Good versions of the Bible

From: https://truthfortheworld.education/mod/lesson/view.php?id=394&pageid=111 

There are some good versions that exist.  As an aid, there are some different versions mentioned below, along with their pros, cons, and possible uses.

• The King James Version
• There are multiple versions of the "King James Version."  The original was made in 1611 and included the Apocrypha.  Later versions have dropped the Apocrypha.  The 1900 KJV is sometimes called the Authorized Version or AV.
• Pros of the AV KJV:  
  • Doctrinally sound in almost all things
  • Beautiful English
  • Words that are not in the original are in italics
• Cons of the AV KJV:
  
  • The translation work of 1611 was intended to support the Church of England and King James, who was its head.  Therefore, the term "bishop" is referred to as "an office" (1 Timothy 3:1) and therefore may promote the idea of bishops within the Church of England hierarchy.  
  • The word "baptism" was transliterated instead of translated.  Transliteration is when you bring the letters or sounds into the new language without translating it.  For example, "baptisma" in the Greek might be brought into the English as "baptism."  It may sound the same but the reader is still left wondering what it means.  In the case of King James, he was sprinkled or poured instead of immersed for his baptism.  Therefore, when the translators came across "baptisma" or something similar in the Greek, which means "immersion," they transliterated it as "baptism" and let the king figure out what it meant to him, rather than tell him his sprinkling or pouring was not biblical.
  • Mistranslated the Greek word "hades" as "hell."  The Greek word "hades" refers to the realm of the dead, while the Greek word "gehenna" refers to the place of eternal punishment.  Unfortunately, the KJV translates both of these words as "hell."
  • The New Testament is often criticized because it is based on the Textus Receptus (Received Text) which used later Greek manuscripts and not very many of them.  However, its solid translation of the doctrine found in all manuscripts still makes it a good choice.
• Uses:  Makes a good reading and study Bible

• The American Standard Version of 1901 - ASV 1901
• This is considered a very literal version, even though it reads in English.
• Pros:
  • Accurate representation of the original text
  • The New Testament was based on the Westcott-Hort of 1901 which is based on older manuscripts than the Textus Receptus.  
• Cons:
  • Some may feel the readability is impaired because of its literal translation.
  • The Westcott-Hort Greek text used for the New Testament may be criticized for not being "eclectic," meaning it does not take into account many manuscripts but rather relies on a few, even if they are older.
• Uses:  Makes a good reading and study Bible

• The English Standard Version
• Is basically a revision of the Revised Standard Version of 1971. Read more about the ESV's translation at: https://www.esv.org/preface/
• Pros:
  • Tries to use formal equivalence when it does not prohibit "functional equivalence."
  • New Testament text is based on both the modern UBS Greek text and the 2012 Nestle-Aland Greek text. (By "modern" we don't mean that it was written lately.  It is still the original Greek writings of the New Testament authors.  By "modern" we mean updated to include newer information of variant readings within the text based on manuscripts available.)
  • Footnotes may provide alternate readings to text
• Cons:
  • May be too liberal in its translation of Matthew 19:9 giving the cause for divorce as "sexual immorality," which can include numerous things.  Compare this with other versions that translate the cause of divorce as "fornication" or "adultery," which refers to the sexual intercourse act itself.
• Uses:  May make a good reading and study Bible and/or 2nd reference Bible

• New International Version
• Published by the International Bible Society in 1965.
• Pros:  
  • May be more readable in its English
• Cons:
  • Dynamic equivalence translation and may have more subjectivity
  • Promotes the false idea of "original sin," in Psalm 51:5, which means that babies inherit the sin of Adam and are sinful at birth.
• Uses:  Might be a good 2nd or 3rd reference Bible to compare how something is worded when struggling to understand a passage.