A Ready Writer
Lecture: Bible Reading

Lecture: Bible Reading

I gave this lecture to the CGG Speech Club on December 6, 2025.

Bible Reading

INTRODUCTION  A feature we have added to Speech Club that was not part of the old Spokesman Club is the skill assignment of Bible Reading. I can only assume that those who constructed the original Club did not feel that an exercise in reading would be valuable. Perhaps they considered it but scratched it for lack of time on the program. My opinion is that they missed an opportunity to teach a necessary skill for any public speaker to have—especially someone who will read God’s Word in church.

SPS  Tonight, I will address the Bible Reading assignment. Reading aloud to others in a clear, interesting, dynamic manner is vital both to keep the audience’s attention and to bring out the text’s meaning and nuance. Good reading skills will make you more understandable and thus more effective as a speaker.

I believe I have mentioned in the past that Rush Limbaugh would not allow his callers to read to him on the air. If someone began to do so, he would stop them and tell them to explain it in their own words. He would say that nothing is more boring than hearing someone else read because most people do not know how to do it well. “Leave it to the professionals,” he would say, meaning him.

Rush was right on this point. These days, oral reading is not emphasized in school as it used to be when diction and elocution were taught. Today, most people are not good public readers. Often, that skill is only learned by those who aspire to be media personalities, actors, politicians, and preachers.

Sometimes, our messages require us to read long passages of Scripture, which can be quite tedious to hear. It is not that the Bible is boring—it can be repetitive, and the language is sometimes verbose, archaic, or convoluted to our ears—but our reading of it can make God’s Word seem unintelligent, laborious, monotonous, or unpleasant. Our job is to present an edifying, inspiring message from the Bible, and our reading should not undermine that worthy goal.

So, what should we do?

To begin, a few matters of form:

  1. Tell the audience clearly which chapter and verse(s) you will be reading and repeat it once or twice.
  2. In this church, if you read from any other translation than the NKJV, let the audience know what translation you are using.
  3. As often as possible, read directly from the Bible, not from your notes—it tells the audience you are giving them God’s words, not your own. “Stand behind the Bible!” (Dean Blackwell)
  4. As you read, you do not need to read the verse number at the beginning of every verse—in fact, doing so often interrupts the flow of the narrative, argument, or emotion of the passage.

Some points on style:

  1. Strive for clear, mistake-free reading. Each word should be understandable and flow at a steady pace. Too fast and the words slur together; too slow and you give the listener too much time to think—and their minds tend to wander. Look up beforehand words you are unsure how to pronounce. Do your best with Hebrew and Greek names—pronouncing them phonetically is best.
  2. If you have an exceptionally long passage, break it up into smaller sections and give some commentary or explain a particular detail between them to make it more digestible. It provides time for eye contact.
  3. Use vocal variety to emphasize important words or phrases. Nothing is worse than a monotonous reading of a long passage. Would God want His Word to sound flat or boring?
  4. Depending on the passage, read it like you are telling a story, making an argument, or making an appeal. Consider the context. For example, the historical books, the gospels, and the prophecies should be read like stories. Jesus’ words were often speeches! The apostles’ epistles are usually theological arguments, but at other times they are appeals, commands, or encouragements. The Psalms and other writings are poetry and can be quite emotional. Consider how the authors would want their writing to be read. Use a dynamic voice to make it enjoyable. Call it “dramatic reading”—just do not overdo it so that it sounds fake. Watch for punctuation like exclamation points and question marks to help you read with more zest.

CONCLUSION  In short, make the Bible come alive! In doing so, you will make hearing the Word of God more enjoyable and its teachings easier to understand.