What Bible Translation Do You Use?

Which Bible is best for you? Practically speaking, it’s the one you read the most! I’ve been reading from the English Standard Version (ESV) and the Christian Standard Bible (CSB). I like the New International Version (NIV) too. I grew up with the King James Version (KJV) and started preaching from the NKJV. In Bible College, some professors used the Revised Standard Version (RSV). After graduating, I acquired the New American Standard Bible. I loved its accuracy and clarity. Whatever Bible you use, it should facilitate your study and understanding. After all, it is the word of God! But it does you little good if you can’t understand it or obey it. As I wrote in Knowing God’s Word, the Lord wants his thoughts and ways to be comprehensible to our minds. (Isaiah 55:8-11). He wants – requires - us to read his word and to think about what it means. God’s word educates us, and it is alive!

We are fortunate to have many reliable Bible translations today. Do you know the difference between a translation and a paraphrase? This is important. There is a scale of word-for-word Bibles on one side and thought-for-thought versions on the other. Both types have their place and are beneficial. Those who say, “I want the literal word of God,” don’t realize that they can never access the literal words unless they are a scholar in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. We speak English, so we rely on scholars for accurate translations of the ancient texts. Our Bible is very old. It has 66 ancient books in three original languages written by 40 authors over 1500 years. We have 25,000 fragments of copies of their manuscripts in different languages. Our modern English translations are reliable, accurate, inspired, and are God’s true word to us.

Here’s a list of some common English translations. It begins with formal equivalence Bibles, word-for-word translations, and moves to dynamic equivalence, thought-for-thought versions. The KJV is the best-selling book ever. The ESV is becoming widely used. The NAS is #10 in sales. The NIV is the bestselling modern Bible in America. The CSB is attractive because its translation philosophy is right in the middle between formal and dynamic. There are also some useful paraphrases. Let’s compare some of the most popular Bibles.

FORMAL EQUIVALENCE Uses the Textus Receptus, the Greek manuscript that’s the basis of the KJV.
NAS Scholarly, trustworthy, the most literal, good for serious study, but a bit stiff for reading aloud.
ESV Literal, reliable, good for devotions or study, easy to read aloud; has footnotes of variant renderings.
KJV Literal, but areas of poor translation, Elizabethan English, has a cult following that idolizes it.
NKJ It updates old KJV terms into modern usage and clarifies out-of-date words, now a good version.
AMP Compiles many variations of translated words or terms into one sentence to expand the meaning.

DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE Translated using many original ancient manuscripts; notes variant readings.
CSB A good, readable new translation in the middle between word-for-word and thought-for-thought.
NIV A favorite Bible of mine for devotional reading, it is used in most traditional American churches.
NET Filled with scholarly footnotes about variant word meanings; a serious Bible study resource.
NLT An easy-to-read first Bible for new believers who are not familiar with the Bible’s terminology.

PARAPHRASES These include The Message, Contemporary English Version, Good News Translation, Today’s English Version, The Living Bible, and The Passion Translation. I remember when the Phillip’s Translation came out. I appreciate these, but I can’t do word studies from them. Mardel’s Christian Bookstore has a comprehensive chart on Bibles.