[Faith-Talk] About - BibleCourier talking Bible for the Blind

[Ericka]

Hey everybody I know people have been looking for other ways to be able to quickly find Bible scripture so they can use it in their personal study or in a group setting. Here’s something I do have one battery close and really appreciate. I called my God pod. LOL although it lists that it’s from the Lutheran Braille Evangelism Association, there are many different Bible versions including the new Jerusalem Bible for Catholics. Everyone should find something they can use. Hope this helps others. Sorry I couldn’t find the website for the longest time.


http://biblecourier.org/

About

BibleCourier is an electronic pocket Bible designed especially for someone who is blind or visually impaired. BibleCourier weighs about 4 ounces including batteries and is about the size of a pocket New Testament (4 by 2 by .75 inches). BibleCourier is very portable and small enough to easily fit in a shirt pocket or a purse. The Bible is powered by two double A size (AA) rechargeable batteries which will run BibleCourier for several months of normal use or more than 30 hours of continuous reading.

The BibleCourier memory holds your choice of one complete Bible translation (both the Old and New Testaments) and the Matthew Henry Concise Commentary of the whole Bible and a Bible dictionary, or your choice of any two selections from the list below. All Bible texts will come with a users guide in a digital format. The users guide is also provided on an audio Compact Disc with the BibleCourier. In addition to either the Bible/Commentary or the two-Bibles choice LBEA will also include as study aids Luther’s Small Catechism, a Bible Glossary, Bible Book Summaries, and a concordance of over 700 key words to help you locate many verses in the King James Bible. Note that the extra Apocrypha books (Tobit, Judith, Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom, Baruch, additions to Esther, additions to Daniel, and First and Second Maccabees) are now included with the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) and the King James Version with Apocrypha.

The BibleCourier’s two Bible versions or Bible/Commentary combination are easily identified or switched between using the “zero key” and “pound key” in combination. Each Bible or commentary and Bible dictionary maintains its own last location and bookmark environment. This allows the user to easily study two different Bible translations in parallel or to look up entries in the commentary for a range of Scripture. Of course the books being independent means the focus can also be set at different places in the two Bibles or Bible and commentary.

BibleCourier like a telephone keypad has twelve buttons on its face with a raised dot above the five key. These keys allow the user to quickly navigate through the books, chapters and verses of the talking digital Bible. Each key also has built in help when held down until two beeps are heard.

The Bible text is not a recording. BibleCourier uses the DoubleTalk speech synthesizer computer chip (from RC Systems) to generate its synthetic voice to read the text of the Bible. There are five male voices to select from and the volume, speed and pitch of the selected voice may be adjusted to one’s preference. The user listens to the Bible either through the internal speaker or for private listening through stereo earbuds which are provided with the BibleCourier.

While some may prefer listening to a recorded human voice rather than a synthesized computer voice, the text-to-speech computer chip approach used by BibleCourier has the advantage that it gives the user full access to the books, chapters, verses, and even the words which may be spelled in the Bible text.

BibleCourier has many other features including the ability to read forward or back by sentence or words. You can set book marks at favorite verses, have unclear words spelled, and Power Search (that is, jump forward or back half the distance) among the books, chapters, and verses of the Bible. A footnote feature can be enabled which will allow any related notes to be read in a higher pitch at the appropriate place in the text (however, not all Bible versions will contain footnotes). The BibleCourier now has a powerful Word Search Function that enables the user to select a word from the Bible text and designate it as a word to search for elsewhere in the Bible. And there is even a sleep timer which can be set to stop the reading after a specified time to conserve battery power. A page of BibleCourier key summaries is available to help you learn these functions.

What you get when you order a BibleCourier

The Talking BibleCourier unit manufactured by Springer Design, Inc.
One set of Double A (AA) rechargeable batteries installed
One wall transformer to recharge batteries
Stereo earbuds for private listening
Your choice of two available selections from the list below
A Quick Start audio instructional CD
A 90 day warranty against defects in material and workmanship
How to order a BibleCourier

The BibleCourier and similar talking Bibles have been sold at the retail price of $200.00 plus shipping charges. LBEA as a non-profit ministry wants these Bibles to be affordable for the blind and visually impaired.

LBEA ministry is now offering blind persons the BibleCourier with two complete Bibles or one Bible and Henry’s Concise Commentary at the subsidized price of only $77.90 which includes $7.90 of postage.   That price is half off the actual cost to manufacture a BibleCourier.

Upon receipt of your order, LBEA will send you postage paid by U.S. Priority or First Class Mail your choice of two selections for each BibleCourier from the list below. A page is available to help you Compare Bible Versions.

The King James Version (KJV)
The King James Version with Apocrypha (KJVA)
The American Standard Version (ASV)
The Revised Standard Version (RSV)
The Bible in Basic English (BBE)
The New King James Version (NKJV)
The New International Version (NIV)
The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
The New Living Translation (NLT)
The Good News Bible (GNB)
The New American Standard Version (NAS)
The New Jerusalem Bible (with Apocrypha) (NJB)
The English Standard Version (ESV)
The Contemporary English Version (CEV)
The World English Bible (WEB)
The Matthew Henry Concise Commentary (MHC)
The Matthew Henry Concise Commentary and Bible dictionary (MHCD)
All orders must be made by mail or PayPal and checks and money orders payable in U.S. funds. Please include a telephone number and/or e-mail contact with your order so you may be contacted if there are any questions.

LBEA is able to accept credit or debit card orders only through PayPal. There is a $7.90 shipping charge for each order. To order a BibleCourier using PayPal click on the order by PayPal link.



Ericka Nelson