Live Bible (NLT)
Tyndale/Group, June 2008, 1400 pp.,
$22.99, www.group.com

Impact: The Student Leadership Bible (NKJV)
Thomas Nelson, April 2008, 1604 pp.,
$29.99, www.thomasnelson.com

The Orthodox Study Bible (NKJV and St. Athanasius Academy Septuagint)
Thomas Nelson, June 2008, 1824 pp.,
$49.99, www.thomasnelson.com

When you consider buying a study Bible, you need to ask, “Is the focus on the Bible or the study notes?” Among these three Bibles, The Orthodox Study Bible gives the best attention to the Scripture text. The font is actually quite large, and the notes are in a smaller, but readable font. These notes include thoughts from the church fathers, when Scripture is used in Orthodox liturgy, and topical essays. If you’re interested in historical Christianity, this will be a great Bible for you, because the Orthodox Church legitimately claims to have unbroken continuity with the New Testament church.

The Live Study Bible, a major new project from the folks who publish Group magazine, is chock full of fun ways to interact with the text, including essay and photo contributions from a number of teens. Design priority is given to the notes, but the Scripture text is still very readable, and the notes don’t stifle it.

Impact: The Student Leadership Bible includes a plan for three six-week Bible studies per year over the eight years of high school and college. This Bible has tons of notes and a clean, linear design. Unfortunately, the notes suffocate the Bible text in some cases.

For your students, you need to ask what their gifts are before choosing between Live and Impact. Impact requires a strong linguistic competence; Live is much more engaging. This isn’t to say artists can’t be leaders, but Impact may be less likely to appeal as much to them because it’s so text heavy and utilizes the NKJV. Your average student will love Live and the more colloquial NLT text.