There are many Bible versions on the market today, and we often wonder which one is for us. How do I choose? Go to any bookstore Christian or secular and look you will see many different versions of the Bible and I mean a lot. One thing you want to ask yourself is what your intentions with the Bible are.
Do you plan on deep Bible study or simple casual reading?
Certain versions and translations are paraphrases or dynamic equivalences. These have more of a conversational tone and are much easier to read. For deeper Bible study, you want to choose a more literal translation.undefined
Some examples of Bible translations or versions available are:
- The King James Versions
- New American Standard
- New Living Translation
- New International Version
- New Revised Standard Versionundefined
The Different Types of Bibles:
- There are many different types of Bibles out there. There are just Bibles that contain scriptures only.
- There are study Bibles that contain study aids and extra stuff to help you in your study.
- There are parallel Bibles that contain two or more versions side by side so you can see how different versions compare to each other.
- In addition, there is the topical Bible. It is not arranged in the usual format of book-by-book or chapter-by-chapter but by topic. If you want to look up a subject, that entire subject is arranged for you.
- Chronological Bibles are arranged so that biblical books were written.
- Now to my favorite Bible the red letter version. In the red-letter version, the words of Jesus Christ are red and they stand out. I like that feature.undefined
When it comes right down to it, my recommendation is to choose a version you can read and understand with some study helps. The truth is any Bible you read is a good Bible. You want to find a Bible you are comfortable reading and stick with it. This is just a guide to getting you going in the right direction. Once you find a Bible you like, stick with it.
