What is the correct Bible to use for new converts?

Question

I am a new believer in Christ and I wonder which Bible I should use as a new convert. I came across quite a few versions and as I am not familiar I would appreciate if anyone out there can come with some good advice. Also, there are a lot of texts, etc. in the Bible that I am not familiar with - things like 1 Peter ... 2 Peter or
1 John ... 2 John .... or 3 John ... Are they referring to the same Peter/John or another Peter/John. Will be helpful if someone can enlighten me on this. Also right now, I've got this old Bible (hands-me-down). It is called the Holy Bible - New International Version containing the Old Testament and the New Testament. Is this the correct book for me? Also, somebody recommended me Good News Bible. I haven't heard of this - checked with a few Bible Book Stores but was not successful. Please help!!

Answer 1

I would suggest the NIV Study Bible (New International Version). It is a fairly modern translation, and easy to read. It has enough study notes right on the text page to answer most questions. It is good enough for serious study, but yet easy to read. I bought one as my first Bible about 17 years ago. I still use it today. I have bought several others over the years, but I still use my NIV everyday.
The New Living Translation (2004) is also very good, and even easier to read. I don't think they have a study Bible.
Then the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) is the newest, but not as easy to read.
Then The New American Standard Bible (NASB), next-but it is much more difficult to read.
I still recommend the NIV Study Bible.

Answer 2

not all versions should be accepted. on the outside they my seem fine but when you get into them there is a difference. the best and most accurate translations are the king James and then the American standard. i say this because others like the niv or living bible contain error being taught as well as other translations.
The Living Bible promotes the doctrine of original sin. Psalm 51:5, for example, has the same problem as in the NIV. The LB reads, "But I was born a sinner, yes, from the moment my mother conceived me." In Ephesians 2:3 he has Paul saying, "We started out bad, being born with evil natures, and were under God's anger just like everyone else."
don't get a good news bible. in Isiah 7:14 instead of saying Christ would be born of a virgin it just says "a young woman who is pregnant will have a son." this is error, Christ was born of a virgin not just any woman, it was of a miracle.

Answer 3

I think the best Bible is one that you can easily understand. That may be why someone suggested the Good News Bible to you. The translation is in modern language and pretty simple. A new paraphrase that is popular now is called the Message. This one is written in even more contemporary language and very easy to read. I personally like the New International Version. I would recommend a Study Bible because it typically provides the historical context for each of the books and includes who wrote it and major themes.

Answer 4

The Holy Bible Douay-Rheims Version

With Challoner Revisions 1749-52
1899 Edition of the John Murphy Company

IMPRIMATUR:
James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899.

Pope Damasus assembled the first list of books of the Bible at the Roman Council in 382 A.D. He commissioned St. Jerome to translate the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin, which became known as the Latin Vulgate Bible and was declared by the Church to be the only authentic and official version, in 1546.

The DR New Testament was first published by the English College at Rheims in 1582 A.D. The DR Old Testament was first published by the English College at Douay in 1609 A.D. The first King James Version was not published until 1611. This online DRV contains all 73 books, including the seven Deutero-Canonical books (erroneously called Apocrypha by Protestants). These seven books were included in the 1611 KJV, but not in later KJV Bibles.

The whole Douay-Rheims Bible was revised and diligently compared with the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner in 1749-1752 A.D. The notes included in the text were written by Dr. Challoner.

The DR Bible was photographically reproduced from the 1899 edition of the John Murphy Company, Baltimore, Maryland, by Tan Books in 1971. Eventually, this edition was optically scanned to produce a large text file which this publisher used for creating this website, with the aid of text-processing software.

One important goal of this project was to preserve the original text "as is", without making any changes in the wording, because the original text had the Imprimatur of James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, dated Sept 1st 1899.

The text file was checked quite thoroughly by software written by the publisher for punctuation errors and verses out of order. The index was humanly checked for misspelled words and the corrections were made to the text. However, some spelling errors may still be present in the text. Many verses were out of order in the original file. These have been corrected.

Every effort was made to ensure that this online version is an exact match to the original printed version. No words were added or ommitted from the text, except for correcting errors caused by the scanning process. No words were rearranged. No verse numbers were changed, except in the case of Psalm 9.

Psalm 9 originally contained 21 verses and there were 2 versions of Psalm 10, numbering 1-18 and 1-8. This obviously caused a conflict, so it was decided to make the first Psalm 10 as the last part of Psalm 9 and renumber the verses 22-39. This retains the same numbering as all the Douay Rheims. Note, in the Protestant Bibles the numbering of Psalms 10 through 146 differs by one.

Answer 5

NIV is a great choice. Good news is not quite as acurate. Just plug in and start reading. my dad, a minister, often recommended starting with Psalms and Proverbs then going to the New Testament, then the old, For a new believer this system will help the most I think. It's how I started as a little girl. Try this site also.
www.amazingfacts.org
It will take you step by step though some difficult scriptures.

Answer 6

The KJV with the Amplified Bible (to help Understand the Words in the KJV) works Pretty Good.
Staying in the New Testament is Good Too, for a While.
The Old Testament can confuse you Till you get Grounded in the Faith using the New Testament.

Answer 7

Try anyone that seems most comfortable and understandable,

At www.biblegateway.com
you can explore for yourself all the versions at any time, for free, and decide for yourself which one YOU are comfortable to study.

There's one called, Good News Bible, it is written as
"Today's English Version". Its very comfortable familiar English language to read. Its still very good for learning, especially for beginners.

Its no less accurate than NIV. (both are a bit inaccurate for example Philippians Chapter 4 verses 12-13, The King James Version KJV explains it accurately, has meaning that the the other versions miss the point)

Later on, when you learn more, you can fine-tune specifics with the King James Version, the most accurate English language version which accords with Greek (the original bible) and German and French bibles too.

Answer 8

the KJV is best. 1 + 2 John etc. are referring to different books of the Bible. the NIV leaves out some important verses of the Bible.

Answer 9

I think you are asking which translation is more suitable for you. For starters I recommend the New Living Translation. But if you are talking just about the NT, I would give the thumbs up to "The Great Book - The Bible in Plain English" which is only now available in NT.

Answer 10

be VEEEEERY careful which translation you get.....i would suggest you NOT get the Message...the Message Remix.... (which those aren't translations anyway, but rather a paraphrase)...i also would not suggest the good news translation.....a lot of the newer translations have been accused of misinterpretations...the NIV is an excellent translation......the new king james Bible is more modern than the King James, but still retains the proper interpretations......but the NIV is the one i would recommend....if you'll get an NIV study Bible, it should have pages in the beginning of each book of the Bible, explaining who wrote the book....who was the audience......why it was written....ect..... go to www.cbd.com to find a really good Bible for very inexpensive prices...