What is your favorite Bible translation besides the NWT?

kirmmy

Well-known member
Cephar bible has a version of god's name wherever the tetragrammaton occurs though they interpret the letters as Yahuah physical copies are pricey but all texts of the protestant canon are free on there app.
Pricey kills the deal for me. I'll just finagle a NWT from a passing Witness. Just have to make sure they don't know I'm an "apostate" before I get it. :) Or I may try and find that restored KJV with God's name. Different is good.
 

Ireneo

Well-known member
Valera version 1960 or 1909

The Valera version after 2000 removed the name Jehovah



I use a program called "sword"

Allows you to load different bibles and compare them

New world translation is loaded

There I have loaded about 50 different versions of the bible even in Greek-Spanish

it is very useful to me

It's free I recommend it

 

Dorothea

Well-known member
Valera version 1960 or 1909

The Valera version after 2000 removed the name Jehovah



I use a program called "sword"

Allows you to load different bibles and compare them

New world translation is loaded

There I have loaded about 50 different versions of the bible even in Greek-Spanish

it is very useful to me

It's free I recommend it

Thanks Ireneo, that looks really good.
 

BagdadBill

Well-known member
It is Tuesday night. Tuenight I guess. I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed from two years of this and I feel we aren't even half over it yet, I needed a fix. Something unrelated to the royal scam.
My favorite bible is still likely King James because every time I want to read Psalms, bearing in mind these were songs which are poetry put to music, too many commas here, things just sound better in King James if I am reading in Psalms.

My case in point tonight is Psalm 46. It's the one that says "Be still and know that I am God". No knocks against the NWT even but ours cannot compete against the phrasing in the King James on this in particular. From the first time I ever heard this scripture, which was later in life, maybe in my 20s, the exact phrase stuck in my mind and I can't listen to it any other way. Maybe if Jehovah puts us back to original Hebrew I will feel different (if I am alive) but until then, this is something I struggle to allow anything else to compare.
Another example is Psalm 23. Even most of Jehovah's Witnesses know the King James version of Psalm 23. Well, the old fogies like me do anyway. I find this preference of King James to be strange at times since English has changed so much since that time but I learned to stop questioning some things and accept them as the way things are.
King James shows the beauty of God's word in. a version of my language that I can still comprehend as best as I can find right now in this rotten world. The Greek scriptures weren't just Greek. They were a variety of it I guess. I have the Diaglott but I can't read any form of Greek without it. The marvel that the Holy Scriptures were put into our language so long ago is amazing in of itself. The idea that the language can carry so much weight for me personally is above my understanding.
 

StillA_WorshiperOfJah

Well-known member
It is Tuesday night. Tuenight I guess. I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed from two years of this and I feel we aren't even half over it yet, I needed a fix. Something unrelated to the royal scam.
My favorite bible is still likely King James because every time I want to read Psalms, bearing in mind these were songs which are poetry put to music, too many commas here, things just sound better in King James if I am reading in Psalms.

My case in point tonight is Psalm 46. It's the one that says "Be still and know that I am God". No knocks against the NWT even but ours cannot compete against the phrasing in the King James on this in particular. From the first time I ever heard this scripture, which was later in life, maybe in my 20s, the exact phrase stuck in my mind and I can't listen to it any other way. Maybe if Jehovah puts us back to original Hebrew I will feel different (if I am alive) but until then, this is something I struggle to allow anything else to compare.
Another example is Psalm 23. Even most of Jehovah's Witnesses know the King James version of Psalm 23. Well, the old fogies like me do anyway. I find this preference of King James to be strange at times since English has changed so much since that time but I learned to stop questioning some things and accept them as the way things are.
King James shows the beauty of God's word in. a version of my language that I can still comprehend as best as I can find right now in this rotten world. The Greek scriptures weren't just Greek. They were a variety of it I guess. I have the Diaglott but I can't read any form of Greek without it. The marvel that the Holy Scriptures were put into our language so long ago is amazing in of itself. The idea that the language can carry so much weight for me personally is above my understanding.
 

MickHewitt

Well-known member
I've been enjoying the 2001 Translation. There are a few downsides, it's online only. They prefer to use Anointed One instead of Christ which is accurate but takes some getting used to. And their commentary can lead down rabbit holes. It's caused me to question the meaning of "anointed" which may not be a bad thing but I need clarity and not confusion given the times.

I also like e-sword as it will work when the Internet is down and I can compare many translations.
Sorry! Remember the green hard backed NWT? I used to love even the smell of the binding gum! A quid in the UK and a dollar in the states, best quid I ever spent!
 

kirmmy

Well-known member
I've been enjoying the 2001 Translation. There are a few downsides, it's online only. They prefer to use Anointed One instead of Christ which is accurate but takes some getting used to. And their commentary can lead down rabbit holes. It's caused me to question the meaning of "anointed" which may not be a bad thing but I need clarity and not confusion given the times.

I also like e-sword as it will work when the Internet is down and I can compare many translations.
Great translation. I bookmarked it. And bonus of bonuses, they used God's name.

"Our Bible uses the Divine Name Jehovah over 5,500 times"

Thanks so much!
 

Dorothea

Well-known member
I recently bought a copy of the Divine Name King James version and I really like it. I especially like the preface. I'm pretty sure the publishers are non-trinitarian and they obviously have a deep respect for Jehovah's name. What I especially like about it is that it puts the name in parenthesis even in the Greek scriptures where the Hebrew scriptures are being quoted and then it shows where in the Hebrew scriptures those quotations were taken from. It also includes the spurious verses that were originally in the KJV, but bolds them and puts them in parenthesis, marking them as spurious.
 

Watchman

Moderator
Staff member
I do not read any Bible other than the NWT. I used to read the Catholic New Jerusalem Bible and the NIV and once in a while the paraphrase Living Bible, more for entertainment. But because it is hard to read literal print I basically just read the NWT on a device. However, when I am researching a specific word or passage I use Bible Gateway to compare as many versions as deemed necessary.
 

The God Pill

Well-known member
I have started comparing Daniel 8 between NWT (2013), 2001Translation, New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS), and the Brenton Septuagint Translation.

One thing I thought was interesting is that Daniel 8:24 in all three Septuagint translations omits the phrase "his strength won't be his". I'm not sure that's significant but it's odd how most English translations include a phrase with that thought.
You'll also notice a difference in one of the time prophecies in English septuagints 2400 days rather than the 2300 people are familiar with some say it originated as a typographical error present in the Sixtine Vatican manuscript but not the other three major editions the Complutensian, the Aldine and the Oxford.

Generally speaking however I find the Septuagint a superior manuscript tradition to the masoretic.
 

LifeLearning

Well-known member
I use a program called "sword"
Allows you to load different bibles and compare them
Is anyone aware of a way to compare NWT 2014 against NWT 1984 to show all the changes? I am often curious about why certain words were changed, as I recall so much from the 1984 version, and when reading from 2014 it is often different (even very different). JW.Org also does not have the bible word index online for the 1984 version from what I see. Odd that they would omit that?

If there is not a method to do this, I am considering creating such a text (if i did would distribution be legal?). I was thinking of output being "in line" so that it would be possible to just read the 2014 version, and each change be shown like this:

NWT 2014 text [text] of the bible.

2 Thes
Ch 2
11 [So] That is why God lets a deceptive influence mislead [an operation of error go out to] them so that they may come [get] to believe [believing] the lie

Why this change? What prompted this? I recall this scripture by the phrase 'operation of error' that is gone in the new text.

It is not a trivial thing to change the word of God. I spent a huge amout of effort examining the 1984 version a long time ago against everything I could get my hands on.

All that said, I read the online NWT 2014 version all the time, It is pleasant to read on my mac because I can zoom to the exact right size text to see it perfectly. My big print v1984 is no match for this. The audio is generally good too, although the inflection used at times is distracting from the text. (i.e. the voice in such distress that all I hear is the moaning rather than what is said) Also there are a few books in 2014v that have no audio (samuel and kings?). I like to listen to the audio and read at the same time... comprehension goes up for me when I do this but only if the audio is particularly good. If audio is not great, I switch to the 1984 audio. I think the book of Job was an example of what I am saying here.

If anyone is interested I have created a ms word document with the full NWT 2014 bookmarked by bible book. This allows 100% accurate way to search the bible by keywords and phrases. If there is a better way, please share it... but actually for me the Word copy I made is fast and solid... just need one for the 1984v. Not as easy to make because the raw text that is downloadable from WT is not the same format.
 

SpicySpice

Well-known member
I like the American Standard, maybe because it feels readable, accurate but also classical. Its like the KJV but more readable for me. Plus it uses Jehovah's name. For ultimate readability I'll do the NIV(new international)I also like the Byington Bible in Living English (I think that's what it's called) just because it hits home sometimes. The way it's translated when compared to other translations it's choice of words are harsher and have more impact..I like that.
 

SpicySpice

Well-known member
Pricey kills the deal for me. I'll just finagle a NWT from a passing Witness. Just have to make sure they don't know I'm an "apostate" before I get it. :) Or I may try and find that restored KJV with God's name. Different is good.
Try thrift stores. My husband and I had good luck finding not just 84 NWTs but also old hardback classic JW publications at thrift stores. 🙂
 
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