December 17, 2008

It's A Bible Filled Life

I was just looking around my office this morning a realized I have quite a few Bibles, but somehow I never seem to have enough as I always manage to see the need to pick up another. So what do I have? Here are the versions I have, either as standalone or in some form of compendium:

  • NASB
  • NET
  • NIV
  • ESV
  • KJV
  • NKJV
  • Amplified
  • NCV
  • NWT
I have Study Bibles, Life Application Bibles, Comparative Bibles, travel size Bibles, Bibles that are just Scripture and no notes, Bibles that have more notes than Scriptures, an old family Catholic Bible. I have them on-line (here and here), in print and on DVD.

All in all I have about 20 volumes of Bibles. I have to scratch my head to remember where I got all of them from. Which do I use? At seminary I use the NASB for class, the NET for chapel. Not sure why the dichotomy. At home the NET for morning reading, although I am going to work through my new ESV Study Bible in 2009 as part of one of my small group reading plans. My wife has been using the same Bible for years, same version, same volume, NASB. I admire her consistency, but I cannot do it myself. Not sure what it says about me.

Given my 2009 reading plans, it means I am probably in the market for a travel sized ESV. (Have you seen the size of the ESV Study Bible? They do have size restrictions on carry on luggage for air travel you know)

And I might likely need more shelf space soon.

Do you have a favorite version? Do you hop around like me? If not, how long have you been faithful to the version you are reading?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have been an NIV reader since I was a kid. I have a few NIV's around.

I also use the NKJV when I'm studying and I have the NET bible on my phone (because it's free).

I have a severe dislike of The Message but am softening to it a little in certain circumstances.

My wife and I love to give away bibles and are not too picky what we give away but we normally go for something which is fairly modern and easy to read. NCV or NET tend to do good value bibles with a quality which is becoming the word of God.

One thing I really don't like is how much people charge for bibles. Certain versions are incredibly expensive which somehow just seems wrong to me. The Word of God should be readily available to everyone!

Laurie M. said...

Our official Bible at church is the ESV, and that's what we carry around. But, like you, we have dozens of Bibles and many versions. My favorite reader, the RSV (Revised Standard Version) is out of vogue these days. In fact, I heard somewhere that the ESV was intended to replace it, though I don't know how true that is. But that's my childhood Bible, from when I was a Lutheran. I read from it every day, and love the way it flows. One of my least favorite translations is the NKJ. I don't know why, 'cause I enjoy the KJV from time to time. I'm also not a big fan of the NIV, because it's so wordy. I feel like the more words are added, the more I'm getting interpretation on top of translation. The paraphrases have no place in my life at all, though we own several.

So, there you have it!

Ancoti said...

I am surprised with all the different ones I own, I do not have The Message or any other paraphrase.

The closest I come to that is the Amplified Bible, which is part of a Comparative Bible I have and a version I do not really use.