For Jehovah’s Witnesses, no book is more important than the Bible. They study it regularly and use it to teach others about the good news of God’s Kingdom. (Matthew 24:14) All this usage means that they wear out their Bibles quickly. Thus, the Witnesses spared no effort in ensuring that the 2013 revision of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures was both attractive and made to last.

The new Bible would need to be robust. When representatives of the Witnesses’ printery staff in Wallkill, New York, U.S.A., discussed their plans with the president of one bookbinding company, he told them, “The Bible you seek does not exist.” He added, “It’s sad but true that most Bibles are designed to look good on a coffee table or a shelf​—not to be highly durable.”

Some earlier editions of the New World Translation did not hold up well​—at times, they even came apart in very hot weather. The printery staff analyzed cover materials, adhesives, and binding methods in their efforts to develop a Bible that would withstand intense use in a variety of climates. Based on their findings, they produced prototype Bibles and had them field-tested by Witnesses in countries with climatic conditions ranging from those of the Tropics to those of Alaska.

After six months, the Bibles were returned for examination. The printery staff then made improvements and sent out another batch of prototypes. In all, 1,697 Bibles were field-tested. A few of them received rough treatment by accident. For example, one Bible was left out in the rain overnight, and another was submerged in the floodwaters of a hurricane. The results of the field tests and accidents provided valuable information about the overall durability of the book.

In 2011, while the field tests were taking place, the Witnesses purchased new high-speed bindery equipment for their printeries in Wallkill and in Ebina, Japan. The goal was not only to meet the expected demand but also to print Bibles at both locations that would be identical in appearance.