Putting His Word in Our Words

I love that there are so many translations of the Bible readily available online or through the YouVersion Bible App. (If you are a Jesus-follower with a smartphone, you really owe it to yourself to download this app!) 

Growing up we were pretty much stuck with the King James Version. In middle school I discovered The Living Bible and used it for several years, and it was a great tool for middle-school me, but it was a paraphrase and not as helpful when doing Bible study. My youth pastor, Carey Olson, challenged me in high school to move to something more faithful to the original text. For several years I enjoyed using my parallel New Testament which has the KJV, NIV, Living Bible paraphrase, and the Amplified Bible (which is kind of a cross between a translation and a thesaurus. Eventually I settled on the New International Version, which is my primary one to this day. 

When I'm teaching the Bible, I stick almost exclusively to the New International Version (2011 edition) because of its popularity, ubiquity, and familiarity. But occasionally I enjoy reading a different translation devotionally to keep it fresh. Recently I've enjoying reading using the New Living Translation (NLT). It's in the spirit of The Living Bible but an entirely new translation. It's a little more contemporary than the New International Version and easily accessible by all ages. It's uses a "thought-for-thought" methodology for translating Scripture rather than a word-for-word. That means it may not be as helpful for detailed study, but is excellent for devotional use. 

The Message Bible is similar in this regard, although even though it's a translation, more like a paraphrase because it uses more contemporary idioms and slang. For some reason I find it difficult to use for devotional reading because it's so wildly different, but it's great for someone who is newer to the Bible or is just looking for a fresh take on the text. There are plenty of other great translations available, like the New English Translation (NET), which has a ton of translation notes. 

My recommendation for teens and adults newer to reading Scripture is the New Living Translation or the New International Version. But it's nice to switch it up now and then to help keep God's Word from becoming something you skim through because you are so familiar with a particular translation. The great thing is that you don't have to go buy a ton of books, just download the YouVersion app! Try several until you find one that you enjoy.