Compare English Bible translations
Translation began in 1984; American Bible Society
Reading Level: Grade 5 1/2
The CEV project began as a result of studies conducted by Barclay Newman in 1985 into speech patterns used in Books, Magazines, Newspapers, and Television. These studies focused on how English was read and heard.
Read more
Passage for comparison:
Genesis 1:1-5
The Story of Creation
1 In the beginning God
created the heavens
and the earth. 2 The earth was barren,
with no form of life; it was under a roaring ocean
covered with darkness.
But the Spirit of God was moving over the water.
The First Day
3 God said, “I command light to shine!” And light started shining. 4 God looked at the light and saw that it was good. He separated light from darkness 5 and named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.” Evening came and then morning--that was the first day
Compare more passages
Translation began in 1936; Dr. William F. Beck
GOD’S WORD had its beginnings in the New Testament in the Language of Today that was published by William F. Beck in 1963. Beck published the entire Bible in 1976 as An American Translation.
Read more
Translated from 1607 to 1611; est. 54 Scholars
Reading Level: Grade 12
In May 1601, King James VI of Scotland attended the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland at St. Columba’s Church in Burntisland, Fife, and proposals were put forward for a new translation of the Bible into English.
Read more
This is the classic version of the Bible many of us grew up with. It’s been an enormous influence on other Bible translations and English literature in general.
Passage for comparison: Genesis 1:1-5
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Compare more passages
First published in 1971; translated by Kenneth Taylor
Reading Level: Grade 8 1/2
The Living Bible (LB) is an English version of the Bible by American publisher and author Kenneth Taylor released in 1971. Unlike most English Bibles, the volume is a paraphrase.
Read more
First published in 1993; translated by Eugene H. Peterson
Reading Level: Grade 8 1/2
The Message was written by Eugene H. Peterson and first published in 1993. It is a contemporary paraphrase of the Holy Bible from the original languages, “crafted to present its tone, rhythm, events, and ideas in everyday language.”
Read more
Passage for comparison: Genesis 1:1-5
Heaven and Earth
1 First this: God created the Heavens and Earth--all you see, all you don’t see. 2 Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
3 God spoke: “Light!”
And light appeared.
4 God saw that light was good
and separated light from dark.
5 God named the light Day,
he named the dark Night.
It was evening, it was morning--
Day One.
Compare more passages
First published in 1970
Reading Level: Grade 6 1/2
In 1970, the New American Bible (NAB) was first published. It is an English Bible translation that was produced by members of the Catholic Biblical Association of America in cooperation with the United States Catholic Conference.
Read more
First published in 1963 (New Testament only); Full bible in 1971
Reading Level: Grade 11
The New American Standard Bible (NASB) is an English translation of the Holy Bible. The most recent edition of the NASB text was published in 1995, with the original having been published in 1971.
Read more
Passage for comparison: Genesis 1:1-5
The Creation
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light;” and there was light.
4 God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light day, and the darkness He called night And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
Compare more passages
Translation began in 1992; International Bible Society/Zondervan Publishing House
Reading Level: Grade 3 1/2
The New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) is an English language translation of the Christian Bible, translated by the International Bible Society.
Read more
Passage for comparison: Genesis 1:1-5
The Beginning
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth didn’t have any shape. And it was empty. Darkness was over the surface of the ocean. At that time, the ocean covered the earth. The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day.” He called the darkness “night.” There was evening, and there was morning. It was day one.
Compare more passages
First published in 1973 (New Testament only); Full Bible in 1978
Translated by more than 100 Scholars
Reading Level: Grade 8
The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Christian Bible which is the most popular of the modern translations of the Bible made in the twentieth century.
Read more
Passage for comparison: Genesis 1:1-5
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
Compare more passages
First published in 1966 (U.K.)
The Jerusalem Bible is a Catholic translation of the Bible which first was introduced to the English-speaking public in 1966. As a Catholic Bible, it includes the deuterocanonical books along with the sixty-six others included in “Protestant Bibles,” as well as copious footnotes and introductions.
Read more
First published in 1982
Revision of The King James Version
Reading Level: Grade 8 1/2
The New King James Version (NKJV) is a modern Bible translation, published by Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Anglicized edition was originally known as the Revised Authorised Version, but the NKJV title is now used universally.
Read more
Passage for comparison: Genesis 1:1-5
The History of Creation
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Compare more passages
First published in 1996;
Tyndale
Revision of The Living Bible
Reading Level: Grade 6 1/2
The New Living Translation or NLT is a translation of the Bible into an easily readable form of modern English. It is a revision of The Living Bible.
Read more
Passage for comparison: Genesis 1:1-5
The Account of Creation
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” Together these made up one day.
First published in 1990
Authorized revision of The Revised Standard Version
Reading Level: Grade 8
The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, released in 1989, is an update of the Revised Standard Version (RSV).
Read more
Translation began in 1947
First published in 1950; Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.
The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is a modern-language translation of the Bible published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. and the International Bible Students Association of Brooklyn, New York (corporations in use by the religious organization commonly known as Jehovah’s Witnesses).
Read more
All 6,828 instances of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton (JHVH or YHWH - the divine name of God) are translated into English as “Jehovah” in the NWT. Most other translations replace all instances of the Tetragrammaton with “God” or “LORD.”
Passage for comparison: Genesis 1:1-5
1 In [the] beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness upon the surface of [the] watery deep; and God’s active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters.
3 And God proceeded to say: “Let light come to be.” Then there came to be light. 4 After that God saw that the light was good, and God brought about a division between the light and the darkness. 5 And God began calling the light Day, but the darkness he called Night. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a first day.
Compare more passages
OIV Oxford’s Inclusive Language Version
First published in 1995; Oxford University Press
REB The Revised English Bible
First published in 1989
Revision of the New English Bible
RSV The Revised Standard Version
First published in 1946 (
New Testament); Full Bible in 1952
Revision of the American Standard Version
