People listen to the audio Bible for hours at a time, so the narrator’s voice matters almost as much as the translation. Pace, tone, and phrasing make one reading easy to settle into and another harder to follow. In the free Bible Garden app for iPhone and iPad, English Scripture is read by three named narrators and one unnamed voice, and you can hear each before you choose. Here is who they are, which translation each one reads, and what to pick if you want an audio Bible without music.
Listen to each narrator
In Bible Garden, you choose a narrator by ear. Before you pick one, the app plays a voice sample, John 1:1–3. You can switch narrators at any time, and in Multi Reading you can set a different one for each step: for example, a verse read first by Bob Souer in the Berean Standard Bible, then by Winfred Henson in the World English Bible.
Here is the same passage, John 1:1–5, read by each English narrator in the app.
Listen to John 1:1–5 read by each narrator
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it.
Audio Bible narrators in English
| Narrator | Translation | Music | In the app |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Souer | Berean Standard Bible (BSB) | No | All 66 books |
| David | Berean Standard Bible (BSB) | No | All 66 books |
| Winfred Henson | World English Bible (WEB), US edition | No | All 66 books |
| Not named by the publisher | World English Bible, British Edition (WEBBE) | No | All 66 books |
Narrators in other languages: Russian and Ukrainian. You can listen to them there too.
Bob Souer
Bob Souer is a professional voice actor who focuses on nonfiction audiobooks and eLearning. He won a 2014 Audie Award in the Business/Education category for Leadership Secrets of the Salvation Army, and he has also recorded the entire New King James Version. His reading of the Berean Standard Bible is published on openbible.com, and that is the recording in Bible Garden. Sources: bobsouer.com and his post on the NKJV release.
David
David is the second BSB narrator in the app. openbible.com, which publishes the recording, credits him by first name only, and we have found nothing more about him. The same site lists David as the narrator of its King James Version and Majority Standard Bible audio as well.
Winfred Henson
Winfred Henson is a volunteer reader for LibriVox, the project that records public-domain books. In 2017 he read the complete World English Bible for LibriVox as a solo recording of nearly 100 hours and coordinated the project himself. He placed the recording in the public domain, so anyone can use it without restriction. Sources: LibriVox, eBible.org.
World English Bible, British Edition
The British Edition of the World English Bible has its own recording, but its publisher does not name the narrator. The audio files credit PublicDomainAudioBibles.com, carry a 2019 date in their metadata, and release it to the public domain. The files are available on eBible.org. In the app, this recording appears without a narrator’s name.
Audio Bible without music
Music helps some listeners and distracts others, especially when you want to think about the text or listen before sleep. All four English recordings in Bible Garden have no background music. The only recording with music in the app is a Russian one.
You can listen with the screen off, since the player keeps going on the lock screen. You can also set pauses after each verse, paragraph, or section, which makes it easier to slow down and reflect on what you have heard.
How to choose or change a narrator
- Open Classic Reading and its settings.
- Choose a translation: the Berean Standard Bible, the World English Bible, or its British Edition.
- Choose a narrator. You can play a voice sample before you decide.
In Multi Reading, you set the narrator separately for each step. That lets you hear one verse in two translations, such as the BSB read by David and then the WEB read by Winfred Henson, or add a Russian or Ukrainian reading. To compare the translations themselves, see which Bible translation to choose.
Where else to listen
The recordings in Bible Garden come from free sources you can also use directly:
- Bob Souer and David reading the BSB: openbible.com;
- Winfred Henson reading the WEB: LibriVox;
- the WEB British Edition recording: eBible.org.
The BSB has other narrators too: Barry Hays, for example, publishes his reading on listentogodsword.org. Bob Souer’s NKJV recording was released on Audible.
We hand-pick each recording for the quality of its text and sound, so the app has only a few. Bible Garden currently runs on iPhone and iPad; listening on the website and an Android version are in our plans.
Frequently asked questions
Who reads the BSB audio Bible?
On openbible.com, the Berean Standard Bible is read by Bob Souer, a professional voice actor and audiobook narrator, and by a narrator credited only as David. Both recordings cover all 66 books, have no music, and are available in Bible Garden.
Who narrates the World English Bible audio?
The US edition of the World English Bible was recorded by Winfred Henson for LibriVox in 2017. The British Edition has a separate recording whose narrator is not named. Both cover all 66 books without music and are available in Bible Garden.
Where can I listen to an audio Bible without music?
In Bible Garden for iPhone and iPad, every English recording is voice only: Bob Souer and David reading the Berean Standard Bible, Winfred Henson reading the World English Bible, and the World English Bible British Edition. All four cover all 66 books.