the over arching concept. I will be using in my ministry in selected contexts. I will most definitely use it as a gateway to getting young students into reading and understanding God's Word. I feel the key word is "gateway". I would suggest allowing it to be used as a lesson book and not as a stand alone Bible. It is also a great tool to give to new or immature believers who are simply trying to get a grasp of the scriptural story.

I bought this for someine who likes to read the Bible. The book came with an odor of perfume. It should have been mentioned in the book condition description. I still gave it to the oerson I bought it for.

I received this for Christmas from a friend and in turn I bought one for my friend who is a new Christian, who in turn bought one for her friend. What a great way to share the Word. I love how "The Story" reads like a storybook from beginning to end in chronological order. It references passages from the NIV version. In the beginning of each chapter, there is a timeline on the bottom of the page that pertains to that chapter. There are also discussion questions at the end of the book that are great for bible study. The friend who gave this book to me uses it in their weekly church bible study. I will also be using it in my bible study with my friend.

I enjoyed this book, it hit the key parts of the Bible and wasn’t too overwhelming. I would recommend this book to those looking to become familiar with the stories.

This is simply the NIV bible, simplified in even plainer (not really a word, I know) English. Sort of a Cliff Notes version of the Bible. Got it because our church is studying the bible in a year and wanted a text where you could read a chapter before church and know what the sermon would be covering. Most will either love it or hate it. I like it and my wife hates it because she LOVES the King James version. If you want to get to the point as quickly and plainly as possible, this is great. Doesn't take the place of reading an actual full Bible.

This book gives an excellent chronological overview of the entire Bible! There are 31 chapters. Each chapter is comprehensive, though brief. This book is excellent for gaining an understanding of how all those stories fit together. I highly recommend it and the companion reference book.

Although this isn’t not a replacement for reading the Bible, it was a fun and interesting read and it accurately protrays biblical stories. Our son has learning disabilities and he has really enjoyed reading this. He says it helps him understand his Bible more.

One's exposure to the Bible is usually on a story-by-story or verse-by-verse basis. Whether you've been exposed to Bible study your entire life you've just heard a story now and then, it is easy to miss the big picture and, consequently, the most profound lesson from the Bible. Because The Story takes the Bible and puts it in a narrative, the reader can see how all of the Bible is about the way in which humans separate themselves from God through rebellion and how God has gone to great lengths throughout history to bring us back to Him - first through his relationship with the Israelites and then through Jesus Christ. Everyone should read this for the big picture while making sure to read the Bible itself for deeper truths.

The book is easy to read and tells the stories of the Bible in an easy to understand delivery. I think it would make a great bed time book for parents and children.

Bought for long trip. A person can loose their self in this book Beside being the Bible,it has some great stories. It has everything for an avid reader.The Song of Solomon will make you plush,while Joshua and Judges will make you cringe.Psalms and Proverbs will make you feel loved. Job and Lamentations will help you understand patience.The book of Hosea will introduce you to prostitution and God's Love for everyone.The Gospels of The New Testament will tell the same story from four different views. Buy a copy of this book and see if you don't get totally swept away by the stories in The Story.

Adult Sunday services and Bible studies using adult version, middle and high school using teen version, children using kids' version. This has been great for family discussions. The book is also a great outreach tool, because even people completely uninterested in church often want to learn about the Bible as a cultural phenomenon. Besides the Bible-as-novel editing of NIV, I also particularly appreciate the emphasis on individual and group participation in God's grand overall Story.

Nicely done, easy to read, and a wonderful way to understand the Bible stories! Our church is using The Story throughout sermons and Sunday School - everyone is working through the chapters at the same time. So far it has been a wonderful learning experience. The children companion books are great as well.

I was amazed how well written this was. I've read the Bible many times through and was astounded how many important things this book included. Granted, there were some thing things skipped, like most of the Psalms, Proverbs, Jonah and Job, but the Psalms included were inserted in the proper place in the life of David, and Proverbs was reminiscent of the life of Solomon. The thing that really blew me away was the New Testament beginning with the book of John. After I read it, I just shook my head and said,"Well of course."

My pastor is using this book for her messages--one chapter each week. I wish I could say at my age that I've read the Bible through from beginning to end. This book by one of my favorite authors, Max Lucado, is taking me through the story of the old testament chronologically. It's an easy, enjoyable, and educational read.

The complete history of God's dealings with humans, from the creation through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, to the end times as prophesied in the Revelation of John, is told in this book. The content of the book is nearly all selected directly from the text of the New International Version of the Bible, but it also includes linking portions to explain omitted events and to maintain the flow. The book is divided into 31 chapters, and one way in which it can be used is as a 31-week teaching series for churches, focusing on one chapter per week. This is how my church has used it (with breaks for Christmas and other special events). Weekly sermons have focused on one part of the week's chapter, and supplementary materials relating to the same chapter have been available for small groups meeting during the following week. In my opinion the book has identified and addresses a key weakness for many contemporary churchgoers: a lack of understanding of the complete message of the Bible. However, I am not sure that a condensed 500-page version is really any more likely to solve the lack-of-Bible-reading problem than a full 2000-page version. It seemed to me that at the start of the church teaching series most people made an effort to read the weekly chapters, but the participation rate fell off as the series progressed. The problem seems to be not that the "real" Bible is too challenging but that many people just do not read. On the other hand, I thought that the 31-week overview of the whole story of the Bible as given by the sermon series did help most people to develop a greater understanding of the big picture. A lot of Bible was crammed into each chapter, so the weekly sermons tended to focus on one aspect of each chapter rather than on the whole, but the cumulative effect of the 31 weeks still gave a reasonable overview. I would definitely recommend this resource to other churches.

I can finally say I read the Bible, it is so easy to understand what the Bible is saying and still wonder what it means. Is EXACTLY what it says. Love it

This is the book anyone can understand and get the true story. Simple read .great book. Read it you will see

This series is amazing. I love the way it takes you through the bible in such an interesting way. It really brings it all to life and keeps the main point the main point.

I knew I was taking my chances with the condition of this book by purchasing from a secondhand story. However, I am more disappointed that this is not the edition that I purchased. Instead of the LEATHERSOFT, BROWN/TAN version of this book that the item was listed under, I received the HARDCOVER edition. It's still in good condition, which is appreciated. But it was misleading and wrong.

This really helps you understand God's Redemptive Plan from Genesis to Revelations. It takes God's "Upper Story" (i.e. Redemption) and helps you see that through focusing on the characters in God's "Lower Story" (i.e. the lives of the characters in the Bible), and then helps you map those character's struggles and their revelations of God onto your own Story (i.e. your own life). We are going through this as a series at my church from the pulpit and in our small groups and it's been awesome to hear how God is helping people relate to Him better and to His ultimate plan in our lives. Really good Bible Study!!!

I like the authors approach of presenting the Bible as a story and not just a collection of books.

My church gave EVERYONE a copy of "The Story" but I was scheduled for surgery and thought the Kindle version would be better for the hospital. I was right. We've been using a chapter each Sunday for worship service.

Liked it a lot. Easy read considering the old testament is complicated. Good language to read to 10 year olds or so

This accurately tells the major stories in the bible in chronological order. It does leave some things out. I think it is great for those who have never opened a bible. Hopefully, it will inspire them to get into a bible study and dig a little deeper. I have been in bible studies for many years, and I am enjoying it because it is easy to read and puts things in chronological order. It eliminates the repetition found in Kings and Chronicles and well as in the gospels. I think the author has done a great job of hitting the "high points", as well as keeping things biblically accurate.

I've only just started reading this but so far I've found it enjoyable. Not the same as another chronological daily reading Bible that I have but it has been a good substitute. As stated by other reviewers, there are some missing pieces so this should not be used as a primary scripture reference by any means. I do agree that this would be good to give to a new Christian to provide them with a concise overview of the history of God's people and whet their appetite for a more in depth study. Read as a novel, it suits my purposes for having a daily reading Bible on my Kindle.

This was a good way to interpret the bible, especially for somebody younger who is having problems understanding the old English and outdated writing styles of the original text. My only knock on this book is that it does tend to skip quite a bit. I understand that the attempt was to highlite the important parts and the story line, but I feel some important parts of the original bible we're left out. This book would be a great accompaniment to the bible, but not a replacement. Worth the purchase though for sure.

Max is at his best when writing about modern events and attitudes and is incredibly inspiring in those situations. This is a departure for him, but very insightful nonetheless.

Love this book you should read this love how well its written you wont be disappointed also makes a great gift

I found this to be an excellent addition to study, by listening, as a drive. It is nice to listen to the content of the Bible without being distracted by not knowing how to pronounce some of the names of people and places. I also enjoyed the story format giving me another perspective on the patience of God and the love He has for his people!

Love it

This is a good way to get a chronological view of the stories of the Bible in a short period of time. I am reading the entire Bible in Chronological order thoroughly as well but this was a refreshing way to do it. After reading this I bought more copies for gifts and those people have enjoyed them immensely as well. Would highly recommend this

Beautiful hardcover book in perfect condition. Tells the narratives covered in the Bible sequentially and in novel form.

This is a very good way to work your way thru the bible without getting bogged down in too much detail. However, the reader is still constrained by someone else's choice about what is important and what can be left out without damaging the experience. I feel they are doing a good job, but I am still uncomfortable with others making editorial decisions for me. Take that for what its worth as I am a voracious reader. I don't think I am the normal, intended audience for this work and as a way to get non-readers more comfortable with reading thru the bible, I think it works very well.

It's well written. I am fairly well acquainted with the king james version which is the best translation we have of the original Greek scripture. This was sort of close and the actual story telling was excellent. For example I never really understood the logistics of Paul's incredible missions taking Christianity to the world. It describes them excellently. In fact that is the best thing about the book. You can keep up with the Bible stories as well as appreciate the beautiful prose of the Bible.

I recently finished "The Egermeier Storybook Bible" and am ready to go for the adult version of the Bible in chronological order! I find that reading chronologically and starting with a kid's book has been the way for me to be properly introduced to the Bible. I cannot wait to read this and then go on to the Real Thing!

Useful summary of Bible in chronological order. Necessarily brief and somewhat limited, but helpful nonetheless.

Not a substitute for the Bible but a good additional book to read the Bible chronologically.

Makes it easier to read since it’s written in story form. I will says it’s not spot on what the Bible says but it works for someone who has a hard time reading scripture

This is the 3rd time I am purchasing “The Story.” When a friend begins asking questions about the Bible, I turn them to “The Story” first. It’s a very easy read where anyone who has questions and was curious about the Bible can begin. It’s a wonderful starting point and I have given it away twice, and this will be my third time. I highly recommend it!

Excellent quality for a used book along with competitive pricing and prompt shipping.

Love it! Made it very easy to catch my daughter up after I started the book. We have enjoyed listening to the book together!

The hardest part about reading the bible is taken away by this story version. It will give you incredible understanding of the bible and enlighten you about many spiritual events. It is very accurate, easy and enjoyable to read. The knowledge I gained was a gift that opened my understanding to a wider perspective. I am reading it again because there is so much it has to offer someone about life and the Christian world.

THIS HAS BEEN A GREAT JOURNEY for our family and our church. The church decided to utilize The Story as a through The Bible in a year program that crosses Sunday School, Church Services, and small group meetings, with age appropriate lesson plans. The way The Story is written with the "upper story: and the "lower story" has enabled alot of discussion within the church, as well as our family. There have been many things in the "lower story" that, even though we have been Christians for along time, we have been surprised at some of the back story. Kudos for this great book, that if you had no Christian training, would be a great introduction to The Bible, and encourage reading The Bible along with The Story.

I really like that it summarizes things. I use it to a supplement as a kind of cliff note to my actual Bible reading.

This is a great read to get a good overview of the historical events of the Bible. I have always found it difficult to stay motivated and focused when reading through the OT, but this book feels much more like reading a novel in the way it keeps my interest and leaves me wanting to find out what happens next. Much of the text comes right out of the Bible, with narrative in-between sections to tie everything together. Very helpful resource for getting a "nutshell" summary.

A simplification of the Bible, which can be difficult for some to read. It tells the story in a way you can remember.

My Aunt's church was doing this as a church wide bible study. Her Sunday School decided not to do it, but she wanted to read it anyway. Well they offered to do a weekly evening bible study and I agreed to go. Bought both of us a copy. We are enjoying reading about God's plan and discussing it with fellow members of our church. I wish the author would have explained why somethings were left out and others covered, but it is pretty comprehensive look at the bible and the upper story and lower story. Reads just like one long story

It makes the Bible less intimidating. Very useful.

I became aware of this volume through a Bible study group at church. I continue to look for various formats for learning about the Bible and the stories it tells and messages it brings. This particular format makes for easy reading, clear understanding, and logical sequence; it adds another perspective for studying His Word.

The Story engages the reader by putting the story of the Bible into chronological order to engage the readers interest better. The essential story lines and lessons are there without some of the less interesting tangents like genealogies and characters whose story ends without progressing the overall story of the Bible. The Story does not replace the Bible but it allows people to remain engaged throughout the entire reading of it. After reading The Story and learning the overall story arc of the Bible, then people are ready to explore the Bible and its other stories and lessons and be able to put them into context with the overall story.

For those of you looking for a detailed study Bible, this is not it! It is intended to give you an overview of the entire Story of God's love for us, start to finish and it does a GREAT job of that...summarizing some parts so that you don't get bogged down in too many details, but not so "condensed" that you miss the big picture. NIV makes it easy to read as well. I've bought several for friends and family and everyone is enjoying them. A great concept for seeing the overarching story. An excellent companion to a standard Bible.

I wish everyone would read this book. It puts the Bible in historical, yet understanding stories. I highly recommend!

This book is a part of my daily, nightly reading. It is easy reading and conforms to biblical teaching. It makes me feel good knowing that it is the last ritual I perform before going to bed. I will read it over and over again. It is like having a best friend teaching you on a daily basis. It is a beautifully written book. Also, it was a bargain at Amazon.

Our church used this book and the related materials as a churchwide study.. It is an amazing book that gives a wonderful overview of the entire Bible.

Looking for an overview of the Bible. This is a great one.

Easy to read and learning more than I thought I would. Seller delivered as promised.

Great book. Decided to write a review after seeing that others have also received this product damaged. Only disappointed to see that the cover had multiple scuff marks on it when received as well as two stickers. There is a dirty red sticker at the bottom with a barcode on it, which is actually wrapped around the paper cover denting it.

The contents is great. What else can be said about that. The formatting is very annoying. No matter what font I use, only about half the screen is used. It's got about a one inch margin on either side leaving one narrow colum of text in the middle. You feel like a speed reader as you turn pages constantly as there is only about half the text displayed that could be.

Beautifully written as a story. I bought one for each grandchild.

We used this as a weekly guide at our church.

Very easy to read. And exactly verse by verse.

For those who have never been able to read the entire Bible this is the book for you. Everything from Creation to Revelations in chronological order. Makes everything clear for the believer and agnostic.

My entire church read this book earlier in the year. Thanks so much for the wonderful work that was done to bring the story to Kindle.😇

No clue, I got it for my mom in prison so I didn’t read it but my grandma recommends it.

different format, reads through like a novel.

I pick this up and read it and it is so much like reading an up to date novel! Easy to read yet I was reading God's Word in an easy way --- like a life unfolds, so does this book. A beginning, middle and ending.... although its ending never ends if we are fortunate to unveil our own confusion about what the Book says.

This is an EXCELLENT and EXCEPTIONAL way to read the Bible in the New International Version. It is without Chapter and Verse numbering so it reads like a novel. Wonderful read.

If you struggle with trying to grasp the Bible, then this book is for you. Takes all the complicated wording and turns it into understandable English!

I love "The Story" and being able to have it on all my devices is wonderful. You'll love it too! If you want a bible this is not one. It is basically a Genesis to Revelation summary in an easy to read, follow and understand format. It has aided me in remembering and understanding biblical time lines and events. A must for your collection.

This is basically an abridged version of the Bible. In some places it simply uses the NIV text of a passage, while in other places it paraphrases or summarizes passages. The point of the book is to provide a high level overview of the narrative of the Bible. It achieves that goal quite well, but I prefer just reading the Bible itself.

This is so excellent! So much easier and interesting than reading straight from my bible. Thank you so much!

Our church just finished a 31 weeks study using this book, website, study material. Great experience.

The Story is a wonderful way to read the Bible as it is in chronological order and easily read.

While reading the book I've discovered that it's easier to follow and understand the Scripture more clearly. As it's written in plain understandable words, one realizes that that we need to know the old and New Testament. In The Story it's combined in one book and the old flows into the new, therefore it's read as one. Whatever was written in the Bible is in "The Story" and it makes a wonderful read. I do recommend it.

I have read the Bible several times cover-to-cover, chronologically, by topic, etc. The Story is a delightful way to review scripture and allows the Bible to be read more like a novel. There are so many wonderful stories in the Bible's 66 books by over 40 authors. The Story allows the many stories to flow in and easy to read, entertaining, informative and memorable way. The Story uses mostly NIV scripture with transitional narrative in its summary of the whole Bible.

Our Church has recently started a study series using The Story. I am enjoying the series so far, BUT was very disappointed with one of the first videos. Why the author felt the need to interject anti-gun propaganda into his video is beyond me... He should leave his political views out of what is otherwise a pretty good Biblical teaching tool.

Awesome book! It really helps to guide you to understand the Bible and it’s a very reliable source easy to read and enjoyable.

I have read the Bible with different lessons in Church S.S., Bible Studies, etc. With the jumping around from Old Testament and New Testament, I could never really make sense of it all. I have learned more, reading 'The Story' of the Bible and also where and when things happened. I am still reading the book. I get interrupted so many times with a family and all, I catch myself having to go back and remind myself where I am. But that's ok, because I am still enjoying 'The Story'. I think when I read it again (and I intend to) I am going to get a detailed map of all the cities where things took place. I think it would be interesting to follow the path of all the happenings. I have leaned things in different situations that I don't remember or understood what was going on. Needless to say I AM enjoying 'The Story'.

This takes the Bible and creates a smooth transition into laymen’s terms both the old and New Testament. While I trust the Bible, this makes it easy to comprehend and experience both the transitions of the old and new testament books.

If you want a good overview of the Bible, in chronological order with a lot of the details such as detailed laws and chronologies then this is it. There is an important narrative flow to God's story that you get from this version of the readable NIV that you get from the complete Bible only with a lot of effort. I give it four stars because, well, it's not the Bible, which deserves five stars and more.

"The [Bible] Story" that was SUPPOSED TO read like a novel, ended up reading more like cliff notes, as it essentially turned out to be a veeeeery truncated, extremely abbreviated SHORT read, and nothing at all the easy, ESV read I was expecting.

I've been reading this for a couple of weeks now and it's a good supplemental read along with the Bible of course. The stories are all condensed versions of the Bible, and they're fun to follow along with if you just want to understand the basics. At times you'll get confused at so many names popping up, but that's just the nature of the Bible.

I especially liked that I didn't have to wade through all the genealogies and precise measurements of things. This is more like an abridged version of the Bible that focuses on the main stories. It is very readable. Great for a first-time Bible reader or for a regular Bible reader who wants to read the highlights. It would be a great tool for group study.

Good gift for anyone wanting to learn the bible.

Just what I was looking for --- Scriptures in a story format. So very biblical in its narrative --- interesting, too!

This book was absolutely amazing. Learning the bible in a storytelling mode really put things into perspective. I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn about the Bible in a story form.

My Sunday school class is using this book, hence my purchase. Puts the Bible in an easy to read, novel style format. We have several true Bible students, and none have commented on any inconsistencies, and we always read the Bible in parallel.

I used this as a present

This is a wonderful book for someone who wants an overview of the Bible. Easy to read with thoughtful commentary.

For those folks who get lost trying to read the Bible because the chronology is all over the place and everything sounds confusing, this book is for you. It contains 31 chapters which cover Genesis through Revelations in an easy to read novel-like format. It is wonderful. Doesn't cover every single thing that you will find in the Bible, but it does cover the most important things. I would highly recommend it, especially for anyone new to Christianity or Bible study.

Love this shipping was fast

It is a good gift if the person reading it is not familiar with the bible. Like and Intro to the persons of God.

Like reading a novel! But in this case it's true! I am enjoying going back and forth to confirm the story and I like it!

The story provided me great insights to some bible stories i knew but didn't quite understand. I have a much better understanding of Saul and David's relationship than i've ever had before. I am still reading it because this isn't something you can just sit and read in one sitting. I'm thoroughly enjoying it so much, i purchased the book for a relative as a gift.

ronciara@gmail.com This was was to read and follow and keep up with. It's like using cliff notes in college. A great read but still need the whole bible to get everything

love it so real

The Story series was an all church project for one year. Very well received and led to excellent discussions of what each person believes.

Wife loves it and it is a great first Bible read for kids.

If you are wanting a broad stroke review of the Bible, from 10,000 feet, this is just the choice for you. As a seasoned studier of the Bible, I grew somewhat restless of its "skim the surface" approach, but that's just me. Again, for someone who is perhaps seeking to know what the Holy Bible is all about, this would be an excellent introduction.

What an easy read. Most people find the bible very hard to read and understand. This book makes it like the title says - a story. The essential messages remain and are true to the full text, it's just that some has been eliminated and paraphrased to make it easy to read and understand. I would recommend this to anyone who hasn't read the bible and wants to get the core of meaning.

An easy to read Bible and have ordered one for miy daughter. I have 12 different bibles, each one different and learn from each one.

This is a great book if you want to learn the Bible and understand the history of events. I highly recommend it!

Great book

Ok but u have no idea what chapter or verse you're on. Love the idea of a Bible in novel form tho.

I have always wanted to read the Bible from cover to cover, but I was bogged down by the language and references I was unable to understand. This book tells the greatest story ever told in a way that is comprehensible and worthy. It was easy to follow along with my Bible and now I feel like I understand more than I ever have before. Excellent read, a necessity for Christians like me who wanted to understand the Word.

Did not download properly to my KindleFire Would not recommend until publisher corrects problem Requested refund.

Extremely easy to read and a great tool in getting starting reading the Bible. Reads as a novel and provides a great overall picture of the Bible (God's Great Story). Sparks an interest in diving into the Bible for more details.

I read the Bible through every year.. sometimes several times. I've read all sorts of styles of reading the Bible in a year, or 90-days and enjoy them. This is different and yet enjoyable for me as well. I always go back to The Living Bible, The King James and the NIV, but I also enjoy exploring AND benefiting from these versions as well. Try it... you may like it as a continuing time line.

Look carefully at the sample you download for Kindle, as it displays on your device before purchasing. I bought this soft edition because I wanted the option of increasing the font size, but this book doesn't re-flow pages. If you make the text bigger you will lose the bottom of the page, with no way to get to it. Other Kindle books I have don't do this. But the book itself is a good big-picture presentation of God's revelation to man, so of course many things will be left out, and everyone has their own idea of what's important. We got our 10-year-old daughter the teen version rather than the child version because even more was omitted from the younger text, like Cain and Abel's confrontation, for instance. The teen and adult versions are pretty much identical, as far as we can tell.

I've read the Bible from front to back. But it is kind of hard to keep events and times in order. This version of the Bible is so easy to follow and I think reading this with your family in the evening before bed would sure make it easier for young ones to understand. It's got war, miracles and great joy. All the things kids like in their stories.

I do read the bible and do like the Old Testement but this made it so much more understanding from the beginning to Christ in simple terms and was great in keeping track of each period and understanding god's acts. It also gave a good understanding of all the areas in the region and leaders. I reccomend it to someone who might want a fast history and doesn't want to read the Bible to get it. It is of course not a replacement of the Bible but it does help you to understand this section better. I am reccomending my granddaughters to read it to better understand the Catholic Religion. My Son gave it to me after having talked about this book in College.

This is a book that was chosen to be a church wide theme at the church I attend. I have known most of these stories for years, but come away with new information or perspective each time a story is presented. For those who have never read the bible there is information that is left out that is important. But over-all it is a great book to start or refresh you bible knowledge.

This book was shared with met to read as a new tool for those who wish to do bible study and it met that description. I can recommend this to those who are beginning to do biblical study. For more serious bible scholars who like to teach others, this is very simple and easy ya tool to share with those who are seeking to know more.

Another beautifully written book by Max Lucado. Putting the entire Bible into a "story" format is genius.

The Bible contains a lot of information, some related to how to do things, and some related to the people who interacted with God. This book is a good overview and summary that gives the bird's eye view of the stories and the people. I'm familiar with the overall content of the Bible, so it was nice to get a more chronological view of the story, and I liked how the various scattered pieces describing stories were brought together. I used the Kindle version, so maybe it's different than the print version, but one thing I would have liked, as someone familiar with the Bible, is a sense of where the elements were gathered to create the story. That is, as I was reading the stories in the early part of the Bible I seemed to be reading a blend of the Torah and the book of Hebrews. It's all the right words, but blended. So if there was a way to see where the pieces came from, that would be better fo rme.

We have just started using this in our Bible study and so far feel that it will be a great guide. As always the Bible itself is the most crucial writing, but this book presentation brings us to some better understanding through format and questions. The book is well written and is formatted well. The Story will be a good guide as we continue to grow in our relationship with God.

Great easy way to understand the Bible!

The Bible written like a novel!

This changed everything for me. This book has changed the way I read the bible. I now understand the bible on a level I couldn't grasp before. The bible tends to be confusing in many areas and this book takes those areas and makes them understandable to all people without making people dig into commentaries and do extensive studies. This book should be mandatory to all Christians. It will revolutionize the word to all who read it. I am a senior at Northpoint bible college and I understand more of the bible since reading this book than I have in 4 years of schooling. Please give this a shot! Well worth the time and money.

A loving creator has pursued his people since he breathed life into this whole planet. I have read the bible cover to cover more than once and never really got it. When these authors embarked on their journey to put most of the bible in story form chronologically, they opened up a whole new understanding. The hard parts are not removed for the easily offended and closed minded. God's pursuit is much like a parent/child story. God had punished his children, put them on time out and all the while given them repeated chances to redeem themselves. His hearts desire is to dwell among us. That was how it was in the begining. That is how it will be in the end. I have bought several paper copies of The Story to share with others. I have one to loan out and it is never in my hands. Thank you Max Lucado and Zondervan.

Good for someone who has never read the Bible. Authors comments to "fill in" omitted chapters concise but questiions unnecessary in my opinion. Overall would prefer to stick to the real thing!

This was an overview and sometimes oversimplified view of the entire Bible. Good for those beginning exploration, though.

Love it. thank you

Going through this book as a family & loving the time spent together learning more about the story of the Bible. Love how this book brings out the bigger picture to make the story a little easier to understand.

Love the story like format.

God's Word in a different form. Very helpful.

This telling of God's story leaves out many things that cause us to stumble when we're reading the Bible. The main focus is God's love for us and our tendency to lean toward sin. The Story uses the Bible to prove to us that our loving God is constantly pursuing us, trying to get us back and redeem us. Very well done!

My husband prefers to listen to books. Especially the Bible. The Story is a great way to read & understand the Bible and hearing it is even better! We do this together.

The audio book has 16 discs. Each disc has two chapters (and two tracks) on it. Each chapter (and track) is approx 30 minutes long. I'm liking the way the story, characters, and narratives are read. It includes dramatization. What I dislike is that each disc is not broken up into more tracks so that it's easier to rewind or start again where I left off. For instance, I listen to this audio book on my 20 min commute to work. I can turn the power off on my stereo so that it will start again where I left off. But I have children. So when they are with me we listen to other music CD's, etc., and therefore have to change the disc. When I put THE STORY back in my CD player in my car, I have to listen from the beginning of the chapter/track or hold down the FWD button for a long time to get back to where I left off. It's just an inconvenient pain.

We went through The Story as a church. The videos and Bible study that accompany The Story were wonderful. It was so good for us to be in God's word in an even more concentrated way. Together, on the same page, for these 31 weeks. Wonderful to read through the Bible chronologically!

Excellent, Excellent, Excellent.👍🏾

Friends and I are using it in a Bible Studt\y based on the "Ironman" format. We have a couple of new Christians in the group, so decieded this version would be good for them. It is written in easy language, and leaves out the long lists of begats and sub-laws of purification for the early Hebrews. It is an accurate version, have no fear.

This is great for my wife who cannot see very well but wants to keep up with our church program. Like many churches, all members are going through the program together.

This book puts the events of the Bible in chronological order rather than the familiar order of other versions. Having read through various versions of the Bible over the years, this is the one I would recommend for new readers, and for those who want a better understanding of the sequence of events.

Easy to read like a novel. Gives the understanding of the essence and big picture of the Bible in a much shorter version.

Great book

I know that there are many versions of the Bible out there, but this version is one of the best!! It's written more as one continuous novel with chapters. It also flows from one character to the next seamlessly. I am truly enjoying it, and I'm sure that anybody who gets it will, too! It is really a wonderful blessing to get the entire series; the Book, the DVD, and the CD. They're all incredible!!!

We began reading "The Story" in our church on February 9 and have incorporated our church wide Bible studies using the book's teachings. For those of us who have never read the Bible or have been lost in reading and interpreting scripture, this book puts God's Word in clear and concise text for people from toddler to adult to understand and learn. My sons (8 and 2) are learning the Word and enjoying every minute!

got half way through and never wanted to finish it

I like the chronological order. It helped me to better understand the meaning of certain events. It also gave me a clearer picture of the intent of some of the scriptures that I had questions about. Very well written.

The short narratives help the reader gain much important context to the passages. There are good follow-up questions for each chapter and this could easily be used as a group study tool. Well done.

This is a great resource for its own limited use. It reads more easily than a full Bible text, especially but not only for people who are not experienced Bible readers. I highly recommend reading through it. Then I recommend moving on to other kinds of Bible reading. The strength of The Story is that it unites all the Bible's books into one undifferentiated piece. This is also its greatest weakness. The format of The Story loses all the texture that each book brings to its message. This is evident in many place but perhaps nowhere more clearly than in the Gospels. Each Gospel writer had something different to emphasize in their individual portraits of Jesus, and this way of reading the Gospels loses those particularities. Historically the Church rejected this way of reading the Gospels (Tatian's diatesseron), and it's one of the risks that inherently comes with this otherwise useful tool.

Bought this for a gift and the recipient has enjoyed reading it.

Learning the timing of the Bible. Very helpful for me to understand the people God was working with then and now.

Our church started going through this book one chapter a week. Such an easy read I started reading ahead, and then I bought the audio version. I just finished the Story and am going back to join them again in chapter 13. Love it.

Easier to read than the King James Bible, but still takes perservience.

Used this church-wide one year

We are going through this wonderful book with a small group. It brings out the word of God as you never experienced it before. God didn't extend wrath to us when he created us, he extends Grace when he sent his son to die for sins we created although we are so unworthy. God's love shines thought. This isn't your death sentence. It's a journey to your extended furture. Highly recommend.

The story is the Bible story, written in Chronological order in today's language. It allowed me to read the entire Bible story and have a good understanding of what happened and when. I highly recommend this for young adults as well.

Fabulous way to read the Bible in condensed form. Also wonderful to have it written in chronological order of events. Do order the video that accompanies each chapter. Our church did a chapter each Sunday with the video for 31 weeks. So well received. Our weekly Bible Study also spent 31 weeks on The Story and the comments have been nothing but positive.

Liked

book made a very nice gift

This book is written more as a prose rather than the format that the Bible is written. It starts out at the creation and goes through the Old Testament that leads up to the comming of Jesus (this is as far as I have read but looking ahead, the New Testament seems to be covered in the same way). Our Church has a study group that is discussing the chapters each week and the discussion centers around how the Bible relates to our lives today.

I was a little skeptical about this at first, but began reading it (currently in the middle of it) and was pleasantly surprised. It takes the Bible and puts it all in chronological order and if novel style. Still delivers all of the parables, and essential essence of the Bible without repeating the same thing chapter after chapter and book after book. It is sort of Cliff's Notes for the Bible.