Suggest a good Bible translation

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Captain_America

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I’m looking for a Bible translation that has some spirit, some poetry to it—but not gobs of such stuff.

Dry, simple words don’t do it for me. I can’t read the King James version.

I’m looking for something a bit literary; what works best?
 
New King James Version has the old english taken out of it.
New American Bible (usccb.org) is good too.

You might try going to youversion.com , pick your favorite bible verse or story and try out different translations until you find one that suits what you want in a translation. They have a lot to choose from.
 
Captain_America said:
I’m looking for a Bible translation that has some spirit, some poetry to it—but not gobs of such stuff.

Dry, simple words don’t do it for me. I can’t read the King James version.

I’m looking for something a bit literary; what works best?
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You might check out the RSV-2CE (from Ignatius Press). This translation retains the poetry in the text but yet is very clear and accurate. Much of the archaic language (thees and thous, etc.) has been removed.
 
CalCatholic said:
You might check out the RSV-2CE (from Ignatius Press). This translation retains the poetry in the text but yet is very clear and accurate. Much of the archaic language (thees and thous, etc.) has been removed.
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That’s my favourite translation for study!
 
Captain_America said:
I’m looking for a Bible translation that has some spirit, some poetry to it—but not gobs of such stuff.

Dry, simple words don’t do it for me. I can’t read the King James version.

I’m looking for something a bit literary; what works best?
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Actually, the most poetic version IS the KJV. But it’s hard to interpret because of the archaic language so I don’t usually recommend it to someone who’s looking for a personal reading bible.

There are quite a few to choose from, Capt. Most bibles are translated at a very high level of scholarship and all the mainstream ones are really all okay to use. There is no particular advantage to using a Catholic text over any other one any more.

There is value in getting a bible that you are comfortable with, and one that has the reading level that you need. They do vary in the reading skill and comprehension skill that’s required to use them.

I don’t happen to like paraphrases. They can give people the wrong ideas pretty quickly. Some of them, like the Good News Bible are Very, Very Dated and they weren’t very well done to start with. The Living Bible, The Simplified English Bible, God’s Word, The Good News Version, The Message, The New Century Version, New Living Translation, etc etc etc are paraphrases. I’d stay away from them totally, if I were you.

There’s also a class of translations that are very old or very, very literal that aren’t very useful to be used as personal reading bibles. These include the NASB (New American Standard Bible), the Douay-Rheims in all its editions, the KJV in all its editions, and specialty bibles such as those put out by Zondervan and so on.

But there’s quite a bit more. Pick something newer so that it has the latest scholarship, and uses modern English.

NKJV - used by the Orthodox and others; updated version of the KJV; classy and poetic.

RSV or RSV-CE - this is the Revised Standard Version, comes in a Catholic edition and a regular edition, both good. This is a very good multi-purpose bible for readers. The NRSV is an update of this bible and does use gender-less forms of words, which may change meanings slightly. I do not recommend the NRSV.

ESV - newer bible with a very classy tone, great footnotes.

Jerusalem Bible - This bible has its fans. Some people like the way it reads. If you like something literary, this may be your bible. It was done by the Dominicans and it was originally a French text. It reads nicely, although it’s not the absolute best for analytical bible study because of its translation through the French language. Nevertheless, many people find it a gracious and useful bible.

I personally like the RSV and the ESV.

The NIV is a good translation but has footnotes that are designed more for Evangelicals; I happen to like it but many Catholics do not. I like its precision and its choice of words which I find inspiring.

The NAB isn’t a very good translation in my view–sloppy and approximate. I don’t like this version at all. But many Catholics do. Only Catholics really use this version which doesn’t speak to any sort of special Catholic-ness as much as it’s telling about the generally poor quality of the translation. But that’s my opinion.

Find yourself a comfortable large religious goods store and make a couple of visits. Sit and read from each of the few that you will be picking from, until you know which one YOU prefer. The one you like is the one you’ll actually read.

**CAUTION: ** There are a few “bibles” that have been translated specifically for questionable purposes. Avoid anything put out by the Mormons. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have their own version which has been completely redacted for their purposes–DO NOT USE. Do not use Gideon Bibles, which are commonly found in motel rooms and various places. ETC ETC.
 
Captain_America said:
I’m looking for a Bible translation that has some spirit, some poetry to it—but not gobs of such stuff.

Dry, simple words don’t do it for me. I can’t read the King James version.

I’m looking for something a bit literary; what works best?
Click to expand...
The Jerusalem Bible was specifically formulated for literary style. Give that a try. The 1966 edition was particularly recommended to me but can be tricky to find (the notes of the standard edition are supposed to be excellent).

Another edition to consider is the CTS Bible. This is the 1966 Jerusalem Bible with the Grail Psalms substituted for the original Psalms. (The Grail translation of the psalms was formulated for easier singing and is what we use for the responsorial psalm at Mass.)
 
april32010 said:
the Jerusalem Bible
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Enthusiastically seconded. 👍

However, if you’re going for this, Captain, keep in mind that it uses the personal name of God (YHWH, rendered “Yahweh”) where other Bibles would use “LORD.”

If you want a Jerusalem Bible with good notes, and without “Yahweh”, there’s the Catholic Truth Society Bible, which is basically a Jerusalem Bible in which “Yahweh” is replaced with “LORD”.

Another version with good formal language, but no archaisms, is the Revised Standard Version, 2nd Edition.
 
Some bibles, usually the more expensive study bibles, have concordances and maps in them. These are something to look at too, as they can help you to understand what you read much, much better. There are a lot of reasons and ways to read a bible, and knowing what it is you’re reading, and what it means, is important and can be very good for your spiritual life.

There are also many references books–concordances, dictionaries, commentaries, books of maps etc–that are sold separately, but for some bible versions it can be hard to find a stand-alone copy of these that will match your version–unless you get your version with the concordance, dictionary etc built in.

So you might want to look at the bible itself and see what it has built into it.

Also look at the introduction. Read how the bible came to be–its history. In the front of the bible there will be an intro that will tell you all that. That can help you to pick the right bible too–whether you want one for spiritual reading only, or for literary reading, or for analytical bible study or teaching/evangelization or for whatever use, or combination of uses, that you have in mind.
 
Thanks. I’m a lay Dominican so I’ll check into the Jerusalem Bible.
 
Zenkai said:
The Knox Bible is very poetic and literary.
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And way, way too old to use. Lots of words that have changed meaning in the language, and many words that don’t even exist anymore outside antique books.

The archaic language leads to many misunderstandings about content. Unless you’re going to get a full exegetical library and make a career of figuring out what it says, that is. But most people don’t do that simply in order to understand what their personal bible says.

So skip the Knox bible. Get a good readable version and actually READ IT.
 
 
iloveangels said:
And way, way too old to use. Lots of words that have changed meaning in the language, and many words that don’t even exist anymore outside antique books.

The archaic language leads to many misunderstandings about content. Unless you’re going to get a full exegetical library and make a career of figuring out what it says, that is. But most people don’t do that simply in order to understand what their personal bible says.

So skip the Knox bible. Get a good readable version and actually READ IT.
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The Knox Bible isn’t old. It’s only several years older than the RSV and the Jerusalem Bible. I think you’re thinking of the John Knox translation. I’m talking about the Monsignor Ronald Knox Bible. The Knox Bible was just released again a few weeks ago by Baronius Press.

See here: baroniuspress.com/book.php?wid=56&bid=60#tab=tab-1
 
Zenkai said:
The Knox Bible isn’t old. It’s only several years older than the RSV and the Jerusalem Bible. I think you’re thinking of the John Knox translation. I’m talking about the Monsignor Ronald Knox Bible. The Knox Bible was just released again a few weeks ago by Baronius Press.

See here: baroniuspress.com/book.php?wid=56&bid=60#tab=tab-1
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Aah! I didn’t know this because I don’t have a copy of that one. The thing to do is to look in the front at the introduction and see how it was translated, then. From original languages or from the Vulgate? By a large panel of scholars or just a few? Recommended for what purpose? Etc Etc.

I actually tend to stay away from those “heritage versions” simply because they tend not to be very good translations and tend to use the older manuscripts as their foundations. Some of them have also been dragged through several languages, losing something in every translation language-to-language. Although they make pretty good mantel-pieces for those so inclined, particularly the pretty leather-bound ones with ribbons. I personally recommend that people buy something that they can use and carry around with them, something less expensive and more useful, to be honest. Something that will actually get used. Bibles are to be read. That’s the point of them.
 
iloveangels said:
Aah! I didn’t know this because I don’t have a copy of that one. The thing to do is to look in the front at the introduction and see how it was translated, then. From original languages or from the Vulgate? By a large panel of scholars or just a few? Recommended for what purpose? Etc Etc.
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The link I provided should answer all of your questions and more.

I just got it a few weeks ago and I think it will become my favorite translation.
 
Zenkai said:
The link I provided should answer all of your questions and more.

I just got it a few weeks ago and I think it will become my favorite translation.
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I’ll look at it, but unless it’s a fully revised version that translates directly from an ancient language and has some textual advantages to it, I’m not really likely to buy one. There are so many really good translations now.

I have a large collection of old books, including bibles and missals. I like books. I even have some nice mantel pieces with all the ribbons and all. 😃 Very pretty. Not so useful for understanding the content of scripture. More useful for understanding the history of usage patterns of scripture in the Catholic church.
 
iloveangels said:
I’ll look at it, but unless it’s a fully revised version that translates directly from an ancient language and has some textual advantages to it, I’m not really likely to buy one. There are so many really good translations now.
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There are some fine translations out there, but I don’t like the notes in the NAB, JB, or NJB. The RSV-2CE is pretty good and I quite like it. I’ve heard good things about the Douay-Rheims, but I wanted a more modern translation.
 
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