What is the most popular bible version

There are too many Bible translations available in English today (more than 100!) to describe them all here, but below are descriptions to help orient you to some of the more popular or influential. These 15 translations range between two primary approaches to translation: word-for-word—“formal equivalent,” and thought-for-thought—“functional equivalent.” The modern translations here benefit from a high level of scholarship and accuracy. Some prize literary appeal and others emphasize clarity of expression. They are presented in alphabetical order.

Christian Standard Bible (CSB, HCSB)

This is a 2017 update of the Holman Christian Standard Bible (2004), an original translation from Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. Its scholars, most of whom are from conservative and evangelical church traditions, have aimed at a balance between word-for-word and thought-for-thought translation—as close to the original wording as possible while emphasizing clarity for modern English readers. It uses a seventh-grade reading level.

Common English Bible (CEB)

The CEB is a new translation (2011) optimized for smooth reading for a broad range of people. After the scholarly translation (a balance of dynamic equivalence and formal equivalence), the draft texts were reviewed for grammar, style, and consistency. It uses common equivalents for many traditional church terms. CEB translators come from a variety of denominations, mostly mainline or progressive Protestant. The translation has been released by a consortium of five church publishing houses. It reads at a seventh-grade level.

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

The CEV is a meaning-based (or functional equivalent) translation done in a contemporary style using common language. It is designed to be understood when read and heard out loud, not just when it is read silently. It is one of the better Bibles for children and youth, as well as for new Bible readers who are not familiar with traditional Bible and church words. It was first published in 1995 and revised in 2006.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The ESV was published in 2001 (updated most recently in 2016) and is a revision of the Revised Standard Version (1971 edition), drawing on recent scholarship and following a formal equivalence approach. It is growing in popularity, particularly among some Protestant churches.

Good News Translation (GNT)

The GNT (also known as Today's English Version or the Good News Bible) was one of the first meaning-based (or functional equivalent) translations of the Bible into English. It was originally published in 1976 and revised in 1992. The GNT presents the message of the Bible in a level of English that is common to most of the English-speaking world. The GNT is still used widely in youth Bible study groups and in less formal worship services. Editions are also available for Roman Catholic readers.

King James Version (KJV)

The KJV (also known as the Authorized Version) is a word-for-word (or formal equivalent) translation originally published in 1611 at the request of King James I of England. It has been frequently reprinted and its spelling updated. Most copies today are slightly adapted from a 1769 edition. So many people have used the KJV over the centuries that it has become the single most important book in shaping the modern English language. Many of the best and most ancient Hebrew and Greek manuscripts of Bible books have been discovered since 1850, so the KJV could not make use of them. In many cases, it is helpful to read and study the KJV alongside another more recent translation. The KJV is still the most widely owned and used English translation in the United States.

The Message

The Message is a popular paraphrase of the Bible by Eugene Peterson, who used the original Greek and Hebrew texts and tried to bring their “feel”—their tone, rhythm, and idiom—directly into contemporary English. It is presented as a Bible more for personal reading than for study or public reading. The Message is often useful to read side by side with other, more word-for-word translations. Peterson’s choice of words can help new readers unlock the sense of the text and can help seasoned Bible readers find fresh energy in passages that have become too familiar.

New American Bible (NAB, NABRE)

The NAB was originally published in 1970 as a meaning-based translation intended primarily for Roman Catholic readers. The New Testament was revised in 1986, shifting more toward a word-for-word or formal translation. The full Bible with a newly revised translation of the Old Testament and extensive notes was released in 2011 as the New American Bible, Revised Edition. The NABRE is useful for individual study. The older NAB is approved for public worship for American Catholics.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The NASB, first published in the 1960s, is an excellent example of a formal translation of the Bible in English. It is probably the most “word-for-word” type translation available today. Because of this, the NASB is a good version to use in Bible study where one is concerned with the form of the original Hebrew and Greek. The most recent edition of the NASB was published in 1995.

New International Version (NIV)

The NIV was a completely new translation, but it was strongly influenced by the tradition of the King James Version. The full Bible was published in 1978 and revised in 1984 and 2011. A blend of form-based and meaning-based translation types, the NIV is one of the most popular English Bibles in use today. It is equally useful for individual study and public worship, especially among more traditional and conservative denominations.

New Jerusalem Bible (NJB)

The NJB is a 1985 revision of the older Jerusalem Bible (JB). The JB was translated from the original languages, but it developed out of a popular French translation done in Jerusalem, which is where it got its name. The NJB, like the JB before it, is known for its literary qualities. While the JB tended to more meaning-based (or functional equivalent), the NJB moved toward more of a word-based (or formal equivalent) translation.

New Living Translation (NLT)

The NLT is a meaning-based translation in the tradition of the Living Bible (LB), a popular 1971 Bible paraphrased from English. The New Living Translation involved comparing the LB to the original-language texts, and then making changes so that the NLT is now a true translation. The NLT is a good translation to use with youth and adults who have difficulty with the traditional language of a formal equivalent translation.

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The NRSV is a 1989 revision of the Revised Standard Version. The NRSV is now the latest translation in the King James tradition. It aims at being readable, but it also tries to keep familiar words and phrases from the KJV. It is a blend of meaning-based and form-based translation types. The NRSV has become a standard translation for serious Bible study, especially in seminaries and colleges.

Revised English Bible (REB)

The REB is a 1989 revision of the earlier New English Bible (NEB, 1946), which was a bold and innovative translation from original texts with a considerable British flavor. The REB smoothed some of the NEB’s more unusual terms and aimed to be more accessible to an international audience. The REB is a meaning-based translation but has retained much of the traditional language and style. It is a popular English translation for public reading of Scripture.

Revised Standard Version (RSV)

The Revised Standard version (1952, revised most recently in 1977) is an update of the American Standard Version (1901), which was a revision of the King James Version. It is a mix of formal equivalence and functional equivalence in its approach. This translation has been widely used in mainline Protestant churches. A Roman Catholic edition was released in 1966 (and updated in 2006). Since its 1977 revision (which also removed the “thee” and “thou” language), this translation has also been widely used in Eastern Orthodox churches.

Note: Translations with Deuterocanonical books

Many but not all translations include a translation of the books of the Deuterocanon / Apocrypha. And not all editions of all translations include these books. You can find Bible editions with the Deuterocanonical books in CEB, CEV, ESV, GNT, KJV, NABRE, NJB, NRSV, REB, and RSV translations, among others. Among popular Bible translations, the CSB, NASB, NIV, NLT, and the Message do not include the Apocrypha.

Shortly after he ascended the English throne in 1603, King James I commissioned a new Holy Bible translation that, more than 400 years later, is still widely read around the world. 

This Bible, known as the King James Version (KJV), helped King James leave behind a lasting cultural footprint — one of his goals as a leader. "James saw himself as a great Renaissance figure who wanted to impart on the world culture, music, literature and even new ways of learning," Bruce Gordon, a professor of ecclesiastical history at Yale Divinity School, told Live Science.

But given the KJV's age, why is it still so popular across different Christian denominations?

Related: Why does Christianity have so many denominations?

In short, the KJV's influence has waxed over the centuries because, Gordon said, it was the version that was most widely read and distributed in countries where English was the dominant language and that its translation was "never really challenged until the 20th century." In that time, the KJV became so embedded in the Anglo-American world that "many people in Africa and Asia were taught English from the KJV" when Christian missionaries brought it to them, Gordon said. "Many people weren't even aware that it was one of many available translations," he added, "they believed the King James Version was the Bible in English." 

But there's more to the story that goes back to the translation's inception.

Why did King James want a newly translated Bible? 

Before James commissioned the KJV in 1604, most people in England were learning from two different Bibles — the Church of England's translation, commonly read during worship services (known as the Bishops' Bible, first published in 1568), and the more popular version most Brits read at home, known as the Geneva Bible, first published in 1560. The Geneva Bible was the Bible of choice among Protestants and Protestant sects, and as a Presbyterian, James also read that version. However, he disliked the lengthy and distracting annotations in the margins, some of which even questioned the power of a king, according to Gordon. 

What's more, when James assumed the English throne in March 1603, following the death of Queen Elizabeth I, he inherited a complicated political situation, as the Puritans and the Calvinists — religious followers of reformer John Calvin — were openly questioning the absolute power of the Church of England's bishops. James' own mother — Mary, Queen of Scots — had been executed 16 years earlier in part because she was perceived to be a Catholic threat to Queen Elizabeth's Protestant reign. "Mary's death made James keenly aware of how easily he could be removed if he upset the wrong people," Gordon said.

To moderate such divisions, James commissioned a Bible that aimed to please both parishioners of the Church of England and the growing Protestant sects by removing the problematic and unpopular annotations of the Geneva Bible while remaining true to the style and translations from both Bibles that each group revered. Despite James' efforts, Gordon said, "the KJV didn't really succeed while James was alive." That's because the market for James' version didn't really arise until the 1640s, when Archbishop William Laud, who "hated the Puritans," suppressed the Geneva Bible that the Puritans followed, Gordon said. 

James died from a stroke in March 1625, so he never saw his Bible become widely accepted. But even during his lifetime, after James commissioned the translation, he didn't oversee the process himself. "It's almost as if he got the ball rolling, then washed his hands of the whole thing," Gordon said. 

Related: Was the 'forbidden fruit' in the Garden of Eden really an apple?

How the KJV was translated

To oversee the translation, James commissioned six committees made up of 47 scholars from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. They were tasked with translating all of the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Old and New Testaments into English. It was a complicated and sometimes contentious process that took seven years to complete. Though we don't have a lot of the records of those committees, "through our best reconstructions, we understand it was a very rigorous debate with everyone committed to the most accurate translation of the Bible," Gordon said.

Much of the resulting translation drew on the work of William Tyndale, a Protestant reformer who had produced the first New Testament translation from Greek to English in 1525. "It's believed that up to 80% of the King James Version stems from the William Tyndale version," Gordon said. 

Why is the KJV still popular today?

For a book that was published in 1611, it's amazing how influential and widely read the KJV still is today. Though there are hundreds of versions and translations of the Bible, the KJV is the most popular. According to market research firm Statistica, as of 2017, more than 31% of Americans read the KJV, with the New International Version coming in second place, at 13%. Five large denominations of Christianity — Baptist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Latter-day Saints and Pentecostal — use the KJV today.

The KJV "works as both a word-for-word and sense-for-sense translation," meaning it acts as both a literal translation of many of the words believed to have been used by Jesus Christ and his Apostles and accurately conveys the meaning behind those words and events, Gordon said. One line of manuscripts used in the KJV — the Textus Receptus of Erasmus, translated from Greek to Latin by the 16th-century Dutch scholar and philosopher Desiderius Erasmus — is thought by some to be a particularly important inclusion in the KJV, especially for those who see it as the purest line of the New Testament going back to the Apostolic Age (A.D. 33 to 100), Gordon said. 

Despite the KJV's popularity throughout the centuries, Gordon said some scholars now view parts of it as outdated. He cautioned that there have been other ancient manuscripts discovered since the KJV was commissioned that enhance scholars' understanding of some biblical events and possibly even change the meaning of certain words. 

Related: What led to the emergence of monotheism?

For example, in the mid-20th century, "many translators believed that 'maiden' or 'young woman' was a more accurate Hebraic translation to use to describe Jesus' mother Mary, instead of 'virgin,'" Gordon said. If correct, the interpretation would have far-reaching implications as the Old Testament prophet Isaiah had prophesied that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. "Translations," Gordon said, "are not neutral things."

To that end, many KJV readers (known as "King James Onlyists") don't believe the Bible should be updated at all and hold to the notion that James' version was translated from the most reliable manuscripts. What's more, Gordon said, some Onlyists believe that the scholars who oversaw the KJV translation were "divinely inspired" and that more modern translations should be disregarded because they have been "carried out by nonbelievers." 

Even casual religious observers or nonbelievers are affected by the prose of the KJV Bible in ways they may not realize. Its poetic language has influenced generations of artists and activists, with many biblical phrases becoming part of our everyday language. A few examples include "the blind leading the blind," "the powers that be," "my brother's keeper," "by the skin of your teeth," "a wolf in sheep's clothing," "rise and shine" and "go the extra mile," according to Wide Open Country. Even the famous opening line "Four score and seven years ago" from President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was inspired by language used in the KJV.

Originally published on Live Science.