English translations of the Bible

It has been estimated that nearly 500 versions of the English Bible have been published over the last 15 centuries, including major early works by John Wycliffe and William Tyndale. Predescesors to the landmark translation commissioned by King James I include the Great Bible (1539), also known as the Cromwell Bible; the Geneva Bible (1560), the first to be divided into verses; the Bishop's Bible (1568), an attempt by Elisabeth I to create an authorized version; and the Douay-Rheims Bible (1609), a Catholic translation from the Latin Vulgate with extensive commentary.

Multimedia

• What is a Good Translation? (Real Audio), by Douglas Stuart ( Study Guide)

The History of the English Bible (Daniel B. Wallace) [1]

• Part 1.a, Part 1.b, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.a, Part 4.b (RealPlayer Video)
• Part 1.a, Part 1.b, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.a, Part 4.b (Google Video)

Translations

The following chart represents the most widely distributed and used translations of the Bible into modern (20th and 21st century) English:

• Version name
• Initially Published
• Major Revisions
• Publisher
• Principal Editor
• Authorized ("King James") Version (KJV)
• 1611
• American Standard Version (ASV) 1901 Thomas Nelson & Sons Philip Schaff Revised Standard Version (RSV) 1947 1952, 1959, 1971 Thomas Nelson & Sons Luther Weigle New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) 1985 Doubleday Henry Wansbrough New English Bible (NEB) 1970 1989 Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press C. H. Dodd New American Standard Bible (NASB) 1971 1995 the Lockman Foundation Reuben A. Olson Living Bible (LB) 1971 Tyndale House Publishers Kenneth N. Taylor Good News Bible (GNB) 1976 1992 American Bible Society Robert G. Bratcher New International Version (NIV) 1978 1984 Zondervan Edwin H. Palmer New King James Version (NKJV) 1982 Thomas Nelson Arthur Farstad New Century Version (NCV) 1987 Worthy Publishing Ervin Bishop Contemporary English Version (CEV) 1995 American Bible Society Barclay M. Newman New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 1990 Oxford University Press Bruce M. Metzger New Living Translation (NLT) 1996 2004 Tyndale House Mark R. Norton New English Translation Bible (NET) 2001 2005 Biblical Studies Press W. Hall Harris English Standard Version (ESV) 2001 Crossway Bibles J. I. Packer The Message (MSG) 2002 NavPress Eugene H. Peterson Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) 2004 Broadman & Holman Edwin Blum Today's New International Version (TNIV) 2005 Zondervan John H. Stek

See also

• Translation of the Bible -- a timeline of Bible Translation History
• New Testament Textual Criticism

External links

• The History of the English Bible by Dr. Daniel B. Wallace
• English Bible History
• Links to English Bible translations
• Rating English Bible translations
• Translations of the Bible Into English by Ken Collins
• The English Versions of Scripture
• Over 30 versions compared by Gary Kukis
• King James Only, Sometimes, Never by Dr. William D. Barrick, The Master's Seminary