What bible translation should i get

Samples of the translation were tested for clarity and ease of reading with pastors, students, scholars, and many others. While most NIV readers use the revision the latest one was released in The NIV is considered a dynamic translation--seeking to balance between word-for-word and thought-for-thought translation styles. There is a reason the New International Version is this year's 1 selling Bible.

The NIV gets a score of 7. It was originally completed in having been commissioned by King James I of England in response to perceived problems in earlier English translations detected by the Puritans. The Bible in English: its history and influence. James gave the translators instructions to limit Puritan influence on the translation: intending to guarantee that the new version would conform to the ecclesiology and reflect the episcopal structure of the Church of England and its belief in an ordained clergy.

The King James Version differs slightly from other versions of the Bible due to its use of the late Byzantine text-type and Textus Receptus manuscripts. Modern scholars have the advantage of having found many earlier manuscripts which they see as better witnesses to the original text of the biblical authors.

However, most modern translators compare all manuscripts when translating. No matter what the case, the King James Version is still considered quite accurate and the differences have no impact on any major points of the Christian faith.

The King James Version is considered a literal translation. However, it does suffer from outdated albeit, beautiful English consisting of thee s and thou s as well as many archaic terms. The KJV gets a score of It is a revision of the edition of the Revised Standard Version, referring back to the original languages while trying to keep the phrasing of the Tyndale-King James legacy for familiarity.

The ESV team has "sought to be 'as literal as possible' while maintaining clarity of expression and literary excellence.

With this legacy as the foundation, the ESV Bible reflects the beauty and majesty of the original languages, first captured centuries ago by these early Bible translations. But the ESV also provides the most recent evangelical Christian Bible scholarship and enduring readability for today. The ESV translation process itself was based on the trusted principles of essentially literal translation, which combines word-for-word accuracy with readability and literary excellence.

Likewise, the ESV translation team was built on the trusted foundation of over evangelical Christian scholars and pastors worldwide, committed to the truth, authority, and application of the Bible to all of life. The ESV publishing team includes more than a hundred people. The fourteen-member Translation Oversight Committee has benefited from the work of fifty biblical experts serving as Translation Review Scholars and from the comments of the more than fifty members of the Advisory Council, all of which has been carried out under the auspices of the Good News Publishers Board of Directors.

This hundred-member team, which shares a common commitment to the truth of God's Word and to historic Christian orthodoxy, is international in scope and includes leaders in many denominations. As a essentially literal translation the ESV is the author's preferred translation, but this does not mean that it is right for everyone. The ESV gets a score of 8. Originally starting out as an effort to revise The Living Bible, the project evolved into a new English translation from Hebrew and Greek texts.

Some stylistic influences of The Living Bible remained in the first edition , but these are less evident in the second edition , The NLT translation team was made up of 90 translators form a variety of denominations. They tried to translate the original texts simply and literally while using a "dynamic equivalence synergy approach" to convey the thoughts behind passages when a literal translation may have been difficult to understand or even misleading to modern readers.

It is recommended for those looking for a fairly accurate translation in the most modern English possible. The NLT gets a score of 6. Here is an excerpt from it's History in Wikipedia:. It was inaugurated in with two meetings Nashville and Chicago of biblical scholars, pastors, and theologians. The men who were invited prepared the guidelines for the NKJV. The aim of its translators was to update the vocabulary and grammar of the King James Version, while preserving the classic style and literary beauty of the original KJV version.

On the spectrum, it would be about three-quarters of the way toward a pure focus on meaning. Of the popular translations, the NLT is both the newest and also the most focused on getting across accuracy in meaning over accuracy in the text. If you are looking for a translation that you can just pick up and read like a book, that is also still grounded in solid research, this is the choice for you.

Also, if you are looking to buy a Bible for a new Christian not steeped in years of Bible study, this is probably your best bet as well. So, after reading all this, you are likely still asking, which Bible Translation should I choose?

To which now, I will offer my best bit of pastoral advice as it pertains to the topic. Are you new to the Bible or are you looking to get a Bible for your daily use? Then I would suggest you air to the side of the spectrum that emphasizes getting across the meaning.

These are the Bibles that are the most easily readable and as such are also the Bibles most likely to be read. In the end of the day, that is what matters the most when it comes to any translation. Will it be used? Do you already have a Bible and you are looking for a different translation to go deeper with your study? Then my suggestion to you would be to find out where your Bible lies on the translation spectrum, and then get one that is as close to the opposite of it in terms of translation philosophy as possible.

Doing that will help get across new meanings and depths that you may not have noticed before. For this reason, if there is a passage you are really looking to get to the bottom of, I would even suggest you read it in as many different translations as you can get your hands on.

On this front, the internet is a wonderful tool to use, as sites like Bible Gateway , Bible Hub , and Logos let me know if you are interested in checking this resource out as I use it extensively all have more translations than I can count, all of which can easily be set up for quick comparison.

Finally, are you picking a Bible translation for the intent of reading it to others? Then, likely my suggestion would be based on its usage. Is the star of the show going to the Bible reading, or are you reading that passage to lead into a Bible study or sermon?

If the former, I would say go with a translation that makes sure people sit up and listen. Either pick a translation they are not used to that tweaks that part of their minds that causes us to want to dig deeper or choose a translation that is easy to understand so that they focus on the passage and not the person delivering it.

If the passage is to set up a Bible study or sermon though, likely your best bet is to use whatever the person preaching or leading the Bible study used to prep with, or barring that knowledge, one of the more popular translations, like the NIV. So which is the best Bible translation to pick? Again, there is no simple answer to that question. However, no matter which you decide to go with, what matters the most is always the same thing.

Make sure to read it, and often. But what Bible do you use? Was it on the list? If not, are you curious about where it would fall on the spectrum? Do you have a different question regarding Bible translation entirely? The grammar of the source language is conserved, so it is awkward to read in the target language. Still, the Interlinear is valuable to really serious Bible students who want to gain a deeper understanding. If you are interested in deep study, you can get this highly-recommended Interlinear on Amazon.

They are almost as accurate as word-for-word, but they are generally more readable and easier to understand. These Bibles are not quite important for serious study as Word-for-Word Bibles, but they have developed an excellent following among many Bible students as secondary sources. The GWT seeks to translate as if it is the first-ever translation of the Bible into English —using fresh, original language.

GWT fans love it for its unique readability, while traditionalists worry if it has strayed too far from the real meaning. This Large-Print version has nothing but 5-star reviews! The CSB scholars undertook an exhaustive analysis of the source texts and produced a great translation. The NIV is very readable. It was designed to be easy-to-read-and-understand for the international reader of English who might have learned English in a different country than the US or UK, or might have learned English as a second language.

The NIV is also sort of hybrid between word-for-word and thought-for-thought approaches to translation something like GWT. I have the old version. But the version is a reflection of how the English language is changing. But it also has some colloquialisms that other readers find quaint and not keeping with their expectations of what a Bible should read like. MSG was published in In fact, it really belongs on the list of the Worst Translations of the Bible.

GNT was designed specifically for non-native English speakers in Africa. It was published in The GNT is a looser, more colloquial version made to be accessible to the greatest number of readers. Sometimes the GNT gets criticized for taking too many liberties in making it accessible, but we need to keep in mind that GNT was designed with a purpose and it is very good at fulfilling that purpose. The Phillips translation is an extended paraphrase by Anglican Clergyman J.

He prepared it originally for his church youth group, but it has become a favorite of Bible students and scholars for decades since it was first published in Phillips was a scholar of Biblical Greek who worked directly from Greek manuscripts.

We could have a very long conversation about the many different translations and all the technical reasons to read one or another version of the Bible.

And different people may have different reasons for selecting the version they read every day. There are many good translations. And many people have their preferences. Here are some things to think about and questions to ask yourself when deciding which translation to get:.

For many folks, just one translation will never do. If you are like me, you will have multiple translations around the house, on your computer and all your electronic devices. People might purchase a number of different Bibles, but which one do they actually read? A Study Bible has cross references, parallel passages, maps and other helps designed to enrich your experience as you read the greatest stories ever told in human history.

I just posted this detailed article on how to choose a study Bible. The important thing is that you find a translation that you like. You may like a translation that challenges you to learn. You may like a translation because it is more memorable because you like to memorize verses or even whole chapters of text. You might even —as I do- draw from multiple translations to seek deeper meaning than you can get out of a single translation.

Whatever the reason, you now know the top Bible translations to choose from.