Studies show that most Americans own Bibles, yet few regularly open them. They simply don’t engage with the long, complex text that reads like no other book. So, religion publishers are stepping up to change that by eliminating obstacles and better guiding readers. They’re offering commentaries with intriguing perspectives on scripture, using AI to enhance the reading experience, and developing formats and typefaces that are more inviting.

“We are living in a bit of a golden age in Bible publishing,” says Tim Wildsmith, a pastor and bible design blogger with a YouTube channel devoted to helping people find the Good Book that’s good for them. “We have countless great options that are made at a very high level of quality.”

Publishers’ push to make Bibles more accessible, engaging, and beautiful is paying off with a Bible sales bonanza. Last year was the fourth consecutive record-setting year with more than 17 million Bibles sold, according to Brenna Connor, director and an industry analyst for Circana BookScan. “And 2025 is on track to surpass those levels,” Connor says, adding that she also foresees rising sales for Bible studies, commentaries, and devotionals.

Melinda Bouma, VP and associate group publisher for Zondervan Bibles, Zondervan Academic, and Zondervan Reflective, notes that even people who already own Bibles or related books will buy another “if it speaks to their evolving
needs,” adding that “the modern Bible buyer is seeking a tool for personal spiritual development—something that allows them to explore, question, and find hope amid growing distrust in institutions and a deepening sense of global uncertainty.”

Design and Technology

In Walking with God: A Five Week Journey in Step with the Savior (Tyndale, Jan. 2026), readers can stroll along with an audiobook edition of the complete print study guide, narrated from Genesis to Revelation by the author, acclaimed Bible teacher Beth Moore. There are also five videos of Moore interviewing people about their walks with faith.

Moore’s multiplatform presentation has “almost a mentorship feel to it,” says Carol Traver, director of content development for Tyndale. “It is a rare thing for a Bible study guide author to personally record an eight-hour audiobook of a study guide,” she says. “And for the legion of Moore’s fans, it makes a difference to hear her in such an intimate way. She threw out the standard format for Bible studies and said, I’m just going to say what I want to say about this.” Traver predicts more publishers will take up Moore’s approach. “People are hungering for personal approaches from trustworthy voices. Voice matters!”

In September, She Reads Truth founders Raechel Myers and Amanda Williams launch their newest title, The Bible Is for You: A Devotional Journey Through Every Book of the Bible. Since 2012, countless women have tuned in online or through podcasts to listen to daily Bible readings by Myers and Williams, whose 2017 CSB She Reads Truth Bible has sold more than one million copies. The duo’s new devotional is already getting praise from Bible design experts for its readability and the way the physical book—from cover to cover—conveys a Christian message.

Mary Wiley, associate publisher for B&H Publishing Group, the book publishing arm of Lifeway Christian Resources, points out that the book’s covers feature arresting images of gardens that “suggest Eden on the front and the promise of the new creation in Christ on the back.” The bare yellow binding, Wiley adds, “reveals how the 66 books of the Bible are connected in a single story. Inside, we marry ancient truths in a modern typeface. There’s also a lot of white space, which gives people breathing room to pause and reflect.”

She Reads Truth titles and scores of Bibles by dozens of publishers in the U.S. and Europe use the highly readable Bible Serif typeface created by Klaus Erik Krogh’s company 2K/Denmark. Krogh also spent five years developing a font he named Grace that features letter shapes and spacing that make it easier for dyslexic people to read. When B&H came out with dyslexia-friendly Grace Bible editions for adults and children last fall, Wiley recalls, “In my local church, I had kids crying with joy because they could finally read the Bible. It’s changing people’s lives.”

Krogh stresses that Bible design has evolved and adapted for the times. “Decades ago, American Bibles weren’t much to look at—tiny type and verses crammed in long paragraphs printed on thin paper with narrow margins,” he says. “Then publishers realized that building better Bibles would entice people to not only buy Bibles but to read them. Now, we work with everybody.” His aim is to present God’s word visually with “gentle authority” because “type is capable of adding truth to a text. It has a soul to it.”

Another Bible that puts design front and center is the NIV Clear Focus Bible, out now from Zondervan, which employs a unique font that, according to the publisher, features the “Bionic Reading method.” In Outreach Magazine, Wildsmith hailed the text design, which was developed by Swiss scientists. “It bolds the portion of each word most critical for comprehension,” he wrote, “and guides the eye from word to word over the text.”

Bible innovations aren’t limited to print books. Bible buffs, scholars, skeptics, and seekers who want to dig in deeply might turn to the Rebind Study Bible, a digital subscription product linking the American Standard Version Bible text with the work of esteemed Bible scholars. Rebind uses proprietary AI technology to scour the 15,000 pages of the New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (licensed by Eerdmans) and surface relevant commentary, with attribution to its authors. “The goal of Rebind is to reach readers who are outside of scholarly settings and might otherwise miss this important material,” says Will Bergkamp, senior VP of sales, marketing, and finance for Eerdmans, who calls the book a win-win. “Eerdmans wants our content to be available to readers in every way possible, including in this groundbreaking new technology.”

Fresh Perspectives

Religion publishers are also tapping into different points of view to attract new readers and open people’s minds to how other cultures read the Bible.

Zondervan Academic revised and updated the 19-year-old Africa Bible Commentary (Oct.), expanding it to include more than 100 noted African theologians who address contemporary issues in the light of scripture. But it’s not only for Africans, says Katya Covrett, VP and publisher for Zondervan Academic. “African Christians have developed profound theological insights about suffering, perseverance, and hope. They also often speak prophetically to issues of materialism, nationalism, and cultural compromise that Western Christianity struggles to address.”

At Intervarsity Press, president and CEO Terumi Echols says the publisher offers a suite of titles featuring Indigenous peoples’ approaches to the Bible. The books, she adds, can bring a sense of harmony—and humility—to anyone reading scripture. Following the success of 2021’s First Nations Version New Testament, IVP published First Nations Version Psalms and Proverbs earlier this month. These titles, Echols says, are full of “fresh imagery and metaphors. There’s real beauty to them.”

Reading the Bible on Turtle Island (IVP, Nov.) brings an Indigenous lens to biblical creation stories and to the history and culture of North America. In a published interview with an IVP editor about their book, theologians H. Daniel Zacharias and T. Christopher Hoklotubbe wrote, “Scriptural stories of displacement, exile, honoring and breaking treaties, and surviving religious persecution resonate in distinct ways with Indigenous people.”

Whether publishers are leveraging technology, embracing design, or featuring new voices, John Plake, chief innovation officer for the American Bible Society, sees much to applaud in these trends. “Bible publishers have gotten a lot better at tailoring Bibles for particular groups of people,” he says, “providing features that help people engage with scripture, by meeting people where they are.”

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