ESV Journaling Study Bible (TruTone, Brown/Chestnut, Timeless Design): Holy Bible, English Standard Version

This Bible is exactly what I’d hoped for. The Extra‑wide 2‑inch margins give me so much room to write prayers, reflections, or sermon notes right alongside Scripture. It also comes with all the helpful Study Bible extras — thousands of study notes, maps, character profiles, and cross‑references — so it’s not just a journal, it’s a full tool for deeper understanding. The pages are clean and easy to read, and the binding/cover feels sturdy (great for everyday use or carrying to church). If you want a Bible that helps you dig deep and gives you space to reflect, journal, and grow — this one hits it.

This Bible has all the features I was looking for! The text size is a little small, but that’s a small trade off for having a study Bible that also includes a 2” ruled margin. I have found that the Mr. pen fine liners work best on these to minimize bleed through or ghosting. There are plenty of pages in the back that work great for testing pens. I like the inclusion of book summaries at the beginning of each book, as it helps you to see the context of the book before you read it—also the illustrations and maps within the relevant pages so you don’t have to flip back and forth from the back of the Bible. The imitation leather cover is very soft and it makes the Bible lay flat when you open it.

Beautiful Bible. Lots of study notes and space to add your own notes or draw. The bible is a nice color and has cream pages. It is easy to read and has a nice flow to it.

This is my favorite Bible! ESV is my favorite translation and the cover is beautiful. I had mine customized after purchasing, which made it even prettier. I love that it has both the study notes and journaling space. The only negative is the small font. I have to use bright light when reading. If they ever come out with this Bible in a larger font I’d buy it!

The only thing I would ask to improve is I wish there were 2 bookmarks and I wish Jesus’ words were in red. but I love it so much. It’s a little bigger than a standard bible but smaller than some other study bibles I’ve seen. I do like the size. There’s the usual table of contents for the books but also separate ones for charts/diagrams, characters/people, and illustrations so you can easily find things. In the back there’s resources and several maps which is great for visual people.

If you're looking for a good study Bible for yourself or as a gift, give this one a look. Nice to find an ESV study Bible with a two-column layout for the Biblical text. The single-column layout of my other ESV Bible is a chronic annoyance because the line length is far too big for my comfort. This Bible does use a single column for its non-Biblical text, which I wish were otherwise. If you prefer a large print Bible, pass this one by because the Biblical text and the notes are set in small point sizes. This is necessary to accommodate all the notes and the wide margins. Biblical text is in serif and notes in sans serif. The ESV notes on every page of this Bible are an excellent resource for personal Bible study. I also noticed that the colors used in the maps, notes, and charts are muted shades of brown/beige rather than all the colors of the rainbow, which is a plus for me. I only wish this particular Bible were available in a genuine leather version. There's nothing wrong with the faux leather used here, but I may get this rebound one day.

This is a beautiful, well made Bible. I love the space on each page to journal, make notes or even create art. I use it for note taking at Church as well as Bible studies. It laid super flat making easy to write in. Small enough to carry around with a comfortable font type and size so I’m not squinting to read. I love it!

This review is for the Two Tone / TruTone ESV Journaling Study Bible. This particular Bible I did return due to it not being brand new and already had some marking in it. Still the few days I had it I was able to determine that the soft leather cover was not firm enough for me. If your intent is to use it laying flat on a desk or table then you probably won't have any issues. Attempting to use it while in my hand the pages were bending too much for me and I would not consider trying to write in it like that. This is a personal taste so the end user will have to determine what they like. I did order the Black Hard Cover edition and have been happy with that. As for the content. There are enough reviews and YouTube videos out there for you to get a good idea of what the contents look like and how it compares to others, but let me add a few tidbits. Yes the main type face is readable, but the study notes and especially the cross references are potentially too small. I personally would love a large print version of this Bible. Increasing the typeface and number of pages would not negatively impact this Bible. The study notes are taken from the ESV Student Bible. I've not seen that in any review, but in the introduction material in the Bible it does state that is where the notes come from. So in essence you get a ESV Student Bible with space for notes. I do like the hard board slip case if you want to use it especially for the TruTone version. For me this is a great balance between having a Bible with enough notes to get started and enough space to add notes.