By 1997, 40 million copies of The Living Bible had been sold. The Living Bible was the best-selling book in the U.S. The Living Bible was a best-seller in the early 1970s, largely due to the accessibility of its modern language, which made passages understandable to those with weak reading skills, or no previous background in Bible study. The added words 'A Thought-For-Thought Translation' in the subtitle of the title page are not unique to Catholic editions, they are also in the later printings of the Protestant editions, even though the Bible is a paraphrase. The Catholic Living Bible does not use the word 'paraphrased' on the front cover instead it places the word on the title page, underneath which is written 'A Thought-For-Thought Translation'. There is also The Catholic Living Bible, which holds an imprimatur from the Catholic Church and contains the Deuterocanonical books as well as an introduction entitled 'Why Read The Bible?' by Pope John Paul II. Over the next year he distributed 600,000 copies of Living Letters.

He was impressed with its easy readability, and he asked for permission to print 50,000 paperback copies of Living Letters for use in his evangelistic crusades.

In 1962 Billy Graham received a copy of Living Letters – a paraphrase of the New Testament epistles and the first portion of what later became The Living Bible – while recuperating in a hospital in Hawaii. Youth-oriented Protestant groups such as Youth for Christ and Young Life accepted it readily. The Living Bible was well received in many Evangelical circles. So I did, and read the chapter to the family that evening with exciting results-they knew the answers to all the questions I asked! Reception It suddenly occurred to me one afternoon that I should write out the reading for that evening thought by thought, rather than doing it on the spot during our devotional time. I would paraphrase it for them and give them the thought. All too often I would ask questions to be sure the children understood, and they would shrug their shoulders-they didn't know what the passage was talking about. Our family devotions were tough going because of the difficulty we had understanding the King James Version, which we were then using, or the Revised Standard Version, which we used later. The children were one of the chief inspirations for producing the Living Bible. In a 1979 interview by Harold Myra in an issue of Christianity Today, Taylor explained the inspiration for preparing The Living Bible:

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