We are learning how to use the Blue Letter Bible, an online, interactive, and very powerful study tool. If you are just joining us, place the link in your favorites or on your desktop. And welcome to the study. You may want to subscribe to this blog in order to keep up with the lessons. You may do so by signing up with the FeedBlitz on the right-hand side of the blog. However, all lessons will be archived under the category titled Bible Study Methods. You can go there at any time and get a lesson to review or to catch up.
Let’s begin.
Hopefully, you did some exploring on the left-hand section of the home page of the BLB like I suggested in Lesson 1. If you did, you found that they have a wealth of resources available–dictionaries, topical studies, commentaries, charts, maps, and a host of other tools to enhance your study time in the Bible.
Open the home page.
Under the top bar labeled New Bible Search you will find a blank bar in which to enter your search criteria. You can enter a specific book reference, or you can enter a word or word string that you are looking for.
I remember that there is a place in scripture where someone complained to Jesus about a different group doing things even though they were not part of the main band of disciples. Seems to me there was something about demons in the story. I want to find that passage.
Type in casting out demons. You don’t need quotes or the bold or italics. Just the text.
In the next box, select the version you want to use. I use the ESV, and have it set as my Preferred Bible. (see lesson 1)
Then click on the Search button.
This should bring up your search results in the middle of the page. Look over the entire page to gain an understanding of what the page looks like.
For my search, using the ESV, I’ve been given three verses. Yours may be different. To see how powerful this is, change the version selection and click on the search button again. You should get different results.
For instance, when I changed to the KJV, I was given a “sorry.” There are no verses that match the search. There is a way to find those verses on the results page without further typing, but that is for a later lesson.
Okay. I’ve found the passage I was trying to remember. It is Mark 9:38. Now I want to see that verse in its context.
The address is hot-linked, so click on Mar 9:38, and you will be taken to the entire chapter of Mark 9. However, the verse you clicked on will be at the top of your screen.
We can scroll up or down to access the context of that verse, and we discover that it is all within verses 38-41, which is in the midst of a lengthy record of some of the Master’s teachings on various subjects.
In order to read it smoothly without all the helps to distract me, I can change the page to be just simply text. For those of us who are easily distracted, this is a benefit.
Go to the top of the page, and look over on the right-hand column. Under the bar labeled Mark 9 you will see the words “Read / Print.” There is a question mark for help with this particular tool. Click on that and it will open a small window with an explanation of its features.
For instance, within the ESV I can change from paragraph format to verse format. I can change the words of Christ from red to black. Whatever I want for ease of reading at the computer. I can also change translation within that window. (The one feature not yet available is parallel viewing panes.)
Now, for the last point of today’s lesson–a real TREAT!
Underneath the “Read / Print” box is a box labeled “Listen to:”
Click and enjoy.
NOTE: As we progress, you may have a question about something that we have covered. Be sure to use the comments section for all comments and questions. Also, read the comments section, because someone may ask or say something that will benefit you as you go through this study. Thanks
Practical Bible Teaching 