What Do You Want From a Bible Translation?

I think, for most of us, the answer is obvious: we want an understandable translation that is faithful to the original textual witnesses.

A Bible translation is not helpful or useful if it can’t be read and understood. Nor is a Bible translation helpful or useful if it veers away from what the original authors of Scripture actually wrote. We want something that can be understood when we read it, and something that doesn’t make us wonder where it came from.

It’s hard to overstate how good we’ve got it in the English speaking world when it comes to Bible translations. You can go to www.biblegateway.com right now and choose from around 60 different translations. Almost all of which fit what I’m assuming is our shared expectation for a translation. This cannot be said for any other language in the world. The wild thing is that with these amazing options at our hands, we can become picky, start to worry, and sometimes become paralyzed from just making a decision and reading.

Peter Gurry, of the Text & Canon Institute, wrote a helpful article on where this pickiness, worry, and paralyzing feeling comes from. It’s worth looking into and considering for yourself because, if you’re anything like me, you’ve thought once or twice about the translation you read and whether or not there’s a better one out there. You might have even had someone point out something in your translation or in another that’s caused you to wonder if you’d be better served by reading a different one.

This was one of the reasons why I took several years to study Greek and Hebrew. I found myself wondering again, and again, if the translation or translations I was reading were the best. What I learned in my limited time in Greek and Hebrew was that it was the wrong question from the start. And you and I both know, if we start by asking the wrong question, we’re bound to come up with a wrong answer.

Instead of trying to find the “best” translation, I slowly started to believe that I was far better off just picking one, or two, or three, and appreciating each of them for what they each do well, while being gracious to them for those places where they bothered me. It’s honestly hard to find an overtly bad translation—they’re out there, to be sure, but you have to look for them. Whether you’re reading the ESV, NIV, NLT, KJV, NKJV, NASB, NRSV, CSB, LEB, NET, etc., you’re more than likely going to find a translation that is understandable and faithful to what was originally written. What you’ll also find, though, are the differences between even really good translations.

We know that the ESV is not like the NIV. And the NIV is not like the KJV. And the KJV is not like the NLT. The differences are obvious. The question for us, though, when it comes to what we want from a translation, is: What differences actually make a difference? It might be helpful for us to look at just two passages for an example of what I’m talking about.

In Luke 7, we have a story about a woman “who lived a sinful life” crying over the feet of Jesus and wiping his tear soaked feet with her hair. Jesus, makes a comment on this situation to those around him, saying, “…I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little…Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Lk 7:48, 50, NIV) Remember that bolded portion of the verse.

Later in Luke 8, we have a story about a sick woman coming to Jesus in a crowd of people being able to just touch the edge of his cloak. Jesus knew that something had happened after the woman touched him— “…I know that power has gone out from me.” (Lk 8:46b, NIV)—and the woman’s sickness ceased. Jesus, commenting on the situation, said, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” (Lk 8:48b, NIV) Again, the bolded portion is what we’ll be looking at closely.

In these two passages there are stories of a person’s faith doing something for them. In the first story from Luke 7, the woman’s faith saved her, while in the story from Luke 8, the woman’s faith healed her. No big deal, right? Right. That is, until you consider the underlying Greek text from these two passages.

In Luke 7:50, the Greek word underlying the English translation—has saved you—is σέσωκέν (sesoken). In Luke 8:48, the Greek word underlying the English translation—has healed you—is σέσωκέν (sesoken). You didn’t just misread anything. It’s the same Greek word, but with two different English translations. Now, depending on your preference for an English translation, you either like what is happening here or it bothers you (even if you aren’t quite sure what’s going on).

The two Greek words from Luke 7:50 and 8:48 are both built on the word, σῴζω (sozo). Now, sozo generally means to save, and that’s how it’s often translated. But, there are more than a few times in the New Testament where translating sozo as to save might not quite get the actual meaning across. Of all the Bible translations I regularly use, I’m only able to find a couple that translate both Luke 7:50 and 8:48 the same way with has saved you, because context determines translation, and translations determines interpretation.

We’ve already seen that the contexts for Luke 7:50 and 8:48 although similar (both stories have a woman coming to Jesus and Jesus saying something about their faith) are not the same. In the first, the context is about forgiveness of sins, while the second is about the healing of a sickness. Because of the different contexts most translators have made the decision to translate the first use of sozo as has saved you and the second as some version of has healed you.

There are folks out there who advocate for translating both passages with the same has saved you translation, which then allows the reader to make the interpretive decision that these two has saved you statements aren’t really talking about the same thing even though the same words are being used. This reasoning makes sense to me. Some would rather have their translation keep those types of linguistic connections more visible on the page.

There are other folks out there who advocate for translating the passages differently with has saved you and has healed you, which makes it clear to the reader that the contexts, although similar, are quite different and should be interpreted differently. This reasoning makes sense to me, as well. Some would rather have their translation reflect the interpretive choices based on the contextual situations of each story on the page.

So coming back to our earlier question—What differences actually make a difference?—and the overall question—What do we want from a Bible translation?—I think we can give some answers.

To the first question about the differences, we can for sure say that differences abound in different translations; however, what I think we’ll find again, and again, as we actually read different solid translations, is that the majority of those differences really don’t make a difference to you and I being able to understand what we’re reading and trusting that the text isn’t being messed with. In short, if you’re anxious about translations, you can relax. The good ones are there if you want them.

To the second question about what we want from Bible translations, we can rejoice that our expectations are being met. And they’re not just being met once or twice, they’re being met over, and over, and over again by faithful translators all over the English speaking world who want nothing more than folks like you and I to be able to read the Bible for ourselves to know the God who is revealed in the pages of the Bible as the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ.

God has done an amazing thing with the gift of these translations, and the shame would be if we were too busy driving ourselves crazy with the options out there that we never received and enjoyed the gifts God has given. So, enjoy them by understanding and trusting whatever translation you pick up and read.

My Three Favorite Books on the KJV Only Debate

Here are my three favorite books—along with short blurbs for each book provided by Logos Bible Software—pushing back on the idea that the KJV is not just the best English Bible translation available, but the only trustworthy English translation. I commend them to you not as a means to squelch any further discussion or investigation into this matter, but as means to invite you into a broader discussion on this (at times) highly contentious debate. These three books have been the most helpful to me over the years and I hope they will be as helpful for you!

The King James Version Debate: A Plea for Realism - D. A. Carson
“The King James Version is superior to all modern English translations of the Bible”—so say many popular books and pamphlets. The King James Version Debate is the first book-length refutation of this point of view written for both pastors and laymen. The author concisely explains the science of textual criticism, since the main premise advanced by KJV proponents is the superiority of the Greek text on which it is based.

After showing the problems with this premise, the author refutes the common propositions that:

• The KJV is the most accurate translation

• It is the most durable

• Its use of the Old English forms (e.g., “thou”) makes it the most reverent

• It honors Christ more than do other versions

• It is the most easily memorized

• It is the most suitable for public reading

Concluding the book is an appendix in which, on a more technical level, the author answers W. N. Pickering’s The Identity of the New Testament Text, the most formidable defense of the priority of the Byzantine text yet published in our day.

Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible - Mark Ward
The King James Version has shaped the church, our worship, and our mother tongue for over 400 years. But what should we do with it today?

The KJV beautifully rendered the Scriptures into the language of turn-of-the-seventeenth-century England. Even today the King James is the most widely read Bible in the United States. The rich cadence of its Elizabethan English is recognized even by non-Christians. But English has changed a great deal over the last 400 years—and in subtle ways that very few modern readers will recognize. In Authorized Mark L. Ward, Jr. shows what exclusive readers of the KJV are missing as they read God’s word.

The King James Only Controversy: Can You Trust the Modern Translations? - James White
Modern Bible translations still come under attack from some who read only the King James Version. James R. White traces the development of Bible translations old and new, investigating the differences between versions like the NIV, NASB, and NKJV and the Authorized Version of 1611. Written with the layperson in mind, The King James Only Controversy leads the reader through the basic issues of the debate and into the more complex issues of textual criticism.

Translate That!

It just needs a little elbow grease.

If you are a native English speaker, you know exactly what that means. You are not wondering if it is even possible to grease up an elbow. The phrase sounds normal to you, and you know that basically what was said was: Some hard work is needed.

What if, however, you were trying to explain to your non-native English speaking friend what was said? How would you go about translating it?

You could, as an option, choose to translate it strictly, in a word-for-word format. You could take each word and find its closes counterpart in whatever language you were translating into. And, hopefully, once you have done that—provided there were not many big grammatical hurdles—you’d have a pretty faithful translation of what It just needs a little elbow grease means in another language.

Or, as another option, you could choose to translate the sentence loosely, in a thought-for-thought format. You could take the “idea” of the sentence and bring that same idea into the other language without worrying too much about matching up the particular words. And then, hopefully, you have a sentence in the other language that, although it does not match all the words from English, still gets across the same idea.

The question that is always asked, however, is: What option is best—word-for-word or thought-for-thought?

This is the trouble with translation, and it happens time and time again in the Bible.

Bible translators have given all of their adult years to doing the best they can at faithfully translating the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek text of the Scriptures into whatever language they are working on. And, still, there are places where their choices (for any number of reasons) do not seem make the most sense. That is not a slam against the work of the translators; it is just a reality because of the tremendous difficulty of the job.

I have come to find that if I can just have a peek into the work that the translators are doing, I am much more willing to appreciate and respect their results (i.e., the many English translations of the Bible available to us). So, I would like to offer a peek to you with the hope that you would grow in your appreciation and respect of their results, too.

Look, with me, at a short phrase in the New Testament. In Luke 9:44, he writes this in Greek: Θέσθε ὑμεῖς εἰς τὰ ὦτα ὑμῶν τοὺς λόγους τούτους.

What in the world does that mean?

The interesting thing with this Greek phrase is that there is an idiom in there (like the English one we looked at earlier); one that English speakers do not use. The Greek phrase, strictly speaking, is you all put these words into your ears. Now, we can probably figure out what is meant by that phrase. The question for us is: How should Θέσθε ὑμεῖς εἰς τὰ ὦτα ὑμῶν τοὺς λόγους τούτους it be translated?

One option is to go for a stricter translation, translating it into basically what was just written (you all put these words into your ears). The benefit of this translation is that we have kept that original Greek phrase in-tact as much as possible. The Greek phrase talked about an action of the people (you all put), an object of that action (these words), and a goal of that action (into your ears). It would seem that little to nothing is lost in translating it that way. But is that the message Luke intended to get across? Did he really mean to have people put something in their ears? Of course not. And here is where the second option becomes available—and, perhaps, even beneficial.

Taking the same exact original Greek phrase, you could just as easily translate into something like take these words to heart, all of you. As English speakers, we know what is meant by that phrase. There is no ambiguity with it. But there is no mention of taking in the Greek. Neither is there any mention of heart in the Greek. What we have now is an English translation from Greek where two words that are not originally found are present in the translation. This could be a great cause of concern for some. In some eyes, that was not a translation choice; it was a translation manipulation…and it was probably malevolent.

What can we do?

The short answer is: examine and trust. The longer answer is: take advantage of the wealth of English translations available to us.

And, by “take advantage” I mean, read and compare them to one another. Come to the translations on their own terms, not getting upset with them because they are not what you wanted them to be.

The NIV does not read like the KJV and that is not the fault of the NIV because it was never the intention of the NIV to sound like the KJV. Let them be what they are. Examine them for yourself and then after you have done your work and you are satisfied with your understanding, trust the work of the translators.

I say “trust” because trust does not always mean agree. It means you recognize and accept the way in which a particular group of translators have translated the Bible. Then you have the freedom to either agree or disagree (i.e., read and approve of what they have translated or set it aside).

There are times to have major concerns over a Bible translation. But, taken as a whole, those times are few and far between. In the meantime, let us be thankful to God that he has not left us without a witness. He has blessed us with readable and, more importantly, understandable translations of the Bible.

The trouble with translation is that it is an almost impossible task. No translation will ever make everyone happy. But that does not mean good work has not been done. It most assuredly has, and we are cutting off our noses to spite our faces if we do not take advantage of that good work.

Go ahead and translate that!

Luke 9:44 Translation Examples:
New International Version (NIV): Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you.
New Living Translation (NLT): Listen to me and remember what I say.
English Standard Version (ESV): Let these words sink into your ears.
King James Version (KJV): Let these sayings sink down into your ears.
New American Standard Bible (NASB): As for you, let these words sink into your ears.
Christian Standard Bible (CSB): Let these words sink in.
Good News Translation (GNT): Don't forget what I am about to tell you!
New English Translation (NET): Take these words to heart.
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV): Let these words sink into your ears.

A Moment on the Scriptures: Bible Translation Comparisons

By any conservative count, there are at least 50 different English translations of the Bible. One of the main questions for us, then, is: What do we do with all those options?

I think it’ll be helpful in this situation to compare several translations to each other to see how they’re similar and different.

What have we seen? I think what we’ve seen is that, in general, the common modern English translations of the Bible can be trusted. The Bible translation landscape is not as dangerous as it’s commonly made out to be.

The other thing we’ve seen is that the English translations available to us have in mind to get us the word of God, albeit in a particular and specific manner, which is where the differences come in.

So, do we really have major differences between verses in different translations? Yes. However, those differences are not nefarious; instead, they’re expected due to the philosophies adopted by the translation committees.

What Bible Translation Do You Prefer? (LWCH Poll)

When you read your Bible throughout the week, from what translation are you most often reading?

If this were the year 1991, and Living Waters was polled about our Bible translation preferences, none of us would say it’s the English Standard Version (ESV) or the New Living Translation (NLT), because they hadn’t been made yet. If it were 1981, I doubt many of us would be using the New International Version (NIV) because it had only come out in 1978. Most of us would probably be reading regularly from the King James Version (KJV) or, perhaps, the Revised Standard Version (RSV).

Nowadays, however, the English Bible options are so abundant, it’s difficult to know for sure what we’re all reading.

Over the past 20 years or so we’ve seen an explosion of English Bible translations that have either been newly created or updated significantly. Those would include translations like the New International Version (NIV), the English Standard Version (ESV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the New Living Translation (NLT), the Christian Standard Bible (CSB), the New English Translation (NET), and the Common English Bible (CEB).

The question that ultimately comes up for church families like ours is, “What translations are we reading from?” Questions like this are asked not to control or determine if someone is doing what they ought, but to get a good feel for how people in the church are experiencing the word of God. We could also ask what medium we’re all using (print, electronic, audio), but that’s a question for another time.

So, if you attend Living Waters Church regularly and feel up to sharing what Bible translation you most often read from, we would love to know.

There are two ways you can respond to this question: 1) you can reply by texting me (Kevin Davis) the translation at (269) 804-9268 or 2) you can submit your answer on a Sunday morning in the offering box (look for the small answer sheets).

The Ethiopian Eunuch, Philip, and English Bibles

What in the world could the Ethiopian eunuch and Philip have to do with English Bibles?

I hear you, I hear you. Let me explain.

In Acts 8 Philip is told by an angel of the Lord to go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza (v. 26). On his way to the road he met an Ethiopian eunuch who was in his chariot. The Holy Spirit told Philip to go to the chariot and stand near it (v. 29). As Philip ran to the chariot, he heard the eunuch reading from Isaiah (v. 28), so Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading (v. 30). The eunuch said he couldn’t unless someone explained it to him (v. 31). So, Philip took the passage the eunuch was reading (Isaiah 53:7-8) and explained to him the good news about Jesus (vv. 32-35).

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the earth.” (Acts 8:32-33, NIV)

The eunuch believed and was baptized and then Philip was “taken away” from the eunuch and the eunuch went on his way rejoicing (vv. 36-39).

The story of the Ethiopian eunuch and Philip is a wonderful story of God’s mercy and grace in working through individual people to give the gift of salvation to someone who previously knew nothing about Jesus. God did this and still does this all the time. He loves to save people who know nothing of him.

Another wonderful aspect of this story has less to do with the actual story and more to do with how one particular detail of the story sheds light into our relationship and trust with English translations of the Bible. Perhaps you have noticed, in reading this passage before, a footnote at the end of the Isaiah 53:7-8 citation (provided the Bible you use has footnotes). This footnote (at least in the NIV2011) says: “Isaiah 53:7, 8 (see Septuagint).” The footnote is there to indicate that these two verses in Acts 8:32-33 are actually a quotation of Isaiah 53:7-8. The New Testament does this all the time and it’s nice to be able to see the quotations for what they are and where they come from. The other section of the footnote has to do with the translation of Isaiah 53 that is referenced—the Septuagint.

What’s up with that? Why the pointer to the Septuagint?

The Ethiopian eunuch was reading from Isaiah 53, but the words he was reading were a translation of the original Hebrew into Greek. This can be easily seen by comparing verse 33 in the citation in Acts 8 with Isaiah 53:8. You’ll quickly notice that a good number of the words are different. The difference is because the reading you have in Isaiah 53:8 is from the Hebrew, but the reading you have in Acts 8:33 is from the Greek Septuagint. Now, the Septuagint being reference to is a formal Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible that was probably completed in the 3rd or 4th Century AD (although it began in the 3rd or 2nd Century BC), so it’s not the actual text used by the eunuch; however, the eunuch is still using a Greek translation of the Hebrew, which is what the Septuagint is.

What does this mean to me?

It means that just like the eunuch was able to read and understand the message of Isaiah 53:7-8 (albeit with help from Philip) even though he was reading a Greek translation of the Hebrew, we’re able to read and understand the message of Isaiah 53:7-8 (albeit with help sometimes from others) even though we’re regularly reading an English translation of the Hebrew. This means, in part, that you can trust your English Bible.

Some have made a good business out of tearing down solid, trustworthy, English translations of the Bible either to encourage (often through fear) others to learn the original biblical languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), or to encourage others to read from a specific English translation. They tear down the NIV because they don’t think it’s as accurate as the KJV. They tear down the NASB because they think it’s more difficult to understand than the NLT. They tear down the CSB because it’s a denomination specific translation. They tear down the ESV because it’s considered a translation for the conservative Christian. The reasons are numerous, but they’re often misguided.

Are all English translations good?

I’m all for making sure we reading from solid and trustworthy translation of the Scriptures and (by God’s grace) nearly any popular English translation you pick up will fall into that category. There are those translations out there that specifically add to, take away, and edit the Scriptures to fit they’re specific theological stances (something like the New World Translation would fall into this category). The wonderful thing is that the KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT, ESV, NKJV, NASB, CSB, LEB, NET, and RSV don’t fall into this category.

It’s important to be on the same page here. I’m not saying that every good English translation is equal. I’m also not saying that every English translation their own specific blunders. However, I am saying that most of the popular English translations available to the English speaking world are trustworthy.

Therefore, with all that said, let’s follow the example we find in Acts 8 with the Ethiopian eunuch and Philip, and trust the English translation of the Bible we have without thinking that we’re missing something because we’re reading a translation.

Translation is a good gift from God. Without translation most of us wouldn’t know Jesus. Let’s receive that good gift and give thanks to God that he’s had mercy on us to give us the Scriptures in a language we can read.

Understanding Different Types of Bible Translations

The study of Bible translations is helpful mainly because it provides a good base for understanding why the Bible you use reads like it does. Through experience we know the New International Version (NIV) does not read like the English Standard Version (ESV) and the New American Standard Bible (NASB) does not read like the King James Version (KJV) and yet they are all the word of God.

Not only does an understanding of different Bible translations help with seeing the differences within translations, but it also begins to deepen one’s respect for those that have given their lives to the work of Bible translation.

With this short article I would like to highlight three factors of Bible translation I think go a long way towards helping one better grasp why their Bible is the way it is while giving a good foundation for understating why other Bibles are the way they are. To do this, a discussion of three translation factors will be presented: Translation Philosophy, Translation Accuracy, and Translation Readability.

Translation Philosophy

Translation philosophy is the term commonly used within the Bible translation world in order to differentiate the foundation and/or plan for a specific Bible translation. In studying translation philosophy one quickly discovers there exists a spectrum along which a particular Bible will find itself when the philosophy of a certain translation is discussed. Along this spectrum exists a large number of options for a Bible translation to be identified, which can quickly become overwhelming as one first begins to dip one’s toes in this area of study. Knowing that, it helps to first begin with a focus on the two ends of the Bible translation philosophy spectrum as Bibles are regularly identified based on their relative closeness to one of the two ends. Those two endpoints are Formal Equivalence (Word for Word) and Dynamic Equivalence (Thought for Thought).

The Formal Equivalence translation philosophy attempts to take each Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek word and find the equivalent word in the translation as they take into account the appropriate English grammar standards. The benefit of this sort of translation philosophy is that it presents a slightly more raw and un-interpreted (as much as possible) translation of the original, which allows the Bible reader and studier to work directly with the specific written words. This option affords the reader of the Bible with the chance to work at the interpretation at a more foundational level. The drawback of this sort of translation philosophy is that the adherence to the specific words used in the original languages sometimes brings to the translation awkward or difficult to understand passages.

The Dynamic Equivalence translation philosophy sees the Formal Equivalence philosophy as a step in the wrong direction and thus attempts to take each thought or meaning the original writer had in mind and translate that thought or meaning into the receptor language. The benefit of this sort of translation philosophy is that it presents a text that is often easy to read and understand because of the tremendous amount of work that has gone into the rendering of the translated text through a fair bit of helpful interpretation by the translators. The drawback of this sort of translation philosophy is that it makes interaction with the specific words used a difficult process because the meaning of the thought is being translated, not necessarily the individual words.

There also exists a midpoint in the translation philosophy spectrum that works to blend the two options as best as possible. This is sometimes referred to as a mediating or optimal translation philosophy.

A good example the two main philosophies can be seen in Romans 1:5 along with a mediating translation following.

ESV (Formal Equivalence) – “…through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations…”

NLT (Dynamic Equivalence) – “Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.”

NIV (Mediating) – “Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for name’s sake.”

As you can see, at the root, all three translations are saying the same thing. The ESV is saying it while sticking closer to the actual word usage in the Greek while the NLT is explaining what is meant by each of the words used in the Greek to hopefully make it more understandable in English. The NIV is also a wonderful translation that seeks to strike that right balance by interpreting slightly less than the NLT and helping with interpretation when necessary where the ESV does not.

Translation Accuracy

Translation accuracy is a major factor in evaluating a Bible translation. If the Bible we are reading is not accurate in what it is translating then we should not give any time to reading it. That being said, most of the Bible translations that are available in bookstores today are extremely accurate. This would include the NIV, ESV, NLT, NASB, Revised Standard Version (RSV), and the newly updated Christian Standard Bible (CSB). Interestingly, the KJV would be one of those Bible translations that, over time, has been realized to be deficient in its accuracy because of new scholarship based upon the discovery of older and more reliable biblical manuscripts. However, the KJV is still one of those historically trusted Bibles that the Lord has used to bring countless people to a saving faith in Jesus.

Translation accuracy can be and sometimes is directly affected by a Bible’s presuppositional theological stance. When a Bible translation is driven more by the theological stance of the specific people working on the translation rather than the actual work with the original text there with it comes a problem. The real benefit that most translation committees have going for them is in their use of multiple experts in the original languages from different Christian denominations and thus different theological presuppositions. The ESV, NIV, and NLT all use translators and experts from a range of denominations, which helps in keeping the translation more textually honest so it does not end up sounding like a Bible written by a Calvinist or an Arminian, or a Bible written by a Continuationist or a Cessationist, or a Bible written by an Egalitarian or a Complementarian.

It should be noted that an often assumed and accepted presupposition in translating a text has to do with whether or not the committee is theological conservative or liberal. Note the difference between the RSV and the NRSV.

Translation Readability

Lastly, translation readability is one of those factors of Bible translation that will usually seal the deal in selecting a Bible, or it will serve as the deal breaker. It also serves as a factor that everyone values and implements whether they are aware of it or not. To put it bluntly, if one is not able to read the Bible the have in their hands, they will choose another one.

We read what we’re able to read, whether it be magazines, novels, newspapers, comic books, or even the word of God. Therefore, translation readability is and will continue to be one of the most important factors in choosing a Bible.

Thankfully, God has given us the wonderful gift of a wide selection of different Bible translations that almost always allows us to choose a well-translated Bible, which also happens to be one that we can read relatively easily.