Favorite Translation?

I am a fan of the NASB. I think it most accurately reflects the words and literary structures of the original text as inspired by the Holy Spirit. Its contributors consulted the earliest available manuscripts and did a good job maintaining a word-for-word translation philosophy. With that said, I recognize there are other factors to consider when choosing a Bible, such as your desired reading level.

Neal of Zebulun said:

Those are some good points. At least in the KJV and perhaps other older Bibles, we have the "thee" 2nd person singular, and the "ye" plural, but I do find myself distressed sometimes when trying to translate into English the gender of a noun.

Although I don't know Spanish, I imagine Psalms 22:20 concerning Christ's soul being his darling ("only one" in the feminine) reads so much dearer.

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I love reading the bible in Spanish, particularly the NBLH, it manages to combine directness with elegance, and emotional fluency

If I am listening to MP3's I really like the New Living Translation or The Message.
If I am doing a word study I prefer the Young's Literal Translation.
There are many Greek words mistranslated (IMO) in the other English versions that change intended meanings into others. The YLT is harder to read. The basic reason is that Greek and English sentences are constructed differently. The YLT ignores those differences and just translates the words as is-in real time-in real order. So it can be a difficult read, but in my opinion I think one should refer to it on any study.

bekkilyn said:

For English translations, I prefer the NRSV as it is a more literal translation from the original languages like the KJV, and is also more academic and less biased towards any particular denomination's agenda.

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The NRSV is extremely biased; the ESV is a similar, but more accurate translation.

RSVCE is my choice

Neal of Zebulun said:

Heh, I would male a poll, but there's just too many choices!

What's your favorite translation?

It doesn't have to be any language in particular, nor does it have to contain all available Scripture (some were made even before Christ came!)

My favorite is the KJV 1611. For all its faults, I believe they did a pretty good job which others pale in comparison. I appreciate that it has the Apocrypha too.

What's yours?

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King James Version Scofield

HootyHoo!! I simply cannot get away from the poetry of the good 'ole KJV, though I've tried many times! I also have..................

1. KJV
2. NIV (1984)
3. CSB (2017)

I also want to pick up the ESV Study Bible, and a NASB Bible. I do have the Tecarta Bible App on my phone and tablet. On that I have all of the above plus the Amplified, Amplified Classic, Living Bible, NKJV, NLT and The Message for a paraphrase. It also has 4 commentaries and 2 study Bibles, the KJV LASB and the NIV ZSB.

As always................... Stayin' in the Word!!

Mike

My favorite is the NASB 1995 revision. I was gifted an Allan binding of that translation and have really grown to like it. Second would be ESV. Very similar to NASB and in some areas a better translation. I grew up on the KJV, so I still qoute the bible in that style of English. All three are quite good translations.

Doh! I forgot to mention the one I'm currently reading! It's the Chronological Life Application Study Bible (KJV) from Tyndale publishers. It is a really good study bible with tons of helps, notes, character studies and maps!

I mainly use the NIV which is what I grew up with and have returned to, but love the NLT as well (it was my main Bible for years). For comparison I sometimes use the ESV.

Love the KJV but daily reading is from NLT

My personal preference had actually been NKJV, reading pretty much like KJV (which I also highly appreciate) without archaic words/terms. I also appreciate NKJV because I know some people who have an actual preference for KJV (as opposed to strictly KJVO) and see nothing wrong with NKJV as an alternative, if nothing else. I have attended churches in the past where many of those in leadership used KJV (they didn't seem to push the issue; it just happened to be the preferred choice, and they said so). Some in said churches used NKJV but there didn't seem to be much of an issue.

I had been doing some analyzing in recent years on the Bible translation debates, especially on the KJVO movement (I don't mean those who simply prefer KJV, but those who believe other translations, even NKJV, are satanic and imply that those who do use other translations are "not true Christians"). I have a high regard for the KJV translation and highly respect those who truly feel convicted that it's the only one they should read, preach, and study from, and they are right to follow that conviction if that's what they truly feel in their hearts that they should do. But I had also been doing some casual study on what the 1611 King James translators thought about using other translations. They were a group of learned men, chosen by James VI and I, to create a translation based on the original Greek and Hebrew texts, comparing "former translations" (stated on the title page of the 1611 translation) to make a new and different translation that the English speaking people of the time could read and understand. It was the breakthrough translation at the time, and since there were many translations that came before it, it was considered the "new translation" of the time. These men believed they were fallible and imperfect simply following orders made by their king, and actually encouraged the use of other translations as well. This can be found by reading the actual preface of the 1611 KJV. This is why I will use a number of other well-known translations without totally and completely looking away from the KJV itself, and steering clear of some of the outlandish stuff that's passed off as a "Bible". I mean, I feel myself to be open-minded when it comes to this issue, but this doesn't mean that I don't have my personal standards.

Anyway, I'm not seeking debate; these are just my personal thoughts.

Here is a helpful (or what I believe should be helpful) link highlighting the parts of the KJV preface (appendix) which state what the translators thought of their work:

Robert Joyner - Were the KJV Translators KJV Only?

God bless you all.

The one I've been actively reading is the CSB. I also have the RSV2CE, which I like a lot (especially for Psalms and The Lord's Prayer).