Proceeds will Benefit Biblica, Translation Sponsor of the NIV Translation

Contact: Brian Burch, 616-233-0500

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Nov. 13 /Christian Newswire/ -- After nearly a year in the making, Zondervan, the world's leading Bible publisher, will put the original version of the handwritten Bible Across America on the auction block. The proceeds from the Ebay auction will benefit Biblica, the translation sponsor of the New International Version (NIV) translation, the translation used for Bible Across America.

The original Bible Across America features three leather-bound volumes of the 2,200 hand written 11 x 17" pages. Interested buyers can visit Zondervan's Bible Across America eBay store at http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Bible-Across-America-Charity-Sale and make an offer to own the world's first completely handwritten NIV Bible. The auction will close on Sunday, November 22 at 11:11 a.m. EST.

Zondervan launched the Bible Across America tour in September 2008 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the bestselling NIV Bible by inviting people of all ages and walks of life to take part in creating the first-ever handwritten version of the NIV Bible, written one verse, one person at a time. After a nine-month cross country tour covering 22,579 miles, 90 cities and 40 states, more than 31,000 people had a hand in writing Bible Across America. Two original copies were created during the tour, each page was checked and scanned to create a published version which hit store shelves on December 1 and also be available for purchase online at www.bibleacrossamerica.com.

"Nothing like the Bible Across America tour had been done before, so we weren't entirely sure what to expect when we launched the campaign," said Zondervan CEO Moe Girkins. "It quickly became evident that people across America love the Bible, love the NIV and were eager to be part of this unique project. We are thrilled to be just weeks away from publishing Bible Across America and are launching this auction to help this unique piece of history find a home, and simultaneously support Biblica's life-changing global Bible translation and distribution efforts."

All proceeds from the Bible Across America auction will go to Colorado Springs-based Biblica, formerly the International Bible Society. For 200 years, Biblica has been committed to transforming lives through God's Word by translating, producing, and distributing Bibles, Scripture materials, and other Christian resources through ministry, distribution and retail channels around the world.

About Zondervan
Zondervan is the world's leading Bible publisher. With a vision to see more people engaging the Bible more, Zondervan produces bestselling study, devotional, reference, text, audio, software, and digital Bibles designed to inspire readers at every age and stage of life. Zondervan holds exclusive North American publishing rights to the New International Version (NIV), which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2008. The NIV, the most popular modern English Bible translation, has more than 300 million copies in print worldwide. Over the past 75 years, Zondervan, a HarperCollins company, has grown to be a global leader in Christian communications through its bestselling Bibles, books, curriculum, children’s, and new media products. Visit Zondervan Bibles on the Internet at www.zondervan.com/Bibles