All I've ever had is the King James version.

I'm thinking about an additional version that's a bit easier to read.

Go!

NIV. easy read.

NIV

All ive ever had is new king james, guess ill stick with it.

There are several good Bible translations. KJV is my favorite.

However, if one truly wants to be impacted and study the Bible the real help will come from reference, commentaries, and concordances. This is best way to truly understand and apply the Bible to your life.

I personally love J Vernon McGee. Thru The Bible reference set is wonderful. I would also recommend his Thru the Bible podcast. Absolutely amazing.

Just reading the Bible verse by verse is a great thing. Digging deep into the Bible and learning all the background and depth is life altering.

NIV. Church uses ESV and it is closer to plain english

The original KJV is based on an inferior set of Hebrew/Greek manuscripts. We've discovered 1000s of manuscripts since the early 17th century. It is to be expected. Newer KJVs have taken account of that.

For readability and meaning for meaning translation technique, NIV is going to be the most popular. The translation committee responsible for the NIV tends to have a particular theological bent towards evangelicalism, if that matters to you one way or the other.

For a more academic, structure for structure approach, the NRSV is often preferred. The New Oxford Annotated Bible (it is the NRSV text) has ample academic based articles that are helpful for understanding the historical background and the compositional history of the texts, if that is what you are looking for. It is a different translation technique than versions like the NIV, but it is still readable, at least moreso than the older KJV versions.

This is not a criticism of your post. It is correct is a secular sense. Which is basically saying for the human “education/knowledge” it explains the human view. Biblically, faith, not so much.

NKJV

KJV

I prefer the NIV version as well.

I'm not certain what your are saying here.

I think either translation can be read in either way - for academic or for devotional purposes. Some translations do lend themselves better to certain tasks, though.

haha that's fair

NIV - the current version.
New Living Translation - EXCELLENT translation.
The Message - A paraphrase, not a translation.

None of those are translations.
I wouldnt go to a church that had any of those in the pews and certainly not if they were used for teaching or preaching.
I know how they came about and what is missing.

RSV
NABRE
NIV

I like to look at several to see if they mesh.

Our pulpit minister uses the ESV. Not a big fan of it.

This thread also shows my point in the debate going on in the bunker. All versions are based on HUMAN translations. The key is to get one that is as close to word for word as the original language. The KJV is an excellent example. However, the word usage spoken at that time is different than the word usage today. So the New American Standard uses word for word translation, except that it uses the more modern words of today.

As stated earlier, the more you read from scholars and the deeper who dig to understand these translations and meanings with usage, the greater your understanding of God’s word. That and praying daily for God to give you wisdom and open you mind to him.

I will take this a step further by saying that the sole purpose of the Bible is to point us to Christ. We can't make the book more important than the savior.

New Living Translation.

Also like The Message.

NIV. I've got a Ryrie Study Bible and really like the detailed explanations/information. I find myself bouncing back and forth from the Bible passages and the study sections...takes much more time but I feel I gain more knowledge.

NAS is not bad in that regard. Neither is NRSV.

You nailed it when you said that "all versions are based on human translations." Absolutely. I reiterate in my classes, even in my language (Greek / Hebrew) classes, that "every translation is an interpretation." There is no "one to one" Hebrew/Aramaic/Greek to English translation. Every single one is an interpretation of the original language, and trying to figure out how to communicate the translators'('s) interpretation into English. No way to avoid that.

I read Hebrew and Greek, etc. Even my own translations are interpretations. No way to avoid that reality. It just is what it is.

All I've ever known is the KJV.

This. I have a parallel Bible I got when I was first saved back in 1988 with KJV in one column and NIV in the other. NIV is missing some content.

I like the NKJV as TCM3 says. I access it mostly on my phone nowadays thru my YouVersion Bible app.