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What is the best Bible translation? I like the reply that says, “The one that’s read.” I’ve read many different translations in my Christian walk, and, clearly the statistics indicate we live in a multiple translation environment, so as we attempt to teach, we have to take that into account. Translation differences can often lead to interesting investigations to help us better understand a passage. But I’m curious about what people are reading.

What are the most purchased Bible translations? The following list is from August 2019 and compiled by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.

1. New International Version
2. King James Version
3. English Standard Version
4. New Living Translation
5. New King James Version
6. Reina Valera (Spanish)
7. Christian Standard Bible
8. New International Reader’s Version
9. New American Standard Bible
10. The Message

The Barna Group did a survey in 2018 of the most read Bible translations.

1. King James Version 31%
2. New International Version 13%
3. English Standard Version 9%
4. New King James Version 7%
5. Amplified 7%
6. Christian Community 4% (originally produced in the Philippines)
7. New American Standard 3%
8. New Living Translation 2%
9. Revised Standard 2%
10. Contemporary English Version 2%
11. New American Bible 2%
12. All others (1% or less combined) 9%
13. Not sure 8%

Dr. Jack P. Lewis did a review of Bible translations called The English Bible from KJV to NIV*. Lewis had the knowledge of the languages, and the book is a detailed oriented book. But one of his concluding thoughts may help us in our multi-translation world.

While versions differ in translating specific statements, all of the available English translations present the basic duties toward God and man. By comparing one with the other, the person with no language training can be warned about going astray because of the peculiarities of one translation. He may be challenged to new ideas by reading a new translation. The religious problems of the world are not caused by people reading different translations; the most serious problem is that many read no translation!*

— Russ Holden

*Jack P. Lewis, The English Bible from KJV to NIV, p. 412.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 29th, 2019 at 8:27 am and is filed under Bible reading, Bible translations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.