NIV VS. NLT Advice Help Please

[Acts2:38]

Acts 8:37 wasn't in the original. It was added later in some manuscripts.

Well, I don't like debating the KJV, and that's off topic for this post. It is clear she is choosing between NIV and NLT. If one does not have some understanding of the connection of each translation to the source manuscripts and fragments, then I do not see how he can argue for the accuracy of any particular translation (although everyone can have an opinion). Who wants to argue that the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic is less accurate than the KJV?

Acts 8:37 only exists in some of the late manuscripts. The early manuscripts contain the gospel of Luke without this verse. I like some of the word choices in KJV, because sometimes they are more exact translation into the English, but the KJV has less translation-principles-based accuracy and lacks footnotes like one would find in the NKJV indicating why Acts 8:37 is missing.

Acts 8:37 is in the original Greek. Pick up some Greek, check it out, its there. Also, yes, I did read that she only put two choices up and my options for her were not there.

Do you let a blind man walk into traffic or do you help him go follow the sidewalk?

 

[Christian_Follower]

I've never cared foir the NIV... I have this saying about what it means... NIV Nearly Inspired Version

Nothing against you using it, I just dont... There are just so many out there today its hard to pick just one

I like KJV, CJV, ASV, ESB, Holman, and a couple of others

 

[Joy]

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[JoeP222w]

Hello!! I am about to purchase a new Bible and they have both the NLT and NIV in the kind I want. I own one NIV but I have never had an NLT. I can't decide if I like the way the NLT reads so I am having a hard time deciding. I also am about to buy a study Bible that is NIV and I feel like having 3 NIVs would be a little much so I thought an NLT would give me more variety in my studying and might allow a new perspective. I would love any thoughts or opinions about what you like and don't like!!! Thank you!!!

I prefer English Standard Version. It is close to the original languages. NLT, not so much.

 

[Geralt]

just go for the NLT easier to understand.

cant decide yet ?, you dont have to buy print material, try it in the apps first.
lots of free bible apps around.

 

[GandalfTheWise]

Hello!! I am about to purchase a new Bible and they have both the NLT and NIV in the kind I want. I own one NIV but I have never had an NLT. I can't decide if I like the way the NLT reads so I am having a hard time deciding. I also am about to buy a study Bible that is NIV and I feel like having 3 NIVs would be a little much so I thought an NLT would give me more variety in my studying and might allow a new perspective. I would love any thoughts or opinions about what you like and don't like!!! Thank you!!!

The best version is the one you read the most.

I usually distinguish Bible reading/study into three broad categories.

• Extensive reading. The purpose is to read the entire Bible through to be able to see it in its entirety. Some people do this on a yearly basis every year. Others do it once every few years. Others might have a schedule that allows them to do this in a period of a month or so. When doing this, you want a version you can read comfortably.
• Devotional reading. The purpose is as part of prayer and meditation times for personal spiritual growth. These are the times God just often speaks something we need to hear regardless of the context of a verse.
• Study. The purpose of this is to learn as much as possible about the Bible. Using *good* study Bibles, Bible dictionaries, atlases, history books, and other types of reference materials helps us learn much more about the culture, politics, economy, climate, geography, etc. in which the various books of the Bible were written. Often, someone might select a particular book in the Bible to study in detail for some time. Often, people might read a particular passage or book in a number of different translations.

For extensive and devotional reading, I think that the main thing is having a Bible that you are comfortable with. For study, having several translations of different styles (ranging from the more literal KJV, NKJV, ASV, or ESV to the more dynamic equivalent NIV) can be helpful. Given the number of online sites with many versions (I like biblegateway.com), you don't have to have these all in print.

Note that some English versions are more appropriately called paraphrases (in which the translators personal views often influence the choice of words). The Message and the old Living Bible are examples of paraphrases. I cannot speak for if the NLT (an update of the Living Bible) is still a paraphrase or if the new translation team made it more of a dynamic equivalent type of translation.

 

[dqhall]

Hello!! I am about to purchase a new Bible and they have both the NLT and NIV in the kind I want. I own one NIV but I have never had an NLT. I can't decide if I like the way the NLT reads so I am having a hard time deciding. I also am about to buy a study Bible that is NIV and I feel like having 3 NIVs would be a little much so I thought an NLT would give me more variety in my studying and might allow a new perspective. I would love any thoughts or opinions about what you like and don't like!!! Thank you!!!

The NIV and ESV versions both use the Dead Sea Scrolls in their translations of the Old Testament. These were not available to earlier translators. Most of the Dead Sea Scrolls were written from between about 100 BC - 70 AD. The Dead Sea Scrolls were noticeably different when compared to later manuscripts. The Dead Sea Scrolls were primarily in Hebrew. The first scrolls were discovered in 1947.

I remember Codex Sinaiticus was discovered at a Greek Orthodox monastery in the Sinai Desert. It is one of the three oldest Christian Bibles. Codex Sinaiticus omits the passage in John 5:4 (KJV) about an angel stirring up the water in the Pool of Bethesda in order for someone to enter and be healed. NIV also omits this passage; with a footnote (b) that this verse existed in some manuscripts.

 

[Athanasius377]

If given the choice between the NIV and the NLT, I would go with the NIV every time. While all translations will give some measure of interpretation the NLT tends to do it a lot more than the NIV. I would look into the ESV if you get the chance.

 

[Jonathan Leo]

Hello!! I am about to purchase a new Bible and they have both the NLT and NIV in the kind I want. I own one NIV but I have never had an NLT. I can't decide if I like the way the NLT reads so I am having a hard time deciding. I also am about to buy a study Bible that is NIV and I feel like having 3 NIVs would be a little much so I thought an NLT would give me more variety in my studying and might allow a new perspective. I would love any thoughts or opinions about what you like and don't like!!! Thank you!!!

It doesn’t matter which you read, they all say the same thing in a sense.
It’s which is easier for you to read is what you should get

I prefer the NIV simply because when I went to school we didn’t speak KJV
THEE UNTO THY FOR THY DIDDLE EYE DIDDLEE DOE
LOL PLEASE

 

[danbuter]

I love how almost every single post completely ignores the actual question, instead saying get something else.

OP, get the NLT if you already have the NIV. Compare the two as you read. You'll understand God's word much better that way.