Need Help Seeking God and Bible translation worries.

STommy

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Hello, I have received an unbelievable amount of support and encouragement from the people on this site as I come to terms with the status of my eternal life. I still struggle with sin but I have decided to submit to the Lord and follow him and accept his Son. But there is something that greatly troubles me. Am I working for my salvation by seeking the Lord? Is praying for God to save me and reading the scriptures a deceitful act of my heart to try and earn salvation, or is that what I'm supposed to do? I read the scriptures so that I can learn more about Jesus but a thought came to my mind while doing so. Am I actually seeking to believe in my heart or just looking for knowledge in my mind? I am filled with worry as I want to believe in my heart but I fear I may just be gathering general knowledge. Does anyone have any help for me?

And one more thing. I have been reading an NLT (New Living Translation) Bible and I thoroughly enjoy it. Its easy to understand and it conveys the message of the Gospel in a simple way I can understand. But I have recently found about a thing called KJV onlyism. Where some people believe and argue that Christians should only read the King James Version of the Bible and that all other Bibles are corrupt and purposefully leave out scriptures. These people say that anything other than the KJV is the work of Satan. Is this true? I have read a KJV Bible and seen that there are differences in the wording between the KJV and NLT but the message remains the same. The thought and intent behind the words are still the Gospel. Should I only read KJV? I worry because I fear I may fall into an idolatrous, works salvation mindset that pushes me to earn God's salvation by only reading a certain Bible.
But I am also worried and filled with doubt about other Bible translations because of what these KJV only people say about them.

Should I only read the KJV or would that be legalism? Should I read multiple translations? And if I do how can I know if I am not trying to earn God's salvation by reading the "right" translation.
 

UnpopularOpinion

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Hello, I have received an unbelievable amount of support and encouragement from the people on this site as I come to terms with the status of my eternal life. I still struggle with sin but I have decided to submit to the Lord and follow him and accept his Son. But there is something that greatly troubles me. Am I working for my salvation by seeking the Lord? Is praying for God to save me and reading the scriptures a deceitful act of my heart to try and earn salvation, or is that what I'm supposed to do? I read the scriptures so that I can learn more about Jesus but a thought came to my mind while doing so. Am I actually seeking to believe in my heart or just looking for knowledge in my mind? I am filled with worry as I want to believe in my heart but I fear I may just be gathering general knowledge. Does anyone have any help for me?

And one more thing. I have been reading an NLT (New Living Translation) Bible and I thoroughly enjoy it. Its easy to understand and it conveys the message of the Gospel in a simple way I can understand. But I have recently found about a thing called KJV onlyism. Where some people believe and argue that Christians should only read the King James Version of the Bible and that all other Bibles are corrupt and purposefully leave out scriptures. These people say that anything other than the KJV is the work of Satan. Is this true? I have read a KJV Bible and seen that there are differences in the wording between the KJV and NLT but the message remains the same. The thought and intent behind the words are still the Gospel. Should I only read KJV? I worry because I fear I may fall into an idolatrous, works salvation mindset that pushes me to earn God's salvation by only reading a certain Bible.
But I am also worried and filled with doubt about other Bible translations because of what these KJV only people say about them.

Should I only read the KJV or would that be legalism? Should I read multiple translations? And if I do how can I know if I am not trying to earn God's salvation by reading the "right" translation.

Bible version doesn't really matter much as for saving people , I could preach the gospel from all modern translations without trouble , moreover I could preach it just from Old Testament alone or from Jehovah Bible. Like if I had to convince Jehovah witness I would use his/her own Bible instead of KJV for example, then she/he can't say his/her version is the good one and mine is corrupted.

1. You need to hear the gospel
2. You need to understand the gospel ( that's where most people get stuck on and have dubts)
3. Accept or Deny the gospel presented to you

Am I working for my salvation by seeking the Lord? Is praying for God to save me and reading the scriptures a deceitful act of my heart to try and earn salvation, or is that what I'm supposed to do?

No , there were tons of people who were blind , disabled or even could not read in first place 2000 years ago and they were getting saved. When Paul was writting his letters that we use as Bible there were alredy churches with saved people in them and they had no Bible to read from.


Ok so the gospel is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Christ died for your sins according to Scriptures ( according to prophecy) , its important , mentioned even twice.
one of prophecy examples :
this one is dated around 700 year old , read it ( keep in mind somebody who wrote it had no idea who Jesus was or what will happen after 700 years ).

Bible Gateway passage: Isaiah 53 - New Living Translation


Basically this one talks about Messiah who will come and die for not his sins but ours . Other prophecies give exact date of Jesus death for example ( to the day ).

So Jesus confirmed that he was sent from God by fullfilling these prophecies , confirmed that God even exist and that he revealed it to his prophets before.
That's what the gospel means.

If you believe that this happend , the time you believe it you will receive Holy Spirit and be saved.
Ephesians 2:8-9 - It's totally free gift obtained by Jesus , he died for your sins , all sins .

once you believe you get sealed Ephesians 1:13-14 and that's it you're done.
Now after you're saved you might desire to become disciple of Christ which is hard but it has nothing to do with you getting saved or not , just you decide if you want to serve him or not.
 
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STommy

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Bible version doesn't really matter much as for saving people , I could preach the gospel from all modern translations without trouble , moreover I could preach it just from Old Testament alone or from Jehovah Bible. Like if I had to convince Jehovah witness I would use his/her own Bible instead of KJV for example, then she/he can't say his/her version is the good one and mine is corrupted.

1. You need to hear the gospel
2. You need to understand the gospel ( that's where most people get stuck on and have dubts)
3. Accept or Deny the gospel presented to you

Am I working for my salvation by seeking the Lord? Is praying for God to save me and reading the scriptures a deceitful act of my heart to try and earn salvation, or is that what I'm supposed to do?

No , there were tons of people who were blind , disabled or even could not read in first place 2000 years ago and they were getting saved. When Paul was writting his letters that we use as Bible there were alredy churches with saved people in them and they had no Bible to read from.


Ok so the gospel is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Christ died for your sins according to Scriptures ( according to prophecy) , its important , mentioned even twice.
one of prophecy examples :
this one is dated around 700 year old , read it ( keep in mind somebody who wrote it had no idea who Jesus was or what will happen after 700 years ).

Bible Gateway passage: Isaiah 53 - New Living Translation


Basically this one talks about Messiah who will come and die for not his sins but ours . Other prophecies give exact date of Jesus death for example ( to the day ).

So Jesus confirmed that he was sent from God by fullfilling these prophecies , confirmed that God even exist and that he revealed it to his prophets before.
That's what the gospel means.

If you believe that this happend , the time you believe it you will receive Holy Spirit and be saved.
Ephesians 2:8-9 - It's totally free gift obtained by Jesus , he died for your sins , all sins .

once you believe you get sealed Ephesians 1:13-14 and that's it you're done.
Now after you're saved you might desire to become disciple of Christ which is hard but it has nothing to do with you getting saved or not , just you decide if you want to serve him or not.

Thank you for your input. Great insight.
 
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BNR32FAN

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Hello, I have received an unbelievable amount of support and encouragement from the people on this site as I come to terms with the status of my eternal life. I still struggle with sin but I have decided to submit to the Lord and follow him and accept his Son. But there is something that greatly troubles me. Am I working for my salvation by seeking the Lord? Is praying for God to save me and reading the scriptures a deceitful act of my heart to try and earn salvation, or is that what I'm supposed to do? I read the scriptures so that I can learn more about Jesus but a thought came to my mind while doing so. Am I actually seeking to believe in my heart or just looking for knowledge in my mind? I am filled with worry as I want to believe in my heart but I fear I may just be gathering general knowledge. Does anyone have any help for me?

And one more thing. I have been reading an NLT (New Living Translation) Bible and I thoroughly enjoy it. Its easy to understand and it conveys the message of the Gospel in a simple way I can understand. But I have recently found about a thing called KJV onlyism. Where some people believe and argue that Christians should only read the King James Version of the Bible and that all other Bibles are corrupt and purposefully leave out scriptures. These people say that anything other than the KJV is the work of Satan. Is this true? I have read a KJV Bible and seen that there are differences in the wording between the KJV and NLT but the message remains the same. The thought and intent behind the words are still the Gospel. Should I only read KJV? I worry because I fear I may fall into an idolatrous, works salvation mindset that pushes me to earn God's salvation by only reading a certain Bible.
But I am also worried and filled with doubt about other Bible translations because of what these KJV only people say about them.

Should I only read the KJV or would that be legalism? Should I read multiple translations? And if I do how can I know if I am not trying to earn God's salvation by reading the "right" translation.

First of all congratulations on coming to Christ my friend. Starting out with the NLT is fine I had to do the same because other versions I tried to read were too hard to understand. Now the NLT does have a few bad translations in it but nothing that is going to steer you off course from the word of God. Personally I steer away from the KJV because it also has some mistranslations in it. I highly recommend the NASB because it is very accurate to the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts and it is also very easy to read like the NLT version. One example of a mistranslation in the KJV is 2 Peter 3:9.

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭3:9‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭3:9‬ ‭NASB

The word in the KJV translated to “us-ward” should be translated as “you” and the translators knew this because they translated the same word several times throughout the scriptures including verse 1 in the same chapter as “you” but they chose to change the word to “us-ward” in this case in order to promote reformed theology by implying that God’s patience is only towards his elect and not towards everyone. Here’s verse 1 with the same exact Greek word.


“This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:”
‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭3:1‬ ‭KJV‬‬

They made a few other changes here & there where words were purposely translated to a completely different word. They do this sometimes to promote their interpretation of what they believe the scriptures are trying to say instead of translating it word for word and allowing the scriptures to just say what the author actually wrote. Personally I prefer to read the scriptures without someone else’s option or commentary of what the author was saying and just read an actual word for word translation of what they actually wrote.

Don’t get too hung up on a works based salvation. Too many people think that we don’t have to make any effort on our part to be saved which contradicts so many scriptures. Read Ephesians 4:17-30 and Ephesians 5:1-21 and tell me that Paul wasn’t teaching people to make an effort to be saved.
 
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bling

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Hello, I have received an unbelievable amount of support and encouragement from the people on this site as I come to terms with the status of my eternal life. I still struggle with sin but I have decided to submit to the Lord and follow him and accept his Son. But there is something that greatly troubles me. Am I working for my salvation by seeking the Lord? Is praying for God to save me and reading the scriptures a deceitful act of my heart to try and earn salvation, or is that what I'm supposed to do? I read the scriptures so that I can learn more about Jesus but a thought came to my mind while doing so. Am I actually seeking to believe in my heart or just looking for knowledge in my mind? I am filled with worry as I want to believe in my heart but I fear I may just be gathering general knowledge. Does anyone have any help for me?

And one more thing. I have been reading an NLT (New Living Translation) Bible and I thoroughly enjoy it. Its easy to understand and it conveys the message of the Gospel in a simple way I can understand. But I have recently found about a thing called KJV onlyism. Where some people believe and argue that Christians should only read the King James Version of the Bible and that all other Bibles are corrupt and purposefully leave out scriptures. These people say that anything other than the KJV is the work of Satan. Is this true? I have read a KJV Bible and seen that there are differences in the wording between the KJV and NLT but the message remains the same. The thought and intent behind the words are still the Gospel. Should I only read KJV? I worry because I fear I may fall into an idolatrous, works salvation mindset that pushes me to earn God's salvation by only reading a certain Bible.
But I am also worried and filled with doubt about other Bible translations because of what these KJV only people say about them.

Should I only read the KJV or would that be legalism? Should I read multiple translations? And if I do how can I know if I am not trying to earn God's salvation by reading the "right" translation.
The KJV was written back in 1611, translated from the Latin Bible only. English words have over the last 400 years have changed and Americans do not use the same words with those old British meanings. To understand the KJV you have to translate the old British into modern American which just adds to the work of reading. Newer translations use the much earlier Greek copies for the New Testament and the old copies of the Hebrew Bible for the Old Testament, but there is very little difference in content.

Any modern translation done by a group of Bible scholars reviewing each other work is good. The NLT is not a group translation and gives one person’s interpretation which can be more like a commentary then a pure translation.

You can really “work” hard to grow your faith, hope and Love, but it is not “work”, since that is part of your worship (and worship is never work). What you are doing should be out of a compelling Love (a kind of gratitude), because of what has been done for you already.
 
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STommy

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The KJV was written back in 1611, translated from the Latin Bible only. English words have over the last 400 years have changed and Americans do not use the same words with those old British meanings. To understand the KJV you have to translate the old British into modern American which just adds to the work of reading. Newer translations use the much earlier Greek copies for the New Testament and the old copies of the Hebrew Bible for the Old Testament, but there is very little difference in content.

Any modern translation done by a group of Bible scholars reviewing each other work is good. The NLT is not a group translation and gives one person’s interpretation which can be more like a commentary then a pure translation.

You can really “work” hard to grow your faith, hope and Love, but it is not “work”, since that is part of your worship (and worship is never work). What you are doing should be out of a compelling Love (a kind of gratitude), because of what has been done for you already.

Is reading the NLT going to affect my salvation or heart in any negative way?
 
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eleos1954

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Hello, I have received an unbelievable amount of support and encouragement from the people on this site as I come to terms with the status of my eternal life. I still struggle with sin but I have decided to submit to the Lord and follow him and accept his Son. But there is something that greatly troubles me. Am I working for my salvation by seeking the Lord? Is praying for God to save me and reading the scriptures a deceitful act of my heart to try and earn salvation, or is that what I'm supposed to do? I read the scriptures so that I can learn more about Jesus but a thought came to my mind while doing so. Am I actually seeking to believe in my heart or just looking for knowledge in my mind? I am filled with worry as I want to believe in my heart but I fear I may just be gathering general knowledge. Does anyone have any help for me?

And one more thing. I have been reading an NLT (New Living Translation) Bible and I thoroughly enjoy it. Its easy to understand and it conveys the message of the Gospel in a simple way I can understand. But I have recently found about a thing called KJV onlyism. Where some people believe and argue that Christians should only read the King James Version of the Bible and that all other Bibles are corrupt and purposefully leave out scriptures. These people say that anything other than the KJV is the work of Satan. Is this true? I have read a KJV Bible and seen that there are differences in the wording between the KJV and NLT but the message remains the same. The thought and intent behind the words are still the Gospel. Should I only read KJV? I worry because I fear I may fall into an idolatrous, works salvation mindset that pushes me to earn God's salvation by only reading a certain Bible.
But I am also worried and filled with doubt about other Bible translations because of what these KJV only people say about them.

Should I only read the KJV or would that be legalism? Should I read multiple translations? And if I do how can I know if I am not trying to earn God's salvation by reading the "right" translation.

here is a free resource for you where you can access MANY different translations, compare them easily and also other very useful study tools ... ie ... greek and hebrew lexicons, concordance ..... other things.

www.biblehub.com

here is a place where you can search topically ...

Topical Bible - Bible Verses by Topic
 
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Athanasius377

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The KJV was written back in 1611, translated from the Latin Bible only.
That’s not true. The KJV was translated from the original languages. The NT was translated from the first 5 editions of the Greek editions compiled by Erasmus and a couple of other late editions. Beta and Stephanus if memory. The translators were better at Latin and so If there was a dispute they tended to side with the Vulgate. The Douay Rheims prior to the 1800s revision was solely from the Latin.
 
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Athanasius377

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Hello, I have received an unbelievable amount of support and encouragement from the people on this site as I come to terms with the status of my eternal life. I still struggle with sin but I have decided to submit to the Lord and follow him and accept his Son. But there is something that greatly troubles me. Am I working for my salvation by seeking the Lord? Is praying for God to save me and reading the scriptures a deceitful act of my heart to try and earn salvation, or is that what I'm supposed to do? I read the scriptures so that I can learn more about Jesus but a thought came to my mind while doing so. Am I actually seeking to believe in my heart or just looking for knowledge in my mind? I am filled with worry as I want to believe in my heart but I fear I may just be gathering general knowledge. Does anyone have any help for me?

And one more thing. I have been reading an NLT (New Living Translation) Bible and I thoroughly enjoy it. Its easy to understand and it conveys the message of the Gospel in a simple way I can understand. But I have recently found about a thing called KJV onlyism. Where some people believe and argue that Christians should only read the King James Version of the Bible and that all other Bibles are corrupt and purposefully leave out scriptures. These people say that anything other than the KJV is the work of Satan. Is this true? I have read a KJV Bible and seen that there are differences in the wording between the KJV and NLT but the message remains the same. The thought and intent behind the words are still the Gospel. Should I only read KJV? I worry because I fear I may fall into an idolatrous, works salvation mindset that pushes me to earn God's salvation by only reading a certain Bible.
But I am also worried and filled with doubt about other Bible translations because of what these KJV only people say about them.

Should I only read the KJV or would that be legalism? Should I read multiple translations? And if I do how can I know if I am not trying to earn God's salvation by reading the "right" translation.
The KJV is a fine translation. If you like it then go with it. But there is nothing wrong with modern translations. I like the ESV or the 1995 revision of the NASB. Just go with a translation you understand and will read daily.
 
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STommy

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The KJV is a fine translation. If you like it then go with it. But there is nothing wrong with modern translations. I like the ESV or the 1995 revision of the NASB. Just go with a translation you understand and will read daily.

Well thats good to hear.
 
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Athanasius377

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Well thats good to hear.
The KJV only crowd can be almost cultish in their zeal for the KJV. The KJV was the first Bible I ever read from cover to cover. It’s also my church’s official translation hence the Authorized version yet if you read a passage and have no idea what was said then use another translation. There are word choices the KJV translators use that is closer to the original languages yet miss the mark on another. Greek for example has words that simply have no English equivalent so the translator has to make a choice to make in order to get the same idea or concept across. No translation is perfect but good translations have footnotes that explain the word choice.
 
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Bob Crowley

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The "New Living Translation" is not a literal Bible. It's a paraphrase, developed by the original author to make it easier for his kids to read, which is why it reads well. You can still gain valuable spiritual insights from it, but be aware that strictly speaking it's not a literal translation.

Ignore the "KJV only" crowd, or for that matter the "Douay-Rheims only" crowd if you can find any (the "Douay-Rheims" was the English Catholic version of the KJV so to speak, based on the Latin Vulgate, with the translation being done at the University of Douai in France, due to Catholicism being banned in England at the time).

All they're doing is declaring their private opinion to be the omniscient Will of God.

I'll think you'll find that for all intents and purposes any of the modern official Bible versions are fine. So don't worry about it.

As for praying and seeking God, that's what God wants. So just keep keeping on.
 
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Hello, I have received an unbelievable amount of support and encouragement from the people on this site as I come to terms with the status of my eternal life. I still struggle with sin but I have decided to submit to the Lord and follow him and accept his Son. But there is something that greatly troubles me. Am I working for my salvation by seeking the Lord? Is praying for God to save me and reading the scriptures a deceitful act of my heart to try and earn salvation, or is that what I'm supposed to do? I read the scriptures so that I can learn more about Jesus but a thought came to my mind while doing so. Am I actually seeking to believe in my heart or just looking for knowledge in my mind? I am filled with worry as I want to believe in my heart but I fear I may just be gathering general knowledge. Does anyone have any help for me?

And one more thing. I have been reading an NLT (New Living Translation) Bible and I thoroughly enjoy it. Its easy to understand and it conveys the message of the Gospel in a simple way I can understand. But I have recently found about a thing called KJV onlyism. Where some people believe and argue that Christians should only read the King James Version of the Bible and that all other Bibles are corrupt and purposefully leave out scriptures. These people say that anything other than the KJV is the work of Satan. Is this true? I have read a KJV Bible and seen that there are differences in the wording between the KJV and NLT but the message remains the same. The thought and intent behind the words are still the Gospel. Should I only read KJV? I worry because I fear I may fall into an idolatrous, works salvation mindset that pushes me to earn God's salvation by only reading a certain Bible.
But I am also worried and filled with doubt about other Bible translations because of what these KJV only people say about them.

Should I only read the KJV or would that be legalism? Should I read multiple translations? And if I do how can I know if I am not trying to earn God's salvation by reading the "right" translation.


First, something we want is to learn more about is scripture - that's not earning your salvation. Scripture is God's Word to us, and we want to know all He has to say. That's a desire He gives us, and is a positive way to know Him.

When Satan was tempting Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus used scripture to refute the temptation. You cant do that during your temptations if you don't know God's Word... so it's something very important in putting on the "whole armor of God" Ephesians 6:11-18 as it's a big piece of that armor.

Just because you aren't working for your salvation is not to say you aren't working i.e. doing actions that are positive. Paul tells us to run the race set before us, James tells us faith without works is a dead faith (meaning non existent)

We do work, we just aren't doing it expecting it's what saves us. But we are saved in order that we do good works. We give in charity, we follow God's commands, we pray and develop a greater relationship with God, we learn His Word through learning scripture.

All the above takes discipline, it is work in that sense. It doesn't however prevent us from knowing it's Christ's work which saves us.

As far as what scripture to read - we read what scripture we can best understand. It's also good to read more than one translation.

Most of the time Jesus quoted from the Septuagint, but other times HE quoted from the Hebrew, and sometimes He quoted from the Aramaic...

What does this tell us? It's the meaning we are after, not necessarily the words themselves - understanding Scripture correctly is the most important part of reading Scripture, as a result.

I often read more than one translation, as a result. It's helps to flesh out the meaning of the original words. Bible Hub is a good online resource when you want to get into the multiple translations, but other than that, read for understanding, and if one translation helps you do that better than others, then stick with that for the times your curled up to read.. (p.s. I ignore the kjv only people)

:) Hope this helps..
 
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pescador

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Please remember that the KJV, the NLT, the NIV, the NET, the NRSV, and the rest are all translations; there are no English originals. In fact, there are no originals! All translations are based on ancient manuscripts, which are themselves copies of the originals. Secondly, because there are so many differences between the ancient manuscript languages -- ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek -- that the translators must decide how to meaningfully translate the words, syntax, and meaning into English. There is no exact translation science; it is as much an art, with the translator doing the best s/he can to transmit thoughts and ideas that are thousands of years old into our 21st Century minds.

The most important thing is to read God's word with an open mind and spirit. Let God speak to you through the Bible; whichever translation you choose is a matter of personal preference.
 
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bling

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That’s not true. The KJV was translated from the original languages. The NT was translated from the first 5 editions of the Greek editions compiled by Erasmus and a couple of other late editions. Beta and Stephanus if memory. The translators were better at Latin and so If there was a dispute they tended to side with the Vulgate. The Douay Rheims prior to the 1800s revision was solely from the Latin.
My mistake. Later translations used later discovered Greek manuscripts and from the increase number of Greek manuscripts available could improve on the translations, to my understanding. I have many verses memorized in the KJV since that is what I grow up using, so I like those words.
 
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Paul4JC

the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing
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