ESV Scripture Journal Review

notesfromtheparsonage — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 17:20:18 +0000

Crossway sent me this lovely ESV Scripture Journal to review. And yes, this is just ONE Bible. I’ve previously reviewed the Illuminated Scripture Journal, which is very similar to this Bible. This particular Bible is the set with art by Ruth Chou Simons. I love that Crossway partners with artists to make beautiful Bibles. The ESV Scripture Journal also comes in the Illuminated version and a standard black cover version. One ESV Scripture Journal set (Old and New Testament) is one single Bible.

This set is the full Bible, however, the Old and New Testaments each come in their own boxes. You can purchase just one testament, the whole Bible, or even just one book at a time. Clearly, the Old Testament is a much larger set than the New Testament. It should also be noted, that the boxes are slightly off sized from one another. In making the Old Testament box bigger, they also made it a little taller and deeper. So sitting side by side, the New Testament box does not perfectly line up with the Old Testament box.

Overall Look at the ESV Scripture Journal Set

Not every book of the Bible is a separate book, but most are. There are some of the smaller books that are combined into one book. Obadiah would make an awfully small book, you know?

Each book has unique art on the cover, somewhat pertaining to that particular book. The books are a gradient of colors, so they look lovely covered or uncovered on the shelf.

The outer box does cause some wear and tear on the upper spines of the books. You can see the damage caused by rubbing the box over the edge taking the box top on and off. So, you’ll want to decide early on if you want to leave them fully boxed or with the top of the box off.

A Look Inside Each Scripture Journal

The books have no artwork inside the book. They are entirely Scripture only. The left page is always Scripture and the right is lightly lined and blank for taking notes or making your own art. There are no notes, no cross references, and no study helps in this Bible. It is fully Scripture only.

Using This Scripture Journal Set

This set is a GREAT choice for studying individual books of the Bible. Say you are attending a Bible study for Ephesians or doing a Bible study on Ephesians yourself, you can take out just the book of Ephesians to carry with you. You have ample room for copious notes.

These Scripture Journals would also make an epic Bible Journaling project. It would be a project for a lifetime, for sure, to fill each book of the Bible with art. I’ve always imagined that I could do it, but I can’t even manage to fully artistically fill the interleaved ESV journaling Bible!

If you’re hoping to use these for art, I do have some notes on that. The blank pages are lined! But they are lightly lined in a way that most people wouldn’t mind. (But you might not be most people.) The paper is MUCH thicker than Bible paper. So these pages are much easier to paint on without the paper rippling up. It isn’t drawing paper or watercolor paper, so they still can only withstand so much. And the Scripture is on the back of every page, so any art with bleed through might make the Scripture portion unreadable. (The Interleaved ESV Bible has standard Bible paper, but Scripture is printed front and back of every other page, so there is no Scripture on the back of the blank pages. Each blank page has a blank page on back, so bleed through isn’t a big issue.)

This set is a big space commitment! However, it would make a lovely gift. It also makes a beautiful accent piece, though I do wish they had taken more care in making EXACTLY matching boxes so they’d look better on display. I think these Scripture Journals have a place for deeper Bible study with notes and Bible Journaling. You likely won’t want to take these with you to church, unless your pastor is preaching through a book of the Bible.

ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible Review

notesfromtheparsonage — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 22:03:27 +0000

Is the ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible right for you? Let’s find out!

The ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible was a joy to review! Crossway sent me this beautiful journaling Bible to review. I have had this Bible before. I have personally purchased a different color version of this Bible myself several years ago as my first journaling Bible.

It comes in a box, so it is really nice for gifting. This cover is the Natural Brown Leather (Amazon) with flap and straps. It also comes in a leather-look cover with a cross (Amazon). They don’t make the plain natural cloth cover that I purchased years ago.

When it arrives, the strap is not on the cover. No worries! The strap is in a plastic bag under the Bible. It is super simple to put on.

This cover also features a pen holder on the inside of the flap! You can easily place you pen or highlighter for grab and go study!

My favorite feature of this Bible is that every other page is completely blank! This is my preferred style of journaling Bible for artistic Bible journaling. You’ll never have to worry about covering or not being able to read the Scriptures! You get a full page (the front and back are blank) to create without having to cover the Scripture. It is also great for journaling your Bible study or taking sermon notes.

Now, this Bible is quite thick. Since every other page is blank– that is double the Bible pages! The paper is a standard Bible paper. For that reason, I only paint on one side of mine and leave the other side completely blank. You’d get a lot more use if you use both sides, but I didn’t want to obsess about ghosting and bleed through since I usually Bible journal with watercolor or India ink –which does work perfectly fine on this paper– you just have to be a little water conscious with your watercolor and not go too wet. I also place a blank sheet of printer paper behind the page I’m painting so if there is bleed through, it doesn’t get on the Scripture pages. (Here is a link to my Amazon Idea List for Bible Journaling.)

This is an example of painting in this Bible. This is from my previous ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible that I have had for a few years. (And I do not claim to be an artist, but I find art Bible Journaling fun and find it helps me meditate on Scripture in quite a different way.)

You can see that if you aren’t water conscious when using watercolor, you can ripple the paper a bit. However, with every other page blank– this literally only effects this page. No Scripture is distorted since the back is a blank page.

This Bible does not have any extras. It has one ribbon marker (super sad face). It is a pretty basic Bible. No notes, maps, study guides, etc. Just Scripture and blank space to create or write.

Would I recommend the ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible?

Yes! For art Bible journaling– I HIGHLY recommend this Bible! If you’re wanting to take huge amounts of study notes– I HIGHLY recommend this Bible! People who take extensive sermon notes– I HIGHLY recommend this Bible for them! But as a daily study Bible, this would likely be a bad choice. It also would make a pretty terrible preaching Bible with the size, layout, and the cover and straps would be cumbersome.

Bible art Archives - Notes From the Parsonage