Modern Language Bibles

I have Four Requirements which Modern Translations must meet before I will recommend them:

1. Literal Translation Style vs Dynamic Equivalent Translation Style
2. Original or Gender Accurate vs Gender Neutral/Gender Inclusive
3. Bias-free Translation
4. Excellent Translation Quality

Modern English Translations Which I Personally Appreciate:

• Info and Review - The New American Standard Bible (NASB)
• Info and Review - The English Standard Version (ESV)
• American Standard Version of 1901 (ASV) - Literal Translation, Original Gender Forms

  Part of the same project as the 1881 Revised Version, the 1901 ASV was one of the first English Bibles to make use of the more recentlly discovered Critical Texts, making heavy use of the Codex Sinaticus and the Codex Vaticanus. The New Testament translation predates modern Critical-Text Bibles which are based on the Nestle-Aland Greek Texts. For the Old Testament, the Masoretic text is used, with the ASV translation slightly predating the first (1906) version of Kittel's "Biblia Hebraica."

  I have come to a much greater appreciation of the ASV, especially for the Old Testament, since my initial review. The value of the ASV is that it is VERY literal in its text. Of special note is that this version appropriately translates YHWH as Jehovah (proper name of God, meaning I AM), instead of replacing YHWH with Lord (meaning Master), as dictated for verbal pronouciation by post-exilic Jews. Another benefit is the use of the singular pronouns (thou, thee, thy, thine). This version is over 120 years old and is not for everyone, but it is quite valuable for those who appreciate the literal rendering.

• New English Translation (NET) - Dynamic Equivalence, Gender-Accurate - Recommended as Translation Reference.

  The NET Bible is a project of Dallas Theological Seminary published by Biblical Studies Press 2003, 2005, 2017, 2019. Unlike most modern versions, the NET was not based on any English version and revised, but composed directly from the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.

  The NET Bible is uniquely valuable for it's incredibly extensive translation notes, which are well written and meaningful, explaining why the word or passage was translated as it was, and even going into alternate considerations. The extensiveness of these notes make this more of a translation reference than a Bible version, with over 60,000 translation notes compared to 31,000 verses in the whole Bible (use free online at NetBible.org). Note that the ESV Bible above promotes the fact that they used the NET Bible's notes in their translation development.