# Which Bible version should I read next?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-version-should-i-read-next/302265>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 3, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-version-should-i-read-next/302265 "2005-05-03T20:00:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-version-should-i-read-next/302265/1 "2005-05-03T20:00:25Z")

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Well, I’m within probably a week of finishing reading the Bible (second trip through). Both times, I have mostly read the New American Bible, although I have taken peeks into other versions. I’d like to read a different translation next, though. Perspective and all that.

So, what I have on my icon shelf at just this moment-

The Douay-Rheims Bible  
New Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition)  
The Jerusalem Bible  
The King James Version with “Apocrypha” (actually the Old Testament Deuterocanonicals, which were held to be part of the canon of scripture until that Luther guy decided that Scripture didn’t fit his doctrine and solved the problem neatly by editing Scripture)- actually, without going upstairs to check, I’m pretty sure it does have one apocryphal book in it. Third Maccabees, I think.

So, which one should I dig into next?

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**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-version-should-i-read-next/302265/2 "2005-05-03T20:21:39Z")

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For myself, I’d go for the KJV, since it’s been so influential to our language and so on. It’s the way people thought about scripture for centuries, so it would help in understanding their POVs, I suppose. I might prepare for it by reading up on Wycliffe (started the first Bible translation into English, died under house arrest before finishing), Tyndale (produced a complete translation, originated many of the well-known phrases and wording we still use, executed by Sir Thomas More), and then the KJV committee. Fascinating stuff.