I grew up with my Mom’s KJV, red-letter edition. It was so cool, black leather, parchment(?) pages, smelled like total holiness. I wasn’t allowed to touch it w/o Mom watching. When I got my Bible in about 3rd grade, it had a red fake leather cover, the pages felt like newspaper, and I don’t remember the version, but it was like reading a lame textbook! Not to mention that they spelled my name wrong on the inside cover. It’s in the book! Joseph, Leah and… Rachal?? No wonder I strayed.
I have several version, usually NIV.
I did, however, just get a New American Standard version for Christmas.
I did so after reading a book called
God at War This book utilized that version becasause the author felt that it was closest to the original while maintaining readability for the normal Americal public.
Everyones opinion will differ…of course.
forgive me friends, but i am a bit confused. the assumtion that we all would know these bible versions by their initials is incorrect. NIV? NRSV? NASB?
i own a new american bible (catholic), an oxford annotated king james edition, a book of mormon, a koran, a bhagavad-gita, a tao te ching, and a teachings of the buddha.
“don’t get strung out by the way that i look, don’t judge a book by it’s cover” (tim curry as dr. franknfurter in rhps)
I use the King James Version, supplanted by footnotes from the Joseph Smith Translation. Why the KJV? It’s the official translation the LDS church uses. Why the JST? Because it’s in the footnotes, and because it helps explain obscure or faulty passages in the KJV.
KJV - King James Version (Old and dear)
NIV - New International version (Un-oficial Official version of the Assemblies of God)
ASB - American Standed Bible
NASB - New American Standard
NKJV - New King James Version (Not so old and fewer thees and thous per hour)
LB - Living Bible (Not really a translation, but actually a interpratation)
IV - Intravenious
IRS - Internal Revenue Service (Illegal Government Orginization of Thieves)
The Bible I usually read for me is the JPS translation of the Tanakh. I don’t really like the translation all that much, but it’s not too bad. I’d very much like to get one with both the Hebrew and English, because whenever I read just the English, I get frustrated and wonder what the original says.
Because I’m a Religious Studies student, I have a number of other religious writings as well. I have a KJV Bible (Gideons again) and a New English Translation, too, which includes interesting apocrypha. I also have a copy of the Book of Mormon, the Qur’an, and the Bhagavad Gita. My next quest is to learn Arabic so that I can read the Qur’an properly. It is absolutely impossible to read it in English, but I understand it’s beautiful in Arabic.
Sure did! I figure that God would be keen if I decided that the book preached entire truth and got me to believe in the Chist dude.
Whereas, if I took it and did not come to that conclusion, I was wrong and another 20 lashes with (the real) Satan’s cat-o-ninee-tails in H-E-double-hockeysticks. Especially since me taking the book means that the guy who had the room aftter me couldn’t be saved from that book.
Also, I decided the Giddeons don’t like me at ALL.
NIV (New International Version) - It’s more of a “thought” translation than a “word” translation. IOW, the translating committee translated phrases rather than words, which makes for a smoother read.
The NIV does have some weaker points; mainly that it employs euphemisms where the original text is more harsh. For Example: Isaiah X:Y (REALLY starting to wish I had my Bible handy), in NIV, says “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” In the original Hebrew, the word translated “filthy” apparently means “menstrual.” IOW, “All our righteous acts are like bloody maxi pads.”
Kind of adds more punch to the passage, no?
“Hey Torquemada, whaddya say?
I’ve been away at the auto-da-fé.
Auto-da-fé? What’s an auto-da-fé?
It’s what you oughtta not do, but you do anyway!”