Fill out the interest form under "Gatherings"!
This article focuses on the Bible translations in English.
One of the common questions about the Bible is about which version, or translation, is better. In the English language, there are many different translations, adding to a bit of overwhelm and perhaps even confusion. Here, I'd like to give some pointers.
Each Bible translation has its own stated goals and theological biases. It is simply impossible to have a 100 percent "bias-free" translation. While the original manuscripts of the Bible do not change so frequently (the only time they seem to do so is when archaeologists discover an older manuscript), our language changes more rapidly.
You may want to examine these factors when selecting a Bible translation:
When was it translated?
Who translated it? Usually, a Bible translation is done by a committee. Who are the members, and what are their educational and denominational backgrounds?
What is the target reading level?
Was it translated for a specific cultural group or a country?
Bible translations are roughly divided into two kinds: dynamic equivalence and literal. Rather, they are two ends of a spectrum. On the one hand, a dynamic equivalence translation seeks to capture the main ideas of the text and convert them into our common language. On the other hand, a literal translation would translate word-for-word, even if the end product seems awkward or hard to understand without commentaries or study notes.
Versions closer to the dynamic equivalence end of this spectrum include The Message, New Living Translation, and New International Version. At the other end of the spectrum are the New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, and New Revised Standard Version.
For general use, I recommend either the Common English Bible (CEB, 2011) or the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV, 1989 and 2021). Both versions are translated by a committee representing a broad cross-section of the Christian church, as well as Jewish scholars, and are not biased toward any specific denomination.
The Common English Bible is easier to read than the NRSV, as the former is intentionally written at the reading level of USA Today (i.e., Seventh-grade level). The New Revised Standard Version is generally regarded as the "gold standard" in scholarship, recommended by many seminaries, and is used as the official translation by most Mainline Protestant denominations.
Some of the other translations I occasionally consult are:
The Message (this is basically a paraphrase of the Bible by the late Dr. Eugene Peterson).
The Revised Jewish Publication Society Tanach (2023) -- the latest of the JPS Bibles and the first revision since 1985, the 2023 version features a "gender-sensitive" (gender inclusive wherever appropriate) language.
The New American Standard Bible (2020) -- known for its literal translation principles.
The New Century Version (1991) -- written at the fifth-grade reading level, even easier to read than CEB.
The New English Translation (a.k.a. NET Bible -- known for extensive footnotes).
The World English Bible Classic (a modern update of the American Standard Version) is a copyright-free translation that can be used in publications without typical restrictions.
The First Nations Version (also a paraphrase, in the style of Native American storytelling).
Fortunately, you can try many different Bible translations free of charge today.
The YouVersion app gives you access to many translations in multiple languages for free.
The Bible Study Tools and the Bible Gateway are two of the longest-running online Bible websites since the 1990s.
Blue Letter Bible is a good resource for an in-depth study (also, you can use the !blb bang in DuckDuckGo).
World English Bible is here.
New English Translation is here.
ESV Global Study Bible is available online for free.
The Hebrew texts and various Jewish translations of the Tanach (the Hebrew Scriptures), along with classical rabbinic texts such as the Midrash, Mishnah, and Talmud, are accessible free of charge on Sefaria. This site also gives you free online access to the famous BDB Hebrew Lexicon, although the user interface is not exactly great.