Updated March 14, 2020
*Scroll down to find a list of Journaling Bibles that are currently available- with links to buy on Amazon.
I am super excited about this blog post because I feel that it is truly needed.
Bible Journaling is intimidating! There are so many supplies to choose from and so many techniques to try. And for most of us, we feel some extra pressure because we don’t want to mess up our precious Bibles! It’s hard to know where to begin.
Before we jump in, because there is a lot of information to share, I created a handy infographic that can help guide you to the best Journaling Bible for you! Click HERE or on the image below to download it for free!
I updated my YouTube video on choosing a Journaling Bible as well! I’ll show you a look into the Journaling Bibles that I have and give a ton of information about choosing the right one for you!
What is a Journaling Bible?
A Journaling Bible is a Bible specifically made for note-taking and journaling. They have thicker pages than a normal Bible, and wide margins (or full blank pages)!
Do I need to spend the money on another Bible?
Absolutely not! There are no rules when it comes to Bible journaling. A great way to get started is to use whatever Bible you have on hand and do your journaling in a separate notebook/journal!
But, I will say that having an actual Journaling Bible is really nice to have, and worth the money; especially if you like the idea of the art directly in your Bible. For myself, and most of my Bible journaling buddies, there is something special about having your art directly next to the verse or chapter you are meditating on.
So what Journaling Bible do I get?
Now, this is where it gets fun!
In the last couple of years, a TON of Journaling Bibles have come out on the market. Which is great because we now have so many options, but also overwhelming to figure out which one is right for us.
The first question to answer is if you want to create all your own art, or have designs pre-printed that you can color/paint.
Bibles that have the designs printed in the margins are great for beginners or those who don’t feel they have the artistic talent to make their own. (Though I will always encourage you, that anyone has the talent to do their own- see THIS POST HERE for more on that.) The pre-illustrated Bibles also have a lot of blank margins as well if you are on the fence.
Bibles without the pre-printed designs are wonderful to be able to have your own freedom and space to create whatever you want (these are my preferred Journaling Bibles and also the most popular.)
Once you decide that, you will go one of two routes-
- For pre-illustrated Bibles, all you need to do now is decide on the version you want. There are TONS of versions available to chose from now. –See my list below for the versions available and for links to buy!
- For blank Journaling Bibles, you have some extra steps—-
Do you want a full blank page to work with or a wide margin on the same page as the text?
If you would like a full blank page to work with, the Interleaved Bible is the way to go.
This Bible has a blank page on every other page. Which is nice if you worry about covering the Bible text, and it also gives you a bunch of space to work with. (Interleaved Bibles are much bigger in size than other Journaling Bibles. The downside to the Interleaved Bible is that it is only available in the ESV version.
If you would like a classic Journaling Bible with the wide margins (THESE ARE THE ORIGINAL JOURNALING BIBLES AND THE MOST POPULAR) you have even more options!
- If you have a preference for the number of columns you want- Journaling Bibles with two columns are available, though they only come in the ESV version.
- If you are happy with a single-column Bible, you have a large number of versions you can choose from! And that is it!
I hope I’m not making this sound super complicated! I believe the infographic above makes it much simpler.
Below is the list of Journaling Bible options with links to buy from Amazon
*This article contains Amazon affiliate links. CLICK HERE for my full disclosure*
Keep in mind that there are other cover designs available for these Bibles than the ones provided in my links.
Classic Double Column Journaling Bible
–ESV- Crossway Double Column Journaling Bible
–KJV- Personal Reflections Journaling Bible
Classic Single Column Journaling Bibles (Again, these are my preferred Journaling Bibles)
–ESV- Crossway Single-Column Journaling Bible
-NIV- Zondervan Journal The Word
–KJV- Zondervan Journal the Word
–NKJV- Zondervan Journal the Word
–CSB- The Illustrating Bible (This Bible has 4″ margins and a spiral binding)
Interleaved Journaling Bible
–ESV- Crossway Interleaved Journaling Bible– Leather Cover (This is my personal FAVORITE)
–ESV- Crossway Interleaved Journaling Bible– Cloth Cover
Pre-Illustrated Journaling Bibles
–NIV- Zondervan Beautiful Word Coloring Bible
–NKJV- Zondervan Beautiful Word Bible *This Bible’s illustrations are already colored in, there is no NKJV that I know of that comes in a coloring version.
–ESV- My Creative Journaling Bible For Girls
-ESV- Crossway, The Illuminated Bible *This Bible’s illustrations are all done in a shiny gold and is not really a coloring Bible- get it in navy, red, or green covers
–HCSB- The Illustrator’s Notetaking Bible
Large Print Journaling Bibles
–ESV- Crossway Single-Column Journaling Bible- Large Print
-NIV- Zondervan Journal The Word- Large Print
–KJV- Zondervan Journal The Word- Large Print
–NKJV- Zondervan Journal the Word- Large Print
-NLT- Inspire Bible- Large Print- Pre-Illustrated
–NIV-Beautiful Word- Large Print- Pre-Illustrated
To give a better idea of how these Bibles differentiate, here is a video comparison of my favorite Journaling Bibles!
