The Christian Booksellers Association recently released its list of the top ten selling Bible translations for December 2014. The CBA actually provides two lists: one by dollar sales; and the other by unit sales.
Top Ten Translations Based on Dollar Sales
- New International Version
- King James Version
- New King James Version
- New Living Translation
- English Standard Version
- Holman Christian Standard Bible
- The Voice
- New American Standard
- Reina Valera 1960
- New International Reader’s Version
Top Ten Translations Based on Unit Sales
- New International Version
- The Voice
- King James Version
- English Standard Version
- New King James Version
- New Living Translation
- Holman Christian Standard Bible
- Reina Valera 1960
- Nueva Version Internacional (Spanish)
- New International Reader’s Version
What is your preferred Bible translation? What do you think about these two lists? Let me hear from you.
Posted on December 10, 2014
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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175 Comments
I’ve always preferred the KJV for personal reading and study,however I use the NKJV for preaching and teaching.
Like most others today,I have most every available version electronically.
I have used the nkjv, esv, nasb for study and the kjv for devotion. I began using the hcsb in 2010 and I find it joy to read and study as my primary bible. The translators and lifeway have put together a wonderful translation. Though often a publisher will update the language, I for one will I say, perhaps a measure of standardization is limit the improvements to allow for the translation to establish it’s identifiable own cadence. Thank you lifeway
ESV has gained popularity in my church because many people like to listen to the Bible on the You Version app. ESV is the only translation read in a “normal” voice. I wonder if this listening trend has affected others in choosing translations to purchase.
This is a point I hadn’t considered while reading the comments here but you are right – I definitely enjoy listening to ESV on YouVersion. I also like to listen to the NLT reading on the app as well.
Not sure what this means. I believe most of this has to do with marketing, not the actual using of the translation. I use the NASB and KJV. The latest survey that I saw on actual use of translations, the KJV was around 56 percent of regular church attenders. All the other translations combined were lest than 45 percent according to a survey that was published this year.
I have read this from polls the last few years also. The KJV is used by over half of people who admit to reading the Bible.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2014/march/most-popular-and-fastest-growing-bible-translation-niv-kjv.html
When I served as editor of LifeWay’s STUDENT magazine, I conducted a student survey each year and among the questions was “which translation do you use?” Year after year from 1986 through 1992, the NIV came out on top. I started using the NIV in 1981 and continue to see it as best for me. Milt Hughes, collegiate minister, Cal State U San Marcos
John, it seems to me that readability is more than an adequate reason for using a modern translation versus the the king’s English of 1611. Unchurched people, especially, need to know that the Bible was always meant for them in the language that they normally speak.
I have been using the HCSB for the last 3 years now. For a long time I was with the NIV, then moved to Toronto and began worshiping with a church that uses the HCSB. It took a while to get used to the wording and rhythm of the text, but in time I have grown to love it and tell others about it. I find the scholarship of the HCSB on par with that of the ESV while being much easier to read in public, less wooden, and more appealing to the non-academics in the church.
I found that a number of my seminary friends have moved from NIV to ESV. Many I have talked to never heard of the HCSB. Since they both ESV and HCSB had similar production and release dates, I have often wondered how much this had to do with promotion, advertising, and pastoral endorsements?
Greg: the ESV was released a few years ahead of us and that definitely gave them a window to get the word out and gain momentum before we really hit the scene in 2004 with our full text. I’m glad for the impact ESV has made. They released at a time when the church needed a new option in the more “formal equivalence” category. HCSB has made gains due to the fact that it is more accessible than ESV in many ways and yet does not adopt a purely dynamic equivalence approach. We are seeing more and more pastors and authors adopt HCSB, plus groups like FCA and NAMB use our text for their ministries.
Holman for me. Love the way it reads.
I preach from the NKJV, just because most of the folks in muy congregation use either it or the KJV. ESV is my main study Bible, though I have used the HCSB and the NASB before.
I grew up in a hardcore KJVOnly church, which is probably why I don’t use the NIV much at all (we called it the Not Inspired Version), even though I’ve outgrown the Only attitude.
It’s interesting to see two Spanish language translations in the top ten, and even more interesting that one of them dates back to 1960, even though there are at least three more modern updates of it. I guess that says a lot about “modern” translations, although I’m not quite sure what!
I’m probably in a rather unique situation here, since I was brought up on a solid diet of KJV and later RSV in English, plus some NIV, but I preach and teach mostly in Spanish these days, from several Spanish translations. Very often I come across phrasing in the Spanish that has me thinking: “Wait a sec, that’s not what I recall that it says in English!”. It’s interesting to get a fresh look at meanings in a different language, since frequently there’s a point of view that I hadn’t noticed before that adds depth and breadth to understanding the scriptures, especially given the slightly different grammatical structure and tenses in Spanish that can also throw new light on meaning.
From the point of view of accuracy, the Biblia de Las Americas (LBLA) is undoubtedly the best Spanish language translation, but I also use many of the Reina-Valera translations (both the older ones and the more modern ones) since they are so popular among Spanish speaking believers. I also find myself using the Nueva Traducción Viviente (NTV) more and more, as it seems to be gaining acceptance, and of course the NVI (Spanish equivalent of the NIV) is very common, since it is easier to follow than the “antiquated” language of the Reina Valera translations.
In English, I no longer use the latest NIV translations, for the reasons mentioned by Craig: the attempt at political correctness has changed the real meaning of God’s word in far too many places, unnecessarily, and just makes for awkward readings as well as possible misunderstanding.
Hi Stuart. As a Hispanic pastor, I used the Reina Valera 1960 for my daily time and the NIV at the church. I grew up reading this edition and still “the standard” in most of Latin America congregations.
Never heard of “The Voice” before. Who is the publisher?
@Dimas: Nelson