Which Bible translation is best?

Short answer

No single translation is best for everyone. Word-for-word translations such as the KJV, NASB or ESV stay closer to the wording of the original, while thought-for-thought ones such as the NLT read more easily. The best choice is a faithful translation you will actually read, compared now and then with a second one.

The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew, with a few passages in Aramaic, and the New Testament in Greek. Few readers today know these languages, so almost everyone meets the Bible in translation. That raises a fair question: with so many translations on the shelf, which one should you choose?

Translation is as old as the Bible’s readers

Reading God’s Word in another language is not a modern compromise. Something like it already happens in the Bible. After the exile, Ezra read the Law to the people of Jerusalem, and the Levites helped them follow it:

So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
Neh 8:8 · King James Version (1769)

Commentators read this verse in two ways. Albert Barnes and John Wesley think that giving the sense included rendering the Hebrew into Aramaic, the everyday language many had grown used to in Babylon. John MacArthur thinks it was mainly explanation in plain words. Either way, the point is the same: God’s Word was meant to be understood by ordinary people.

In the New Testament, an Ethiopian official was reading the prophet Isaiah on his way home when Philip came up to his chariot:

And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
Acts 8:30–31 · King James Version (1769)

Barnes notes that the words of Isaiah quoted in this story (Acts 8:32–33) follow the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament made before the time of Christ, and Adam Clarke thinks the official was reading Isaiah in that Greek version, though John Gill thought he was reading the Hebrew. If Clarke is right, one of the first converts in Acts met Christ through the Scriptures in translation.

What makes a translation faithful

Paul reminds Timothy where the Scriptures come from:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2 Tim 3:16 · King James Version (1769)

MacArthur explains that the word means “God-breathed.” God used the minds, vocabulary and experience of the human writers, and what they wrote is His Word. A translation does not add to that inspiration. Its task is to carry the meaning of what God gave as accurately and clearly as possible into another language.

This very verse shows the kind of choices translators face. Clarke argues that the Greek is better rendered “Every writing Divinely inspired is profitable,” while MacArthur argues from similar Greek constructions that the familiar rendering, which calls all Scripture inspired by God, is accurate. Both agree that Scripture comes from God. Translators weigh questions like this in almost every chapter, which is why faithful translations can differ in wording while teaching the same truth.

Word for word or thought for thought

Translators follow two main approaches, and most Bibles fall somewhere between them.

Formal equivalence, or word for word, keeps as close as possible to the words and structure of the original. It is well suited to careful study, though it can sound stiff.

Dynamic equivalence, or thought for thought, puts the meaning into natural modern language. It is easy to read, but the translators make more interpretive decisions for the reader.

Among well-known English Bibles, the King James Version (1611) is the classic word-for-word translation in older English. The NASB and the ESV are also word for word, in modern English. The NIV aims at a balance between the two approaches, and the NLT is a thought-for-thought translation that reads very easily.

How to choose

Choose a faithful translation. Prefer one made from the Hebrew and Greek texts by a team of qualified translators.

Match the translation to the task. For close study, a more literal translation helps you see the structure of the text. For reading long stretches, a more readable one can keep you going.

Compare translations. When two versions word a verse differently, they show you a choice the translators had to make. Read the verse in its context or look it up in a commentary, and the meaning usually becomes clearer.

Read the one you will actually read. Wesley writes that the Spirit who inspired the Scriptures also helps those who read them with earnest prayer. A Bible that stays closed helps no one.

Remember the Ethiopian official, too. William MacDonald notes how readily he admitted that he needed someone to guide him. No translation replaces prayer, careful reading and the help of other believers. For practical steps, see How to study the Bible.