The 3-2-1 Bible Concept
Read through the entire Scripture in 365 readings, each consisting of three related passages from three different parts of the Bible.
A rendering of the white-label 3-2-1 Bible concept
The concept
Each of the 365 readings begins with a narrative passage (The Story), which is followed by a teaching section (The Teaching) and a poetry passage (The Wisdom) completes the reading.
The Story; focuses on God Father, the Lord of all Creation and the historical events that form the Creator’s plans for His Creation. These texts are set in a 3-column sans serif typesetting.
The Teaching; focuses on God Son, Messiah, the promised Saviour and the teachings on the salvation and new life He brings. These texts are set in a double-column serif typesetting.
The Wisdom; focuses on God Spirit, the Comforter and Spirit of Life inspiring human hearts as they worship, lament, and live in the kingdom of God and in the kingdoms of this world. These texts are set in a single-column serif typesetting.
Division of the texts
When dividing the Bible into the three main sections, we deliberately chose to only separate entire books, so even if there are “Teaching” and “Wisdom” passages in the “Story” books and vice versa, we did not split and splice, as we then would get a very fragmented and chaotic arrangement.
The Story track consists of the OT books from Genesis to Esther and the NT books from Matthew to Acts. These are the books where we will mainly encounter the historical events and the narrative backbone of the Bible. The Teaching track consists of the Prophetic books of the OT from Isaiah to Malachi (excluding Lamentations), as well as the NT letters and Revelation. These are books that comment and elaborate on the deeper meanings of the events and instructions in the narrative section as they relate to new historical situations such as the time of the Babylonian exile (many of the prophets) and the new church with the inclusion of the Gentiles (the NT letters). The Wisdom track consists of the OT books traditionally regarded as “the writings;” that is, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs and Lamentations. In these books, we find the human response to life and to God’s dealings with his People in both blessing and judgement.
Arrangement of the texts
The Story-readings naturally define the structure and overall progression of this Bible, whereas the two other sections are, if possible, arranged in relation to the historical events and what they signify theologically and experientially respectively.
The arrangement of Samuel/Kings, the Chronicles, and the Gospels could cause repetition, so we distribute the four Gospel accounts throughout the narrative track to add variety and let the Chronicles function as a recap at the end of the OT before Luke and Acts concludes the storyline of the Bible.
The books in the Teaching track are largely read in their entirety, but they appear in order so that they relate as much as possible to the narrative arrangement described above. Only the three longest prophet books – Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel – are split at natural breaking points. This is done mainly to provide variety in the reading but also to gain flexibility in order to match related passages as well as possible.
We made a video showcasing the thematic and typographic arrangement of the Bible texts in the 3-2-1 Bible.
Daily Reader’s Bible
The 3-2-1 Bible concept is to be published in Fall 2020 by Tyndale House Publishers, Chicago, under the title Daily Reader’s Bible – The complete New Living Translation organized thematically in 365 readings.
Blaine Smith, Bible Publisher at Tyndale, wrote:
Bibles have come and gone over the years, but one that could truly endure would have to be something very special indeed. Klaus and Johs Krejberg Haahr set out to provide a daily reading Bible with a 4-part goal: 1 - structure the readings so that each reading related thematically for each day; 2 - provide a clear distinction between the different literary types of the Bible; 3 - control the length of time required of the reader each day; and, 4 - include every word of scripture without repeating any for the entire 365-days! Any one of these four goals on its own is a challenging task. Incorporating all FOUR into the same Bible is, well, shall we say impossible? […] The 2K team had pulled off the impossible!
Dave Thornton, Bible Acquisitions Director, wrote:
The new Daily Readers Bible presents a fascinating approach to Scripture reading that links key themes of Scripture throughout the different genres and presents these texts in a visually fresh 3-2-1 column style unlike any other Bible on the market. We’re excited to present this fresh and visually stunning approach to 365 important thematic readings that help Christians accomplish the important goal of completing their plan to read through the Bible in a year.
Find Blaine Smith’s article about Daily Reader’s Bible and the collaboration between 2K and Tyndale House Publishers in an article in 2K/STORIES.
A reviewer on christianbook.com had this to say about the product:
This Bible is great for those like me who have a hard time reading the Bible regularly. I've never looked forward to reading the Bible as much as I have, and I would have never read as much as I have if it weren't for this version.
What makes this Bible stand out from the rest is the layout. Having each section visually different makes it easier to read and keeps it from becoming visually boring, yet the pages are clutter-free. Whoever came up with this concept is brilliant! Note: This doesn't replace a good study Bible with references and notes, or one with a traditional layout, but it does make it easier to read than any other version I've come across and it's a refreshing change from a study Bible. The thematic groupings are also impressive and each day I look forward to seeing what is next.
