The Best Free Family Bible Study App

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The free YouVersion Bible app is my favorite resource for studying the Word of God with my children.

This app makes daily Bible time with my kids very easy for me, so I’m more likely to do it consistently. I’ll share how we use the app in my family, but first, let’s talk a little about what makes the YouVersion app so great.

Why Is the YouVersion Bible App So Amazing?

Here are the things I love about this free app:

1. It has an audio Bible. There are 9 Bible translations that have audio included.
2. It has reading plans. There are plans for any topic you can think of. There are short topical devotionals, read-the-whole-Bible plans, and everything in between.
3. You can download the entire Bible onto your device from the app. Most people that have the app use it for this feature. You can take the Bible with you wherever you go.
4. You can easily compare scripture in different translations. The app has over 1000 different Bible translations.
5. It tracks your progress. It keeps track of how many days in a row you’ve used the app, which keeps me accountable.
6. You can highlight, bookmark, and make notes.
7. It’s totally free. There is no advertising and no in-app purchases.

How We Use the App Daily for Family Bible Study Time

Our daily Bible study time looks like this: we sit around the table during breakfast time, listening to the YouVersion audio Bible. We’re doing a 2-Year Bible Reading Plan on the app, so I don’t have to figure out what to read each day.

Why do we listen to the audio Bible during breakfast time?

• Mom gets to listen too.  You get to relax and eat while you listen to someone read the Bible to you!
• Everyone is already together at the table to eat. It’s so easy to make this a routine because breakfast is obviously part of your schedule already.
• Children get to eat while they listen. I’ve found that this works especially well if you have young children.  They are occupied eating (and sitting still) while they listen.

Related Reading: The Super Easy Way to Do Read Alouds

The 2-Year Bible Reading Plan

There are loads of great devotional plans on the YouVersion app, and we’ve tried many. However, I’ve found that just using a Bible reading plan on this app is the simplest way to do family devotions for all ages.

Traditionally, Bible reading plans are completed in one year. I feel like the pace might be a bit fast for my younger kids if we try to cram it all into a year. With the 2-year plan, we read 2-4 chapters a day depending on how long they are. This only takes about 10 minutes or so and I feel like the amount we cover is better for my kids than the 1-year plan.

Audio Bible

There are over 1,000 Bible translations on the app, but only 9 have audio to go along with the text. The following are the ones that have audio:

• American Standard Version (ASV)
• English Standard Version (ESV)
• Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
• King James Version (KJV)
• The Message (MSG)
• New American Standard Bible (NASB)
• New International Version (NIV)
• New Living Translation (NLT)
• World English Bible (WEB)

We use the NIV version because it’s easy to understand, and honestly because I really like the reader’s voice.

How Do You Get the Free App?

To download the free app, simply go to your device’s app store and search for the YouVersion Bible app.

For Better Sound Quality

The sound quality on my phone made it hard for everyone to hear the audio-Bible, so I purchased an inexpensive little Bluetooth speaker from Amazon. Now everyone can hear perfectly. We use this to listen to music in the house as well.

What If You Have Littles?

If you only have littles in your family, like 2nd grade and under, then you might take a different approach to Bible time. These are the years that reading a storybook Bible may be more impactful than just reading straight scripture.

In my family, since we have such a wide range of ages, a Bible reading plan using the YouVersion app works great. However, I have supplemented with a Bible storybook in the evenings for my younger kids.

The Children’s Illustrated Bible is one of my favorites for younger children because the illustrations are so beautiful.

Once they can read well, I use a Bible reader for our homeschool reading lessons. The Young Reader’s Bible is the Bible reader my 7-year-old is currently reading for school.

A Few More Bibles We Use and Recommend

Another really fun Bible that we have is The Action Bible. It’s a Bible storybook with dialogue boxes and contemporary artwork that tells the stories in a very fast-paced, interesting way that would appeal to tweens and younger teens.

For Christmas, we got this NIV Ultimate Bible for Girls for my 7-year-old, who was ready for a real Bible. This is a great study Bible for girls. I actually use the extras in this Bible to summarize what we read.

If you’re not already using it, I hope you’ll give the YouVersion Bible app a try. This app has been such a blessing to me because it makes daily Bible time with my kids so easy.