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What translation of the Bible do you read?

I

itpro4470

Guest
My friend and I have been debating over the most popular translation of the bible. I read NIV because thats what most people in my church use and it's easy for me to read, he goes with KJV and says it's because it feels like it's more authentic, but there are soo many other translations out there. What kind do you read and why?
 
I prefer the old King James. The newer versions change or remove too many important words that change the meaning too much--like removing "begotten" from John 3:16. That word has significance, which many seem to miss. Unfortunately, much of the punctuation in the King James is way off. I wish someone would come up with an old King James and leave it the same but with proper punctuation. I had a new King James and didn't like that one either.
 
I also prefer the KJV. You can modernize words, and update them to a more modernized English form. But you can also! remove the thought process from a text group in doing so. Now the English might be more in line with current usage, but the message is lost in the process. This is what has happened in the Modern Translations.

I could wish for better punctuation in the KJV also. I think the folks were something like me, they just called it the way they saw it. :) But I don't think that will happen, the sales of the KJV are dropping more and more as the days go by. So it would not be profitable, for anyone to do the necessary work to modernize the punctuation of the KJV.
 
Vic, you're spoiling all the fun we could have with this thread. :lol

....there's probably nothing left to add after 11 of them. :eek2
 
Gabriel Ali said:
Vic, you're spoiling all the fun we could have with this thread. :lol

....there's probably nothing left to add after 11 of them. :eek2
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I've been here for over six years. Would you like me to find some more? :lol
 
I read and study the NIV Bible, but I started quoting KJV verses on this forum because that's what most members seem to prefer to refer to.
 
Vic I had a similar first reaction to this thread. I Read ESV, any more than that and you'll have to find my posts in those other threads.
 
I use the NIV, I grew up with it, and just prefer the language. That's also what most of our church use it, although occasionally I juse the ESV. I wouldn't mid getting a KJV though.

Actually, I've seen bibles with NIV or ESV on one column, and a translation into KJV on the other column. I'd love to get one of those!
 
Honestly, I think that most are pretty good (except for the Dynamic Equivalence translations), and I read from a KJV and an NIV. But, I prefer the KJV because I like the language: early modern English seems to have some sort of prestige to it, and I think that a grand God should be spoken of in a grand language. So I read the KJV most of the time and quote from it, but I have no real problem reading from the NIV sometimes.
 
I just went to my local Christian shop and found The Message. What a weird version. The language is - how do I put it - well it just doesn't seem right.

Here is an NIV verse: (Matthew 15:1-28)
1Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2"Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"
3Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4For God said, 'Honor your father and mother'[a] and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' 5But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' 6he is not to 'honor his father[c]' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.'[d]"

10Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. 11What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' "

12Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?"

13He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14Leave them; they are blind guides.[e] If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

15Peter said, "Explain the parable to us."

16"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. 17"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.' "

21Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."

23Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."

24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."

25The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.

26He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."

27"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."

28Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
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An the same verse in The Message
1-2 After that, Pharisees and religion scholars came to Jesus all the way from Jerusalem, criticizing, "Why do your disciples play fast and loose with the rules?"
3-9But Jesus put it right back on them. "Why do you use your rules to play fast and loose with God's commands? God clearly says, 'Respect your father and mother,' and, 'Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.' But you weasel around that by saying, 'Whoever wants to, can say to father and mother, What I owed to you I've given to God.' That can hardly be called respecting a parent. You cancel God's command by your rules. Frauds! Isaiah's prophecy of you hit the bull's-eye:

These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
but their heart isn't in it.
They act like they're worshiping me,
but they don't mean it.
They just use me as a cover
for teaching whatever suits their fancy."

10-11He then called the crowd together and said, "Listen, and take this to heart. It's not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up."

12Later his disciples came and told him, "Did you know how upset the Pharisees were when they heard what you said?"

13-14Jesus shrugged it off. "Every tree that wasn't planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch."

15Peter said, "I don't get it. Put it in plain language."

16-20Jesus replied, "You, too? Are you being willfully stupid? Don't you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It's from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That's what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your handsâ€â€that's neither here nor there."

Healing the People
21-22From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon. They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, "Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit."
23Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, "Now she's bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She's driving us crazy."

24Jesus refused, telling them, "I've got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel."

25Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. "Master, help me."

26He said, "It's not right to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to dogs."

27She was quick: "You're right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master's table."

28Jesus gave in. "Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!" Right then her daughter became well.
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Jon-Marc wrote: I prefer the old King James. The newer versions change or remove too many important words that change the meaning too much--like removing "begotten" from John 3:16. That word has significance, which many seem to miss.
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I must be one of those who miss the significance. I don't think the absence of "begotten" changes the meaning of the sentence at all.

Begotten is a verb form of beget (to procreate). The Gospels make it clear that Jesus was begat. John 3:16, no matter which translation, is speaking of God's only Son. The use of the adjective "begotten" is not necessary unless God has other Sons (which He doesn't) and an adjective would be needed to distinguish Jesus from other sons (which isn't the case).

John 3:16 of the NIV says, "His one and only Son." I don't believe this version is any less significant than the KJV.
 
I use a few versions to be honest though I favor KJV for studying and NKJV for casual reading entertainment. Though I have both with me when I do. I'll look at the KJV to look up original words in a Strong's and I'll read the NKJV to get a different perspective on the passage. I like both.

I think its helpful to study more then one version, because it can open your mind to dissecting the passage in different ways. If I like a passage, or think it has a lot to grasp in it, I'll even pull up a few other versions. I've got an old Bible Study program that was a gift called Quickverse, I love it for studying.
 
I don't see the difference in John 3:16 either...newer versions like ESV and NIV make it clear.
 
Nick_29 said:
Actually, I've seen bibles with NIV or ESV on one column, and a translation into KJV on the other column. I'd love to get one of those!
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A parallel Bible? ;)
 
Dave Slayer said:
[quote="Nick_29":4wwvs85s]Actually, I've seen bibles with NIV or ESV on one column, and a translation into KJV on the other column. I'd love to get one of those!
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A parallel Bible? ;)[/quote:4wwvs85s]


Yes, a parallel Bible. In fact, I saw one today that had four versions in it. Pretty massive Bibles, but worth it, I reckon. Good to get different perspectives.
 
Thank you all for the different perspectives. I've got to get one of those bibles that had the NIV to KJV translations.
 
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