Bibles
Top Study Bible
Life Application Study Bible
Available in NASB,NKJV,KJV, NIV, & NLT $69.99-$129.99 The Life Application Bible was created for the reader who wants to answer the Question, “What does God’s Word mean for my life today?” This edition is full of features that will help you understand the timeless lessons of the Bible, including application notes, character studies, maps and charts, detailed book introductions, and more. |
Top Children's Bible
Adventure Bible
Available in NIV, NIrV, NKJV &NRV $22.99-$49.99 Ready for Adventure? Embark on a fun, exciting journey through God’s Word with the Adventure Bible. Along the way you’ll meet all types of people, see all sorts of places, and learn all kinds of things about the Bible. Most importantly you’ll grow closer in your relationship with God. . |
Choosing a Bible Translation
When the documents that make up the Bible were first written, they captured exactly what God wanted to say in the languages that ordinary people spoke. There was no friction between perceiving the form or structure of the text and perceiving the meaning of the text. The original audience experienced a unique combination of both ingredients.
But Bible readers today can't experience this combination any more. The Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic texts still show us the form and structure of the original but most of us can't understand what they mean. As English speakers we need translations, and we're privileged to have access to a wide variety of options that fall into three broad groups.
The first group - known to scholars as formal equivalence translations - place a particularly high priority on reproducing the form and structure of the original. This approach allows modern Bible readers to perceive many of the important details and subtleties in the text. East of understanding varies from verse to verse and from book to book, but all verse and all books achieve a high standard of transparency to the original languages.
The second group - known to scholars as functional or 'dynamic' equivalence translations - place a particularly high priority on reproducing the meaning of the original. This approach helps modern Bible readers understand the impact and implications of God's messge in words that they can relate to and grasp quickly. Transparency to the form and structure of the original documents varies from verse to verse and from book to book, but all verses and all books achieve ease of understanding.
The third group seeks to recover the priorities of the original documents themselves, allowing readers to perceive the form of the original and the meaning of the original at the same time. Striving for the optimum blend of authenticity and accessibility in eery verse, these translations allow modern day readers to experience - as far as possible - what it would have felt like to be part of the Bible's original audience.
But Bible readers today can't experience this combination any more. The Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic texts still show us the form and structure of the original but most of us can't understand what they mean. As English speakers we need translations, and we're privileged to have access to a wide variety of options that fall into three broad groups.
The first group - known to scholars as formal equivalence translations - place a particularly high priority on reproducing the form and structure of the original. This approach allows modern Bible readers to perceive many of the important details and subtleties in the text. East of understanding varies from verse to verse and from book to book, but all verse and all books achieve a high standard of transparency to the original languages.
The second group - known to scholars as functional or 'dynamic' equivalence translations - place a particularly high priority on reproducing the meaning of the original. This approach helps modern Bible readers understand the impact and implications of God's messge in words that they can relate to and grasp quickly. Transparency to the form and structure of the original documents varies from verse to verse and from book to book, but all verses and all books achieve ease of understanding.
The third group seeks to recover the priorities of the original documents themselves, allowing readers to perceive the form of the original and the meaning of the original at the same time. Striving for the optimum blend of authenticity and accessibility in eery verse, these translations allow modern day readers to experience - as far as possible - what it would have felt like to be part of the Bible's original audience.
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Translation
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Verse Comparison
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NIV
New International Version |
Recreating - as closely as possible - the reading experience of the original audience.
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Bible readers of all ages
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"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."
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NAB
New American Bible |
Seeking to combine transparency to the source documents with a good level of comprehensibility in modern English.
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Catholic
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"Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury"
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HCSB
Holman Christian Standard Bible |
Blending transparency to the original documents with accessibility for the contemporary audience.
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Primarily Southern Baptists
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"Love is patient; love is kind.
Love does not envy; is not boastful; is not conceited; does not act improperly; is not selfish is not provoked; and does not keep a record of wrongs" |
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NASB
New American Standard Bible |
An uncompromising effort to maximize transparency to the original documents
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Conservative, Evangelical Protestant adults
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"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered"
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KJV
King James Version |
Blending transparency to the form and structure of the Bible documents that were available at the elegant 17th century English
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Conservative, Evangelical
Protestant adults |
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil"
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NKJV
New King James Version |
Prioritizing transparency to the same source documents as the original KJV but with updated English
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Conservative, Evangelical
Protestant adults |
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil"
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NRSV
New Revised Standard Version |
Maintaining the formal equivalence philosophy of the RSV while seeking to reflect contemporary English usage
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Mainline and
interconfessional adults |
"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful"
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ESV
English Standard Version |
Building on the foundation of the RSV, prioritizing transparency to the orginal documents
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Conservative, Evangelical
Protestant adults |
"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful"
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NIrV
New International Reader's Version |
Working from the NIV as a base to maximize accessibility for younger readers
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Children and new readers
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"Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not brag. It is not proud. It is not rude. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people's wrongs."
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NLT
New Living Translation |
Building on the legacy of the original Living Bible, prioritizing accessibility for a broad audience
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Conservative, Evangelical
Protestant adults seeking a free-reading Bible Translation |
"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged"
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CEV
Contemporary English Version |
Functional equivalence: prioritizing accessibility for a broad audience
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Bible readers
seeking speedy, easy comprehension or focusing on outreach |
"Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do"
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NCV
New Century Version |
Functional equivalence: prioritizing accessibility for a broad audience
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Bible readers looking for a
free-flowing translation executed in today's language |
"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud.Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done"
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The Message
A Paraphrase |
A paraphrase re-articulating the message of the Bible in contemporary idioms
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Bible readers looking for a
fresh new take on the text and seekers |
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others," |
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AMP
Amplified Bible |
A broadly formally equivalent translation with explanatory alternate readings and amplifications
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Bible readers looking for
expanded word studies within the Bible text |
"Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]."
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Glossary of Bible Terms
Annotated - a Bible containing study notes.
Book Introductions - a brief overview of the contents of each Bible book and section.
Center-Column Reference Bible - a Bible with references listed in a vertical column located in teh middle of the page between two columns of Bible text.
Chronological Bible - a Bible that arranges passages in the order in which the events most likely occurred.
Concordance - an alphabetical index of Bible words and names. Each word is followed by a list of one or more verses containing that word or name.
Dead Sea Scrolls - archeologists and biblical scholars have studied the Dead Sea Scrolls and have found them to contain portions of nearly alll of the Old Testament books. The NIV and other modern translations like NASB, HCSB and NLT incorporate the scholarship of these archeological findings.
Dictionary/Concordance - a combination Bible dictionary and concordance that is usually brief and often used in children's Bibles.
Parallel Bibles - different Bible translations positioned side-by-side in one volume. Contains anywhere from two to eight different translations in one volume.
Presentation Pages - one or more pages at the front of a Bible for recording the user's name as well as other information like marriages, births, family trees, etc.
Red Letter Edition - a Bible with the words of Christ printed in red.
Single Column - a Bible with just one column of Bible text on a page.
Study Notes - notes that are not part of the actual text of the Bible but are included as helpful tools, sometimes giving additional information about the meaning of specific passages or citing additional facts about biblical people, places and times.
Subject Index - a listing of major Bible topics, each followed by a passage or passages of Scripture about that topic. Some subject indexes also references topics covered in study notes, devotions and book introductions.
Table of Weights and Measures - Biblical terms for weight, capacity and length are shown in their equivalent American measure.
Translation or version- means to take the original Greek and Hebrew Bible text and put them into today's language to make it understandable for the modern English reader.
Typeface and Size - refers to the shape and size of the letters on a page, which can affect readability.
Wide Margin - a Bible with extra white space around the text in which to write notes.
Book Introductions - a brief overview of the contents of each Bible book and section.
Center-Column Reference Bible - a Bible with references listed in a vertical column located in teh middle of the page between two columns of Bible text.
Chronological Bible - a Bible that arranges passages in the order in which the events most likely occurred.
Concordance - an alphabetical index of Bible words and names. Each word is followed by a list of one or more verses containing that word or name.
Dead Sea Scrolls - archeologists and biblical scholars have studied the Dead Sea Scrolls and have found them to contain portions of nearly alll of the Old Testament books. The NIV and other modern translations like NASB, HCSB and NLT incorporate the scholarship of these archeological findings.
Dictionary/Concordance - a combination Bible dictionary and concordance that is usually brief and often used in children's Bibles.
Parallel Bibles - different Bible translations positioned side-by-side in one volume. Contains anywhere from two to eight different translations in one volume.
Presentation Pages - one or more pages at the front of a Bible for recording the user's name as well as other information like marriages, births, family trees, etc.
Red Letter Edition - a Bible with the words of Christ printed in red.
Single Column - a Bible with just one column of Bible text on a page.
Study Notes - notes that are not part of the actual text of the Bible but are included as helpful tools, sometimes giving additional information about the meaning of specific passages or citing additional facts about biblical people, places and times.
Subject Index - a listing of major Bible topics, each followed by a passage or passages of Scripture about that topic. Some subject indexes also references topics covered in study notes, devotions and book introductions.
Table of Weights and Measures - Biblical terms for weight, capacity and length are shown in their equivalent American measure.
Translation or version- means to take the original Greek and Hebrew Bible text and put them into today's language to make it understandable for the modern English reader.
Typeface and Size - refers to the shape and size of the letters on a page, which can affect readability.
Wide Margin - a Bible with extra white space around the text in which to write notes.
