Bible version recommendations to use for Bible Study?

Bonnie77 said:

I was raised in a Christian household but my parents weren't that religious. We never talked about the Bible and the only time I was required to read the Bible was for Sunday School or Confirmation.

But at age 26 I feel like I need more religion in my life and want to learn more about Christ. I've joined a great Methodist church and the Young Adults ministry is starting a Bible study.

The problem is that I'm learning but not yet real familiar with the Bible. Right now I still have the Good News version that I got when I was confirmed. Can you recommend a Bible that is the next step up, but yet beginner - friendly enough that I wouldn't have problems interpreting it?

Thanks for your advice!

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It really depends on what you're looking for in a translation. Some are more literal, while others lean toward paraphrasing. Some are more accepting of scholarship, while others may not be. Etc.

My personal choice is the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Dear Bonnie77. You will have some good information, and my advice is:
Matthew 22: 35-40: Jesus tells a Lawyer; " The first and great Commandment is: Love God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. The second is like it: love thy neighbour as thyself." Then Jesus points out: " On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." Love is very important to God our Heavenly Father.
The Bible tells us to " Repent," and to be " Born Again," change from being selfish and unloving, to become Loving and Caring. In Matthew 7: 7-10: we are told to " Ask and ye shall receive." We ask God for Love and Joy, then we thank God, and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour: all we know and all we meet, friends and not friends. People around us will treat us the same as we treat people, Love is very catching. Keep asking God for Love and Joy,
then thank God and share all Love and Joy with your neighbour. God will see our loving efforts, and God will approve and Bless us. We might stumble and forget at times, but then we ask God to forgive us and carry on Loving and Caring.
In Luke 10: 25-28: also: Jesus is asked: " Master, what must I do to inherit
eternal life?" Jesus answers: " you know the two Commandments to
Love God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind? Also to love thy neighbour as thyself?
DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE." To love is very important to our Heavenly Father, and I have always tried to live accordingly. It seems to be a bit strange at first, but soon you will find that to love and care will become your second nature: you will be Borne Again: Love God with all your beings, and love your neighbour as you love yourself: kindly and always with friendly words, and a helping hand when needed. Jesus our Saviour will help and guide us: JESUS IS THE WAY. I say this with love, Bonnie. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

Your icon says you’re a member of the United Methodist Church. That’s a mainline denomination, meaning that they accept critical scholarship. In that case the major translations are, from least to most literal:

* Good News Bible
* Revised English Bible
* Common English Bible [CEB and REB are probably about equivalent in how literal they are]
* New Revised Standard Version

Of these, the REB didn’t sell well, and not many editions are still in print, though it’s a fine translation.

The other translations are not necessarily a “step up” from the Good News Bible. I consider the Good News Bible one of the most accurate translations out there. It’s just “meaning for meaning” rather than “word for word.” If you want to read a section for personal reflection, I would still use it.

However if you’re trying to understand a passage in detail, you want one of the others. For that the NRSV is the usual recommendation. Scholars and college courses in mainline and secular schools normally use it.

The CEB and REB are possible compromises. They're easier to read than the NRSV but still more literal than the Good News Translation. However but I have some reservations about the reliability of the CEB, so I’m no longer recommending it, though I use it in Sunday School. I don’t have the same reservations about the REB, but it’s become uncommon enough that you won’t find many others in your church using it. It’s easier to understand than the NRSV, but not as free as the Good News Translation. So it may be a good compromise.

If you don’t have a solid background, you might want to get a version with annotations. That will give you the historical background of each book as a whole, and also of specific passages. I think at this point I’d suggest the Harper Collins Study Bible, which uses the NRSV. College courses often use this or the New Oxford Annotated Bible, also NRSV, but the notes for New Oxford are briefer, and may not be as helpful. Note that the Harper Collins Study Bible is a bit more visible in using modern critical scholarship. This is what is being taught in United Methodist seminaries, but many laypeople may find the approach unsettling. I'd recommend it for any of our church members, but I don't know you.

There’s also a nice edition for young adults, “The Guidebook: The NRSV Student Bible.” Use it (if you can find it — it seems to be going out of print) if you don’t want the amount of information in the two mentioned above but still want some guidance. This isn't a children's Bible. No cute comic characters. (I'm thinking of the CEB Deep Blue Kids Bible, which would be appropriate for high school students if it didn't have all those comic characters. If I were a 10 year-old I'd consider that condescending, but I don't know kids that age as well as older ones.)

There’s also an annotated edition of the REB, the Oxford Study Bible. I have the same reservations about it that I do about the New Oxford Annotated: it does give you the historical information you need to understand what’s going on, but the notes are significantly terser than those in the Harper Collins Study Bible. However you may find the REB easier to read than NRSV.

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Bonnie77-

Both the NASB Study Bible and the NIV Study Bible are good choices for Bible study. They both have copious notes which clarify the meaning of some of the more obscure passages and verses. And since they are translated in presentday English they are easier to read.

It's nice that you sense this need for a heartier translation. The Good News is as you describe -- great for a starter Bible.

Bible Hub was suggested, and there are more. I use Studylight.org, some people use Bible Gateway. It's a shift to think of online reading as "real Bible," but it turns out to seem so much more efficient at getting what you want as you're reading.

There are links to word definitions, other translations, similar uses of the words... study goes almost at the pace your mind is going. (Rather than reaching for concordances and flipping through, losing train of thought.)

As for tangible Bibles to bring around town, I've tried a lot but like RSV or NASB. I love the Jerusalem Bible, but it's a big hunk of paper to lug around. They leave more white space in the margins, and write out some books in more poetic layout, not force-justified in narrow columns.

Search for: John 4 - Strong's Interlinear Bible Search - Reference Desk - StudyLight.org

The REB would be the best choice, both because it's great as a version and suitable for the purpose. It's on a sale right now, the sale just started but won't last long. I have 4 electronic copies of it: 2 Logos accounts with it, 1 Accordance and 1 OliveTree (I use the latter extremely little). The sale I'm talking about is the 4th July sale in Logos, and the sale price is $29.98! The software is freeware. Logos has 2 million users.
It's rarely on a sale. It's mainline and it's one of the few a bit liberal Bible versions which are not too liberal. The textual basis in the New Testament is mediating. The language is somewhat simple and there's not an annoying amount of British vocabulary. Unlike most versions it also includes 4 Ezra. It strikes the best balance when it comes to gender-neutral language. Link to product page: Revised English Bible.
The Good News Translation is good. There is a new Edition, the 2004 Good News Translation 3rd Edition UK-English 66-book Bible, which can be found at bookdepository.co.uk
I haven't used the CEB nor recommended it yet.
If You are going to read the Apocrypha/Deuterocanonicals I suggest that You complement with the NRSV when You read Sirach/Ecclesiasticus, besides the REB:

hedrick said:

Your icon says you’re a member of the United Methodist Church. That’s a mainline denomination, meaning that they accept critical scholarship. In that case the major translations are, from least to most literal:

* Good News Bible
* Revised English Bible
* Common English Bible [CEB and REB are probably about equivalent in how literal they are]
* New Revised Standard Version

Of these, the REB didn’t sell well, and not many editions are still in print, though it’s a fine translation.

The other translations are not necessarily a “step up” from the Good News Bible. I consider the Good News Bible one of the most accurate translations out there. It’s just “meaning for meaning” rather than “word for word.” If you want to read a section for personal reflection, I would still use it.

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The RSV is great, and has many somewhat cheap tools - it's the version with the biggest amount of modern tools, but it may be too hard to understand for the OP. I do use it myself though, especially for the New Testament (not for the OT Deuterocanonicals). The language is not forced to gender-neutral:

parsley said:

As for tangible Bibles to bring around town, I've tried a lot but like RSV or NASB. I love the Jerusalem Bible, but it's a big hunk of paper to lug around.

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The NRSV or HCSB will serve you well.

The KJV is the best Bible, too many mistakes in the new versions which are actually paraphrases and from manuscripts that are not of the "received" texts.

Learn the old English words by going to the Greek and Hebrew of words in question to get to the for sure meaning anywhere of anything.

The Greek and Hebrew dictionary runs with the KJV which uses only the best manuscripts.

1Jo 4:4 ¶ Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

I own both a NIV and a New Oxford Annotated Study Bible (NRSV) and I much prefer the latter.

Gibs said:

The KJV is the best Bible, too many mistakes in the new versions which are actually paraphrases and from manuscripts that are not of the "received" texts.

Learn the old English words by going to the Greek and Hebrew of words in question to get to the for sure meaning anywhere of anything.

The Greek and Hebrew dictionary runs with the KJV which uses only the best manuscripts.

1Jo 4:4 ¶ Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

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100% Correct

I recommend the translation that your church uses. It's easier to follow along that way, sometimes much easier.

Also, while I use the KJV, I do not use it exclusively. There are newer translations which use older, better manuscripts. KJV-onlyism is garbage.

More like corrupted manuscripts.

Go to the Hebrew and Greek for the true meaning of any text and you will always find the KJV translation to English is best and also the KJV only streams from the "received" texts meaning that not one jot or tittle has been added or left out, the Hebrew has a proving system built in to make sure it stays pure.

Gibs said:

Go to the Hebrew and Greek for the true meaning of any text and you will always find the KJV translation to English is best and also the KJV only streams from the "received" texts meaning that not one jot or tittle has been added or left out, the Hebrew has a proving system built in to make sure it stays pure.

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Being as the lexicons commonly used today were written before these other translations came out, that's too easy a claim to make. One also needs to consider how the English language has evolved over 400 years, and that older, reliable manuscripts have been found since. They don't have certain additions that made their way into Scripture in the Middle Ages, but the message is the same.

Sketcher said:

Being as the lexicons commonly used today were written before these other translations came out, that's too easy a claim to make. One also needs to consider how the English language has evolved over 400 years, and that older, reliable manuscripts have been found since. They don't have certain additions that made their way into Scripture in the Middle Ages, but the message is the same.

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You can believe that if you want, I am not with that!

I am currently reading from the NKJV, but occasionally read from a version of the KJB that has the apocrypha. I also read from an ESV study bible that I own and a NIV too.

Oh and as always, read the version of the Bible that you will consistently read from. The reason I do not read the KJV exclusively is that the archaic language does cause me a distraction. It just doesn't read smoothly for me with all the thees and thous, etc...

Hello there I signed up to a Bible Study school and they offered a King James Version as it seems more accurate against other Bibles I think it is because it was one of the first English printed Bibles? But when it gets hard to understand, I grab a CEV version Bible that was given to me while I was at a christian camp when I was younger. Just do be careful with some Bibles as some have missed out words and verses and changed the meaning with some words. Just pays to be extra careful