Best Bible?

[turntableToothache]

I've been meaning to do a full reading of the Bible for a while now, but I have yet to decide which version is the best and most suitable for this task. I pondered a bit and, given that all bibles are translations at the end of the day, I have arrived at the conclusion that there are three factors to take into account for deciding what the "best bible" is.

1. Readability: The translation must be a pleasant read. The kind of writing that makes you want to quote it.
2. Meaning: The meaning must be as close to the original text as possible.
3. Practicality: A mix of the first two, it must be as readable as it can be while maintaning fidelity to the original text, reaching a balance with those two.

Replies are much appreciated in advance.

 

[A L I X]

 

[turntableToothache]

View attachment 97278

It's certainly readable.

 

[Captain]

I've been meaning to do a full reading of the Bible for a while now, but I have yet to decide which version is the best and most suitable for this task. I pondered a bit and, given that all bibles are translations at the end of the day, I have arrived at the conclusion that there are three factors to take into account for deciding what the "best bible" is.

1. Readability: The translation must be a pleasant read. The kind of writing that makes you want to quote it.
2. Meaning: The meaning must be as close to the original text as possible.
3. Practicality: A mix of the first two, it must be as readable as it can be while maintaning fidelity to the original text, reaching a balance with those two.

Replies are much appreciated in advance.

If you just want something clean to read with an attempt to modernize: https://www.bibliotheca.co/

The translations and versions made are all rubbish and probably lack accurate translations. They all skew to what the authors want you to read IMO.

 

[Mirchicom]

The only accurate bible translation would be to learn biblical Hebrew and make your own translation, do to the nature of how biblical Hebrew was spoke, it be directly translated to English,
For instance, this quote from Jeff Hronchek:

"First of all, the English language is an intangible, non-concrete language. Meaning, the descriptive words we use are typically ideas rather than things. For example if I say I am "scowling," you can't draw a "scowl" or pick one up. You can draw a FACE that is scowling, but it's a face, not a scowl that you are drawing.
In Hebrew, I would say "my face is stone." Stone is used in stead of Scowl. I can't touch a scowl, but I can touch a stone. As a concrete language, it means that EVERY descriptive phrase can be taken as both literal and metaphorical. So the phrase "His face became stone" in Hebrew should be translated as BOTH "He scowled" AND "His face became hardened." But there is only room in the storyline for one of those. Which one do you pick?"

So generally, no matter which bible you pick, it's not going to be "accurate" per say, but generally you have to trust the political bodies that translated the bible to not completely twist the meaning to fit their own agenda's, for instance around 60 or so actual, proper, books of the Holy Bible have been lost to time or excluded because the Protestant and Catholic Churches deemed them heretical, or contradictory to the proper bible "canon".
Which, in and of itself, is ironic as, if you do end up reading the bible, it's not really the most consistent (mainly do to the above translation errors), or because of translation changes and word fudging to make it more politically convenient to sell to the citizens living under a monarchy, that or bible manufacturers being pressured financially to remove or add things based on public perception as was the case throughout the 1800's


TL/DR
Idk pick one at random lol none of them are really "fully" good

 

[Cobalt]

In English? The King James Bible. I prefer it for several reasons. Firstly, it is a one step translation as opposed to other English language versions. While it is true that there is no 100% accurate translation aside from the original source text, the KJV is likely the most accurate out of the English translations. Secondly, many more recent translations tend to contain the biases of the translators. Bending certain passages to conform to "modern sensibilities" take of that what you will. Thirdly, assuming you are British (or one of their spawns) this is the most culturally relevant version. Its use is accepted among basically all Protestant denominations. Here in the US many Churches exclusively use the KJV. Fourthly, it is the most eloquent and dare I even say poetic sounding version. In much the same way one might say "They don't make movies like this anymore!" Or "They don't make video games like this anymore!" they don't make English sound this beautiful anymore. The High-English used in the KJV is much more precise and leaves passages much less open to interpretation but in a good way.

 

[Doctor Dirck]

Probably Richard Burnish's Neon Bible. It's 70 pages long since they cut out all the filler, and it addresses modern issues like 'Should you torrent?', or 'Should you update firefox?'. It even comes with a guarantee to get into Heaven or your money back.

 

[roadsidewildflower]

NSRVue. It's the closest you're going to get to in English to the actual text, and its pretty readable too. Just keep in mind that reading the Bible can be an odd experience. Try to find some guides online, as start --> finish can be unpleasant and make you stop before you get to the good stuff. Maybe look here: https://christianityfaq.com/suggested-reading-order-bible/

IMO, Genesis + Gospels + Psalms is the really interesting/core stuff. I personally think the Pauline Epistles are both unpleasant to read and shouldn't be held in the same esteem as the rest of NT. A lot of the old testament is also pretty meh. Some of the apocryphal stuff is more interesting (Judith's story is my fave)

 

[Tevada]

Probably King James Bible, with deuterocanonicals or what Protestants call "Apocrypha." This kind of Bible's difficult to find in your average bookstore though, so I'll say for your specifications an NIV Catholic Bible. It's readable, and relatively in line with what you would find in KJV. Yeah, be wary of any "modern translations." Such things are an ill side effect of the Protestant Reformation, where Martin Luther's book removing tendencies has devolved into some heretical translations today produced by the denominations born out of his movement.

This, I'll say, after reading some "modern" Bible translations, I've come to understand why the Church has kept the printing of this book so regulated throughout history. You know Satan's at work when some translations are out there telling husbands to submit to their wives, or that Peter had a still-living wife while he was traveling with Jesus. Either way, deuterocanonicals aside, you can't go wrong with King James. Some heretic may try to use alternative Bible translations to support their error, but King James will have your back in protecting you against error, that book and the church's sacraments of course.