Why are there so many Bible translations, and which should I read?

There are many English Bible versions because translators make different textual and translation choices - which Hebrew and Greek manuscripts to follow, and how literally or freely to render them into English. Those choices produce real differences between versions, even though every serious translation is attempting the same thing: to put God’s Word faithfully into your language.

Why this site uses the King James Bible

This site quotes the King James Bible because we believe it is the best English version currently available. That is a judgment about this particular translation, not a claim that English itself is specially inspired, and it is not a position in the wider debate over whether the King James Version is the only legitimate English Bible.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

God’s Word does not change with the translation:

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Other languages

Future editions of this site in other languages will each use a carefully selected, established translation in that language - never a machine translation. The same standard applies everywhere: a translation that has earned the confidence of believers who read that language, handled with the same care given to the English text here.

Read it, in whichever translation puts it in your hands

Ezra’s helpers read God’s Word aloud to the people and made sure they understood it:

So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

That is the point of any translation: to give you the sense of what God actually said, so you can understand it. If you do not yet own a Bible, or have never read one, the next page will help you begin.