(See related past article here.)

The 66 books of the Bible were originally composed over a span of about 1500 years. The 39 books of the so-called “Old Testament” were composed in Hebrew, with a few passages in Aramaic, while the 27 books of the “New Testament” were composed in Greek. For those of us who cannot read ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, we must rely on others to translate these books into a language that we can read.

Given that 1.5 billion people do not have the full Bible in their language and 145 million do not have any portion of the Bible in their language, we must recognize how blessed we are to be able to ask the question: “What is the best translation for English speakers today?”

That said, what’s the answer? We must first establish the criteria for determining what constitutes a good translation. I argue that criteria must include the following: (1) be based on the oldest, most well-attested manuscripts, many of which were not discovered until hundreds of years after the first English translations; (2) be translated by a committee of Bible scholars rather than by a few individuals; (3) be translated by scholars who actually believe that the words of the Bible are the words of God, and thus must not be tampered with; and (4) be translated into modern, readable English, as every living language is constantly changing.

These criteria rule out translations like the KJV, NKJV, Message, and arguably the NRSV, CEB, and CEV as well. Additional matters to consider include whether a translation is more word-for-word (“formally equivalent”), like the NASB and ESV, or more thought-for-thought (“functionally equivalent”), like the NLT and NIV. Also worthy of consideration is the availability and reliability of study Bibles, Bible studies, devotionals, commentaries, and other books utilizing the translation.

Given all of these considerations, I choose to preach and teach out of the ESV. However, I also regularly consult the CSB, NIV, NLT, and NASB, as these are my 5 preferred English translations.

For more on this topic, check out this short video: