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Watch the World Read About the Birth of Jesus

The story of our Savior’s birth has been told and retold for thousands of years, but this year, for the first time, you’ll be able to see how many people are actually reading it.

The Christmas Story Tracker is a fun live map we created to watch the world read about the birth of Jesus. When someone uses the Bible App to read a verse about the Christmas story, the map lights a star on their country. A counter at the top right shows the total number of readings from the YouVersion community since December 1.

Christmas Tracker

 

Whether you’re reading a Christmas Bible Plan or just a verse about Jesus’ birth, you’ll light up a star on the map and add to the running tally. And it’s easy to get your friends in on the fun: look for the Facebook and Twitter icons.

What are you waiting for…go check out christmas.youversion.com!

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Video Devotionals Launch in the Bible App

You may know that YouVersion already offers hundreds of versions you can read in many languages, along with audio Bibles you can listen to as you’re doing other things. Now we’re also adding video devotionals you can watch on your mobile device and at YouVersion.com!

The Overflow has graciously partnered with YouVersion to provide Video Plans from six popular Christian recording artists. Spend time with Scripture as you enjoy insight from gifted teachers, speakers, and now—musicians!

Each plan brings you video with accompanying devotional text and Bible reading. No matter what your learning style, video devotionals are a great way for you to study God’s Word. Enjoy brand-new content from artists like:

Lecrae – Accompanying the release of his latest album, Gravity, Lecrae has put together a reading plan that takes you into his world, sharing the gospel of salvation and grace. (Also features KB and Derek Minor.) 8 days

Newsboys – Highlighting tracks from their 2011 release, God’s Not Dead, this exclusive plan dives into God’s Word, exploring content from some of the Newsboys’ favorite worship songs, including “Mighty to Save,” “I Am Second,” and the title track. 7 days

Tenth Avenue North – Digging into their album, The Struggle, singer Mike Donehey explains devotional truth behind the title track. Deeper in, you’ll find daily readings for “Don’t Stop the Madness,” “Losing,” and five more Tenth Avenue North songs from the album. 7 days

for KING & COUNTRY – Named one of Billboard Magazine’s “Artists to Watch” in 2012, for KING & COUNTRY put together a devotional that breaks down seven songs from their debut album Crave, including “Proof of Your Love.” 7 days

Dara Maclean – With seven songs from her debut album, You Got My Attention, Dara Maclean offers you an in-depth look at her passion for Jesus, revealing the heart behind tracks like “Suitcases,” “Yours Forever,” and “Free.” 7 days

Hawk Nelson – Showcasing songs from their album Crazy Love, this devotional delves into the verses behind Hawk Nelson’s “We Can Change The World,” “Done Holding On,” and the title track. 7 days

While the video portion of these plans is available now exclusively on iPhone, Android, and at YouVersion.com (and coming soon to iPad!), you can access the text portion on any mobile device where you use your plans. Try one now! They’re easy to find in the New Plans category. And whether you’re watching a video devotional, listening to an audio Bible, or checking out one of our Featured Plans, we hope all of these Plans help you continue engaging with the Bible!

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Bible.com joins the YouVersion family!

The YouVersion family is growing! Today we’re thrilled to share with you the addition of Bible.com. Starting this month, visiting Bible.com will bring you directly to YouVersion’s free online Bible.

Now everybody can find the same simple, ad-free experience already loved by millions—at the Internet’s best domain for the Bible! We’re happy to welcome everyone who’s already part of the Bible.com community, as well as the many people searching for God’s Word online.

Bible.com now provides the same rich Bible experience as YouVersion.com and the Bible App:

  • Read the Bible: Instantly select from nearly 300 versions (including audio!), compare versions side by side, and choose the font and display size.
  • Study the Bible: Easily add notes, bookmarks, and highlights to personalize and learn from your interaction with Scripture.
  • Subscribe to Reading Plans: Cover the whole Bible, focus on a specific topic you’re interested in, or read a rich devotional from a gifted teacher. Choose your favorite plan, and each day, a fresh Bible selection will be ready and waiting for you.
  • Sync with the Bible App: All of your bookmarks, notes, plans, and progress now sync between the Bible App, YouVersion.com, and Bible.com.
  • Enjoy the Bible in many languages: Not only can you select a Bible in any of 140 languages, you can even choose to display the site’s menus and buttons in your choice of 30 languages.

Together, Bible.com and YouVersion now offer a simple, unified Bible experience that keeps Scripture always within easy reach. Whether you searching for “Bible” in an app store or, now, online, you’re always just one short click away from engaging with God’s Word.

Best of all, welcoming Bible.com into our worldwide YouVersion community introduces even more opportunities for you to help people find their way around and enjoy a meaningful Bible experience. Won’t you join us?

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Bible Reading Made Easier than Ever by All-New YouVersion.com

Earlier this week, we shared about YouVersion.com’s complete makeover. While many of you in the worldwide YouVersion community have told us you’re loving the cleaner design, some of you have also let us know you’ve been experiencing performance issues, and some of you have even found bugs. Let us assure you: We’re working really hard behind the scenes to address these issues as fast as we can. And each and every day, we’re trying to make the all-new YouVersion.com better and better.

New Customizable Fonts at YouVersion.comIf you haven’t yet tried out the shiny new YouVersion.com, we’d encourage you to go have a look. Besides tools that Bible App users will recognize right away—and its simpler new interface—YouVersion.com has introduced some new features designed specifically to offer you the best Bible-reading experience possible. Here are just a few of the new enhancements we think you’re going to love:

Full Screen Mode. With just one click, you can expand YouVersion.com to cover your entire screen, making the most of your screen real estate. Especially when you’re reading, full screen mode is one of the most comfortable ways you can experience the Bible on an electronic device.

Customizable Fonts. For some time now, the Bible App has offered the ability to select from different typefaces to find the one that’s easiest for you to read. The relaunch of YouVersion.com now brings this same convenience to your desktop. You can also adjust font size up or down, whether it’s to make the words so large they’re crystal clear, or to fit as many words as possible on your screen.

New Parallel Reading Mode at YouVersion.com

Parallel Reading. Switching to Parallel Reading Mode displays two different Bible versions side by side, letting you easily compare them to each other as you read. Great for deeper Bible study, parallel reading can help you more thoroughly understand what you’re reading.

Please visit YouVersion.com today and explore. And to get the most from your experience, we recommend that you register for your free YouVersion account. We’d love to hear your thoughts about YouVersion.com’s redesign. Please come share your Bible-reading experiences with us on Facebook and Twitter. And be sure to let your friends know about this great new resource!

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All-New, Completely Redesigned YouVersion.com Launches

YouVersion.com is All-NewYouVersion.com is all new! If you’ve visited recently, maybe you saw the “Preview” link at the top. Or if you have a YouVersion account, you might have received an email in February that told you how to get a sneak peek at the website’s new design. Either way, the response was overwhelming and immediate, as many of you tried it out and offered some great feedback. Today we’re pleased to announce the official release of the all-new, completely redesigned YouVersion.com.

You’ll find YouVersion.com has a much cleaner interface, even as it offers many of the features you’ve grown accustomed to in the Bible App:

Bookmarks. Bookmarks are a great way to track and organize passages you want to return to again and again, whether for sharing, memorizing, or reminding yourself of God’s promises. Of course, YouVersion.com already offered Bookmarks, but now they’re much more similar to those in the Bible App.

Highlights. While Bookmarks excel at giving you a place to store your thoughts and helping you keep organized, Highlights are great at drawing your attention back to passages visually. Just as in the Bible App, Highlights let you choose from a variety of colors that suit your purposes (or your mood).

Audio Bibles. Now all of the same audio Bibles you’ve already been enjoying through the Bible App (depending on your device) can take advantage of the fast network connection streaming to your desktop. Make God’s Word the soundtrack to your life while you work. Or even use it to help you absorb more as you read along. Just find the version you want and click play.

And these are just the beginning. We’ll share more tomorrow about some of the other features we think you’ll enjoy at the all-new YouVersion.com. But don’t wait for us! Go to YouVersion.com and check it out for yourself. We want to hear from you. We’ll be bringing you even more new updates and exciting features in the coming weeks, and we’d love for you to let us know what you think on Facebook and Twitter.