What translation of the Bible do you use?
Hi! I actually use a handful (named below), with each serving a different purpose.
Different Bible translations are made to do different things (and each one has a group of editors with specific interpretive lenses), so I recommend having at least a couple that you reference often (such as one that purports to stick closer to the Hebrew and Greek, and one that is closer to modern English).
Also, no matter what version you use, it’s so important to have a Bible with good commentary and footnotes!
For each of the versions i’ll name below, i’ll link to the copy of it that i have, each of which concludes fantastic notes on historical/cultural context, translation choices, theological interpretation, and more.
(Note: Bibles with good commentary can be awfully expensive BUT they’re easy to find secondhand on a variety of websites like amazon, thriftbooks, abebooks, etc.)
(and as i’ll describe later, for good free commentary online you can go to netbible.org)
I like BibleGateway's explanations of a whole bunch of different translations -- click on the link for any version on this webpage and move to the "About the [version]" to read about what its creators' goals were in making it. For my own favorites below, I'll paste part of what each of their linked pages says about them.
My own faves are the CEB, the NRSV, and the NASB. I like to use them in tandem if I'm doing a deep dive, and to look at the original hebrew / greek for any verse that i wonder about. I'll describe what each one is best for below.
CEB: the Common English Bible -- the best for communal use!
If you only want one Bible, I think I’d recommend this one.
It’s great for reading aloud from in worship services. I recommend it to folks who want uncomplicated English and who appreciate knowing that the editors behind a translation were of a more progressive mindset.
from Biblegateway -- "A key goal of the [CEB] translation team is to make the Bible accessible to a broad range of people; it's written at a comfortable level for nearly all English readers."
"The CEB represents the work of a diverse team with broad scholarship, including the work of over 120 scholars—men and women from 24 faith traditions in American, African, Asian, European and Latino communities."
Here’s a link to my copy of the CEB with all its commentary. notice i’ve got the copy with the apocrypha cuuuuz i’m Catholic haha. (and again, it’s expensive so DO find it somewhere secondhand!)
NRSV: the New Revised Standard Version -- a great option for scholars & academics!
This version is more scholarly / academic minded, so depending on a person's reading level it might not be as easy to understand. But get a study version of it and there will be plenty of commentary and footnotes to help you along!
According to the info page on Biblegateway, no other version is so widely ecumenical (meaning a whole bunch of denominations worked on it & like it).
The NRSV claims to be "as literal as possible" -- meaning it sticks to the original languages as closely as it can -- and "as free as necessary" to be easily understandable in English. That’s a nice balance to reach!
I will say that I often get cranky with the NRSV because i want it to be closer to the original hebrew and greek than it sometimes is...But so many of my professors and classmates in seminary love this version that I guess it’s good! And the commentary included with the translation is often really helpful.
Here’s the copy I have: The New Interpreter’s Study Bible.
NASB: New American Standard Bible: also great for academics
i like the NASB because it's what i grew up using as a Catholic
From Biblegateway: ”the NASB adheres to the principles of a formal equivalence translation. This is the most exacting and demanding method of translation, striving for the most readable word-for-word translation that is both accurate and clear. This method more closely follows the word and sentence patterns of the biblical authors in order to enable the reader to study Scripture in its most literal format and to experience the individual personalities of those who penned the original manuscripts.”
Here’s the copy I have. It has TONS of essays at the front of it that are super cool -- academically written, so be aware the articles aren’t particularly accessible to anyone who doesn’t have a college-level reading level.
See also: the Jewish Annotated New Testament edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler
As is clear from the title, this isn't a full Bible, just the "New Testament"; but it's got fantastic footnotes in general, and particularly for anyone interested in a Jewish perspective on the Christian texts.
This is an essential resource for avoiding supersessionism & other forms of antisemitism when reading the Christian texts
Lastly, my one place to go for footnotes on translation / the original languages....NET Bible
This is an online Bible that’s free and has good footnotes for anyone who wants to know about the Hebrew and Greek as they read!
For more on looking into the original languages even if you don’t know them; and for some tips on using NETBible (the last 10 minutes of the vid or so), see my youtube vid here.
a few versions of the Bible i HATE: the NIV and the NLT. Also the ESV.
They’re conservative led and liked by a lot of conservative churches.
and whoever the heck makes them or something pays google to make their versions appear at the top of search results and it makes me so, so cranky. also, they stray really far from the Hebrew & Greek. PLEASE if you use one of these, check out some other options to use instead / as well.
a couple other resources i like to use alongside any Bible:
This book for basic info about each book of the Second Testament (“New Testament”), including summaries and historical info like who wrote it when
This book for really cool context surrounding the Hebrew Bible (”Old Testament”) cultures
Inspired by Rachel Held Evans -- a book that’s not mainly for scholars so it’s real easy to read and so helpful for thinking about how to read scripture with its context in mind, and how it’s okay to wrestle with the more disturbing parts
Working Preacher is a great website for brief lil articles applying various bible passages to today -- just search for a specific passage to see if anything has been shared on there
Textweek is like working preacher but has even more stuff per passage, some of which is more academic. kind of a mixed bag of links per passage on there
Left Behind and Loving It offers exegesis (interpretation) of any given week's liturgical Gospel texts. It's a good first place to go when digging into the Greek of a text.
