Resources

In the class I was taking, I was asked to contribute 10 resources to a list of class accumulated resources.  Not all of these are my favorite, but I tried to keep to items on my bookshelves or the internet. 

• The Concise Concordance to the New Revised Standard Version (John R Kohlenberger, III, editor).  This is a concordance providing a list of words in the scripture and where to find them (as any concordance would). It provides references to both the Old and New Testament and is helpful when doing a word study.
• A Harmony of the Gospels: Revised Standard Version (Ralph D. Heim).  This book (another old one, published in 1947) lists in the Gospels in chronological order and attempts to align the four gospels in parallel columns. It includes all four Gospels. It can be helpful to see side by side how one story in the bible is the same and is different in the Gospels.
• Atlas of Bible History (Harper Collins).  This book provides history from early in the Old Testament through the the Early Church (and a little beyond) with images and maps. I find having a map helps me to place the scripture geographically. How far apart are Nazareth and Jerusalem, and what did it mean to walk from one to the other? A map is helpful.
• The New Interpreter's Study Bible (NRSV). This is a study bible. I find the introductions to the Biblical books and the extensive study notes to be very helpful. Footnotes share when a translation is uncertain or can be seen a different way in a different language.
• The New Greek English Interlinear New Testament. This book provides the New Testament in Greek with an interlinear English translation as well an an English translation in the margin. It can be helpful to see how the translations are made and what difficulties there were in translation.
• Discipleship Resources (https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning). This online resource from the UMC provides help for each Sunday, using the Revised Common Lectionary, including Preaching Notes and notes to help plan worship.
• Text Week (textweek.com). This online resources provides links to numerous resources concerning lectionary scriptures. It can be a rabbit hole to countless different sources.
• The New Interpreter's Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes. The volumes provide an introduction to each Biblical book, a exegesis of the biblical texts, commentary, reflections, and illustrations.
• Feasting on the Word, David Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, Editors. This is a series of books, available in both physical books and PDFs, that are helpful when preaching from the Revised Common Lectionary. Each volume includes part of one of the three years of the RCL.  Each week examines the scriptures of that week's RCL, providing four perspectives: theological, pastoral, exegetical, and homiletical.
• The New Daily Study Bible by William Barclay. This is a series of books, each one focused on a book of the Bible (usually - Biblical books' commentaries are combined into one of the volumes). Barclay (for the New Testament, other authors for the Old Testament) provide commentary on short passages of scripture within the Biblical book. One caveat - the series was originally published in 1956; the reader should take that into consideration.

I've "bolded" two of these because they are the references I use the most often - my Study Bible and Feasting on the Word.