Show me what version to buy.

I'm reading through the ESV for the first time this year. So far I like it.

Since you're a KJV user, I would recomment the NKJV. The NKJV retains much of th majesty and beauty found in the original KJVs while using more modern English. Although there are some variant readings found in the NKJV (as well as in any of the other modern translations), there are none that change the basic doctrines of the Christian faith.

It's always good to compare various translations of God's word. Comparing translations can open up whole new nuances of God's written word. Comparing translations can help you understand things that may be just a bit misunderstood when only one translation is read.

I would advise you to avoid paraphrases and to be careful of dynamic equivalence translations of the word. IMHO, a translation that follows a more literal or word-for-word policy is the best way to go, although it's impossible to translate from one language to another with 100% accuracy.

BTW, a little while back someone (sorry, I don't remember who it was) said that it really isn't appropriate to speak of different Bible versions because they all convey the preserved and inerrant message God intended us to have. Because the NKJV, tha NASBs, the ESV, the NIV et al convey the same message as the various KJVs, it's more appropriate to speak of different translations of God's word.

If you're really serious about looking into another Bible translation, pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit. Investigate the various translations. Get a feel for how they read. This can be done by using any of the various Bible search web sites with various translations available. My favorite is StudyLight (http://www.studylight.org) because it has more English Bible translations available than any other site I've seen. By all means check out the translations online before investing in a printed edition - you wouldn't buy a pair of shoes without trying them on first, would you?

 

I think that would be an excellent choice.
It comes from the same Tyndale line of translation.

It should give you enough to think about without jolting you out of your seat.

One of the first Bibles I had as a new believer was a Parallel NT, that might do as well.

Rob

 

If your local library has the version in question, you can sit and read it a while before you decide to buy it or not. My local Christian bookstore has a chair that you can sit in and peruse through books and Bibles before buying them. That way you can see what parts of the Bible you may like or dislike before spending your money on it.

 

Save gas. Read the ESV online at http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/ or at http://www.studylight.org.

 

I also prefer the KJV for a number of reasons you can read about in other threads if you care to seek them out. Right now if I were going to buy any Bible other than a King James it would be the ESV Study Bible. I spent some time looking at one when it first came out a few months ago and it looks like the people who put it together did an amazing job. You might also build your muscles as it is the biggest Bible you are ever likley to come across unless you have a pulpit Bible sitting around the house.

 

I personally think, that while the ESV is a good translation it is being hyped so much that it is really having a negative effect on me. In my humble opinion, it reads much the same as the older RSV.

Another poster mentioned the ESV Study Bible. Yes, I have one and it is very nice and worth the price. As also mentioned it is quite the armload to carry. But you did not ask about study Bibles, you are asking about a companion to your present KJV.

My again humble opinion is get several new Bibles. If money is a problem, let me suggest that you try used book stores. I bought a very good condition hard cover ESV pew Bible for $3.00 This would be easy on any budget. In fact, for the price of postage I will send it to you, just PM me.

But, I would suggest as a better companion to the KJV would be the NAS update. It is formal and based on the NA/USB greek text so you get that perspective. I have one of those I will also send you for postage (bought at the same used book store for $3.00).

Tom

 

I stay with the older standards a Schofield lll, a new version of the old original Schofield Bible KJV. Schofield 1967 for small change (modernization KJV). NKJV for a lot more modernization. And the NASB for alternative text and modernization.

I have others but don't see the need for anything beyond these. The NASB is still considered the daddy in the alternative text group, and is modern enough for me. I don't see any need to modernize, what has already been modernized.

 

While I agree with you to a certain extent, in the information age, language is evolving rapidly. What was contemporary a few decades ago is starting to lose ground.

 

That's a load. Just how much do you need to change what has been written, because there is a new slang on the block. The language that is used today, has nothing to do with the language of yesterday.

Unless you want to end up with something all together different, and changed. That's where corruption of the original starts.

If 50 years form now, someone modernized this post, you would never be sure what I really said. I probably would not even recognize it, now would that be necessarily correct.

 

The NASB is the most literal, word for word of the MV's. I have a Schofield lll KJV, which is an excellent study bible, and they do have it in NASB. My NASB is a Schofield but not the version lll, its just called the New Schofield.

Any way the three (lll) has lots of notes, which if you don't agree with you can ignore. Plus 50 or so in-text maps and other study aids, A chain reference, subject reference, word pronunciation dictionary, and a concordance.