Edited by Alec Motyer, John Stott and Derek Tidball, the Bible Speaks Today (BST) commentaries cover all sixty-six books of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, and key biblical themes in fifty-five volumes. Designed for both preachers and those who teach from Scripture, and for those studying the Bible on their own, each BST volume features insightful, readable commentary on the biblical texts and discussion of how they relate to contemporary life.

Genesis 1-11

This inspiring exposition goes back to the beginning. The early chapters of Genesis proclaim the origin of the world, and of human life on earth. David Atkinson applies what he finds here to the issues that face us at the beginning of a new millennium. The first eleven chapters of Genesis, he argues, are an overture to the rest of the Bible. They evoke wonder as God is portrayed in his creative power and beauty. They reveal his loving mercy and salvation even in his terrible judgment of those who turn from him and despoil the harmony of creation.

Genesis 12-50

Joyce Baldwin shows the vivid narratives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph speaking to us today, despite their great antiquity. Above all, they highlight God's ways of dealing with ordinary men and women. God takes the initiative in drawing us to himself. His purpose is not local, but world-wide; the rich scope of God's love is tellingly evident. Yet, in fulfilling his great plan in history, he works individually - with people who are fearful like Abraham or twisty like Jacob. Their often painful experiences enabled them (and help us) to know the specific character of the God they worshipped. The narratives, Joyce Baldwin points out, are an epitome of the gospel.

Deuteronomy

In Deuteronomy Moses looks to the future, forecasting the challenges that the coming generation of Israel will face, and applying God's covenant word to new situations.
Reading Deuteronomy is like standing with Israel before Moses. He addresses us as a future generation of the covenant people of God, who have passed over Jordan into the good land - and yet still struggle with temptations and opposing forces.
In 'The Message of Deuteronomy' Raymond Brown guides Christians to hear and appreciate the timeless relevance of this message from the Plains of Moab. God's Law comes alive again as a guide to good living, a call to wholehearted repentance, and a promise of healing restoration under God's merciful hand.

Samuel

The Old Testament historical books of 1 and 2 Samuel contain well-known stories about Hannah, Samuel, Saul, David and Absalom, which have been fruitful sources for innumerable Sunday school lessons and some classic oil paintings and musical compositions.

Mary Evans engages with these books in the conviction that they are a vital part of God's Word, full of teaching that is dynamically relevant for all Christian believers. Exploring how we should interpret and respond to the stories today is both challenging and exciting. This accessible and stimulating study takes us into the narratives, creatively brings out their application and provides questions for further reflection.

Kings

At the beginning of 1 & 2 Kings, Solomon?s reign brought peace, prosperity, dynamic international trade and a magnificent centre of worship. By contrast, at the end, the people faced complete reversal: they and their king were in exile; Jerusalem and the temple lay in ruins.
How can this story of reversal, told by the very people who suffered that defeat, be of value today, and equip us ?for every good work??

John Olley shows how the books of Kings retell the past as ?preached history?, addressing the exilic situation of the original readers. This in turn helps as we ask how they speak to us today. Within the account of paths leading to short-term 'success' but ultimate failure, there are pointers of hope, of God?s continuing purposes and promises, and of the people?s response in the present.

In rich and often surprising ways, the narrative in Kings is part of the history that has shaped, and is to continue to shape, the faith and life of Christian believers. Everyday life, along with the turmoil of national and global events, is the arena in which God?s people are called to worship, trust and obey him, and it is on aspects of this life that 1 & 2 Kings can throw light.

Nehemiah

Nehemiah tells, first hand, the powerful story of the rebuilding of ancient Jerusalem's walls after the exile. This rebuilding, in the face of great odds, represented the renewal of the people's faith and the reforming of their conduct.

In opening up Nehemiah's text, Raymond Brown concludes: 'He must surely be regarded as one of the most inventive and resilient personalities in the rich tapestry of Old Testament biography.'

As well as vividly drawing out Nehemiah's historical and social milieu and the contents of his book, Raymond Brown demonstrates the striking relevance for today of Nehemiah's dominant themes: his doctrine of God, his passion for Scripture, his experience of prayer and his example in leadership.

Esther

In Persia in the fifth century BC, the Jews were threatened with genocide. The book of Esther describes how this crisis was averted through the bravery of Esther, the wisdom of Mordecai and the unity of the Jewish people.

However, Esther is a rather strange book to find in the Bible. It is set entirely outside the Promised Land, and shows no interest in it. Furthermore, it is the only book in the Bible that definitely does not mention God, and it avoids any obviously religious language.

Nevertheless, the book does have a developed theology. David Firth brings this out as he engages insightfully with the narrative. He shows how it invites us to reflect on what it is to know God within this world, where the miraculous is rare and yet in which the faithful continue to experience the reality of God's presence. This is of particular importance for those living out their faith within post-Christendom.

Gods saving purpose in Christ is richer than Esther imagines; but Esther asks us how we continue to see God's work this side of the cross of Christ, and what our own part is within the ongoing story of his deliverance.

Psalms 1-72

This is the first volume of a practical and readable introduction to the Psalms which effectively unfolds the text and meaning as songs for the people of God. The expositions represent Michael Wilcock's attempts over many years to unfold God's Word to real people confronting the raw questions of life in the church and in the world. He sees the Psalter as a collection, an anthology, a hymnal, a book of songs.

It is full of pictures that show us a variety of places in a land of spiritual experience. In his view it is important for Christians today to appropriate the range of human emotion that is embodied in the Psalms. We also need their imaginative vitality. The book will be helpful in using the Psalms in church services, and includes an exposition of every Psalm, long or short, familiar or neglected.

Psalms 73-150

This is the second volume of a practical and readable introduction to the Psalms which effectively unfolds the text and meaning as songs for the people of God. The expositions represent Michael Wilcock's attempts over many years to unfold God's Word to real people confronting the raw questions of life in the church and in the world. He sees the Psalter as a collection, an anthology, a hymnal, a book of songs.

Isaiah

The book of Isaiah is outstanding in its brilliance of style, its poetic power, and its foretaste of the hope of the gospel.

It tells us how God himself has provided the highway to holiness for those who have been 'redeemed' or 'ransomed'. These are images which evoke the Exodus from Egypt, and foreshadow Christ's achievement at the cross. There is tangible joy for the reader in Isaiah's portrayal of judgement - rebuilding within the demolition, the new replacing the old. In Isaiah's masterpiece, both national and world events reveal God's hand, and its good news is the very hope of the world.

Barry Webb invites his readers to see Isaiah's compelling vision of God's glory, and the wonder of access to him.

Writing this book, for him, was an unforgettable flight: 'I have soared like an eagle into the heavens and seen the glory of God, and with new eyes I have seen the world and my place in it.'

Jeremiah

The Prophet Jeremiah addressed the people of Judah and Jerusalem over a forty-year period leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC. The book of Jeremiah addressed the exiles, especially those in Babylon, in the years after the catastrophe.

First of all then, says Chris Wright, we must encounter Jeremiah the prophet who, from his youth to old age, delivered the word of God to the people of Israel at the most terrifying time in all their troubled history. Understanding his times is essential to understanding his life and message. Next, we must strive to grasp how this enormous book (the second longest in the Bible, after Psalms) has been put together. And finally, if Jeremiah spoke in his day, and if the book still speaks today, in both cases it is because of the God who called the man to speak and commanded the book to be written. So we must encounter the God of Jeremiah an encounter that should be both profoundly disturbing and ultimately reassuring, as it was for him.

In the end, Jeremiah is a book of the victory of God's love and grace. His redemptive, reconstructive work fills the book's future horizon a future that we see fulfilled in the New Testament through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah; and ultimately in God's dwelling with his redeemed people forever in the new creation.

Daniel

God had allowed the unthinkable to happen. His people were in exile in Babylon; his promises seemed shattered. Was he really in control? Was he faithful? Did he still care? One young man, Daniel, affirmed that he did, although it was not without struggle, and it cost him to do so.
The Old Testament book of Daniel contains well-known stories: Daniel in the den of lions, his three companions in a fiery furnace, and the strange handwriting on the wall at Belshazzar's feast, which struck terror in the heart of the Babylonian king. However, the book can be difficult to understand. Along with stories about Judean exiles working in the court of pagan kings (chapters 1-6), it also consists of Daniel's enigmatic visions and prophecies about the future (chapters 7-12). It is written in two languages, Hebrew and Aramaic, and the language division does not match the subject division.

Ralph Davis explores the book's background, discusses significant interpretative issues and problems, and offers a lively exposition of Daniel's message, which may be summed up in the words of Jesus: 'the end is not yet ... but the one who endures to the end will be saved' (Mark 13:7, 13). The book is essentially 'a realistic survival manual for the saints', still vitally relevant for the church in today's world.

Ezra & Haggai

The background to the books of Ezra and Haggai is the exile of Judah to Babylon in 587 BC and the return from exile following the edict of Cyrus in 538 BC. Ezra narrates the history of the period, while Haggai speaks into the situation where those who had begun to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1 - 3) had ceased to do so because of external opposition and internal failure of nerve (Ezra 4).

In Robert Fyall's valuable exposition, the pairing of Ezra with Haggai (instead of the more usual Nehemiah) enhances our appreciation of both. Ezra is a vital and stimulating book in its revelation of God's purposes, and Haggai's brief prophecy deals with highly significant issues.

The message of these books, with their emphasis on building for God and the need for obedience to his Word and openness to his Spirit, is one that needs to be heard clearly today. The theme of the providence of God is an encouragement to God's people in dispiriting times.