ESV Study Bible (Black Letter Edition)

We own NLT and NIV study bibles, but this ESV is our go to. I think it's helpful to have a few translations when studying scripture, but the ESV is an 'essential literal' translation, meaning a 'word-for-word' translation from the original language, instead of dynamic equivalence (thought-for-thought) like the NLT. This does mean that sometimes the sentence structure is a little awkward, but if it means that the translation is more accurate over readability, then that's what is more important. This study bible contains many cross-references, study notes for difficult to understand passages, an extensive concerdance, colour illustrations, various coloured maps, charts containing summaries, and articles on topics of biblical theology, ethics, biblical teaching, reading the bible, and the canon of scripture. It contains an overview of the bible, theology of the OT, introduction to the Pentateuch, introduction to each book of the bible, the time between the testaments, history overview of the Roman Empire, Jewish groups at the time of the NT, theology of the NT, the date of Jesus' crucifixion, and reading of the gospels and acts. It also contains a section on the original languages used in the bible, including many examples and tables. The binding is of good quality, the font size makes it more easily readable as does the single column layout. There is still more I haven't included in this review. All in all, I highly recommend it, it's totally worth the investment!