The publication of the King James version of the Bible, translated between 1603 and 1611, coincided with an extraordinary flowering of English literature and is universally acknowledged as the greatest influence on English-language literature in history. Now, world-class literary writers introduce the book of the King James Bible in a series of beautifully designed, small-format volumes. The introducers' passionate, provocative, and personal engagements with the spirituality and the language of the text make the Bible come alive as a stunning work of literature and remind us of its overwhelming contemporary relevance.

Born the son of a clergyman on October 18, 1662, Matthew Henry was ordained into the British Presbyterian Church where he held the pastorate in Chester from 1687 to 1712. He was widowed, married again and had 10 children, three whom died in infancy. Henry died in 1714. Henry began work on his commentary as "Notes On The New Testament" in 1704 and the monumental work was completed shortly before his death in 1714. Remembered as a caring pastor, a passionate lover of the Word of God, and a man of great personal integrity, Matthew Henry has left his mark on the hearts of countless Christians who seek a deeper understanding of the riches that Scripture contains. This edition of Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible uses the King James text and is abridged from the original six volumes while faithfully retaining all of the vibrant themes of that classic work. Everything here is in Matthew Henry's own words and nothing relevant to today's reader has been omitted.

The NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978. This highly accurate and smooth-reading version of the Bible in modern English has the largest library of printed and electronic support material of any modern translation.

The national directory addresses the dimensions and perspectives in the formation of deacons and the model standards for the formation, ministry, and life of deacons in the United States. It is intended as a guideline for formation, ministry, and life of permanent deacons and a directive to be utilized when preparing or updating a diaconate program in formulating policies for the ministry and life of deacons. This volume also includes Basic Standards for Readiness for the formation of permanent deacons in the United States, from the bishops' Committee on the Diaconate, and the committee document Visit of Consultation Teams to Diocesan Permanent Diaconate Formation Programs.

Each chapter is summed up in its contents, each paragraph reduced to its proper heads, the sense given, and largely illustrated with practical remarks and observations.

The earliest of the four Gospels, the book portrays Jesus as an enigmatic figure, struggling with enemies, his inner and external demons, and with his devoted but disconcerted disciples. Unlike other gospels, his parables are obscure, to be explained secretly to his followers. With an introduction by Nick Cave

Every chapter of the Bible summarised in 140 characters or less. These summaries originally appeared as the @biblesummary project on Twitter. For three-and-a-half years, Chris Juby posted one tweet per chapter, one chapter per day to 30,000 folowers, finishing the project in November 2013. This edition is the full archive of all 1,189 summaries.