Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, NewGrapes earns from qualifying purchases. Free links are listed first wherever one exists.
Why this page exists
Here’s something worth thinking about. If you have a Bible and you’re working through a lesson, you already have enough. God’s Word is sufficient, and nothing on this page is required.
Still, sooner or later most of us find a word we want to dig into, a passage we want to see from another angle, or a question someone asked long before we did. This page is for those moments. It’s a shelf of tools, not a reading assignment.
We never copy what these books say. When a lesson points you to one, open your own copy and check us, like the Bereans who “examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11). Our pointers go by chapter, section or headword, never by page number, so they work with any edition.
Start here: a Bible is enough
If you own a Bible, you’re ready. Read the passage, read the lesson, and ask the questions. Everything below is optional, for when you want to go further.
How the checkboxes will work
Tick “I own this” next to anything already on your shelf. Your choices are saved in your own browser only. You don’t need an account, nothing is sent to us, and clearing your browser data clears your list. Later, our lessons will show “Go deeper on your shelf” pointers only for the tools you’ve checked.
Study Bibles
The Reformation Study Bible (ESV), R.C. Sproul, gen. ed. Notes and theological articles alongside the text. Amazon (2015 ed., hardcover): Amazon ↗
Thompson Chain-Reference Bible. Follows a topic from verse to verse across the whole Bible. Amazon (Kirkbride, hardcover): NKJV Amazon ↗ · ESV Amazon ↗
NET Bible, Full Notes Edition. Translators’ notes on why a word was rendered the way it was. Amazon: Amazon ↗
ESV Archaeology Study Bible (Crossway). Places, objects and customs behind the text. Amazon: Amazon ↗
The MacArthur Study Bible (LSB, 2nd ed.). Verse-by-verse notes and book introductions. Amazon (LSB, hardcover): Amazon ↗
NIV/KJV/NASB/AMP Comparative Study Bible (Zondervan). Four translations side by side. Amazon (revised ed.): Amazon ↗
The Septuagint with Apocrypha, Brenton. The Greek Old Testament the apostles often quoted. Free: ccel.org ↗ · Amazon: Amazon ↗
Concordances, lexicons and language tools
ESV Exhaustive Concordance (Crossway). Find every place a word appears. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Hebrew-English Interlinear ESV Old Testament. The Hebrew word under each English word. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Greek-English Interlinear ESV New Testament. The Greek word under each English word. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the NT. What a Greek word meant, by headword. Free: archive.org ↗ · Amazon: Amazon ↗
A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the OT, Holladay. What a Hebrew word meant, by headword. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar (4th ed.), Mounce. Learn to read New Testament Greek. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek, Metzger. Greek vocabulary grouped by frequency and root. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar (3rd ed.), Pratico & Van Pelt. Learn to read Old Testament Hebrew. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Dictionaries, handbooks and atlases
Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary. English words traced back to their Hebrew and Greek, by headword. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Halley’s Bible Handbook. A quick guide to each book of the Bible. Amazon (25th ed.): Amazon ↗
ESV Bible Atlas, Currid & Barrett. Maps and geography of Bible events. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Zondervan Atlas of the Bible, Rasmussen. Maps and historical geography. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Commentaries
Holman Concise Bible Commentary. Short notes on every book in one volume. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Genesis, Bruce Waltke. A literary and theological walk through Genesis. Amazon: Amazon ↗
The Gospel According to John (PNTC), D.A. Carson. John’s Gospel explained passage by passage. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Family Worship Bible Guide, Joel Beeke et al. Short notes on each chapter for reading together. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, Beale & Carson, eds. See how each New Testament book quotes and uses the Old. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Theology and how to read the Bible
Reformed Systematic Theology, Vols. 1–4, Beeke & Smalley. What the whole Bible teaches, topic by topic. Vol. 1: Amazon ↗ · Vol. 2: Amazon ↗ · Vol. 3: Amazon ↗ · Vol. 4: Amazon ↗
Systematic Theology (2nd ed.), Wayne Grudem. Doctrine, topic by topic, in plain language. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Bible Doctrine, Wayne Grudem. A shorter version of the above. Amazon: [Amazon ↗ (2nd ed.)](Amazon ↗)
The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today (revised ed.), Wayne Grudem. What New Testament prophecy is and how to test it. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Christian Ethics, Wayne Grudem. What Scripture says about how to live. Amazon: Amazon ↗
An Old Testament Theology, Bruce Waltke. The big themes of the Old Testament. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Covenant Theology, Waters, Reid & Muether, eds. How God’s covenants tie Scripture together. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Living by the Book, Hendricks & Hendricks. A simple method for studying any passage. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Reading the Bible Supernaturally, John Piper. Reading for God’s glory, not just facts. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Mere Christian Hermeneutics, Kevin Vanhoozer. How to interpret Scripture well. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Scribes & Scripture, Meade & Gurry. How we got our Bible and why we can trust it. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Church history and classics
Religious Affections in Modern, Simplified English, Edwards / Tipton. Edwards’s test of true and false religious feeling, in easier English. Free original: ccel.org ↗ · Amazon: Amazon ↗
Religious Affections (original), Jonathan Edwards. Free: ccel.org ↗ (free original; for a print copy, see the Tipton edition above)
Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin (McNeill ed.). A classic summary of Christian teaching. Free: ccel.org ↗ · Amazon: Amazon ↗
The Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther. Grace and the human will. Free: www.monergism.com ↗ · Amazon (500th Anniversary ed.): Amazon ↗
Confessions, Augustine, trans. Henry Chadwick (Oxford, hardcover). Our recommended translation: the best in-between of readability and depth. A man’s story of being found by God. Free (Schaff, NPNF Vol. 1): ccel.org ↗ · Amazon: Amazon ↗
The City of God, Augustine. Two cities, two loves, through history. Free: ccel.org ↗ · Amazon: Amazon ↗
The History of the Church, Eusebius. The earliest history of the church after Acts. Free: ccel.org ↗ · Amazon: Amazon ↗
The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan. The Christian life as a journey. Free: ccel.org ↗ · Amazon (Penguin Classics): Amazon ↗
The Reformed Pastor, Richard Baxter. Caring for souls. Free: ccel.org ↗ · Amazon (Crossway, Cooper ed., 2021): Amazon ↗
Pensées, Blaise Pascal. Short thoughts on faith and the human heart. Free: ccel.org ↗ · Amazon: Amazon ↗
Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers, Christopher Hall. How early Christians read the Bible. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Church History in Plain Language, Bruce Shelley. Two thousand years, told simply. Amazon: Amazon ↗
Jonathan Edwards: A Life, George Marsden. The man behind Religious Affections. Amazon: Amazon ↗
A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada, Mark Noll. How the faith took root and grew in North America. Amazon: Amazon ↗