"A masterpiece of contemporary Bible translation and commentary."—Los Angeles Times Book Review, Best Books of 1999 Acclaimed for its masterful new translation and insightful commentary, The David Story is a fresh, vivid rendition of one of the great works in Western literature. Robert Alter's brilliant translation gives us David, the beautiful, musical hero who slays Goliath and, through his struggles with Saul, advances to the kingship of Israel. But this David is also fully human: an ambitious, calculating man who navigates his life's course with a flawed moral vision. The consequences for him, his family, and his nation are tragic and bloody. Historical personage and full-blooded imagining, David is the creation of a literary artist comparable to the Shakespeare of the history plays.

Reading the Bible doesn't need to be a difficult journey through strange and bewildering territory. How to Read the Bible Book by Book walks you through the Scriptures like an experienced tour guide, helping you understand each of its sixty-six books. For each book of the Bible, the authors start with a quick snapshot, then expand the view to help you better understand its message and how it fits into the grand narrative of the Bible. Written by two top evangelical scholars, this survey is designed to get you actually reading the Bible knowledgeably and understanding it accurately. In an engaging, conversational style, Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart take you through every book of the Bible using their unique approach: Orienting Data—Concise info bytes that form a thumbnail of the book. Overview—A brief panorama that introduces key concepts and themes and important landmarks in the book Specific Advice for Reading—Pointers for accurately understanding the details and message of the book in context with the circumstances surrounding its writing. A Walk Through—The actual section-by-section tour that helps you see both the larger landscape of the book and how its various parts work together to form the whole. How to Read the Bible Book by Book can be used as a companion to How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. It also stands on its own as a reliable guide to reading and understanding the Bible for yourself.

A Clear, Simple Guide through the Bible Now in one volume and redesigned to help you understand God's Word even better, The Bible Study is your one-year roadmap through Scripture. • DAILY OR WEEKLY READING PLANS provide an uncomplicated, manageable way to personalize your study of the Bible and grow as a Christian. • THOUGHT-PROVOKING QUESTIONS AND SPACE TO WRITE help you discover what the readings mean and apply what you're learning to your daily life. • OVERVIEWS AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION for each book of the Bible provide helpful context to the big and small aspects of Scripture. With colorful imagery and an engaging design to propel you forward, this easy-to-use study--whether self-led or done with friends--offers a transformative way to connect deeper with God. Join more than 500,000 others who are learning the Bible like never before!

The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.

Some differences between Catholicism and Protestantism can be tricky to grasp, but one of them just requires the ability to count: Catholic bibles have seventy-three books, whereas Protestant bibles have sixty-sis - plus an appendix with the strange title Apocrypha. What's the story here? Protestants claim that the medieval Catholic Church added six extra books that had never been considered part of the Old Testament, either by Jews or early Christians. Catholics say that the Protestant Reformers removed those books, long considered part of Sacred Scripture, because they didn't like what they contained. In Why Catholic Bibles Are Bigger, Gary Michuta presents a revised and expanded version of his authoritative work on this key issue. Combing the historical record from pre-Christian times to the Patristic era to the Reformation and its aftermath, he traces the canon controversy through the writings and actions of its major players.