If you could have only one translation...

I would say NKJV. If they were out of those I would go KJV

 

KJB for me.

 

I foremost need a translation that allows me to KNOW what is being said, and readability is not key to that. I can read difficult words, and diagram sentences to see what is being said. I'd want a version that can be concorded accurately, which eliminates the NIV, and NLT, plus other paraphrase versions like The Message, TEV, etc. The HCSB is okay to read, but I have found myself drifting away from teaching from it because it splits the difference between a literal translation and a thought-by-thought translation.

I can no longer stomach the re-translation needed to make the KJV intelligible to myself or others, so that is out. Just too much work to explain everything twice and hope that the people "get it."

That leaves versions like the NASB, ESV, NKJV, etc., and I can be happy with any of those. I used the NASB exclusively for my seminary work, and it served me well, but I now prefer the ESV for the utter clarity that it brings, while remaining solidly attached to the underlying Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, plus the textual apparatus and study guides, concordances, etc., are first rate for this new version. It appears to be the new standard in Bible study, so I go that way.

 

Given that I have a fairly large collection of Bibles, If I could flip the OP question around to read: "If you had to get rid of one translation, which one would it be?"

answer: The ESV. A translation looking for a reason to exist.

 

"Utter clarity" is not so clear to many. It's more on the obfuscation side of things.

It's not so new.It's just a lightly dressed RSV.

 

I agree 100%, my thoughts exactly.

 

The Modern Language Bible aka New Berkeley Version.

 

NASB, ESV/NET would tie for second. NIV 2011 is not bad either

 

It's the darling translation of Calvinists. Must be a reason for that.

 

If I am choosing only for myself to read/study, I might choose Darby (but OTOH, the ASV could also be good choice).

 

Wow, tough topic...it's like asking which one of your kids you love more

If it had to be one, it's a draw between the NLTse and the HCSB depending on the day. Probably lean more towards the HCSB, though, particularly if the up-coming revision is good.

 

I'm not sure it is "superior" but it reads better.

Let's face it, I'm one of the blessed ones that study in the original languages, so I'm generally looking for an English translation that works well in group settings, and for devotional use. For those purposes, I prefer the ESV. I've not found all the problems with it that some here on the board have (perhaps I went through my biblical culture shock way back in the early 1990s when I got saved and found translations other than the KJV that actually caused me to want to read the Word). One of the best study editions ever published is in the ESV format. Scholarship is very good.

It generally boils down to a matter of choice in any case, and I think we're seeing that here.

When I really want to dig in, I'll use as many as 20 English translations to see how others have translated the original languages (and to check my own work). I have a great number of alternative Bible translations on my shelf and in my computer. Some that I'd lay odds a good many people have never seen, including one-off translations that were forerunners to more popular versions.

Additionally, when the Mormons or Jehovah's witnesses (or Catholics for that matter) come calling, I like to be able to work in their preferred translation, just to set them off a bit. Tends to diffuse their a priori notion that I don't really know the Bible because I don't know THEIR Bible... I can almost say the same thing for KJV users these days, and I note that the KJV is the translation of choice for the cults, not modern easily read English versions that everyone can read plainly without assistance. Not casting aspersions against the KJV, it was fine for its day, but that day is long past, and the work of re-translating to be usable in a group setting isn't worth the effort and time it takes.

 

I am a person who likes to use multiple translations. However if I had to chose just one it would be the NKJV. It is understandable, literal, and has all of the verses in the text.

 

TNIV or NIV 2011

 

Priscilla Ann had asked for examples of the "utter clarity" you claim that the ESV has. Could you demonstrate that utter clarity by comparing some passages in the ESV with the NASBU?

 

Due to your knowledge of the original languages --how does that have anything to do with an English translation that works well in group settings?

It's often related that one conversant in Greek would like to read a more dynamic version in devotional times.

 

You mean you like to see the extra-canonical passages in your favorite translations.