Year of the Bible

February 4, 1983

President Reagan proclaimed 1983 as the Year of the Bible at yesterday's annual National Prayer Breakfast. The reminder to readers of those sacred scriptures is that every year is the year of the Bible. Every year is the time to draw on its ''comfort, strength, wisdom, and hope,'' to use the President's phrase.

''For centuries,'' as Mr. Reagan said, ''the Bible's emphasis on compassion and love for our neighbor has inspired institutional and governmental expressions of benevolent outreach. . . .''

This outreach can help humanity not only during this troubled year but for all the centuries of the Bible to come.