Which version of the Bible should I read?

This was the question recently given to me, and I took it as an opportunity to produce this little response.

Devotional reading of the Bible has been a practice for individual Christians since the Protestant reformation in the 1500’s, when the Bible scriptures were translated from the Latin translation into the native languages of the people. With the developments of increased literacy and the printing press, the Bible began to be read individually by many Christians for the first time. In the past century, scholarship has learned much about the ancient Hebrew and Greek languages in which the original manuscripts were written, and this study has produced a number of good translations of the Bible into modern English. But the choices can be daunting. To the question of “which version should be read?” there isn’t one correct answer, but I will offer a short introduction and some recommendations. However, if you have a Bible that you read and which contributes to your faith practice, then keep it. That is the right one.

I recommend the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). This translation is published by several companies with good notes to aid in understanding the meaning and context, such as the Harper-Collins Study Bible. The NRSV uses modern English language and the best of Biblical scholarship to produce an accurate, readable text.  One of the ways that this version updates to contemporary English language is to use inclusive language when referring to people (whereas the word “men” once referred to all people, it is now used to refer specifically to a group of males). The NRSV makes references to men and women clear.  I can also recommend the New Jerusalem Bibl (NJB) and the Common English Version (CEV). The NJB tends to use more creative language and the CEV tends toward simple words.

I also recommend The Message, which is a paraphrase of the Bible by Eugene Peterson. He intentionally lets go of a strict translation of words and phrases in order to put the meaning of scripture in contemporary, creative language. Sometimes his rendering gives new light to familiar passages, and sometimes I miss the original, but it is well done.

I know that many people love the King James Version (KJV). I also love much of the language of the KJV, but I must warn that the Elizabethan English in which it was composed in 1611 is often confusingly different than the English that we use. Psalm 23 is beautifully put in the KJV (as long as you understand that the phrase “I shall not want” means something like “I shall not lack for anything”), but other sections are much more confusing.

Please remember that the footnotes, introductions to the books, and other study guides in any given Bible do not necessarily reflect what all Christians believe. Some versions come with very specific theological points of view, which may represent a small minority of Christian opinion.

Private devotional reading of the scriptures should be both comforting and challenging. It should help us to see our lives and the world through the lens of the Scriptures, so that we live from our spiritual center where God’s Holy Spirit comes to reside. But Christianity is really a community life, and it is good to bring the insights of our devotional reading into conversation with the church. Ask questions, share what you have found, and we will all be blessed.