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There are many English Bible translations, each with different strengths, styles, and goals. Some aim for word-for-word precision, while others focus on readability or clarity of meaning.
Many in the Church have found lasting value in the language and tradition of the King James Version.

This thread is a place to share what you use, what you’ve found helpful, and to learn from one another!

A few starting points:

• What translation do you primarily read, and why?
• Have you used multiple translations? How did they compare?
• Do you prefer more literal translations (like King James Version, English Standard Version or New American Standard Bible) or more thought-for-thought ones (like New International Version or New Living Translation)?
• Are there specific verses or passages where a different translation helped you understand something more clearly?
• Do you use any tools or apps to compare translations?


Guidelines:
✧ Keep discussion respectful and constructive.
✧ Share perspectives without putting down others’ preferences.
✧ The goal is understanding and encouragement, not debate for its own sake.

Feel free to share your experiences, favorite passages, or even questions as you explore different translations!

Why'd you lump NASB and ESV together, silly? xp

I use NASB/NRSV/KJV, mostly. I like online interlinear Bibles, though.

Well, let me go ahead and explain why I use the translations/versions I do.

NASB - This is a very precise English translation. In fact, it is the most precise, which has led to complaints about its "readability". I don't find the NASB particularly problematic, though. I like my studies to be precise, even if I am a very heartfelt and devotional person. I'm also a very intellectual and academic person. heart

NRSV - This is a great scholarly and ecumenical version. A wide and diverse range of scholars were on the committee for this version, and this is a version that is heavily used in many academic Biblical circles. It reads well, too.

KJV - A good-quality translation that is also traditional. However, Old English can be confusing for modern readership. It's not confusing for me, though. It's beautifully written and it was well-translated in its day.

I don't use the ESV because I believe it is inferior to the NASB in terms of precision.

For most of my formative years (beginning in about 6th or 7th grade), I read an adult Bible in the New Living Translation. My paternal grandmother gave me a Bible that had four different translations/versions in it and told me to pick the one that I liked the most. So, I read passages from the Gospels and picked the one I liked. It turns out that the one I picked was the New Living Translation. She bought me a New Living Translation Life Application Study Bible with Jesus' words in red. I treasured that thing. We moved a lot, though, and in one of the moves I ended up losing it.

She bought me a new one when I went to Taylor University, and I carried it with me everywhere. Read it all the time. Eventually, I started going to a Bible college and was told it was an inferior translation and to switch. Any papers I wrote using that Bible would not be accepted. That was shocking and, frankly, really hard for me, because that had been my Bible translation for...my entire adolescence. It was my Bible. None of my Taylor theology or Bible professors had had a problem with it.

Now, I still like the New Living Translation for what it was for a younger me, but I understand why I needed to move on from it. I'm grateful to my grandmother for always getting me Bibles for...as long as I can remember. Children's Bibles. And then my first NLT adult Bible in 6th or 7th grade. And then another one when I went off to Taylor. I still have it somewhere, packed away in a box. It has a black leather cover. I put a pink Jesus fish sticker on it.

I should find it...

But, anyway, that's why I use the translations I do. ^_^