Posted on 11/13/2025 6:18:37 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
The Bible is the most read book ever and the most translated book too. Today, the full bible can be found in 736 languages. This post is focused though on the Bible in English.
The Bible in its entirety was not translated into English until the 14th century (middle English), with John Wycliffe’s translation in 1382. And since the 16th century, there have been around 900 versions translated into English (modern English).
There are formal or “word for word” translations and also functional equivalent or “meaning for meaning” translations.
According to The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association the top 9 best-selling English translations of the Bible in the United States in 2023 were:
New International Version
King James Version
English Standard Version
New Living Translation
Christian Standard Bible
New King James Version
New International Reader’s Version
New American Standard Bible
New Revised Standard Version
(Excerpt) Read more at faithteams.com ...
Sometimes attempts at literal or verbatim translation, can compromise the essential heart or meaning of a character's lines. Or the mood, pathos, tone, and subtext of a scene. The original writer may have intended to pack a certain punch, and then the punch gets lost.
And, depending on the language, 'word-for-word' can be outright impossible. ( A popular example from the Bible is: the multiple types and words for "Love" in Ancient Greek. "Agape" "Philia" "Eros" etc...in English all fall under the umbrella of "Love" regardless of nuance. )
Some words...concepts are unique to the Russian psyche and don't just have an equivalent in the American or British. And on that note, there can be differences in British vs. American sensibilities when it comes to interpretation in English.
Timing isn't everything...A contemporary translation is not inherently worse or better than an older one. And vice versa. One just hopes the translator is capturing the intent of the original author, and not projecting the inherent predilections of their own milieu, or personal biases onto the page...
One way to categorize Bible versions is to divide them into four categories: 1. concordant (or literal), 2. idiomatic, 3. free translation, and 4. paraphrase.
Examples:
1. Concordant: Interlinear, Young’s Literal Translation, ERV (English Revised Version), and ASV (American Standard Version).
2. Idiomatic: KJV (King James Version), NIV (New International Version), NASB (New American Standard Bible), ESV (English Standard Version), CSB (Christian Standard Bible), NKJV (New King James Version), NRSV (New Revised Standard Version), RSV (Revised Standard Version), and WEB (Web Bible)
3. Free: NLT (New Living Translation), Goodspeed’s Translation, Moffat’s Translation, Phillip’s New Testament, Good News Bible, and Amplified Bible
4. Paraphrase: Living Bible, The Message, Cotton Patch Version
A translation from the “idiomatic” section is probably your best choice. They tend to be the best blend of accuracy and readability. Most will be pretty much the same, with slight wording differences. The King James Version will be an exception due to the somewhat archaic language. A lot more details that I could go into, but that’s a start.
Sadly, the NIV went "woke" in 2011. It's becoming hellishly difficult to find the far-superior 1984 version, because Zondervan is trying to disappear it.
I've got an NIV, NLT, and an NASB I use often, also.
KJV for me!
Sometimes adding words to the text makes it MORE accurate. While I love the NASB, the NIV and NLT both have their place.
Recent updates to the NIV, the NASB, and the RSV all seem to be somewhat inferior to their predecessors. I don’t think that it is horribly so, but it seems awkward to make the effort to have something newer that isn’t at least better and may be worse.
I reaffirm my idea that the best option in choosing a translation is to get one from the “idiomatic” category.
But most important of all is to pick one and read it.
The current version of the NIV reduced a lot of the previous gender neutral stuff while the CSB and 2020NASB have added it.
Well put. One thing I think confuses some folks and something I wish more learned people would stop doing is using the word "Version" when discussing the different Bible translations. "Translation" is a much more understandable word. "Version" is needlessly confusing.
Like my KJV word study bible.
It’s what I grew up on and I really get lost in the wording with some translations.
Storge is in The bible also.
God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible
https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Secretaries-Making-James-Bible/dp/0060838736
I understand your angst. However, one problem is that paraphrases (like the Living Bible) are not actually translations. The author of the Living Bible did not know Greek or Hebrew. He merely took an English translation and reworded it.
The big difference between the KJV and the modern translations (including the NKJV to a degree) is the manuscripts used to translate the versions from.
New versions use the Septuagint for the OT and the Westcott and Hort Critical Text for the NT, which “contains” a lot of omitted words, passages, and sometimes entire verses.
Go look up what Stephen told the Ethiopian eunuch what the requirement was to be baptized in Acts 8:37 (this in just one example).
I have read it through in most of the translations listed, plus several of the less popular (and downright quirky) ones found on Biblegateway.com. My favorite just to read is the New Living Translation - I recommend it as a good first read for young believers - but I have found that all have areas where the translation seems to make the most sense. Currently reading through the 21st Century King James which replaces some of the most archaic words in KJV with more modern ones. Agree with whoever posted that the NIV 1984 is probably the most accurate, if you can find it.
Doesn’t surprise me.
And Russian, far more than English, is inherently...Biblical. And therefore just the language alone made faith really hard to suppress even during Soviet times.
Like, the word for “Sunday” is the same as “Resurrection” : voskresen’ye.
“Thank you”= “God save you” : spasibo (abbreviated for spasi-Bog)
Virtually everyone at my church but me, uses kjv. I like the KJV, but I prefer a more accurate version; my favorite is NASB. The Bible study tool my husband and I use, Enduring Word, uses the New King James version. Enduring Word.com is the best Bible study tool I have ever seen.
NKJV and NASB are the only two versions I know of where ‘He’ is capitalized when referring to God. This is a must for me. The others seem disrespectful.
Charles Stanley Life Principles Bible is great, like a condensed study Bible.
An oddball one I like is the New Matthew Bible. The NT is by Tyndale, with updated spelling and grammar:
“16 For God so loves the world that he has given his only Son, so that none who believe in him should perish, but should have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world through him could be saved. 18 Whoever believes on him shall not be condemned. But whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he does not believe in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation: that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness more than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But whoever does truth comes to the light, so that his deeds may be known, that they are wrought in God.” - New Matthew
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%203&version=NMB
“God so loved the world, that he gave his only son for the intent, that none that believe in him, should perish: But should have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world, to condemn the world: But that the world through him, might be saved. He that believeth on him shall not be condemned. But he that believeth not, is condemned all ready, because he believeth not in the name of the only son of God. And this is the condemnation: Light is come into the world, and the men have loved darkness more than light, because their deeds were evil. For every man that evil doeth, hateth the light: neither cometh to light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doth truth, cometh to the light, that his deeds might be known, how that they are wrought in God.” - Tyndale’s original (with updated spelling)
https://www.faithofgod.net/WTNT/john_3.html
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