Some times people ask me about different translations and versions of the Bible.
I have the following Bibles --actual paper Bibles-- not online versions.
Some of these are Old or New Testament only. Some are included with others in volumes like The Contemporary Study Bible, The Layman’s Parallel New Testament, and The Contemporary Parallel New Testament.
1 King James Version, of course, but I also have a 1611 version in that older style of English than the current KJV and it even includes the Apocrypha
2 Geneva Bible from 1599
3 Douay Version (Roman Catholic) which goes back to 1609
4 Septuagint, OT only, from 1851
5 Syriac Peshitta from 1933
6 The Emphatic Diaglott, NT only, from 1942
7 Revised Standard VersionNT only, from the 1950’s
8 New Testament in Modern English (Phillips) from 1958
9 The Reina Valera (Spanish) from 1960
10 New English Bible, (NEB) from 1961
11 An Expanded Translation, NT only, from 1961
12 The Amplified Bible, NT in 1958 and OT in 1962
13 Jerusalem Bible from 1966
14The Living Bible from 1971
15New American Standard Bible from 1971
16 New International Version from 1978
17 New King James Version from 1979
18 New World Translation (JW) from 1984
19 New Century Version, NT only, from 1987
20 New Revised Standard Version from 1989
21 The Message, NT only, from 1993
22 Contemporary English Version, NT only, from 1995
23 New Living Translation from 1996
24 The Apostolic Biblle Polyglot from 1996
25 Complete Jewish Bible from 1998
26 The International Standard Version (ISV) from 1999
28 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 2001
30 The Complete Apostles’ Bible from 2003
I have been a Christian for over 50 years and over that time I have done most of my reading and studying with the King James Version so it is the one with which I am most familiar.
There was a time when I was one of those who considered any other version as second class and not quite the real Bible. I no longer feel that way.
Over the past several years I have become more familiar with different versions and have been able to read some through completely. I no longer am KJV only but it is still my favorite.
Next second favorite would be the NKJV or New King James Version.
I still like The Living Bible which Dr. Ken Taylor put out about 40 years ago.
At that time he was reading the Bible with his children and all they had was the King James Version.
Some of the wording was difficult so he would write out what it said in language more easily understood by his children.
Eventually those notes became what we know as The Living Bible (TLB).
I some times use the Living Bible in teaching and preaching and in home and hospital visitation.
Some times I use the Roman Catholic edition of The Living Bible because it contains a good chapter on doctors and medicine being used along with prayer.
That would be the 38th chapter of Ecclesiasticus also known as The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach or some times just called Sirach.
One of the things I do not like about the New Living Translation (NLT) and The New International Version (NIV) is that some verses have been left out of them.
The reasoning for this is because some of those verses are not in some of the "older" manuscripts that have been found since the King James Bible was translated in 1611.
The older manuscripts do not agree with each other but when one or more disagree with what is in our King James Version, the translators have taken those manuscripts over the KJV texts.
Not everyone agrees that those older manuscripts are reliable. That's one reason why I still hang onto the KJV.
So, what do I suggest?
Get a NKJV. It is like the old reliable KJV that people have loved and read for years but it does get rid of some of the archaic language and is easier to read.
Also, read some of the new versions and paraphrases like the NLT and the Message, but check them out with the KJV and use the KJV as the standard by which to judge them.
It's good to read some of the newer versions along with the KJV for a better understanding of what God is saying to us in His Word.
The main thing is to read the Bible and if you will read a newer translation but not the KJV, then read the newer translation.
When I read the Bible, I often think of and pray a prayer that pastor Matt Massey prayed one time before he preached at the Vineyard several years ago:
Lord,
Open up Your Word to us
and
open us up to Your Word.
A good article on Bible translations and versions is found at:
http://defendtheword.wordpress.com/2...ted-correctly-
This person likes the New American Standard Bible (NASB)
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