I use NIV for church and Bible study, but I like reading the NLT.

Hugs,
Melinda

I enjoy the fact that we have a number of excellent translations from which to choose and or use to study the greatest information ever studied. I imagine a pleased God watching his beloved children exerting great energy in trying to understand Him better. My favorites are the NASB and the NIV. Actually my most used Bible is a side by side translation of those two versions. I also love to hear the Story of the Angels visiting the shepherds and bringing them the birth announcement of Jesus. When read in the KJV it is very beautiful and reminds me of my childhood love for reinacting that event on a stage with the rest of my kindergarten Bible class! And the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid. I love it in that old translation.

I've never really had a favorite. It seems that the more I preach, the more I really look at all translations...especially if I'm trying to emphasis a certain point or feeling. I believe the more translations we have, the more of an opportunity we have to reach more people of all aspects of life and also more of an opportunity to talk (not debate or fight) to our brothers and sisters about things in the scriptures. I say this because we all know there are different opinions about certain translations and especially when dealing with already challenging passages that have caused many a controversy in our brotherhood. We should be very careful in trying to stand out one version over the other. We must remember, the writers of the bible were divinely inpsired but the translators...that's a different story, in my opinion. You think its bad enough having different english translations? Try checking out all the different translations in languages other than english! ay, ay, ay!

Good article, Keith, and interesting conversation. It seems the desire to have an accurate and understandable text has been around for a long time. Origen (late 2nd to mid 3rd century) was passionate about having an accurate text, writing something like he "Couldn't hope to undrstand the text until he could establish exactly what the text was." (Of course he didn't write it in English.) As a result, his lifelong project was collecting and comparing Greek translations of the OT. He had 6 different translations of the entire OT and as many as 9 of the Psalms. All those scrolls... hand copied... probably filled an entire room.

Others, including John Wycliffe, Jon Hus and Martin Luther, believed strongly that every Christian should be able to read the scriptures in his own language. The founders of our movement continued to carry the banner.

I like several translations and tend to use whatever fits best for what I'm doing. For study, I usually choose the NIV or TNIV, perhaps using the NASB for a more literal comparison. For personal devotional readings I usually choose something different like The Message or The Voice (a new one from Thomas Nelson Publishers). For readings during worship assemblies I usually gravitate toward the NLT, as I think it speaks a little better to a broader group of listeners than some other translations.

I really never use the KJV (even though there are some quotes floating in my head) for two basic reasons: 1) too many obvious inaccuracies, and 2) many words and phrases that may have communicated effectively in the 1600's either communicate a different meaning today or do not communicate at all, requiring the reader to effectively "translate" what she is reading in order to make sense of it.

I'm with Melinda on this one. I tend to study out of the NIV, because I feel like I understand its translation methods and idiosyncrasies fairly well. I tend to know what's odd in it, and what's going on "under the covers" with the original languages.

However, I really enjoy reading from the NLT. Very nice English translation -- it reads very well and I think does a fantastic job of getting the intent of the authors across while being fluid.

I also have been enjoying the TNIV, which is about ready to replace NIV as my preferred study translation. I believe it to be more true to authors' intent than NIV, while still being very "familiar" translationally.

Thanks for the recommendation and link to my article on The Living Oracles. Blessings to you and your ministry

In 2008 I read the bible from cover to cover for the 1st time in my life. I read a 365 Chronological NIV first. When I finished it in October, I began to study specific topics using The Daily Bible (NIV) and The Message side-by-side. I enjoy The Daily Bible because of it's commentary and explanation of WHAT I'm reading and The Message helps make it clearer.

I'm wide open to suggestions. Please share! I was born and raised a Christian but have not taken it seriously until about 15 months ago (turned 45 in December). I feel like I'm way behind the curve!

God Bless!!!

i tend to prefer my own translation and the Holy Spirit's interpretation as He tells me what it means....

Regarding "published" versions, i use the NASB and ASV for accuracy, the Message and Phillips for paraphrase, and the Complete Jewish Bible for a study Bible.

Mr. Anonymous