What is the best version of the Bible, and why?

this might help.

http://www.gotquestions.org/search.php?zoom_sort=0&zoom_query=bible+version&search.x=0&search.y=0

God Bless.

There are lots of different version that are useful for different purposes. If you want something easy to read, modern translations such as the NIV and ESV will give you the substance of the original in a “thought-for-thought” translation that isn’t necessarily as accurate as “word-for-word” translations like the NASB (these tend to feel less like normal English speech). There are also modern paraphrases like the NLT available; these are very readable and feel like modern English, but are less strictly accurate. The King James version is a beautiful translation, but its English is archaic and might take more effort.

If you want to geet a sense of the original texts, I highly recommend Richmond Lattimore’s New Testament as a word-for-word translation that adheres closely to the Greek and is incredibly beautiful. That text isn’t approved by any particular denomination; it’s Lattimore’s own work, and most of the modern translations are put together by a committee with representatives of different denominations. It’s a great read and I’d recommend it to anyone.

I liked the Taize version because it has pictures.

I’m not sure there is a best translation of the bible, but I believe working in a Christian bookstore has equipped me rather well to help with your question.

All translations now must be official translations – that probably sounds silly, but let me explain. A Bible translation must come from the original Greek & Hebrew. Something that does not use the original Greek & Hebrew as its sources is a paraphrase. I say this to say that all translations carry a certain degree of weight and truth though there are some translations that do seem to edge close to a paraphrase.
Now, as for specific translations, I prefer a few different ones: for general reading I like the NIV (New International Version) simply because its easy to ready without seeming to make things too easy – its an odd thing to explain. For in depth study, I prefer NKJV (New King James Version), NASB (New American Standard Bible), and HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible). All three of these translations are very accurate and are considered ‘Word-for-Word’ translations. I’ve been leaning more towards the NKJV lately simply because it has a lot of the same poetic words and phrases that the KJV (King James Version) has that are just timeless.
Now, as far as paraphrases go, I’m not as well versed (no pun intended) but I do like The Message by Eugene Peterson. Its a great accompaniment to the bible, but make sure you don’t use it as your primary bible – Eugene Peterson warns of this in the introduction because it is just a paraphrase – it is meant to help you understand, refresh, shed new light on, and catch a different view of the scriptures. I especially love the Psalms in the Message – gorgeous.

I hope this was of some help. Make sure you check out Bible Gateway as they have almost (if not) all of the English translations and its free.

The one you write yourself, because you are your own god.

I prefer the English Standard Version (ESV). You can read a basic introduction and the translation philosophy on the official site. According to the translators, this is “word-for-word” translation. There are times when it reads a little awkwardly because of its adherence to the original text, but I appreciate the extra accuracy that provides. I mean, it’s still accurate English grammar—it’s just written a little differently than it would be if it weren’t coming out of Greek and Hebrew. My sister is quite knowledgeable about such things (having covered them in her college and graduate studies), and she likes it too.

The ESV also does a good job of being gender neutral, but without resorting to the level of pandering seen in translations such as the TNIV. Of course, I once read a book in which an adherent of the TNIV accused the ESV of going out of its way to be sexist. I think he was being pretty silly, though.

I’ve been shown several places where the NIV gets something wrong, but the ESV gets it right. In these examples, there was meaning that was definitely clouded by the NIV’s mistakes, but it really popped out when looking at the ESV.

In short, the ESV is in general slightly less readable than the NIV, but is far more accurate, including instances where the NIV makes outright changes in order to dumb down theology and instances where the NIV chooses a not-quite-right word simply because it’s a more common word (so the ESV requires a bit more of a vocabulary). And the ESV is way more accurate than things like the Message and the NLT, and way more readable than things like the KJV (well… and way more accurate; the KJV is one of the least accurate translations out there). The only translation I know of that’s more accurate than the ESV is Young’s Literal, and you would not want to use that for normal reading.

they all lie equally, some just cost more.

The fool says in his heart, there is no God and the preaching of the gospel is foolishness to them who are perishing.
The real testament and proof for a believer is what God does through the Bible to each person who reads it.

God is sovereign, and it is His will that none should perish but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth. And how will they hear about the gospel unless someone preaches.

Even though God knows that you Allen, and Spargett, hate the bible and perhaps hate God himself, and that you have chosen a path of darkness, He still loves you, and will not stop or interfere with your free will.

Notice I did not say, He can not. He certainly can do anythign He pleases. But God has chosen to give His creation free will to choose…and He even sent Jesus to seal the deal. This is what the Bible teaches. What exactly about this is a lie?

Also God says, He is God alone. The serpent’s lie was “your eyes will be opened and you will be ‘like’ God, knowing the difference between good and evil.” And so they ate, because they wanted to know. Guess what…now we know. But are we like God in any other way? Can we create something out of absolute nothing? Can we even conceive of absolute nothing? I think not.

Even if you were your own God, what would you do? What then? Would you go around invalidating the other “gods” because they don’t agree with you?

Your motivation is selfish. Your truth is a lie. Your end is separation from God if you so choose it.

God said I set before you life and death. Choose life.

You don’t have to believe in God for this to be a valid question. I’ve been following this without saying anything because I find it interesting.

If the bible is filled with lies, wouldn’t you want the best version to disprove those lies. If you were to argue with a Christian, you would want to do it based on a bible they accept as gospel. I know I would.

This is a good question for believers and non-believers alike.

Nice answers bob, Noah_D and aidje.

This isn’t an ‘is there a God?’ question. This is a ‘which is the best bible?’ question.

I find Stephen Hawking’s version to be the most inspiring.

Seriously, guys. The potshots are unnecessary. This question is about preferred translations of the documents comprising the Christian canon. If you think Christianity is stupid, fine—but that’s not what this question is about. Please stay on topic.

Well then. I prefer an Old King James version. Along with a nice fat Strong’s concordance to look up the Hebrew and the Greek languages.

thank you aidie. Actually, I am a minister, ordained in a mainline denomination. I love Eugene Peterson’s the Message, for devotional reading, and NRSV or NIV for study.
I had hoped that this site would be free of the potshots I have found among these comments. We don’t need that.

thanks, bodyhead. I have enough of the ” is there really a god” potshots elsewhere

Based on the research that I have done, my opinion is that the NWT is the best. After that, probably the NASB, ESV, YLT are very good. Here are some links to most of those as well as concordances and manuscripts.
Some online Bibles and other resources that I have found are:
http://bible.cc/psalms/83-18.htm /. Several translation, only one verse at a time.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1John5:7-8;&version=31;77;50;51;49; /. 5 versions with up to 5 groups of verses
http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical_studies/tyndale/ /. William Tyndales Bible
http://www.watchtower.org/e/bh/article_00.htm Many articles with links to scriptures.
http://scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/NTpdf/joh1.pdf Online interlinear.
http://www.thebiblereference.com/ /. King James and American Standard with Strongs references
http://www2.mf.no/bibelprog/vines /. Vines concordance
http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm Many versions, concordance’s, manuscripts (including the “Textus Receptus” and the “Alexandrian”.
http://www.eliyah.com/lxx.html Fragments of the Greek Septuagint
http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/manuscript.aspx Query&book=36&chapter= 1&lid=en&side=r&ve rse=18&zoomSlider=0#36–1-1 8–5 Sinaitic manuscript, I believe that it is the oldest complete manuscript.
Here are some differences that I have noticed. http://www.answerbag.com/a_view/7025764

The following have something to do with the Vatican MS 1209 from the 4th century, but as of right now, I don’t see an English parallel. [http://www.csntm.org/Manuscript/View/GA_03
http://www.biblefacts.org/church/pdf/Codex%20Vaticanus.pdf
Further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Vaticanus
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04086a.htm /./ http://betterbibles.com/2008/07/24/in-the-news-worlds-oldest-bible-goes-online/]
http://www.antioch.com.sg/cgi-bin/bible/vines/get_defn.pl?num=616#A1 . – Another link to Vines as the one above did not work last time.