I am agnostic at the time of reading this text, and any commentary I have is targeted to it as it is organized and translated by the writers, not based on the actual content of the text.

In this text the authors attempted to create a system that organizes the text in one of two ways in order to maximize an individuals understanding of it, allowing someone to tackle the text in such a way that is best fitting for their plan. The text states its purpose as this a number of times, I would argue the plan they put forward and their encouragement and reasons for usage of it are sound.

However, I find the actual execution on the bulk of the work around the text to be rather poor. The overall translation seeks to remove nuance and complexity that is present in other translations of the text, and while this increases the ability to understand it, it removes some of the messages and greater context that may be present otherwise.

I also find the notes given by the authors to be often less than helpful; the questions presented at the bottom of pages, combined with the massive walls of text they integrate that serve as a secondly explanation to the text that was just read, seems to quite simply be too much. Allow the text to breath on its own, and perhaps have some guidance; but most every important passage will be translated to simplicity twice, which I find quite redundant. I therefore question the title of the text as a 'Student' bible.

I also greatly dislike the examples they pull from in the explanation of different events in the text, as all of such examples are based on american politics, and reveal a political leaning of the writers. While such a leaning may be expected considering their considerable dedication to the faith, exhibiting such in their examples only serve to push a certain agenda or mindset, more so than what is present in the text they are translating.

If you really struggle with the text, this is a good option. Otherwise, there are better translations out there.