"Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God's very own family ... and you belong in God's household with every other Christian." (Ephesians 2:19,)

Pick the right Bible for you. 

 “The best translation available to you is: the one you will read”

The sheer number of Bible translations can seem overwhelming.  Which one should I choose?  Which one is best?  Many Christians choose the version used by their home church.  While this is a perfectly acceptable choice, it also may preclude the exploration of the other Bible translations and their attendant benefits.  On this page we will attempt to explain the different translations and suggest some strengths and weaknesses for each.  This is by no means an exhaustive discussion on the subject.  This is merely an introduction.  The bottom line for personal Bible study is this: The best translation available, is the one you will read.

    To understand Bible translations better, it is important to understand the art of translating in general.  Notice the Bible Spectrum above has two ends: Transliteration and Paraphrase.  Between these two ends, you will find all the various translations.

    Transliteration is directly translating each word without thought for placement of the words into the correct English syntax.  While Paraphrase, on the other hand, translates each word into a group of English words with equivalent meaning.  For example, the Greek word for home would be transliterated into the English word “home.”  However, a paraphrase translation of the Greek word for “home” may be: “the place where I live.”  Notice that in the paraphrase translation the word “home” is never used, however, the words used mean the same thing.

    To help illustrate the various types of translations in the spectrum, we will use an idiomatic Spanish phrase: “Como esta’ su media Naranja?”  A transliteration of this would be: “How is you half Orange?”  Would you believe that this Spanish saying has nothing to do with eating an Orange?  I will translate this phrase as an illustration for type of translation below.

    Keep in mind that these are loose guidelines.  For example, just because a translation is classified as “Word for Word” , it doesn’t mean that the translators didn’t use “Meaning for Meaning” translations on occasion.  It just means they used “Word for Word” most of the time.