Which Translation is the Best Translation?

“You are a letter from Christ…”

2 Cor. 3:3

We English speakers don’t know how lucky we are.  There are so many languages in this world that still don’t even have a portion of Holy Scripture translated into that language. To me that is so very sad because the Scriptures tells us that “faith comes from hearing the message, the message about Christ.”  That’s why I have always been sold on the mission of Lutheran Bible Translators (LBT) – “to make the Word of God available to people in the language of their hearts…”  To me that is the first and most important step in mission work – to translate Scripture into new languages that have never before had a translation before. 

But that also helps me to realize how fortunate we English speakers are.  I googled the question – “how many translations of the Bible are there in English?”  The answer surprised even me.  There are over 450 translations of the Bible into the English language. You know many of them – the KJY, the NIV, the NASB, the Good News Bible, the ESV and more.  Now I understand why one of the most frequent questions I get from people is – “Which translation is the best?  Which translation should I use?”

There are all sorts of answers to that question.  Many of those 450 translations can be eliminated right away – because they are centuries old and/or because they are no longer being published.  Some would choose a translation because of the beauty of the way the translation is worded.  I think this is one of the reasons the King James Version is still being used 500 years later… even though we no longer speak that style of English.  Other’s chose a translation based on familiarity.  They have used the translation over and over again – so the familiar verses roll easily off their tongues. 

In translating the Bible, the translators usually seek for two goals – readability and accuracy.  Each translation will seek both of these but tend to emphasize one over the other.  The New International Version (NIV) emphasizes readability.  They sought to have a translation that reads the way we speak today – so that it will be easily understood. As a result, accuracy sometimes suffers.  The English Standard Version (ESV) emphasizes accuracy.  The result is that sometimes the translation can sound clumsy when you read it.   

The truth is, I can’t tell you which the best translation is.  You simply need to choose the one that you feel most comfortable reading and using, and use that one.  That’s the most important thing – use it.  Read it.  Study it.  Make notes in your Bible when something strikes you or when you are in a Bible Class.  Use it – after all God promises to work in our hearts through His Word.

All that makes me wonder what would you say if I told you that you also a translation of God’s Word?  That is what St. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:3. “And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”  You are a translation God’s Spirit has been writing since the day you were born.  By His adoption of you in baptism,.. by the experiences in life through which He brought you to faith, and kept you in the faith… by all that He has taught you through Sunday School, confirmation, and Bible class… through the way He has cared for you in sickness and health, in good times and hard… God has been working in your life.  He has been writing your life and your words as a living translation of His Word.  You really are “a letter from Christ” to every one who meets you. One man said it this way – God intends that by our words and deeds we would be “Jesus with skin on " for those who meet us. The Spirit is working through us. 

That means that our witness in word and deed – intentional and unintentional is so important.  People will determine what they think of Jesus by what they see and hear from us.  So our goals should be the same as any translator of the Bible- readability and accuracy – that people would gain from our lives a simple and faithful witness to Christ…. That you and I would be one of the best translations people ever read.