A Great Resource To Increase Your Bible Intake

"Dwell is great for the spiritual disciplines of memorization, meditation, or study of Scripture. The reflection times range from 3 seconds to 3 minutes, giving you plenty of flexibility."

​DIsclaimer: I received a free subscription to Dwell. I was not required to leave a positive review.

Dwell (Dwellapp.io) is a superb choice for listening to God’s word. To call it an audio Bible would be an injustice. As an avid audiobook listener and lover of audio Bibles, Dwell has much more offer!

Over the years, I’ve trained myself to listen to audiobooks and bibles because it adds to the quality of commutes, cooking, yard work, etc. There are many wonderful audio bibles out there, but Dwell has immediately become my favorite source for hearing God’s Word. Here are several reasons:

It excels in quality. The 4 voices are unique and well-articulated—and I think more are coming! I especially enjoy Felix’s African accent, but the other voices are excellent as well. The background music is custom made for the app and there are several choices, including no music for those who just want Bible audio. Unlike audio Bibles, the music volume can also be controlled within the app. The interface is well-designed and beautiful to look at—especially the custom playlist and Bible passage covers. Dwell does the small things well, and they’re constantly looking to fix bugs and make the app more enjoyable.

It is highly customizable. In addition to the 4 voices and 4 types of music, the speed of the reader’s voice can also be increased up to 2x speed, giving it the flexibility of podcasts and other audiobook readers. Once you’ve found the right voice and music, you can set a default for each time you open the app.
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​It has Bible Passages and playlists. It’s like the Spotify of the Bible with its many curated options. There are playlists and Bible passages galore. For example, you can listen to the story of Daniel and the Lions’ Den, sections of Paul’s letters, themes of wisdom from throughout Scripture, or keystone passages like “David’s Last Words”. You can listen to soothing passages of God’s peace and love or key insights from certain biblical authors. There are long listens which would be great for planned times of silence and solitude or grasping the big picture of longer books and sections of Scripture.

There are Bible listening plans. For those wanting to listen to the Bible systematically, there are listening plans that take you through the Bible or chunks of Scripture in set amounts of time. For example, there are Bible-In-A-Year plans, 40-Day plans with a focus on a given topic or book, and shorter topical plans to help you hear what Scripture teaches on that subject. There is also Siri integration for those who are working at being more hands-free with their phones. You can even set up a notification to remind you to listen to your plan at a set time each day!

Dwell Mode. Dwell Mode is incredible. It is definitely my favorite feature of the app! In Dwell Mode, you are able to select a passage, chapter, or book of the Bible to dwell on. After choosing a passage, you listen to it on repeat with reflection time between each repetition. Dwell is great for the spiritual disciplines of memorization, meditation, or study of Scripture. The reflection times range from 3 seconds to 3 minutes, giving you plenty of flexibility.


Pricing is reasonable. There is a free, limited trial of the app, but to access all of its great features, there are yearly and lifetime options. The yearly subscription is $24.99* per year (a little over $2 a month) and the lifetime subscription is $124.99*. That’s a little steep compared to an audio Bible, but the features, updates, and contribution to the future of Dwell are well worth the investment! 
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Hearing the Word is a great way to increase your Bible intake and get familiar with God's glorious Word—especially the big picture of His redemptive plan. If the price point seems too high, remember that many of us spend approximately $120/year for Spotify or Netflix. What if you took a break from those services for a year to invest in treasuring Christ more and enjoying His Word. Remember that it is sweeter than honey and worth more than gold!

*Pricing as of 9/19/2019