What translation of the Bible do you read and why?
403286
for new testament study, i actually read the original language, Greek.  there is no substitute... learn it if you ever have the opportunity!  for general reading, i typically read the nasb or esv because they tend to be the most literal without as much translators interpretation involved... but a faithful paraphrase like the nlt (new living) or an "optimal" translation like the hcsb is always helpful as well\n\nkatlyn, i really have the same concern though about not getting the full meaning... i certainly don't understand it as good as the native speakers did, and i understand english much better, but my hope is that over time it will get more natural.  it is invaluable being able to see what's really going on semantically though, so you're not in the dark when people talk about such things, don't you think?
19292
Because they cant read the original Hebrew for the Hebrew Scriptures, or the original Greek for the Christian's New Testament. Therefore they must rely on someone else's translation. \n\nRemember that modern translations are copyrighted, and the organizations that translated them make money when every book of their translation is sold. The KJV is so old, going back to 1611, that it has no copyright anymore, so it is free. That is why it accompanies many, if not all, computer Bible Programs.\n\nAlso keep in mind that the KJV was the only version available, and then the only version acceptable, to many denominations of Christianity for a very long time.\n\nPlease also remember that the person or organization who does a translation is biased, and their translation will reflect their own theology, regardless of whether or not a verse in the original actually says what they claim it says. No translation is totally right, and some are better, and some are worse, than others.
978997
The best way you can find out what the bible says in "real terms" is to read it in Hebrew. That is the original language  it was written in. I find it useful when reading to have The Exhaustive concorance of the Bible near by.
581443
The KJV Bible was modernised as it was written in old English and too hard for most people to understand.  I personally love this version, so there's no need to stop using it.\n\nThe term Jesus saves is true, but He saves through the repenting of sins.
556654
I prefer to read the KJV of The Bible.
1143643
Well yeah, kinda, but it was originally written in Hebrew, Greek, and a little Aramaic.\n\nEach time someone makes a new translation they do not use exactly the same English words. This is where most of the confusion comes from. There are some words we don't have an English word for-in that case several English words are used to get the meaning of the original. \n\nThere are some who believe in the 'double' inspiration of the KJV. This also causes problems when other translations don't exactly line up with the KJV.\n\nThere is about a little less that 1/2% discrepancy in all the text. No Biblical doctrine is affected. Any good translation id safe.\nKJV, NKJV, NIV, CSB, NAS, NASB,  all good. Some are easier to read than others, some are more word for word, some are more thought for thought.
174422
I love this one - http://www.watchtower.org/bible/ - It's translated from the original Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic languages and written in modern , understandable English.
689025
That really depends on what you want to read the bible for, what religion and where you are in your life, reference, teen, concordance, faith sharing, group study, ect. \n\nThe Muslim Bible is known as the Quran (spelling)\n\nThe Hebrew Bible is known as the Tanakh\n\nEnglish translations of the Christian Bible have been around since around 1066. For more information see below
463614
If you count all the different translations to different languages there are a lot more. :-)\n\nBasically, the original text is in ancient hebrew or greek.  Translating from one language to another is very hard -- in fact there is no translation without interpretation. There are idioms (sayings) in any language that don't translate.  If someone called you a cabbage in French, it would be sweet and endearing.  In English it's just rude.  Then consider translating from one time to another.  The world is different, and English has changed from the time of King James to now, and sometimes the words don't carry.  For instance the word "suffer" used to mean "allow" so when Christ said "Suffer the little children to come unto me" in KJV, he wasn't suggesting that the kiddies be hurt.\n\nSo, in interpretation one can either be "literal" or "meaning preserving" or somewhere in between.  If somone asked Jesus when evil could be done in heaven and he said "when pigs fly" (I am just making this part up) then one interpreter could say "on the day that pigs fly in the sky" and the other could say "that would neve happen!".   Two interpretations, both correct.  This provides some of the division.  NAS is more literal, NIV is more meaning-preserving. \n\nOkay, to make it a little harder: when the early translations by Tyndale and the like were made, they only had a limited set of ancient copies to work from.  Since then, there have been more found, and older ones.  When you look at a modern translation (CEV, NAS, NIV) they are based on a wider collection of older manuscripts.  That probably means that they're more accurate.\n\nThen finally there are paraphrases like the Living Bible or the Amplified Bible, which are not translations from original manuscripts but a retelling of an existing translation in modern english, perhaps with more text added to get the point across better.\n\nSo the answer is to read a few of them.  It's a perfectly acceptable thing to get a paraphrase or a very modern easy-to-read translation (The Message, The Living Bible, etc) for your first read-through so that you become familiar with the overarching story line and the characters. You might like to get a chronological bible which orders the books in timeline order (most Bibles are ordered by category like law, history, wisdom, prophesy, life of Christ, early Christian church history, and then letters from disciples).  A chronological bible would help you see the story as it unfolded.\n\nThen, if you like, get a parallel bible so that you can see two, three, or four translations side-by-side and compare them. \n\nOn one hand, the real bible would be the original manuscripts or their most faithful reproductions in Hebrew or Greek.  \n\nBut if you are willing to look at it this way, the REAL bible is the events that happened, not any one recording of them by a particular author. If you see it this way, then reading any of them, or (better) several of them is the way to get the REAL bible. \n\nBut equally important are some small little tidbits: If one wants to know God then one must first believe that He exists, and secondly that He rewards those who honestly seek Him.  Secondly, that his word is never wasted.\n\nI hope this helps you.
46669
The Autographa, or the words God breathed into the men who were to write them down, is the best.\n\nUnfortunately, it does not exist, and we only have copies of copies which now comprise our bibles.  That's why pastors are trained in Greek/Hebrew, and why many churches say they accept God's Word, as inspired in the original languages, as their sole source of authority.  Even so, there is no other earthly book that has been so scrutinized.\n\nIn English, The King James Version (KJV), though it has some mistakes, has stood the test of time, and the New KJV may be easier to read.  As the saying goes: if it was good enough for the apostle Paul, it's good enough for me!  \n\nSome versions seem to sacrifice meaning for simplicity.  However, JB Philips compiled a helpful paraphrase of the New Testament, and there is a paraphrase of the ASV called The Living Bible.\n\nIf memory serves, the (N)RSV/ASV were made to incorporate Common Greek instead of Classical Greek.  The New American Standard Bible (NASB) gives perhaps the best word-for-word translation, while the New International Version (NIV) is easier to read and uses an idea-for-idea translation.  \n\nOne of the latest translations is the English Standard Version (ESV), which is a blend of the RSV and the NASB having better accuracy & improved idioms.  It seems popular in conservative circles.
95572
I will give you the scholarly perspective:  The NIV is more accurate than the KJV.  And the NIV is much easier to read in my opinion.  But the New Revised Standard Version is the most often recommended by Biblical Scholars (including Christian Biblical Scholars) for its accuracy and faithfulness to the original languages.  (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek).
481916
The bible was written over thousands of years, most of the Old Testament in Hebrew (parts in Aramaic), and the New Testament written in Greek. \nThe problem is that languages change with time and misuse, so old books need retranslating to maintain accuracy (i.e. does the translation mean to a modern reader in the translated language what it did to a contemporary reader in the ancient language).\nModern Greek is different from 1st century Greek. Modern Hebrew is different from ancient Hebrew. US English is different from UK English. Egyptian arabic is different from Modern Standard Arabic.\nwww.biblegateway.com has 19 English translations plus lots of other languages, including Arabic. Most translators work from the oldest texts available in the original languages. Some of these are very, very old.\nFor a demo of some of the difficulties translators face, paste a paragraph into http://babel.altavista.com/tr, ask it to translate it into a different language, then cut & paste it back in to translate it back into the start language and see what you get.\nThere is some useful stuff about bible translation on www.ibs.org.\nIn the 2nd letter from the apostle Paul to Timothy chapter 3 he wrote:-\n    14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,\n    15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.\n    16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,\n    17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.\n\nFind an up to date translation (e.g. NIV or NKJV in English) or Arabic if you find it easier, read it with an open mind and you will be blessed.\n\nShukran for your question.
839372
I had a book, once upon a time, about numerous different translations of the Bible, one of which was the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (I still have copy of the translation though).  It was rated by religion scholars as one of (if not the) worst translations for the very fact that the translators did not have a working knowledge of Hebrew or Greek (by the translators' own admissions, they felt they didn't need it!).  They worked by translating individual words with dictionaries.  It also mentioned that a review of it came out in some scholarly magazine titled "How Not to Translate the Bible."  It has been accused of being very biased towards their religion, and I would have to agree.  Despite their claims, the name "Jehovah" (actually "YHWH", "Jehovah" is an English corruption) does NOT appear in any of the original New Testament manuscripts, although in the NWT, the word "Jehovah" does manage to appear.
398715
As a seminary student it is a known fact that the NASB is the closest to the original text than any other version of the English Bible. The KJV is merely a translation of the Latin Vulgate. King James of Scotland ordered the English translation of the Bible in the 1600's from its Latin translation so the common people can read it. However, the Bible wasn't written in Latin.\n\nThe NASB however is a direct translation of the original Greek/Hebrew text of the scriptures taken from the Masoretic text. The NIV is a close second.\n\nIf you truly want to read and know the scriptures as close to the original text as it can get, then I suggest the NASB or NIV. Stay away from the KJV, it will only complicate the learning process.
617972
Reading the Bible through in different translations helps it to make more sense.  Start with Living Word, then next year, read through in the NIV translation.  In my opinion, too many of us started with the King James, and that is a difficult translation until you get to know the Bible well.\nGood luck and GOD bless, the journey through the Word is worth it.
949884
I have more than one translation...and using the concordance is always a good idea.\n\nThanks for pointing that out. \n\n:o)
419936
actually even the king james version is currupte (nice try trying to help) the only way you'll get the full effect is reading the hebrew text. the message bible is nice but its more of a study guide to the bible then a translation