Modern English Bible translations consists of English Bible translations developed and published throughout the late modern period () to the present ().
A multitude of recent attempts have been made to translate the Bible into English. Most modern translations published since are based on recently published critical editions of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. These translations typically rely on the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia / Biblia Hebraica Quinta, counterparted by the Novum Testamentum Graece (and the Greek New Testament, published by the United Bible Societies, which contains the same text).
With regard to the use of Bible translations among biblical scholarship, the New Revised Standard Version is used broadly, but the English Standard Version is emerging as a primary text of choice among biblical scholars and theologians inclined toward theological conservatism.
Development of Modern English Bible versions
The Wessex Gospels were the first translation of the four Gospels in English without accompanying Latin text.G. W. Bromiley, D. M. Beegle, and W. M. Smith, “English Versions,” ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 83. The Authorized King James Version (KJV) of 1611 was sporadically altered until 1769, but was not thoroughly updated until the creation of the Revised Version (RV) in 1885 (its Americanized version, the American Standard Version (ASV), was published in 1901). However, it was not until the Revised Standard Version (RSV) was published (New Testament in 1946, full Bible in 1952) that a translation that rivaled the KJV in popularity was published. The RSV gained widespread adoption among the mainstream Protestant Churches in America and a Catholic Edition was released in 1966.
In the late twentieth century, Bibles increasingly appeared that were much less literal in their approach to translation. In 1946, the New English Bible was initiated in the United Kingdom, intended to enable readers to better understand the King James Bible. In 1958, J. B. Phillips (1906–1982) produced an edition of the New Testament letters in paraphrase, the Letters to Young Churches, so that members of his youth group could understand what the New Testament authors had written. In 1966, Good News for Modern Man, a non-literal translation of the New Testament, was released to wide acceptance. Others followed suit. The Living Bible, released in 1971, was published by its author Kenneth N. Taylor, based on the literal ASV of 1901. Taylor had begun because of the trouble his children had in understanding the literal (and sometimes archaic) text of the King James Bible. His work was at first intended for children, but was later positioned for marketing to high school and college students, as well as adults wishing to better understand the Bible. Like Phillips' version, the Living Bible was a dramatic departure from the King James Version.
Despite widespread criticism due to being a paraphrase rather than a translation, the popularity of The Living Bible created a demand for a new approach to translating the Bible into contemporary English called dynamic equivalence, which attempts to preserve the meaning of the original text in a readable way. Realizing the immense benefits of a Bible that was more easily accessible to the average reader, and responding to the criticisms of the Living Bible, the American Bible Society extended the Good News for Modern Man to the Good News Bible (1976) by adding the Old Testament, in this more readable style. This translation has gone on to become one of the best selling in history. In 1996, a new revision of Taylor's Living Bible was published. This New Living Translation is a full translation from the original languages rather than a paraphrase of the Bible.
Another project aimed to create something in between the very literal translation of the King James Bible and the more informal Good News Bible. The goal of this was to create a Bible that would be scholarly yet not overly formal. The result of this project was the New International Version (1978). This version became highly popular in Evangelical Protestant circles.
The debate between the formal equivalence and dynamic (or 'functional') equivalence translation styles has increased with the introduction of inclusive language versions. Various terms are employed to defend or attack this development, such as feminist, gender neutral, or gender accurate. New editions of some previous translations have been updated to take this change in language into account, including the New Jerusalem Bible (1985), the New Revised Standard Version (1989), the Revised English Bible (1989), and Today's New International Version (2005). Some translations have approached the issue more cautiously, such as the English Standard Version (2001).
A further process that has assisted in greatly increasing the number of English Bible versions is the use of the Internet in producing virtual bibles, of which a growing number are beginning to appear in print – especially given the development of "print on demand".
Today, there is a range of translations ranging from the most literal, such as the Young's Literal Translation to paraphrases such as The Message and The Word on the Street.
18th and 19th century translations Name Date Challoner's revision of the Douay–Rheims Bible 1752 John Wesley, Wesley's New Testament 1755 Quaker Bible 1764 Benjamin Blayney, New Translations of Jeremiah, Lamentations and Zechariah 1784, 1797 Gilbert Wakefield, A Translation of the New TestamentWakefield, Gilbert (1820). A Translation of the New Testament 1791 Thomson's Translation 1808 Alexander Campbell's The Living Oracles (New Testament) 1826 Webster's Revision 1833 Young's Literal Translation 1862 Julia E. Smith Parker Translation 1876 English Revised Version 1885 Darby Bible 1890
20th and 21st century translations King James Version and derivatives
The King James Version of 1611 (in editions following the editing of Blayney at Oxford in 1769) still has an immense following, and as such there have been a number of different attempts to update or improve upon it. The English Revised Version and its derivatives also stem from the King James Version.
Abbreviation Name DateWebster Webster's Revision of the King James Version 1833 (Johannes Lauritzen) 1920 CKJV Children's King James Version Jay P. Green 1960 KJ II King James II Version of the Bible Jay P. Green 1971KJ3/LITV King James 3 Version of the Holy Bible (by Jay P. Green) 1985 KJV20 King James Version—Twentieth Century Edition Jay P. Green NKJV New King James Version 1982 KJ21 21st Century King James Version 1994 TMB Third Millennium Bible 1998 MKJV Modern King James Version by Jay P. Greenp. 5. Naudé, Jacobus A., and Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé. "Alternative revisions of the American Standard Version (1901) and retranslations within the Tyndale–King James Version tradition." HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 78, no. 1 (2022). 1999 KJV2000 King James Version 2000 2000 UKJV Updated King James VersionUpdated King James Versionp. 5. Naudé, Jacobus A., and Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé. "Alternative revisions of the American Standard Version (1901) and retranslations within the Tyndale–King James Version tradition." HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 78, no. 1 (2022). 2000 KJVER King James Version Easy ReadingKing James Bibles 2001 HSE Holy Scriptures in EnglishThe Holy Scriptures. Rabon Vincent Jr., translator. Victoria: Trafford, 2001. 2001 CKJV Comfort-able King James Version 2003 NCPB New Cambridge Paragraph BibleNew Cambridge Paragraph Bible 2005 AV7 AV7 (New Authorized Version) 2006 AVU Authorized Version Updatehttp://www.avupdate.org/ (Broken link) 2006 KJV-CE King James Version—Corrected Edition DNKJB Divine Name King James Bible 2011 MCT Mickelson Clarified Translation, translated by Jonathan MickelsonMCT Bible, a precise and unabridged translation (a derivative of Webster's Revision of the KJV), with contextual dictionaries and concordances. 2008, 2013, 2015, 2019 MEV Modern English Versionmodernenglishversion.com/ 2014King James Bible for Catholics2020 SKJV Simplified King James Version 2022
English Revised Version and derivatives The English Revised Version was the first official attempt to update the King James Version of 1769. This was adapted in the United States as the American Standard Version. The translations and versions that stem from them are shown in date order:
+ Abbreviation Name Date RV/ERV English Revised Version 1885 ASV American Standard Version 1901 RSV Revised Standard Version 1952, 1971 NASB New American Standard Bible 1971, 1995, 2020 NRSV New Revised Standard Version 1989, 2021 WEB World English Bible 2000, 2020 ESV English Standard Version 2001, 2025
New International Version and derivatives The popular New International Version has appeared in a number of editions.
Abbreviation Name Date NIV New International Version 1978, 1984, 2011 NIrV New International Reader's Version 1996, 1998, 2014 NIVI New International Version Inclusive Language Edition (discontinued) 1996-2002 TNIV Today's New International Version (discontinued) 2002-2011
Dynamic translations and paraphrases A significant aspect in translations from the latter half of the 20th century was much greater use of the principles of dynamic equivalence.
Abbreviation Name Date TLB The Living Bible 1971 GNT/GNB/TEV Good News Translation/Good News Bible/Today's English Version 1976, 1992 TCW The Clear Word (paraphrase, non-official Seventh-day Adventist) 1994 CEV Contemporary English Version 1995 GW God's Word 1995 NLT New Living Translation 1996, 2004, 2015 MSG The Message 2002 RNT Restored New Testament 2009 INT Interpreted New Testament 2020
Internet-based translations The New English Translation (or NET Bible) is a project to publish a translation of the Bible using the Internet. It is freely available and accompanied by extensive translator's notes. The Open English Bible aims to create the first modern public domain English translation of the Bible, using an open-source process for corrections and modernizing verses.
Abbreviation Name Date NET New English Translation 2005 OEB Open English Bible In progress.LEBLexham English Bible2011 WEB World English Bible 2020 BSB Berean Standard Bible 2022 MSB Majority Standard Bible 2022 FBV Free Bible Version 2023
Messianic translations
Some Bible translations find popular use in, or were prepared especially for, the Messianic Judaism movement.
Abbreviation Name Date AENT 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 TS 1993, 1998, 2009 HRV 2004 CJB 1998, 2017 CNT 1989 OJB 2002 TLV Tree of Life Bible 2014 MCT MCT Brit Chadashah Interlinear,LivingSon Press, MCT Brit Chadashah Interlinear, in print in English and Hebrew. 2019
New English Bible and derivatives
The initiative to create the New English Bible began in 1946, in an attempt to make an entirely new translation of the Bible in contemporary English.
Abbreviation Name Date NEB New English Bible 1970 REB Revised English Bible 1989
Public domain translations Abbreviation Name Date OEB Open English Bible In progress WEB World English Bible 2020 BSB Berean Standard Bible 2022 MSB Majority Standard Bible 2022
Catholic translations