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Join us! 1 Billion in 1 Month!

We mentioned this during our webcast earlier this year, but now the moment is upon us. And of course, we’ll need everyone’s help to pull it off. Here’s what we’d like to do: During just a single month, the month of January, we’d love to see users of the Bible App™ spend at least 1 billion minutes reading the Bible. (We can do this! You guys just recently passed 4 billion minutes total!) We’ve even added a page to our website to keep track and to help you out with resources.

Besides some of the things we’ve already shared that you can do—rating the Bible App in iTunes, talking to your friends about the Bible, sharing on Twitter and Facebook, even raising Bible awareness during the Christmas season—the key now is to read. Read like crazy during January. We’ve done a lot to prepare and help you, making the Bible App easy and accessible, so you can always have it with you, whether you’re on your iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, webOS, or even in Facebook! All of that has been building toward this one moment. It’s here.

Use Reading Plans. Probably the greatest tools we’ve seen so far that can help you (and your friends) engage with the Bible are Reading Plans. Whether you’re brand-new to reading the Bible, or you’ve set 2011 as the year you’re going to read through the entire thing, or even if you want to read it all in just 90 days, there’s a Reading Plans for you. Find one you like and sign up with your free YouVersion account today.

At YouVersion, we love the Bible. It’s why we do what we do. We saw some crazy, thrilling numbers during 2010. But we’re convinced God is up to something even bigger. And we believe that helping other people fall in love with His Word is the most important thing we can all do to be a part.

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An Incredible Response: Thanks for Sharing

Thanks to you, Global Share the Bible Day was a huge success! We asked you to share…and wow—did you ever! All day yesterday, you shared your faith, you shared things Christ has done in your lives, you shared your favorite verses and passages, and most importantly, you shared the Bible.

On average yesterday, using YouVersion.com and the Bible App™, you guys shared verses and passages on Twitter and Facebook every 7 seconds. Because you told people about the Bible App—and even helped your friends and families download it to their devices—YouVersion saw 154,000 new device installs in just one day. That’s almost two new installs every second! You planted and watered all day; now we can’t wait to see what God will do to give the increase.

Especially if you participated in Share the Bible Day, you probably realize how powerful it can be to spend time in God’s Word every day. 2011 is just around the corner, and we hope you’ll continue to partner with us in the New Year, as together we help more people engage daily in reading Scripture. A lot of people have been asking what they can do to participate in the goal of seeing one billion minutes of Bible reading in January: Read? Share? Help your friends download the Bible App? In no particular order, the answers are: Yes! Yes! And Yes!

At YouVersion, we love the Bible. We hope you do too. It’s our passion to make it easy for people to read and connect with all that God has for us. And you know what? Global Share the Bible Day was just the beginning.

Thank you!

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Help Us Celebrate Christmas by Sharing the Bible

Merry Christmas, everybody! Today we celebrate the birth of our Savior, a day when God gave us the gift of His only Son. We really can’t say thank you enough to the users of the Bible App™ and YouVersion.com. Because you’ve been spreading the word, we’ve been able to bring the Bible for free to more people than we could have imagined.

Share the Bible. Today is Global Share the Bible Day! As we celebrate the birth of Jesus—Immanuel, God with us—please take time today, every time you think of it, to share the Bible with others. Tweet. (Remember to use #Bible!) Update your Facebook status. Change your blog or website home page. Visit with someone you meet. Just share! Here are a few ideas for things you could share, with examples:
  • Share the Bible Day. Let others know what we’re doing today:
    • It’s finally here: Today is “Global Share the Bible Day”! #Bible Share and win: http://ow.ly/3qmE8
    • Get a free @YouVersion account. Link it. Share. And you could win. http://ow.ly/3qmE8 #Bible
    • What’s Christmas REALLY about? Today is “Global Share the Bible Day.” Help http://ow.ly/3qmE8
    • It’s Christmas. And it’s all about PRESENCE! (God’s presence.) #Bible http://ow.ly/3qmE8
Of course, these are just our ideas. Today, share what’s special to you about the Bible. And when you share online, please remember to include the hash tag #Bible. You can even use the Bible App to make it easy. Let’s draw as much attention as we can today to the Bible—the story of God’s love for us.
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Good News Translation and Douay-Rheims Now Available!

Through our partnership with the American Bible Society, we’re pleased to announce that the Good News Translation with Deuterocanonical books and Apocryphya is now available in the Bible App™ by YouVersion on all our platforms—iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, webOS, Windows Phone 7, Facebook, and web. Also immediately available—with Deuterocanonical books—is the public domain Douay-Rheims version. As with all translations we offer, both of these versions are completely free.

Navigating. Once you have the free Bible App downloaded to your device, simply go to Versions and find “Good News Trans with…” or “Douay Rheims,” both under “English.” You can navigate to the Deuterocanonical and Apocrypha books the same way you reach any others, just by selecting the title at the top of the Read view.

Download them. Another great feature we’re thrilled to be able to offer with both of these translations: If you have the Bible App on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or Android, you can download them to your device! From the Versions list, just tap the download icon and follow the instructions. Once you’ve downloaded either the Good News Translation or the Douay-Rheims, you can read them anytime, anywhere—whether you’re connected to the Internet or your service provider or not!

Share. If you have friends who you think might enjoy having constant access to either of these translations on their phone or other portable device, please let them know. The Bible App is free to download, and with a free YouVersion account, you can immediately start using all of the Bible App’s great features, like Bookmarks, Notes, connection with your social networks, and of course Reading Plans.