Which translation Bible do you use?

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

(I feel weirdly inspired for topics lately. Oh well, yay discussion smile ).

So. Bible translations. There are about as many out there as there are languages in the world, but some will argue that this translation or that translation is best for whatever reason. I wanted to get everyone else's thoughts on the matter. What translation Bible do you generally use and why? What are your thoughts and feelings about there being so many translations in existence? I know that one of the reasons that people (rather, I should say open-minded non-Christians and Muslims) argue the inherent betterness of the Qu'ran is due in part to its not being translated, at least not in the same way as the Bible. I know there are English versions of the Qu'ran, because I've skimmed through one, but, as I understand it, there's a general feeling that the Qu'ran is best understood and read in its original Arabic (it is Arabic, right? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong), because there's less possibility for errors and such. In that vein, I think that's why a lot of people argue the fallibility of the Bible.

Personally, I'm a fan of the NIV and ESV. I feel like they're pretty straight-forward translations and are easy to understand. However, I know that translations like that focus more on the idea in the message, rather than transliterating verbatim, which can sometimes express a bias. This is why, one day, I'd love to learn Hebrew and Greek so I can read the Bible in most of its original language context. 3nodding  

[freelance lover]

NRSV. It was translated by a board of biblical scholars who essentially went through the entire Bible and discussed what each word should by translated as. I also like NIV as well though. I think cross referencing Bible verses is always a good idea, because you get a better sense of what the text means.

I tend to stray away from KJV, because it's hard to understand and it was translated off a faulty Greek alphabet. However, I do think the poetry of it is pretty, so I like the NKJV for that. I also run as fast as I can away from The Message. It's more of an adaptation that a translation, and I find it to be biased to what the translator felt it should say.

I agree learning Greek and Hebrew is best. But I have no idea when that would be D:  

[Shadows-shine]

I use the KJV.  

[The Amazing Ryuu]

I'm a fan of the NIV myself. It's fairly easy to understand, and the student Bible I had as a teenager was full of those nifty sidebars. I'll probably need to get another one soon, since so much has been found out in the twelve years or so since I got my Bible. smile  

[xxEverBluexx]

I've been locked inside that house, all the while You hold key
And I've been dying to get out, though that might be the death of me

^^;; I'm one of those weird people who actually likes the Message. Offline I use whatever's available, but on Bible Gateway I tend to use the Amplified, the Message, and the NIV together if I'm in a study kind of mood; otherwise I just use NIV because that's the default or the NLT. This site is really good for comparing Bible verses in different versions. I'm pretty sure it only does one verse at a time though.

And all I'm asking is for You to do what You can with me
But I can't ask You to give what You already gave

 

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

freelance lover

NRSV. It was translated by a board of biblical scholars who essentially went through the entire Bible and discussed what each word should by translated as. I also like NIV as well though. I think cross referencing Bible verses is always a good idea, because you get a better sense of what the text means.

I tend to stray away from KJV, because it's hard to understand and it was translated off a faulty Greek alphabet. However, I do think the poetry of it is pretty, so I like the NKJV for that. I also run as fast as I can away from The Message. It's more of an adaptation that a translation, and I find it to be biased to what the translator felt it should say.

I agree learning Greek and Hebrew is best. But I have no idea when that would be D:

I've never heard of the NKJV. How does it differ from the KJV?  

[Ravynne Sidhe]

`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -

For me I used to use the NIV because the KJV always gave me a headache trying to read and decipher. Me and Shakespearean language don't get along. However now I use the NASB. It's more accurate and also easy to understand.

Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

 

[Lord Maxdom]

When I study Christianity usually I read from many different versions, never a single one.  

[zz1000zz]

I just use the NIV if I'm reading passages. I never saw much value in reading out of different English translations. The differences rarely matter for casual reading (with the exception of a those few bad translations), and if I want to study a passage, I try to look to the original languages.

The internet is a great boon for this issue. Thanks to it, you don't actually need to learn Greek/Hebrew to be able to figure out what the original text said.  

[Shadows-shine]

Fushigi na Butterfly

freelance lover

NRSV. It was translated by a board of biblical scholars who essentially went through the entire Bible and discussed what each word should by translated as. I also like NIV as well though. I think cross referencing Bible verses is always a good idea, because you get a better sense of what the text means.

I tend to stray away from KJV, because it's hard to understand and it was translated off a faulty Greek alphabet. However, I do think the poetry of it is pretty, so I like the NKJV for that. I also run as fast as I can away from The Message. It's more of an adaptation that a translation, and I find it to be biased to what the translator felt it should say.

I agree learning Greek and Hebrew is best. But I have no idea when that would be D:

I've never heard of the NKJV. How does it differ from the KJV?

The language is more modern in the NKJV compared to the KJV. At lease that's the only difference I've noticed between the two.  

[freelance lover]

Fushigi na Butterfly

freelance lover

NRSV. It was translated by a board of biblical scholars who essentially went through the entire Bible and discussed what each word should by translated as. I also like NIV as well though. I think cross referencing Bible verses is always a good idea, because you get a better sense of what the text means.

I tend to stray away from KJV, because it's hard to understand and it was translated off a faulty Greek alphabet. However, I do think the poetry of it is pretty, so I like the NKJV for that. I also run as fast as I can away from The Message. It's more of an adaptation that a translation, and I find it to be biased to what the translator felt it should say.

I agree learning Greek and Hebrew is best. But I have no idea when that would be D:

I've never heard of the NKJV. How does it differ from the KJV?

It's basically in the same style that the KJV is, except they've gone through and updated the translation based on the updated Greek alphabet that comes to us from the Rosetta Stone.  

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

@Shadows-shine and Liz: Oh. So basically, less squinting and headache making? 8D

@Lord Maxdom: This is a good point. It really doesn't make sense to arbitrarily pick one translation when you want a good study of it.

@zz: I love the internet so much. heart Even if it takes all the work out of needing to learn a second and third (or for me, I guess a fourth and fifth) language, I'd still, one day, prefer to know them in order to really see for myself, you know? Kind of like your earlier suggestion in a different thread about reading the Bible with an open mind untainted by what everyone else says that Bible says or should say. 3nodding  

[zz1000zz]

Fushigi na Butterfly

@zz: I love the internet so much. heart Even if it takes all the work out of needing to learn a second and third (or for me, I guess a fourth and fifth) language, I'd still, one day, prefer to know them in order to really see for myself, you know? Kind of like your earlier suggestion in a different thread about reading the Bible with an open mind untainted by what everyone else says that Bible says or should say. 3nodding

I don't think the internet takes "all the work out of needing to learn" those languages. Sure, the internet lets you figure out the meaning of individual passages without learning those languages, but that's nothing new. That's basically the same as learning just enough of a language to understand that one sentence you were curious about. After all, if you do use the internet, you should be using a source which discusses the original text to show you how the translation comes about. Otherwise, you're basically just taking their word.

In other words, the internet lets you learn as much of the languages as you need. It doesn't replace learning the language.  

[Lord Maxdom]

There does come a price with reading so many different bible versions though, I can't quote anything from memory due to how many I've read. Somewhere around a hundred different versions. So many differences, as small as each difference is. Trying to remember a single line to quote even is considerably difficult if you remember too many at once and can't recall which version the line comes from. So I wouldn't advise it if you wish to memorize quotes.  

[Zolof Keeper Of Souls]

KJV although most of the time i read many translations along side eachother