bible translation

Well, first of all, it should be a translation in their native language. As an English-speaker, I prefer the King James Version, but it might not do me any good if I spoke only Spanish. In English, I love the King James for the eloquence of the prose and the beauty of the metaphors. For study, one can always refer to Strong's Concordance and/or other versions for comparison and in order to fully understand a passage.

I heartily recommend the King James Version or the New King James Version. The NKJV would be easier for some to read. I do not recommend the New International Bible since, in the NT, it takes too many liberties by not literally translating the Greek in some cases. I've always had trouble talking about the Trinity (Godhead) with Jehovah's Witnesses when using the NIV because the text was not translated properly. The NIV might be helpful for the OT, but I am leary of the NIV and have ceased using it at all. I have my little congregation on the NKJV.

I prefer King James. Maybe I seen too much Shakespeare as a kid, but when I have compared it to other bibles like NIV it seems more in depth and I think some of the meaning gets lost. The good news bible (I think that's the name of it) is written out more like a play or story than in scriptures. Honestly I think if someone was to study the bible seriously having it on CD or Ipod is an easy way as reading it scripture by scripture you can loose the meaning of what was going on. When you hear it, it makes it easier to understand.

I would recommend two bible translation one is King James version for originality & hard to understand and the other one is new international version for easy to understand the word of God. I also recommend to have bible bread or student bible for further understanding it.