Crossway sent me this beautiful Bible to review. After using it personally for a few months, I can confidently say that this is one of my all time favorite Bibles that I have ever placed my hands on. This is the ESV Heirloom Single Column Legacy Bible. It is such a simple Bible, but has exceptional details that make it super special.
This is the Blue Goatskin version. It also comes in a Black Goatskin and Brown Goatskin. The blue is a super deep navy blue. It is difficult to capture the color because it is so deep, inky blue that it is almost black. It came in a box with a velvet wrap, which I have no pictures of because I was so excited to open it! (And unlike The Pastor, I do not keep my Bible in the box.)
Since I’m already talking about the cover, we’ll start there. If you’ve never held one of Crossway’s premium leather Bibles in your hand, find me on Sunday morning and experience it. This just has a feel to it that makes it so comfortable in your hand. It is super floppy and just lays open in your lap. This just feels like the Bible you know you’ll be leaving your grandkids. (And it does have a lifetime guarantee from Crossway!)
Because the cover is so soft and floppy, I do have the edges of the cover curling around the pages a little bit. I think it because of how I hold the Bible, because it is only the back cover that is curling in. It doesn’t bother me. I think it just displays further how the Bible feels in your hand. But it might bother some people to have a cover THAT floppy and soft. It is definitely a different feel from the thick, sturdy imitation leather or cheaper leather you often see on Bibles.
Let me talk just a little bit about what it is like to have a Bible that feels good in your hand. For one, it makes you happy every single time you grab the Word to study. It just makes the whole experience something deeper, which I know sounds a little precious. The words in The Book are the same. The message in The Book is the same. You’re just changing the physical experience of it. When I grab this Bible to sit and read, I feel a sense of rest, like I’m doing some real refueling. It feels like a “treat yo self” moment.
You know how I feel about ribbon markers and this Bible has my perfect number of ribbons– four! Why four? One to mark your place in the Old Testament, one for the Psalms, one for the Gospels, and one for the Epistles. Four is the perfect number of ribbon markers and all Bibles should have four!
The readability of this Bible is the best. The font is large, but not so big it feels awkward. There is appropriate line spacing, that makes it easy to read. The section titles are off in the margin. There are very few notes. It is just clean and simple, which feels perfect to me.
The pages are clearly Bible paper– they’re thin. However, they aren’t so thin that I have a lot of trouble with highlighters bleeding through. These are just some regular highlighters I got from Amazon– not specific for Bible use or anything. And despite both sides of this page having highlighting, it isn’t bleeding through or making the pages unreadable.
You can see in this picture that the highlight “ruffles” the pages a little bit, especially in large blocks of highlighting. That does not bother me. But if it is something that is going to annoy you, just use a gel pen, gel highlighter, or pencil highlighter instead.
This Bibles does have a nice concordance in the back.
And it has some nice full-color maps on thicker paper.
I completely love this Bible. Let’s talk about price. This and other heirloom Bibles from Crossway are not cheap. They are, in fact, quite expensive. There are other similarly prices Bibles out there, so this isn’t a Crossway anomaly. The details are what makes Bibles like these so expensive. While I wouldn’t necessarily buy my fourteen year old such an expensive Bible, it is a good investment for an adult.
I think anyone going into ministry should be given a high quality Bible like this by someone in their life. I wish someone had done that for me. The Pastor wishes someone had done that for him. It would have been so nice to have a lifetime Bible going into the ministry. It would be such a gift to hand someone the Bible that can go through their entire ministry with them.
I also think it is worth having a Bible like this that you would one day pass down to your children. Maybe it is the romantic thought of thumbing through grandma’s old Bible years after she’s gone. But to have a Bible that you know is going to last is something we often overlook because Bibles are easy to come by. There is a reason Crossway used words like “heirloom” and “legacy” when describing this Bible.
While I think this one is more of a personal use Bible, having a quality family Bible is something we’ve always thought was a good idea. Having the Bible you grab to read the Christmas story on Christmas morning or the Bible you read from as you’re doing devotions. That Bible becomes a stable memory in the lives of your children.
I’m not telling you that to be a Christian you need to go spend over $150 on a nice Bible. In fact, this Bible isn’t my only Bible and hasn’t replaced my journaling Bible or my She Reads Truth Bible that has more devotional material in it. But it has become my go-to Bible for reading the Psalms with my kids each morning, reading the Word before the World each morning, and having close by to look up things throughout the day. This is my “by my side” Bible. So, you don’t have to buy such an expensive Bible. In fact, I think Bibles like these are better as extravagant gifts. Do you know how special it would have been for me to receive a Bible like this when having my first child as my “mother’s Bible”? I’m not even sentimental, but that would mean a lot to me. It is, for sure, a luxury item. If you’re looking for an amazing gift for a big life event– this Bible may be perfect. If you’re looking for a quality Bible that is a joy to read and hold– this Bible may be perfect.
** This Bible was sent to me free for review. I am not obligated to speak favorably and all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate links do not cost you more to use, but I do receive compensation. Using affiliate links from your favorite creators is a great way to support the work they do. **
