German Reader.
Essential Biblical Stories
Twenty-one of the most influential stories ever told, in the modernised 1912 Luther German with a literal English gloss beneath every line and Gustave Doré's engravings throughout.
216 pages · Paperback & Kindle · Beginner–intermediate
— Genesis 1:1 — the first line of the collection
Twenty-one stories.
Old and New Testament narratives, from the dawn of time to the empty tomb.
The fastest way to read a foreign language is to already know the story. These twenty-one narratives — Creation, the Flood, David and Goliath, the Sermon on the Mount — are so familiar that your brain is free to focus entirely on the German that tells them.
The text is the 1912 Luther Bible, the translation that shaped the German language itself, carefully updated to modern grammar and spelling. A strictly literal gloss beneath each line preserves the German word order, cognates are favoured to build a memory bridge, Doré's engravings accompany every story, and each chapter closes with an epilogue on the language and Luther's legacy.
- 01The Creationand The Great Flood
- 02Joseph in Egyptand Moses at the Burning Bush
- 03David and Goliathand Daniel in the Lions' Den
- 04The Sermon on the Mountand the Wedding at Cana
- 05The Raising of Lazarusand The Empty Tomb
- 06Reference guideCommon German verbs and phrases, plus an epilogue per chapter
Why this edition.
Known plots, new language
Because you already know how the Flood ends, every ounce of attention goes to the German — the ideal condition for absorbing a language.
The text that built German
Luther's translation defined the modern language. You study German at its source, with the archaic spellings smoothed away.
Doré, on every story
Gustave Doré's legendary engravings make the volume as beautiful to hold as it is useful to study.
— Genesis 1:1–2 (Luther, modernised), glossed as in the book
The details.
- Series
- The German Reader
- Language pair
- German–English interlinear
- Format
- Paperback & Kindle
- Print length
- 216 pages
- Source text
- 1912 Luther Bible, modernised
- Illustrations
- Gustave Doré
- Level
- Beginner–intermediate (A2–B1)
- Published
- May 2026
- ASIN
- B0GX5BTSVL
More in German.
Every edition is glossed by hand, word by word, and printed on demand by Amazon.
Read German Reader with every word translated beneath the original.
Buy on Amazon