When most people think of the bible they probably think of the ancient KJV … King James version and say, “no, thanks”. I can’t blame them. I personally despise the KJV bible. It is better than nothing but that is about all I can say for it. When I was a child I tried to read the bible. Back then the only bible we had that I know of was the KJV. With old English words we no longer use I was really turned off. I didn’t get anything out of it. I was so turned off by it that I never opened up the Word of God again until I was 30 years old. By that time we had several different versions of the bible available. My first bible was the Living Bible which is a paraphrase … not a translation. It is still pretty good. I got saved by reading it. I read the gospel of John in the Living Bible. It spoke clearly to me helping me to understand … to understand Who Jesus is, to understand that I am a sinner in need of forgiveness, that Jesus along is the Savior … the Savior I desperately needed as I was on my way to hell. I understood all of that by reading the book of John.

I like more modern versions than the KJV. The NIV … New International Version is a modern English translation offering but it is a meaning for meaning or thought for thought translation rather than a word for word translation. That is okay, but it is not quite as accurate. I can still highly recommend it though. I think the best versions are a word for word translation. My personal favorites are the NASB … New American Standard Bible and the ESV … English Standard Version.

And just now I have discovered the EEB … Easy English Bible which is also a meaning for meaning translation. It is named Easy because it is easy to read and understand. For someone just starting out reading the bible that is important … very important. Like most versions of the bible it is available online to read for free. It is not necessary to spend money buying a book like it used to be. Anyway, I recommend it over any of the others I mentioned as it is still a translation … not a paraphrase which several of the other modern English versions are. A paraphrase is the restating what someone else reads … restating it in their own words. Obviously that is not a safe approach to reading God’s Word as they may not have it interpreted and understood correctly. Besides we all vary as far as how well we are able to restate something someone else has said.

Most everybody knows that the bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament. The word testament is used as it testifies about something. The Old and the New is also a Covenant or Contract as God has made His agreement with man. When first starting out reading the bible read the New Testament as God made a new agreement replacing the old agreement.

We constantly hear that man wrote the bible. That is true, but he had help. Every word is God inspired. Man wrote what God told him to write … meaning that the entire bible is God’s Word. When I write these pages I pray first and thruout the time I am writing … asking for God’s help. I would like to think He helps me, but I certainly can not say that anything I write is inspired as is the bible. It is no ordinary book. It is an amazing book. It is alive and can speak to our hearts. It can transform us from the inside out. It is God’s owner’s manual able to help us thru life … to lead us along and strengthen us each day. It is the source of wisdom and direction. It is the source of TRUTH. It can and will provide us with all we Need to know. It is God’s love letter to us. I invite all to read God’s Word. I suggest you start in the book of John (the gospel of John). Do so prayerfully asking God to help you to understand it … that God would use His written Word to speak into your life. Try to empty yourself of any and all thoughts, teachings and beliefs you may have already had … starting off with a clean slate. Ask God to help you in this. It is important … very important.

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO BIBLE VERSIONS Trying to find a bible version to read is like trying to shop for cold medicines or so many other things. There are just so many to select from it is overwhelming. This guide may help. May the loving living God help you and bless you in this. BTW, this guide has an excellent explanation of the difficult challenges in translating from the original language into another language. That is interesting and informative.