If I were creating my own custom Bible...

I have been recently in the quest for a new Bible. I have tons upon tons of them of various translations and Study editions from Jewish Study Bibles to Lutheran Study Bibles, from the Amplified to the Message. I have lots of them, I like to be able to compare them, use them in different places/situations, or sometimes just switch it up and use a different translation just because. But lately I have been looking for a very specific Bible for my own personal devotion and theologizing. I should say this: I have this habit of refusing to write in Bibles. In part this is due to the fact that I like my clean looking Bible. Whereas many people have their best bibles looking tathered and used, I do everything I can to not let my Concordia Self-Study Bible from confirmation (my beloved among my collection) show its age. Only one Bible of mine have I ever written in, and it was the cheapest one I owned, but I had little room. This is the other issue, my Bibles don't usually have adequate space for writing, and i want it to be readable in the future. But right now I want something I will really go through. In high school I read an entire New Testament and Psalms pocket Bible (or as I call them today, Marcion Heretic Bibles) and highlighted anything that jumped out at me for whatever reason. I want to do that again, and more. I want a Bible I'm gonna go highlight and note crazy on. Unfortunately my search has been quite frustrating as of late. Because I have so many Bibles, I'm allowing myself to be a bit picky. The other day I finally found a Bible that could work (wasn't perfect, but it fit my major needs for a personal devotional Bible). Then I saw the price, and I put it back. Honestly, I find it ridiculous that Bibles have gotten so darn expensive. Perhaps that is something to consider as a church that is trying to get people to read the Bible more. Personal Bibles, ones with just about any special feature or that meet any special need seem to be far more expensive than our book of faith should be.

This got me thinking...if I could design a Bible to my very needs/wants - based on what I've seen in recent months scoping out the Bible market, what would my custom Bible have?

• it would have a good size font. My days of getting little pocket Bibles are over. My eyesight has been worsening each year through my twenties, and my eye doctor said it will likely last through my thirties until I'm forty in which it could level off, actually get better, or get even worse. So I want something good on the eyes. This is more than more regular size print (I believe 8 point font is the standard these days), it needs to be slightly larger (like a 9.5-12 size).
• in addition to size, font type can make a difference too. I find the new Common English Bible uses a good font type in its translations that I have. This also improves character spacing and appears larger than it is, thus it adds to the legibility of the font and is easier on the eyes. I believe the fonts it uses are variations of Estilo and L Avenir typeface.
• it uses a  clean layout with different colors to help the eye contrast everything on the page. I found the Holman Christian Standard Study Bible does this really well. As you can see below, color is used to distinguish verse numbers (blue) from text (black), headings (red), highlights of notes (bold), translation notes (different background). For how much is going on in this Bible page, it is well organized and even easier in person to distinguish.
• The margins be wide enough for lots of notes. Since this Bible will be for personal writing, devotion, theologizing, musing, and such, since I am specifically looking for a Bible I can mark up I want space for this. I hate looking at a Bible with notes tightly wrapping in between the text. I like my Bibles looking clean and organized. So if it is gonna have notes, it's gonna be designed for note taking. Sadly, I have found this is one of the hardest things to find in Bibles today. Between page space being a premium, and I believe an assumption the people are not writing in their Bibles this is hard to find (especially in non-KJV Bibles). But this has been absolutely necessary for my next Bible.
• It has some good devotional content. I was looking recently at a C.S. Lewis Bible, and I liked that it was not flooded with notes (I don't really need notes, I have study bibles, I want to do devotion with this) but it occasionally had exerts from his works that reflected or talked about a specific text. Such a thing, from a collection of good theologians would be grand and really helpful for me to read the Bible for me. As a pastor, it is so common to read it abstractly or thinking about sermons. So if my bible has extras, it will be devotional material. 
• It had well placed maps and charts. I think these are really helpful. A good map or diagram gives a good visual to what one is reading and can cause one to hear/read something differently. I wouldn't so much want these at the back of the Bible but scattered within it at key places.
• It is has a leather cover or some similar imitation material. Hard cover Bibles are just way heavier, paperback are a bit tackier and harder to keep open. Although in the end I probably would have it in a Bible case/carrier anyways, I definitely want it to be lighter in weight.
• This means it will likely be a medium size bible. I don't need pocket size, but I don't want some giant thing that I can't carry around. So something that fits a standard Bible carrier. I know because I want wide margins and decent font size it will require a larger size than the smaller bibles, but so long as I can avoid the really big sizes (like same size or preferably a bit smaller than my study bibles).
• Another challenge to maintaining the good size is thicker paper. My wife points out how much it bothers her whenever you can see the text from the other side of the paper. Not only is this sometimes bothersome, but if I'm gonna be writing a lot in the Bible and highlighting a lot, it really matters. Also, the more solid the page the more durable. I want long lasting and as I say clean look. Thin pages tend to wrinkle and tear easier. 
• It must be a good translation I would use a lot. This has been really difficult because I use so many. My beloved Concordia Bible is the old NIV, my Lutheran Study Bible is ESV, my church uses NRSV, my favorite pocket Bible is a Holman Christian Standard Version. When I want more basic I use CEV. But recently I have really been dipping my feet in CEB and liking it (for the most part). Some of the beloved texts just aren't the same, and as it employs a similar translation style to NIV it requires some more interpretation than say NRSV or ESV. There are a few things I don't really like about it, but in general I find it is an excellent colloquial translation. I think it's different enough, and easy enough that I might prefer that one, but I've never been sold on any one translation. Since this is a custom Bible we will say I can edit the CEB some. Which would enhance its desirability to me. But either way I might go with that just to be different, to live in a different kind of Bible for a while. But if there is any feature I may come to regret, it would likely be this one.
• It has a thumb index. I underestimated how awesome it is, but recently borrowed someone's Swedish Bible which had book tabs and it was so fast getting to wherever I needed. A thumb index is nice because it is also quick, and does not jut out like the book tabs you buy. But because you can get them, and they eat away at margin space which is more important to me, this is more of an ideal wish (since it is my custom Bible) than something I'm looking hard for right now.                                                      
• It has a single column page outline. I've recently gotten into single column Bibles, and I must admit I enjoy them more. I think it actually makes the page less intimidating looking (a good tip overall for making the Bible more approachable to people) and then a single verse usually does not use up too many lines. But also because the inside margin always loses space from the binding, so it is harder to make notes on the inside column. A single column style allows me to write all my notes on the outside margins of the page. As the second image below demonstrates, then the inside column can go to verse references (which on two column Bibles go in-between the two columns).                                                           vs  
• It would not be a red-letter Bible. I have two issues with red-letter Bibles, one theological, one practical. Theologically, I do ask if it is good to lift up the Words of Jesus over the rest. Don't get me wrong, I'm a bit of a Jesus nut (regular readers of my blog know this), and I even understand the notion of canon within a canon. But I also believe that some of the greatest promises of Christ in scripture are found elsewhere in the Bible. Additionally, as we proclaim Christ the "Word made flesh", what do we make of the deep theological connection elsewhere in the Bible? My other issue is practical: that is red letter print looks nice in things like Mark where Jesus says a few things here, then goes and does a bunch of stuff, then says a line or two to this woman or that demon. But in Gospels like Matthew and John that record long discourses of Christ, entire pages in a bright red font are not good on the eye. Especially over time when the ink begins to fade some. But also because there are moments where translators are not even sure Jesus is speaking. Such as John 3.16. Is that part of Christ's discourse or John's own commentary? 
• It would fit nicely into a good Bible Case. I mentioned this earlier, but I'll say a bit here. Carriers can make them easy to carry (go figure) and can hold a few good accessories, such as pens and highlighters. Since I want to use it in that way, it should have a carrier that helps it meet those needs.
• It would have a few extra blank pages on the back for additional notes. I write a lot, or may have larger thoughts that don't belong to a specific page/verse, a few free pages can let me do that.
• It would have a ribbon bookmark. Personal devotion means I want to continue where I left off at times. I don't like hard bookmarks as much because they seem in the way while I am reading. Ribbon ones don't fall out, make it easy to open to that page, and don't take up space or bother.
• And very importantly, it would be affordable. For how much I said I'm looking for, there was a Bible that met a lot of my really important needs that I was ready to buy the other day, until I saw how much it would take to buy it. When you have as many Bibles as I have, you just don't pay that much for that kind of Bible.I get why Study Bibles in particular can get expensive, but Bibles that do not require a lot of new or extra contributions for its publication but are primarily layout features ought not be costing $50. 

So that is my current custom Bible features. Some are luxuries, some are really important for me right now in terms of what I really think I need from my next Bible. In case you are wondering, I have considered things like the Augsburg Fortress Lutheran Study Bible or the NRSV Notetakers Bible and electronic versions of Bibles. There are reasons they all just are not what I'm looking for, even though I have given each considerable thought.

If you think you know of the perfect Bible to fit my needs by all means let me know in the comment section. Or tell me about your quest for a good Bible. Did you find anything among these features that you wish for your next book of faith? Whatever you do readers, keep reading the Bible...and my blog ;)