Basic Question - What Bible to Use?

Greetings!
So what Bible to use?  Well, a simple answer is one you already have.

However, some may not have Bibles and some may have translations which are not as good as others.

We often miss that the Bibles we use are not in the original language.  And the King James Version is not what Moses or Jesus spoke either.  Hebrew is the language of the Old Testament.  Greek is the written language of the New Testament.  So the New Testament, is already a translation of Jesus' speaking, which was in a language called Aramaic. 

Translating is not as easy as it sounds.  First, matching words from Hebrew and Greek is not like drawing a line between the exact matching words in each language.  Hebrew is fairly simple, yet with nuances very different than our own. Often one Hebrew word equates to several different English words.  So the problem is choosing which English word to use.  Greek is almost the opposite.  Greek has more words than we use.  For example Greek had four words for our single word love.  The problem here is a little different - how to translate in a manner which communicates the exacting nature of Greek, without taking two sentences to handle.  Second, languages contain (and define) many assumptions about basic culture.  Neither the Hebrews, the Greeks nor our culture today have exactly the same views on underlying basics of life.  So even after translating, we need to understand these type of differences to fully grasp certain aspects of passages.  Thus is born the multiple English versions.

So, which translations stand up better than others?  I will use the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).  This is also the pew Bible.  The Revised Standard Version (RSV) is also a good choice.  The NRSV/RSV are closest to the original language.  The New International Version (NIV) is more commonly found, and more than adequate, although not as good as the NRSV/RSV.  The New American Standard Bible (NASB) is less common, but also fine.

So here is some good news. a link is provided to the NRSV:    http://bible.oremus.org/  You type in the passage and hit enter.  In addition, make sure you choose the regular version, not the Anglicized version (unless you like speaking as an Englishman.)

So with Bible in hand, or on your computer screen, start your engines!

Peace,
Pastor Randy