The Message Slimline (Leather-Look, Charcoal/Black): The Bible in Contemporary Language Leather Bound – May 1, 2015

This is a gorgeous Bible. The lettering shows through the pages though and the paper is quite thin. It could make it difficult for some to read. I probably should’ve opted for the large print.

Let me say first, I LOVE The Message! From the moment I opened the first copy of the New Testament and Psalms, it just sang to me! I felt as though God had had Eugene Peterson maybe do this version just for me. For a long time committed Christian I felt sometimes very bereft in trying to make sense out of a passage. One can track my spiritual journey by my bibles. My first, the KJV given to me as a 4th grader. My second, the RSV, the one that records October, 1958 as the date I actually gave myself to God as a young student nurse. The NASB that I used as a young adult working with kids and bible studies. The NIV which I never quite warmed up to. The Amplified, that I read through 3 times using a system a dear lady, daughter of a home health patient of mine painstaking copied by hand and gave me. Those years were challenging years for me. And lastly, The Message, the one that resonates with me, makes me excited to want to live a Christ-centered life and makes me know God cherishes me as his wayward child.That being said, I was looking for a less cumbersome version to take to church. This is a great size, looks really nice but the pages are REALLY thin and it is harder to read. But I am keeping it because it isn't my daily one

I bought this for my hub as a gift. He loves it. He requested a leather, slimline, which I personally can't stand because the text is so small. I was happily surprised to see that the text in this one was not tiny - it's very readable. As for the leather, at first was literally shopping for a leather one and there's like one available and it's black. I mentioned it to him and he said - they don't have a brown one like my other bible? A slimline NIV, I think. Anyway, I pointed out to him that his current bible was imitation leather, and he said "oh, that's what I meant", lol. So, apparently these faux leather bibles pass muster with fashion-conscious husbands. ;) And he loved the embossed design.Also, he can carry both of his slimline bibles together with his journal to church really easily without it looking weird - it just looks like the thickness of one regular bible.

A great bible for sure. I love it and I use it a lot. It FEELS great. As soon as I took it out of the box it felt like it was mine. The leather quality is awesome and the color of it is excellent. However its still a lot bigger then I had hoped. The description talks about how small and thin it is but it really isn't that small. It's actually kind of big. It's definitely a lot thicker than an inch. It's also longer vertically then I had assumed it would be. I wish it were consideraby thinner and smaller. But it's still an excellent bible and holds to be an awesome translation. I also would've liked their intros to every book the MSG usually has but there is nothing like that, just straight bible which isn't a bad thing at all. I just like having synopsi for my bibles for my studying.

The bible is well made and the type is perfect. Not too big or too small. I bought it for my 20 yo niece and she loved it.

This review is for the title "The Message Slimline Edition" in tan brown leather like softcover. A few points I have in my review. First, I rated this two stars because of the horrible thinness of the paper used in my edition. It is very transparent and will be a bother when you just look at the page. Also, the print on both sides of a page is not line matched. This creates what I would call a bleed through shadow on the page you are reading. Second, the print itself is not heavy dark, or even black. Close to black, but not black. Dark gray would be my call. This makes it look even worse. Last, and this is a good point for this particular edition is that it's well constructed. If not for my first two points, then this would have been a solid 5 star bible.I was looking forward to receiving and reading this particular edition of The Message. I also own the The Message Deluxe Gift Bible version and it is a 5-star winner on its own and is head and shoulders above this version at 1/3'd the cost. The print is darker and it seems there has been an effort for line matching. Though it's double columned, it makes for an easy read. Bottom line, avoid this version and the version that is The Message Deluxe Gift Bible

Soft leather-feel cover. Pages are thick enough to highlight text and not bleed through. Full page text.

I absolutely love this format and the translation. Very easy to read. I had previously purchased a similar one for my fiancé overseas, and I decided to get one for myself because I loved the translation!

Delivered on time.This version is great for light reading if you want to get the gist of the text. It takes an ancient text and puts in easily readable modern speech.The translator says it is not for serious study purposes, and I would agree. But it does serve its intended purpose well.The only issue is the pages are so thin that at times you can see the writing on the reverse side and this can be distracting