Audio New American Standard Bible: NASB 2020 New Testament

Holy Bible

By: The Lockman Foundation

Narrated by: Michael Beck

Length: 21 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

The NASB 2020 is an update of the NASB 1995 that further improves accuracy where possible, modernizes language, and improves understandability. These refinements maintain faithful accuracy to the original texts and provide a clear understanding of God’s Word to those who prefer more modern English standards.

The long-established translation standard for the NASB remains the same as it always has been, that is to accurately translate the inspired Word of God from the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts into modern English that is clearly understandable today.

©2022 The Lockman Foundation (P)2022 The Lockman Foundation

Great reader, great books, poor user experience

Reader:
As someone who listens to the Bible daily, I've heard many readers over the decades. Michael Beck is definitely a favorite. There is a big difference between a reader who views this as a collection of religious books & a reader who is a believer. Whether he is or not, Michael Beck reads as a believer would read. Also, I have come to find his voice at times soothing & at times inspiring.

Audible's presentation:
Trying to listen to the Bible via Audible is really annoying. Here are just some of the reasons.

1. You can't tell exactly how many minutes you have left in a chapter because the end of the chapter according to the reader (which is correct) & the end of the chapter according to what is displayed are never in sync. Because of that, you also can't depend on a quick glance telling you which chapter you are in. I'm doing mindless tasks while I listen, & I stop one or more times each day to record questions or comments that come to mind or to look up a word in the original Greek to see if God really meant what the translators have written. Very soon, this becomes more aggravating than it sounds like it would be.

2. There is no way to repeat a chapter. This comes up almost daily. I have found repeating a chapter life changing. Besides the chapters that are too meaty to feel like you've heard it enough after just one time through it to incorporate it's teachings into your life, there are the chapters that are initially confusing. Hearing it repeatedly allows your brain to grasp a larger & larger chunk of what God is conveying to us. The most fun I receive from repeating some chapters over & over a few times without stopping is the surprise & joy you get when a word or phrase jumps out at you as if you hadn't heard it before. You end up saying to someone, "Look what I found in there today!" or merely stopping to say to God, "Wow. You're really saying that you expect us to be able to...Change me, so that I do this automatically & consistently."

3. Most frustrating, is the fact that there is no way to jump to a particular book & chapter. For instance, as I go through the entire New Testament for the daily nourishment of my spirit, I happen to be in 1 Corinthians right now & need to hear the chapter that comes after what I heard yesterday. Also today, I need to listen to my next chapter in John, repeatedly, to prepare for a weekly discussion via FaceTime with others joining me as we go through the book of John together. Audible's books are not set up to be able to jump to even a different chapter, much less a different book within this NT.

Technical, editing, etc:
There are no errors in the words. The sound is good. The reader's voice is clear.