(Now I edited this post to make some clarifications - some which I didn't mark as edits, formatting and correction of a link.)
For the
New Testament, the main version I use and recommend, is the 1971 RSV 2nd Edition. As Your's is falling apart, You should order a replacement New Testament, see:
http://www.orthodoxmarketplace.com/...-testament-and-psalms-leadership-100-rsv.html ... obviously less bulky to carry than the 66-book Bible. I'm ordering several of it now. It's better than the Catholic Edition due to being more up-to-date. It distinguishes in a proper way when someone talks to God, it's consistently close to the Greek while not having complete nonsense English grammar, it is a fully supported New Testament version as there's for example a Reverse Interlinear that can be bought separately in a Bible Study software and there are many monographs and commentaries based on or using/commenting (on) it.
Another one that I use for parts of the
New Testament, is the 2002 Revised English Bible (REB). It has excellent scholarship, good textual base, appropriate gender/gender-neutral language, and is many times excellent for some of the
Pauline Epistles and Apocrypha, for example
1 Thess,
2 Mc, and the meaning given is clearly communicated.
For
Jn chapter 1 I use the 1929 International Critical Commentary (original series) by Bernard because the translation of Jn 1:18 in it is the very best according to
PrincentonGuy here on the forums.
I'm going to work on doing a translation with commentary of
Jn 2-5 which I will eventually publish in a book together with many other things, but it'll take some time, I estimate it to 2031. I will use several languages as sources which I've barely looked at, currently I'm pursuing learning Hebrew starting from August 2015 and on. I take Hebrew because that's the language in which the most part of the Bible was written down and I find a lot in those books.
For
Jn 4:35-36 I use James Moffatt New Translation (MNT). For a study on why, see: EDIT July 15. link updated to the new forum software:
In May 2014 I had a Messianic....
I have several major commentaries for Jn but I don't use the translations in them, in fact
for the rest of Jn I'm using the 1971 RSV 2nd Edition. EDIT July 15.: I have for example the most massive introductions, one was published in the early '00s and was intended as a whole new Edition in the Anchor Yale Bible Commentary series but just the introduction got finished and therefore published under a different publisher before the author died, the other one is in the Eerdmans Critical Commentaries -series.
I will also look at
text critical work - the expenses for that vary, some of it is even free to access, some costs a lot so many times I have to be selective what to research whether it bears and relevance (I don't bother to think a lot about the significance, I do the work I'm able to do and let others judge what parts (words, verses) have significance). The quickest look at the variants in the New Testament is the Comprehensive New Testament (called Comprehensive Crossrefs in Accordance) which I have both as printed matter and in that Bible Study software.
For a
list of for which parts of the New Testament I use commentaries for the English translation, see:
http://www.christianforums.com/threads/which-bible-translation-do-you-use.7555317/#post-66764747 ... there's also about Mt (
and which version to use for some few verses at a time).
For
Sirach I use the NRSV since it's about the only version that translates all of the Hebrew found and the gender-neutral language doesn't get too bothersome in that book.
For
Gn I use the work called Torah: A Modern Commentary, that's the very best version for that book - have a look at what Jewish group produced it! It's not available separately - (and only the Gn in it is their own translation, the translation for the rest of the Pentateuch tris a different version not made by them).
For
Ps 4 I use the original English Jerusalem Bible because a frequent helpful user (Martha = MJ. Smith) on a Bible Study software forum prefers it for that chapter.
For
Ps 127 I use the NJB because of another recommendation (Dan Francis).
For the rest of the Pss I will compare the 2014 New International Commentary on the Old Testament -volume which is by three authors, with the 2010 NABRE.
Another version I sometimes use, is the 2004 Good News Translation 3rd Edition UK-English 66-book Bible because it's pretty unbiased and I have a tool for it: the United Bible Societies Translator's Handbooks (I don't have the complete Old Testament Handbooks set just some volumes, but I think I have the complete New Testament and Apocrypha). If You want it in a Bible Study software, go either to
https://community.logos.com/forums/p/48720/595133.aspx ... and post requesting that particular version and Edition, or go to
http://www.accordancebible.com/forums and create a thread in Feature/Module requests!
And of course,
I will look into using NETS = New English Translation of the Septuagint (that's
not at all the same as NET), because of the textual basis: the most complete Edition of the two Göttingen Septuagint Editions.
For some parts of the 38-book Old Testament and for Philemon (and for
Hebrews 1:1-9:14 which I don't read that much) I use very recent or fairly recent commentaries for the English translation, see:
http://www.christianforums.com/threads/what-bible-translation-do-you-prefer.7860715/#post-66953200 (
there's also which version to use for some few verses at a time).
I often use the NABRE
for many parts of the 38-book Old Testament since it's one of the very few very recent acceptable Old Testament versions. EDIT July 15.: I find it to be less biased than for example the ESV or the NLT.
At a later stage, if I get hold of him which I probably will I know he is busy many times, I'll talk to
childofdust and ask for permission to cite his forthcoming Old Testament version in my book.
I've also worked on a list of what Bible versions, commentaries, etc. that I
don't use:
http://www.christianforums.com/threads/what-bible-s-do-you-use.7831213/page-2#post-67262323
I have both the NIV84 and the newest enhanced Edition of NIV11 in the Accordance Bible Study software but these two are not among my favourites, I just thought I had to have them (I bought them used, then upgraded the NIV11 to NIV11-GKE) and was a little curious about the 2015 Edition Goodrick-Kohlenberger Enhanced word numbering system which I use which is available there for the 2011 Edition:
Currently at home I have KJV, RSV and RSV-CE (missing pages though). My Catholic friends I've talked to say without question, Douay-Rheims is THE bible to read, although I'm uncertain as others claim it's difficult to understand. I've contacted a few Catholic churches who have suggested the NIV (which they use), another suggested either the NRSV-CE or the New Jerusalem Bible Catholic Edition to start off with. According to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, the NRSV (non-CE?) is the approved version in Canada.
