Edited on May 26, 2012 to say that this list is a little dated, but hopefully, it’s still helpful.
I have always been a researcher. Back in college and seminary (just before the internet became widely available), I commonly had tons of sources in my research papers and I often spent many hours/days researching before writing my paper at the last-minute. Even in seminary in the early 1990s (not so much in my doctor of ministry program!), I remember times of getting up at 3:00 am and writing a 12-15 page paper due that day around 10:00 am or later! 😯
Well, the internet brings a lot of power to research, including many Bible study tools. Every once in a while, for several years now, I do a search to see if there are any new, powerful online Bible study tools to add to my list.
Here are some of my favorite online Bible study tools that I use for sermon prep …
BibleGateway.com
I use this site the most, mainly for looking up passages in different translations and for keyword searches. I also do my daily Bible reading here.
NET Bible
This site is based on the older Classic NET Bible. I like the NET Bible for its extensive translation notes.
And here are some other resources that I’ve either only recently discovered or haven’t used them enough yet but they look promising …
YouVersion
YouVersion is interesting in that it integrates Bible study with a social networking environment. That doesn’t really appeal to me, personally, but I like the Bible reading application.
Not all sites include all (or many) translations, so you might have to use more than one site if you like certain translations.
What online Bible study tools do you use? Do you have any good resources to add to this list? Please post a comment!
Have you tried the new bible study tools on crosswalk? http://biblestudy.crosswalk.com/ . They’ve beefed up the user interaction with adding parallel screens, note-taking in the margins, saving bible reading plans, and the like. I think they have most versions too, right? I’ve been using the bible study tools on christianity.com – http://bible.christianity.com/ because I like that colors 🙂
Kristie, thanks for the comment and the links.
The crosswalk link was buried in one I posted (biblestudytools.net). Your other link was *supposed* to be included, so thanks to your comment, I was able to fix a link. Thanks again.
And, you’re right, Crosswalk has a good selection of translations (even though they left out the CEV, one of my favorites 🙂 ).