Buying a Bible, which version is best?

Question

There seems to be some contraversy over which one is most "accurate". I've just been using biblegateway.com but I wanted to buy my own. Which Bible is most "accurate" so I can purchase and refer to?

ah... two different versions and thumbs down for both already. *is seriously confused*

OKay.. is it just which one people prefer and can understand best? Or is it what gives the message most accurately?

Answer 1

Tha Catholic Bible
Protestant Bibles are incomplete because Luther took 7 books out of it in the 16th century, but before then, all bibles had those books, after the canon was approved in the councils of Hippo and Carthage in 397 AD
The Orthodox also have those books
Some will tell you that Catholics added books but that is what they´ve learned from other protestants
Find it for yourself. It´s a matter of history

Answer 2

No Bible in the English language is good enough. If you know Biblical Greek and Hebrew you have a definite advantage. Since most of us here are not multi lingual. If we are, those are not the typical languages that we know.

I have two proposals for you:
1) Get a version of the Bible where it's easy to find a concordance based upon that version. The King James version has many accompanying books for reference use.

2) Get the Bible which is easiest for you to read and use the concordance and Bible Dictionaries in order to make sure that you are getting it straight. MOST PEOPLE DO NOT GET IT STRAIGHT!

For example:

Every Christian quotes John 3:16 when they want to tell people that God loves everybody. That isn't true, and those people are merely parroting tradition. So you look at the word 'world' in the concordance which in Greek is 'Kosmos', and it will tell you that the definition for the word 'kosmos' in John 3:16 means 'for believers only'.

Here is a demonstration:
Here is John 3:16
http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?new=1&word=John+3%3A16§ion=0&version=str&language=en

Here is the definition and other information of the word 'world' in English translated from the word 'kosmos':
http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/Greek/grk.cgi?number=2889&version=kjv


It is by studying that we avoid making the errors of the pack. Those who go to church but never spend any time studying the things which matter.

Answer 3

The most accurate word for word translation is the New American Standard Bible Updated, according to National Bible Society. But they all say the same thing. Sometimes an easy to understand Bible is what you need, unless you plan on buying a lot of Bibles. I personally have a lot of Bibles, but there is one I read more than all the rest, one I take with me everywhere I go. If you are a somewhat new Bible reader I recommend the NIV, ( New International Version ).

Answer 4

The KING JAMES VERSION of the bible is an accurate, honest translation.Some people say it is too hard to read because of the language, but it is the same language that Shakespeare used. And another thing that I like about it is that there are no copyright laws on it. It is the common peoples Bible and I like that.

Answer 5

Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition

Answer 6

The NIV is by far the most popular, and is my favorite.
However, it would be best for you to buy the same version that your pastor preaches from. That way you can follow him when he teaches or preaches.
Bibles are cheap. Unless you want a leather bound study Bible, then expect to pay 40-60dollars (us).

Answer 7

All of them are accurate.

I would avoid paraphrased Bibles.

NIV tends to be the most schlolarly.

NASB tends to be popular also.

As I tell my AWANA kids the best Bible is the one you will read. The Bible does not change but language does. This is the reason some older translatins (KIV) might seem different...its that language has changed in 400 years.

Try NIV or NASB

Answer 8

King James Version is the most accurate, although it differs from some other versions. More work was put into converting it to English than any other versions, still some small problems but not many

Answer 9

I am fairly well educated, but have trouble interpreting the meaning of sentences and phrases found in most Bibles. I'm sure that many times I am mistaken in their true meaning. I have found, however, that The Living Bible is my choice for ease of understanding. I received mine from a Quaker friend of mine.

Answer 10

**COMPARING BIBLES can be difficult! HERE are some comments on one outstanding one, from unrelated sources to the publishers:

*** w04 12/1 p. 30 A “Remarkably Good” Translation

A “Remarkably Good” Translation

>>ACCORDING to one count, as many as 55 new English translations of the Christian Greek Scriptures were published between 1952 and 1990. Translators’ choices mean that no two read alike. In order to assess the reliability of the translators’ work, Jason BeDuhn, associate professor of religious studies at Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff, Arizona, U.S.A., examined and compared for accuracy EIGHT MAJOR (my caps) translations, including the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, published by Jehovah’s Witnesses. THE RESULT?

>>While critical of some of its translation choices, BeDuhn called the New World Translation a “remarkably good” translation, “better by far” and “consistently better” than some of the others considered. Overall, concluded BeDuhn, the New World Translation “is one of the most accurate English translations of the New Testament currently available” and “the most accurate of the translations compared.”—Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament.

>>BeDuhn noted, too, that many translators were subject to pressure “to paraphrase or expand on what the Bible does say in the direction of what modern readers want and need it to say.” On the other hand, the New World Translation is different, observed BeDuhn, because of “the greater accuracy of the NW as a literal, conservative translation of the original expressions of the New Testament writers.”

>>As the New World Bible Translation Committee acknowledges in the foreword to its work, it is “a very responsible thing” to translate the Holy Scriptures from their original languages into modern speech. The Committee goes on to say: “The translators of this work, who fear and love the Divine Author of the Holy Scriptures, feel toward Him a special responsibility to transmit his thoughts and declarations as accurately as possible.”

>>Since its first publication in 1961, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures has been made available in 32 languages plus 2 Braille editions. The Christian Greek Scriptures of the New World Translation, or the “New Testament,” is available in an additional 18 languages plus one Braille edition. We invite you to read God’s Word in this modern and “remarkably good” translation, perhaps in your own language.

*** w99 10/15 p. 31 A Milestone for Lovers of God’s Word

REGARDING the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, Edgar J. Goodspeed, translator of the Greek “New Testament” in An American Translation, wrote in a letter dated December 8, 1950: “I am interested in the mission work of your people, and its world wide scope, and much pleased with the free, frank and vigorous translation. It exhibits a vast array of sound serious learning, as I can testify.”
>>Hebrew and Greek scholar Alexander Thomson wrote: “The translation is evidently the work of skilled and clever scholars, who have sought to bring out as much of the true sense of the Greek text as the English language is capable of expressing.”—The Differentiator, April 1952, pages 52-7.

*** w99 10/15 p. 31 A Milestone for Lovers of God’s Word

Professor Benjamin Kedar, a Hebrew scholar in Israel, said in 1989: “In my linguistic research in connection with the Hebrew Bible and translations, I often refer to the English edition of what is known as the New World Translation. In so doing, I find my feeling repeatedly confirmed that this work reflects an honest endeavor to achieve an understanding of the text that is as accurate as possible.”

***There are also others:
The New Jerusalem Bible, Youngs Literal Translation; Amplified Bible; New International Version!

You can compare texts at:
Jehovah's Witnesses official site: http://www.watchtower.org/e/bible/index.htm

ALSO FOR 15 OTHERS:
http://www.biblegateway.com