If I were to read the entire bible, which version should I read?

Question

If I want to read the bible, I want to read a version that is the closest translation to from where it has been translated. I've heard from other topics like this that the KJV isn't a popular book but widely used in churches and whatnot, and since I know there are other versions of it, I doubt I will be satisfied with just a KJV. What version would you reccomend to me?

Please, this is a serious question seeking serious answers, and I would appricate it if my question were not rittled with immature responses.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Bible of Barnabas, Bible of Nag Hamadi, Bible of dead scrols.

if you try other bibles. see what happened with bible.
The Pasters of high denomination of Christianity declared that there are 50,000 errors in Holy Bible.
www.jamaat.net/bible/AwakeArticle(1957).html
www.al-sunnah.com/bible.htm - 43k.
www.muslimworld.co.uk/errorsinbible.htm
www.ahmed-deedat.co.za/bible/14.html

Example of biblical interpolation, corruption and addition by pasters and these pasters deserve the plague according to Jesus pbuh.
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Bible/NLT/nlt_exposed.htm
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/nivdelet.htm

Corruption and interpolation in bible exposed.
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Bible/american_standard_version_expose.htm


16 Pasters of high rank removed the verse John 5:7 from Bible. Because this verse advocates the concept of trinity.
http://www.30below.com/~ethanl/1John5v7.html
www.1john57.com
www.wayoflife.org/fbns/defending1.htm
www.studytoanswer.net/bibleversions/1john5n7.html

There are more than 2,000 versions of bible in this world.

Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses.
First Roman Catholic Bible was published at Rheims in 1582.
Second one published at Douay in 1609.
These called RCV version of Bible.
The Protestants regarded 7 books as ‘apocrypha’ (doubtful authority) and removed them from Bible.
(The Book of Judith
The Book of Tobias
The Book of Baruch
The Buck of Esther, etc. )
Jesus pbuh said in the book of Revelation Chapter 22 Verse 18-19 ". . . If any man shall add to these things (or delete) God shall add unto him the plagues written in this Book."
On deleting 7 books from bible, the Catholics call ‘cult of Christianity’ to the Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses.

Answer 2

The most accurate of course would be the original Bible which was written in Hebrew, Aramaic and the Greek languages and all formal translations of the original books. A formal translation tries to match the original words in English. There are two, these are the Revised Standard Version and American Standard Version but they are a little bit awkward to read. There are other versions which are less formal and good to read. They are the New International Version with apocrypha and the New American Bible.
There is another type of translation. It is called dynamic equivalence which matches the thought rather than the words of the original. They are the Good News Bible and the Today's English Version. I use the Good News Bible for my meditation and pastoral work because it is easier to understand.
Peace and every blessing

Answer 3

There are two types of translations, literal and paraphrase. Literal are translated word for word and are therefore more accurate, whereas the paraphrase are translated thought for thought. The thoughts are taken from the original and translated into what that thought would mean today. They do not seek acuracy but fluency. They are much easier to read but lack accuracy. You need to determine what you are looking for and choose accordingly.
The KJV is a literal translation but is written in 'old English' and many words are out of date, and words change meaning through usage and time. The NASB is a literal version with up to date language and may be the best in your case.
The NIV is a paraphrase, although they, the translaters, (Zondervan) do not want people to know that it is a paraphrase so they call it a"literal paraphrase" which no one knows what that means. It is very easy reading but very inaccurate. They also have a couple of other problems such as they wrote it as an International version. Since it was written with the intention of many readers being people whose first language was not English, they forced themselves to use a much smaller vocabularly, to make it simple and so more complicated words were not used, again destroying accuracy. The third major problem they have is that they used questionable manuscripts, as did the NASB which again brings accuracy into question.
Bottom Line: there are many versions out there you need to pick one that you are comfortable with. The message is in all of them and if you pray about it God will guide you into the one for you.
My Personal recommendation: NASB

Answer 4

I would suggest KJV, or the English version of the Roman Catholic's bible. You can get a good idea of most of the versions at Biblegatewy.com. I will get a link for you. There are some other sites that deal with bible history in terms of archaeology mentioned. They are mostly shunned by believers because they cast doubt on the literal truth of the word, but give meaning to when and why these books were written and compiled.
The wording in the KJV is often criticized and some of the words, accurate in the translation then have changed their common English meanings over time. But most of the newer translations are no better, and just make different mistakes. Get what you are comfortable with for language used and you can normally get bibles cheap at thrift stores. especially religious charity thrift stores.
Try to make sure they include the Apocrypha(KJV or epigraphia if RC) because they are neat little stories.

Answer 5

There are now more than 60 versions of the Bible(Different versions not translations The different versions of the Bible are not merely different translations, but are actually versions i.e. they add and remove things from other versions)



These revisions serve as concrete proofs that all the Biblical books are not at all divinely inspired. This is because it is beyond man's ability to correct the work of his Creator, who alone is Almighty and perfect

The Bible is a collection of writings by many different authors. The Qur'an is a dictation. The speaker in the Qur'an - in the first person - is God talking directly to man. In the Bible you have many men writing about God and you have in some places the word of God speaking to men and still in other places you have some men simply writing about history. Please read http://www.islamdoor.com/ and ask the Creator for guidance

Answer 6

~ Diane... Hi...

~ When you go to a Christian book store to purchase your new Study Bible... they should have a reference card that takes a verse from each type of Bible (same scripture), so that you can read each one... Find the reading that pleases you or is easier for you to read (as opposed to the KJV you mentioned)... make sure it has room in the margins for notes...

~ I have several translations... a KJV (new Schofield Study System Bible); a switchblade (small Bible) KJV which I took to Israel and marked up for all the studies there; a Good News Bible given to me by my Brother-in-Law from his Mom... this one is the easiest read for me, but I enjoy the Schofield Bible more for the reference materials... Lastly, I had a Timothy Lehay End Times Prophesy Bible which I loved, but lost when I sold my home several years ago... I'l no doubt get another, as I enjoy reading about the prophesies in the OT, finding when they were fullfilled... and same with the NT.

~ Now then, Diane... you stated you want to read the ENTIRE Bible, correct? Very easy to do, if you have a system... Many are presented in many of the Bibles you may purchase... you can get Woman's Devotionals that will help you accomplish this... and, ther are many www sites to help you with your studies.

At a minimum, read your Bible for at least 30 minutes a day... rise early and study the Word... pray to the Lord that He would give you understanding in what you read... pray that he would help you memorize scriptures that can be of use later to help others and/or yourself.

May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you, Diane.

Answer 7

Reading the original texts is best, but I don't know many people who speak ancient languages...I definetly don't recommend the KJV. It really is the nicest to me though...since I grew up reading it...but you lose a lot in the translation because of the Old English style writing. I recommend the New American Bible...it is really easy to read and gives detail on certain aspects of the Bible that are too difficult to understand without a PhD in theology.

Answer 8

Amplified Bible is cool, I like it but sometimes I get a little distracted with the super descriptive nature of it. NIV is a pretty clear read. I like the NKJV, it keeps the poetic and lyrical tenor to the writings. Revised Standard is decent. I still haven't warmed up to the Message. I never had much problem understanding KJV only because I was a huge fan of Shakespeare and I understood the sentence and word constructions readily. Okay... sorry if it was too much info. But I do hope you get some helpful answers. Thanks for being cool.

Answer 9

I tried to find an answer to this question before but I failed because simply everyone will tell you about the version he read or the version he liked

This raise another questions
"How come the true word of God come in soooo many versions ? "
" How come the true word of God loose its original language ? "
" How come the Bible has the words of historians and translator got into it ? "

i never found an answer to these too :(
but after i read in other religions i found only one book that has never been changed not even a single letter (these are not my words these are the words of historians and experts) its called the Qur'an .....if you really wanna know more feel free to msg me anytime :) bye

Answer 10

I believe there are versions of the Bible for teenagers or people who want to understand but don't have time to read the whole thing. They've been annotated for clarity and understanding. I'm not sure if you'd want an annotated version but I think it might be your best bet for really embracing the important stories and ideas. Try searching "bible" on amazon.com.