Extreme Faith Bible: Contemporary English Version

I bought 10 of these and they( the young adults )simply LOVE reading this translation.

I have a number of different versions of Bibles and when I started looking for a Bible for my 7 yr old who has a paperback NIV and has been reading from that since he was 4 yrs old, though he was able to read the NIV, it didn't always meant he understood what he was reading. So, I wanted to get him an inexpensive Bible that was close to the NIV's translation without deviating a lot like some other versions, where it would make memorizing Scripture a greater challenge. Anyway, with the Bible being under $5, I figured even if we didn't totally like it, it was not a huge waste to find out how we would do with this Bible.A review from a children's pastor convinced me to get this Bible and I and my kids are super happy with this it. In fact, we are reading through the whole Bible together, my kids and I, out loud and we have read through 183 days' worth of readings.This is NOT a study Bible. There are very few footnotes, the margins are small, so you have to write tiny, if you want to write in it. Unlike my NIV Applications Bible that only has 1 column per page with lots of study and footnotes and bigger margins, this CEV Extreme Faith Bible has 2 columns per page and is basically the reading of the Bible. Each book of the Bible begins with a summary of the book. At the back of the Bible are some maps, a read through the Bible in 1-yr schedule (we are following this at an accelerated rate), and a few other FYI or study things, but it's not many pages.I have the NKJV, KJV, NASB, NIV, NIrV, the Message, ECV translations and have compared them to the CEV. The CEV more closely resembles the NIV, but is less wordy. For example, in the books of the Law, like Numbers & Deuteronomy, it will list the names of the descendents but not repeatedly in the CEV as it does in the NIV. When you're reading this outloud, that makes a HUGE difference, as many of those names are hard to pronounce. There are many instances in which in the CEV it may use 15 words for the sentence where in the NIV it will use 22 words. Now, that may not be a huge difference, but multiply that over paragraph over paragraph through 66 books of the Bible. That's a lot of extra words.The CEV is understandable even for a 7-yr, but then, my 7-yr old is quite sharp already doing 5th grade math. It is enjoyable to read and there are times some of the way it's translated into more modern language makes it funny to read. I can't remember where, but it talks about something being like a toilet (using a metaphor) and it cracked my kids and I up.One of the things that I did notice of the CEV other than modern lanugage is some of the names of God. In the KJV, in 1 Chronicles 14:11, it uses the word Baalperazim, but the CEV says that God is the 'The Lord Broke Through'. The Hebrew meaning for Baalperizim is "The Lord of the Breakthrough". For me, reading that the Lord Broke Through is much more meaningful than Baalperazim, and for a 7 yr old or 10 yr old (my daughter), this is more descriptive. There are many other examples similar to this through what we've read.The schedule of reading through the Bible in the back of the Bible is awesome. It splits the reading into 3 different section for each day. One is about the first half of the OT, 2nd half of the OT and the NT. It does not go exactly in canonical order and does periodically do some skipping around. Psalm isn't read altogether but split up. Most of the books are read from start to finish, a little each day. Sometimes what is read in one section is reiterated in another section of the OT or NT. That just reinforces the point.We chose to read out of the CEV over the other translations because it was just easily read and easier to understand.Note that this Bible is a paperback, but the pages are sturdy as compared to my NIV applications Bible where the pages are almost thin like rice paper. The font is small, but that's not a problem for my kids and I. This is a no frills Bible, but for the under $5 price, it's easily well worth more.

The page paper looks kind of newsprint-y, but all in all these Bibles are a good quality for the money. There are a lot of extra helps, and the translation (Contemporary English Version) is very readable.

Unbelievable price! Great font size. Written so anyone will understand it. I know so many young people who do not have a Bible. I got one for each of the kids that come around. The best gift I could give them and five together cost less than every other Bible available. Buy some! 😉

I love the simplicity and clarity of the CEV and have purchased the Extreme Faith Bible for gifts, especially for Teens.The front of the Bible contains pages explaining the publisher's definition of extreme faith and gives examples of persons in the Bible who demonstrated extreme faith. There is an explanation of the Contemporary English translation.There are pages introducing the Old and New Testaments, and each Book, as well.At the back of the Bible are a mini Bible dictionary broken down into helpful sections such as the 12 tribes of Israel, Christ's 12 apostles, festivals/holy days, and much more. Maps, how to read the Bible, a one-year Bible reading plan, index to famous Old and New Testament stories, and index to passages on God's forgiveness.The paper the Bible is printed on is very "plain Jane" off white, but is very readable.We do foster care and an 11-year-old recently lamented that she wished for a Bible that wasn't just a "kids' Bible with only stories and pictures, but contained the full Bible text. She was very happy to receive this Bible.

Great resource

Nice Bible. My only thing is it came bent….this was purchased new. I’d expect it come not come bent being it was not used by me…so this was why I gave it four stars instead of the full five. Otherwise for the price I’d say it was too good to be true.

I love reading this CEV version because it refreshes one's spiritual walk and give more insight.