Getting a Bible
Getting a Bible
5 min read
How we got here
The canon itself was settled long before any of this: the Old Testament recognized by the Jewish community for centuries, and the 27 New Testament books formally acknowledged by the early church in the 4th century, on the basis of apostolic authorship and widespread use in worship.
In 1536, William Tyndale was strangled and burned at the stake outside Brussels. His crime was translating the Bible into English.
He hadn't started it. John Wycliffe had put together the first English translation a century and a half earlier, working from the Latin Vulgate. Wycliffe died before the church could act against him, which they considered unfinished business. Thirty years after his death the Council of Constance ordered his bones dug up, burned, and thrown into a river. The order was not carried out until 1428, thirteen years later.
Tyndale went further. He had told a clergyman: “I will cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the Scripture than thou dost.” He worked from the original Greek and Hebrew, then smuggled printed copies into England hidden in bales of cloth. The church hunted him for years. A friend eventually turned him in. He was arrested in Antwerp, strangled, and burned. His last words were a prayer: Lord, open the King of England's eyes. Within three years of his death, Henry VIII had authorized an English Bible for every church in England. Most of it was Tyndale's translation.
The Geneva Bible came out of exile. The scholars who made it in 1560 had fled England to escape Mary I, who burned nearly three hundred Protestants during her five years on the throne. It became the Bible the Puritans read, Shakespeare quoted, and the Mayflower carried to America.
The King James Version appeared in 1611 and became the most influential book in the English language. About eighty percent of its New Testament is Tyndale's.
The apologetics roadmap covers canon formation, textual criticism, and the manuscript evidence.
Canon FormationTranslation philosophy
Every translation makes choices. The original manuscripts don't exist in English, so any rendering is already an act of interpretation. Word for word translations stay closer to the original wording and reward close study. Thought for thought translations are easier to read at pace. Most people who take the Bible seriously end up owning one of each.
Recommended translations
The most widely used word for word translation in evangelical churches today. It reads clearly in modern English while staying close to the original Hebrew and Greek, and there are more commentaries, study Bibles, and seminary curricula built around the ESV than any other contemporary version.
Best for: Memorization, preaching, and Bible study
Visit websiteThe bestselling English Bible for decades, producing natural, fluent sentences that are easy to read aloud. It underwent a significant revision in 2011 that updated the language throughout, and the 2011 edition is the version in print today.
Best for: Church reading, first-time readers, and general use
Visit websiteSits between the ESV and NIV, accurate enough for serious study and natural enough to read aloud. It also renders the divine name as Yahweh in the Old Testament rather than LORD, which gives you a closer sense of how that name actually sounded in its original context.
Best for: An all-purpose translation for study and reading
Visit websitePrioritizes clear, readable English above all else, making it the easiest Bible to pick up cold. It grew out of Kenneth Taylor's Living Bible of 1971, a paraphrase Taylor produced by rendering the American Standard Version into plain English during his commute to work, originally to help his ten children understand Scripture at the dinner table.
Best for: New believers and cover to cover reading
Visit websiteTypes of Bibles
Study Bible
If you only own one Bible, make it a study Bible. Notes, introductions, maps, and theological articles alongside the text. The ESV Study Bible and the Reformation Study Bible are the two strongest options.
Reader's Bible
No verse numbers or chapter headings, formatted as prose and poetry. Reveals the Bible's narrative shape in a way the divided, numbered format obscures. The ESV Reader's Bible and Bibliotheca are popular options.
Reference Bible
Trades commentary for cross-references in the margins, linking each verse to related passages across the canon. For people who want to follow a theme through Scripture without reading someone else's notes.
Journaling Bible
Wide ruled margins for notes, prayers, or drawings. Your copy accumulates years of your own thinking alongside the text.
Chronological Bible
The text rearranged in historical order rather than canonical order. Helpful for understanding when events happened relative to each other, especially across the prophets and historical books.
Devotional Bible
Short reflections or prompts alongside the text. Good for morning reading, though a study Bible does more for your understanding.
Apps and audio
Most people read their Bible on a phone. YouVersion has 500 million downloads and covers virtually every translation for free. For ESV reading without the noise, Crossway's ESV app is cleaner. For serious study, Logos has the deepest library of commentaries and original language tools, though the learning curve is real. For listening, Dwell is purpose-built for audio Bible reading, with multiple voices, background music, and plans designed around listening rather than reading. Bible.is covers over 1,400 languages and is the best option for non-English audio.
Choosing for where you are
First time reading Scripture
Start with something readable. You want a translation that doesn't slow you down and a format that gives you enough context to understand what you're reading. A thought for thought translation in a study Bible edition is the most practical place to begin.
Growing in your faith
Once you're comfortable reading regularly, move toward a more precise translation. You'll start to notice how translation choices affect meaning, and a word for word Bible will serve you better as you work through commentaries and theology.
Serious student of the Bible
At this stage you want the most accurate rendering you can get in English. The NASB is the gold standard for precision. Pair it with an interlinear and a strong commentary series.
What to avoid
Avoid
MSG The Message. Eugene Peterson's paraphrase is a personal devotional read at best. It is so loose that it often smuggles in interpretive choices as if they are the text. Not for study, not for preaching.
TLB The Living Bible. Same issue. Ken Taylor paraphrased it for his kids. It is charming, but it is his words more than God's.
TPT The Passion Translation. Genuinely problematic. Brian Simmons has been widely criticized by scholars for inserting charismatic theology into the text itself, particularly in the Psalms and New Testament. It is not a translation in any serious sense. Avoid this one completely.
NWT New World Translation. The Jehovah's Witnesses' Bible. Deliberately altered to support their Arian theology, especially John 1:1. Not a legitimate translation.
Use with caution
NIV New International Version (2011). Fine for general reading, but the gender-inclusive language changes are a real concern in some passages. Usable, but check against the ESV or NASB for anything doctrinal.
NRSV New Revised Standard Version. Academically respected but leans liberal in its translation committees. The gender-inclusive choices here are more aggressive than the NIV. Good for seeing what critical scholars say, but not as a primary Bible.
CEV / GNT Contemporary English Version / Good News Translation. Too simplified. Fine for new believers or children, but theologically thin for serious work.