What is your favorite Bible translation?

New Living Translation, New Century Version, Amplified Bible, what's your favorite?

I remember when I had only been a follower of Christ for a few years and as a young teenager was trying to understand the King James Version of the Bible. Through many years of study and looking up archaic words and phrases I was able to eventually understand much of what I read.

Then one day I picked up a portion of the Living Bible and even though it was a paraphrase and not a translation it really intrigued me. I was able to read the Word of God in every day, understandable language. I found I "wanted" to read the Bible more. It's truths began to leap off the page at an aggressive speed. I couldn't wait to get home from school in the afternoon and pick up where I had left off the night before.

Yes I know about all of the controversies surrounding modern translations. I have read scores of books and hundreds of articles and sermons on the issue. And I'm careful to trust or share questionable passages before investigating them further. But I'm not interested in controversy. I don't' have the time anymore. I am a conservative Christian who believes in the infallibility, inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. I just don't believe the Scripture should be confined to one translation.

I just love seeing people have a translation of the Scriptures they can easily understand. That was the goal of the KJV when it first appeared. That should be our goal now. The Bible translators of generations ago were involved in controversy as well. But they produced a product that was intended to make the Word of God available in the common man's language.

Now I have access to dozens of different versions of Scripture, parallel Bibles, online websites I visit, etc. When I read from them every day I get that same excitement I got years ago as a young believing teen. I stand in awe that I have the very Word of God in my hands.

My favorites? The three I listed at the beginning of this blog entry.