Which translation of the bible you read?

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Certainly not the Trump version!

Depends on where I am both in time and space.

When I'm travelling and bored in the middle of nowhere I will read whatever version that is in the drawer of the hotel room.

There was a period in time where I was very interested in reading the Essene version of the new testament, the Essene humane gospel of Christ and supplemented with the gospel of peace.

I personally found the differences between the Essene version and all the other versions to be quite interesting.

after looking it up it is certainly the NBG: "Nieuwe Vertaling" - Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap (1951)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_tra ... into_Dutch
The first authorised Bible translation into Dutch directly from Greek (using the Textus Receptus) and Hebrew sources was the Statenvertaling. It was ordered by the States-General of the emerging Dutch Republic at the Synod of Dort in 1618/19, and first published in 1637. It soon became the generally accepted translation for the Calvinist Reformed Churches in the Northern Netherlands and remained so well into the 20th century. It was supplanted to a large extent in 1951 by the Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap (NBG) translation, better known as NBG 1951, which still uses relatively old-fashioned language.

Authorised King James for me. I can see the point of the modernised ones but they always feel dummied down to me, like reading a modern English version of Shakespeare, you lose a lot of the poetry. I'm secular anyway so I don't read it for moral guidance or any other religious reasons. The reasons why I bother with it at all are interesting but complicated.

But that begs the question if the "poetry" is contributing anything of value or actually detracting from the understandability of the text while contributing nothing.

If the goal is comprehension, a plain, straight-forward writing style is best.

I took an interest in how the Book of Psalms is recited by practioners of hoodoo for spell scriptures. It's something I found deeply fascinating but because I came to understand why Hoodoo is a closed practice I quit trying to mess around with it out of trying to be respectful to the descedents of slavery who kept this tradition alive for centuries and were at times persecuted or even exploited by their slaveowners. Hoodoo gave a sense of power and hope to those who created it. There really does need to be more respect for that.

But back to the Bible, I like to believe there can be some spiritual truth to it. And belief is a very powerful thing imho. It's just like when I'm reading my tarot cards. Tarot really isnt anything but a bunch of paper cards with symbolic art drawn on them, and they have a lot and muddled up history originally having been used for games of gambling (though nobody knows for sure where the first playing cards came from). But sonebody centuries ago found a deeper meaning in the cards themselves and thus they have become a popular tool for divination ever since, at least to those who believe in them.

And I'm aware that many things within the bible itself are mistranslated misinformation, but while the bible is no use to me I can respect others who do find something in it. I'm trying not to pass judgement over people's beliefs anymore. As long as it doesn't hurt people.

There's no "but" about it, my post just says which translation is the one I like best, and a bit about why I do. If something else floats your boat, so be it. I don't see anything to argue about. For the right person, poetry sometimes gets ideas across better than prose. For another kind of person, it doesn't.

The one I prefer is one way to define best, but probably not the best way.

If a translation's accuracy suffers because of it's writing style, that kinda undermines it's ability to be best by any objective measure, even if it's still one's favourite.

I'm not wrong to point out that my favourite is best is poor rubric for determining which is best by meaningful measures, and that criticism doesn't detract from your favourite being your favourite.

^
Probably not the best, no.

Actually, I reckon something like this would at least rival the KJV in my case:

Once upon a time, in a curiously far-off land of jibber-jabber, there was a chap, a right fine fellow by the name of—oh, let’s say—Jigglebottom! Off he went, trottin’ along a twisty-wisty path to Jerkwater, yes, that’s it! Now, as our Jigglebottom ambled along, mindin’ his own ganoodles, a bunch of rascally brigands popped out from behind a bush—oh, flippity-flap! They gave him a thwackity-whack and a good ol’ kerfuffle, leavin’ him all crumply and squished like a flat pancake!

Now, wouldn’t you know it, prancin’ down the lane came a priestly chap—a proper golly-gee in his frockity-robe! He was thinkin’ lofty thoughts, humming a tune about cheery-beards. But lo and behold, when he spotted poor Jigglebottom all scraggly-waggly on the ground, did he stop to help? Not a chance! He huffed and puffed with a flickety-swish, flounced to the other side, muttering, “Too much bother, my dear!”

Then comes a Levity, all prim and twiddly, struttin’ his stuff with a nose higher than a kite! He waltzed past, diddle-dee-daddlin’ about his important business, and upon catchin’ a glimpse of Jigglebottom, oh my! He leaped and scooted away, high-tailed it out like a startled cat! “Not me, thank you!” he said, off he shimmied, leaving the poor chap in a right pickle!

But wait! What’s this? In bumbles a Samaritan—a fellow you wouldn’t expect much from, a bit of a dingly-dangle, if I may say so! But when this Samaritan, bless his gizzards, laid eyes upon our poor Jigglebottom all crumpled like a soggy biscuit, something wiggled within him! Instead of leggin’ it like the others, he skidded to a stop, oh yes, a proper stop!
“Crikey, what’s happenin’ here?” he exclaimed, bending down like a bobbly-wobbly scarecrow. He rummaged through his bag of tricks, pulled out bandages and a few splishy-splashy oils—chef’s kiss, mind you! He bandied the poor fellow’s ouchies, making him all nice and snuggeled up! Then he hoisted Jigglebottom onto his own dandy donkey, all trot-trot to the nearest innsie-winsie!

Upon arrival at the lovely inn, he fished about his pockets, jangled some shiny bits, and tossed ’em at the innkeeper, saying, “Take care of him, my good man, and if he needs a few extra bobbles, I’ll be back to sort it all out!” What a right smashing gesture, indeed!

So, I ask you, who among these three—the priest, the Levity, or the Samaritan—was the true neighbor to our dear Jigglebottom in his hour of need? It’s not the fancy-pants labels that matter, but the heart that beats a biddle-baddle within! So let’s all be like that Good Samaritan, sprinkle a bit of kindness, and never fuss about the fanciful names, for we’re all in this topsy-turvy world together, aren’t we?

I got it from an AI robot when I asked it to give me the story in the style of Stanley Unwin. It didn't quite catch the way Unwin corrupts words but it got somewhere towards it. Now an entire bible translated properly into Unwinese, I'd pay at least £10 for that.

The Bible For Dummies

It's brilliant

^
I just got myself a copy of that for nowt, and it's good stuff. It goes through the entire thing explaining it in an easy but not dummied-down way, in spite of its title. I like those "for dummies" books. They're nicely down to earth so anybody reasonably intelligent can read them without having to go off and look up big words and obscure unexplained jargon all the time. That's great for people with a dodgy short-term memory like me.

Yeah but I've got it on an audio book