I looked back over my posts on free software, and I realized I hadn’t given e-sword its own post. I’ve mentioned it in my top five free software picks of all time, but really, e-sword should have its own entry.
This program deserves my award for the best free program of all time. Sure, many other programs are useful (Firefox, for instance), and many other programs do more (Open Office, for example), but none (except e-sword) provide life-giving truth.
E-sword easily compares to commercial offerings. No, you can’t get all the “premium” modules for free (like the NKJV) but who needs ’em? The ESV (English Standard Version) is a very literal translation that I find very similar to the NASB. Download multiple versions, bucketloads of commentaries and dictionaries, devotions, maps . . . get going!
Some people say the interface appears antiquated, but I disagree. To me, it looks snazzy and modern (O.K., well, it’s free) and it even provides useful tips on opening (if you want them).
Some cool things that I like are:
- the ability to create your own parallel Bible with up to four versions,
- the simple to use tabs that show you which commentaries, dictionaries, etc. have information pertinent to the passage you’re reading,
- the fast search tool (you can search dictionaries, commentaries, etc. as well,
- the tooltips which appear when you hover over certain things (like Scripture references in the commentaries and dictionaries),
- and all the little extras, like the Bible reading plan, daily devotions, and the cool Scripture memory tool.
Visit the site to check out the many features of e-sword. Check out the many downloads available. If you want access to the best free program of all time, then quit just checking out all the benefits e-sword has to offer – get the program!