How to Use the Audio Bible

The Bible—the complete (Matthew 4:4), written (Joshua 24:26), and eternal (Psalm 105:8) record of God’s words to us—is the most powerful and transformative book (Hebrews 4:12) that anyone, and especially a believing Christian, could ever read. Though the same message is conveyed by reading/hearing (if the reading/hearing is done with attention and focus), there are distinct blessings reserved for “he that readeth” and for “they that hear” (Revelation 1:3). With the modern privilege of an audio Bible, we have the opportunity to be individually blessed on our own as we arise each day to read and to hear the word of God.

There are three ways that the audio Bible can be used:

Use the audio Bible to augment your reading

Often we want to do spiritually edifying things like reading the Bible, but find ourselves easily distracted (I Corinthians 7:35), easily fatigued (Isaiah 40:30), or easily discouraged (Numbers 21:4): “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). We can use the audio Bible, therefore, to drown out the noise and chores of the world, to strengthen and quicken our heart, and to encourage and motivate our spirit. Furthermore, the professional and accurate pronunciation of the reader can make us better at pronouncing the words of the Bible with precision, the emphasis as well as the casual pace of the reader can make us better at comprehending the passages of the Bible with greater wit, and the steady yet diligent speed of the reader can make us better at reading/finishing the chapters of the Bible in efficient timing.

When you are tired/weak, listen to the audio Bible as you follow along silently.
When you are energetic/strong, listen to the audio Bible as you follow along out loud, repeating the words of the reader as, or right after, he says them, called “echoing.”

Use the audio Bible to add (or, supplement) to your reading

God desires us to always have his words on our lips (Joshua 1:8, “This book of the law shall depart out of thy mouth”; Isaiah 59:21; see also Psalm 19:14; 119:103; Jeremiah 1:9; Romans 10:8) and in our ears (Job 34:2; Psalm 78:1; Proverbs 4:20).

Deuteronomy 6:6-8: And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:⁷ And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.⁸ And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

Therefore, when we are doing mundane or non-intellectual tasks (such as travelling, eating, cleaning, (in some cases) working, etc.), we can do many spiritually-edifying things (listen to godly music, pray, memorize the Bible, etc.), but one important thing we can do is to listen to the audio Bible.

Use the audio Bible to assist your studying and memorizing

Besides simply casually listening to the chapters and books of the Bible, we can use the audio Bible as a handmaid, so to speak, to our greater understanding of a chapter/book, or to our quicker and stronger memorization of a chapter/book. The Bible commands us to “study” God’s word (II Timothy 2:15), and other than just plain reading, we can also target a chapter/book of the Bible and listen to it scores of times on repeat. Particularly helpful here (especially with regard to memorizing) is using the echoing method of listening (see Psalm 119:13).