Which Bible translation do you use?

George E

Given the discrepancies discovered in the King James Version because the translators didn't have access to the earliest manuscripts at the time, and given that the archaic meanings of English words has changed so radically since the KJV was written, which translations are you finding most useful? Or are you still using the KJV, despite it being almost in a foreign language?

I'm finding the New Revised Standard Version to be the best for reading aloud from during worship, though for study I'm also using the New International Version.

Though, to be honest, I have to say that the psalms sound best read from the KJV.

music wasn't part of me · Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:03 pm Post subject:

It's very interesting when talking about bible translation...there are so many of them now, almost all of em are from USA and each gives me a new insight to the scripture

Well I'm not american, in my country Indonesia, there's only 1 translation available in our language (That's a translation of KJV) so 98% people here read that (No other choice and most Indonesians can't really understand the high-degree of english used in the english bibles)

But for me, I'm slightly different from most people, I thank Jesus for giving me talent with languages in me and my family.When I was reborn, I read indonesian bible all the time...then I felt a bit short of meaning in the translation, so I went out and got an NIV bible

NIV was an Amazing Eye-Opener to whole context of God for me, I got so much out of it, I'm still using it now and i carry it everywhere. Going further in God, I got the Amplified Bible, Bible Atlas (Soooo Hard to find these two!!) and also the NKJV

I agree with you that Psalms are better read in KJV/NKJV, it's the poetry thing i guess...the words run so deep, straight to the heart giving very honest and pure uplifting spirit everytime I was discouraged

I feel sad sometimes about the situation in my country, it just happens that I'm quite good in English, I could see a huge gap between Indonesian and English Bible....Maybe I can give a small picture, English has 16 tenses plus idioms,phrasal verbs.collocations and many other parts that enriches the language when used in writing a story like the Bible. Indonesian language is quite the opposite, we don't have any tenses at all, we just simply put adverbs of time to clarify the time space. You can forget phrasal verbs, idioms. as you can see, things got kinda narrowed down when translated to Indonesian (I'm not giving bad credits to my mother language, I'm just saying it as it is)

I'll take a picture of my Indonesian Bible and upload it here ok...just so you guys could see (And try to understand ?? hahahaha.... Cool

)

jeff_osu · Tiger Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 838 Location: Oklahoma

I had an Old King James Version bible until I was 10. I'm not sure how that really happened. Laughing

Tornado hit our house, and I got a new one, this time New KJVersion....I honestly wasn't aware of different bibles until I was 15 or so....I just thought there was old and new KJVersions.

My wife had these other versions with explanations, definitions, etc. written int he margins but I was naturally distrustful of them (perhaps a throwback to my first 15 years being Baptist? Wink

). The only way to really get a "true" bible is to do what Muslims do and learn the archaic languages so you can read a non-translated bible.

George E · Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:43 pm Post subject:

ACfixer · Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 4:27 pm Post subject:

Guys, I think God protects and honors all honest translations. Personally I like the New King James but I'm ok with the other widely accepted translations. And yes, Psalms is part of the reason I like the New King James. Wink

The NIV is a smoother reading Bible but I grew up like Bates on the Old King James and the NKJ retains the old time feel without the thees and thous.

Personal preference, like I said as long as it's an honest translation (not like the New World Translation) then I think God will reveal to you in your reading exactly what He wants to. Smile

music wasn't part of me · Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 4:51 pm Post subject:

George E · Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:35 pm Post subject:

Here's a link to the best comparison of the various translations I've run into.

http://www.kencollins.com/bible-t2.htm

In fact, Ken Collin's website is one of the most informative I've found for a great many things.

music wasn't part of me · Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:18 am Post subject:

/POP Quiz : Which one's made first ? NIV Bible, the Message or NAB?

got another great source of various translations here and a clear timeline of their making

i found Very Very Very useful information there right from the beginning for those who seek historical insight of God...you don't even need to click further since everything's there on the index page!

Answer ? NAB first
and then ?
have a look : http://www.ibs.org/bibles/translations

music wasn't part of me · Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:22 am Post subject:

This is indonesian bible...from the book of Ezekiel chapter 1, you could see the verses there...

Most of the titles are different in Indo, ...some are taken from the english title like ezekiel->Yehezkiel, Jeremiah->Yeremia ....but there are some totally different like Psalm->Mazmur , Genesis->Kejadian etc

Tuhan Memberkati Kalian Semua (That's : God Bless You All)

PunkStar · Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:44 am Post subject:

Wow, thanks for posting that pic. I personally find it interesting to see the Scriptures in other languages. So thanks for that.

As for me, I like the Old/New King James for memorization purposes. I find their wording is just a bit shorter, and I really have no problem with old English, I kinda like it actually. It makes me feel smart. Laughing

For reading though, I'm a fan of the Living translation. Fairly modern and I've found it all fits together quite nicely.

As a programmer though, I've been very tempted to try and translate the Bible into a programming language. I'm currently working on the most simple way of writing the first chapter of Genesis in C++. Kinda gives new meaning to a programmer's bible.