There are many bibles on the market today. What bible do you use? Can you tell why you use this particular bible. I don't have a bible. I had a bible my dad gave to me. It was the Scofield Reference Bible, a leather bound KJV. I gave it to my daughter many years ago. I am thinking of obtaining another bible. Anyone care to elaborate about bibles?
We have a few. Some were grandparent bibles. The only one I ever used was the Living Bible. Easier for us dummies to comprehend.
Bill, there are so many Bible versions out there now days that it would be hard to tell you which version would be best for you. If you go on Christianbooks.com they have many Bibles that are explained exactly what type of Bible it is, then you can read a few pages of the version to see which one is the most understandable to you. There are large print Bibles, Study Bibles, and easy to understand Bibles like The Living Bible Gloria mentioned. If you can't get to a Book Store that sells Bibles then Christianbooks.com is a good place to check out.
I use the New Scofield Bible (which uses the New King James Version), 1989 edition, and also the New Geneva Study Bible (also uses the New King James Version) There have been some criticisms of both, but as far as I can tell (I'm not a bible scholar), they are both very reliable. The Scofield Bible, for example, perpetuates the pre-tribulation view of the end time, probably due to John Darby's influence, but many scholars hold to post-trib view. I've studied this extensively, and listened to scores of sermons and read books about it, and for me, its a non-issue. Jesus said that no one knows the day or hour, so for me and at my age, I "try" to stay in a state of expectation and hope that the rapture could occur at any time. I would also suggest that one should use a good bible dictionary for more in-depth studies. My personal best choice is the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, published 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. This 1700-page book is filled with maps, pictures, archaeological finds, etc, and has been the source I go to when I need further explanations.
I have the NIV (New International Version) Men's Devotional Bible Classic Edition, I got for my birthday in 2012 from my wife. It has wonderful Daily Devotionals in it as well as the Old and New Testaments in it.
We have several Bibles in the house; my father's large Masonic Bible containing the family genealogy neatly recorded in his handwriting, my husband's Bible which was a gift from his grandmother when he was about 12 years old, my Bible that I received while attending Sunday School at the Baptist Church as a kid, and a copy of the Living Bible that I bought a few years ago to help me interpret some difficult passages. None of them are used anymore.
I love my Quest NIV bible. It's a great study guide and reference. A good friend gave it to me almost exactly 10 years ago. There's a lot to recommend it. There are margin notes throughout the entire thing explaining specific verses and general concepts. For example, Genesis 46:34 reads "...you should answer, 'Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.' Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians." There is a margin note related to that verse titled "Why did Egyptians detest shepherds?" Some margin notes are brief just to clarify a term, others provide further detail, like that brief explanation of supposed shepherd hatred. There are also general contextual discussions such as "How do various terms for God's word differ from each other?" That one shows up in Psalms. Some verses are augmented with regional maps with boundaries as they were in that era. Every book is prefaced with a single-page overview providing some of the following: Why read this book? Who wrote this book and when? What period of history does it cover? Why was it written? To whom was it written? What to look for in this book. Below that overview is a horizontal Bar Graph timeline of what was going on in history when that specific book was written. From that you learn things like when Saul reigned, when David reigned, when Jerusalem fell, when the first exiles returned to Jerusalem, etc. All of this really helps to provide a frame of reference for what was going on when each book was written...and you learn something along the way. There are 3 Study Plans provided. One is a sampling of verses and the other two take you through the entire Bible in different ways. You can always find specific Study Plans online. I have other Bibles I use as a subordinate reference or to provide a different phrasing on things (in addition to the web), but my primary Bible is the Quest. It is written in contemporary English. I've not found anything that questions its accuracy relative to any other translations.
I have 25-30 different translations and versions, plus study Bibles and volumes of commentary. As for the ones that I use, that would depend on what I am using them for. I grew up using the King James Version and am reasonably comfortable with it, but the KJV is not easy reading, in that I have to keep doing that translation thing in my head with some of the archaic words. I have attended KJV-only churches and have noticed that about half of the preacher's sermon consists of translating the KJV into regular English, so why not start that way? I have the New King James Version, but I don't prefer it. It seems a little clumsy. Probably the one that I use the most is the New American Standard Bible. There are two reasons for this. The NASB was the first modern-language Bible that I have owned, and it was also the version used at the Bible college that I attended. We could use any version but required memorization had to be with the NASB. I am the most comfortable with the NASB. A couple of others that I particularly like, however, are the Holman Christian Standard Bible and the New Century Version. Work on the NCV was initially focused on creating an English-language Bible for ESL students, so it's an easy-reading version. It does not read like a dumbed-down version, however. If I am going to simply read through passages of the Bible, and I think of it, the NCV is a good choice. For Bible study, I'll go with the NASB, though.
I don't know that I have quite as many translations as you @Ken Anderson, but I have a number of different translations, and, since I don't read ancient Greek or Hebrew, I am at the mercy of the translators. The more the better so that I can compare. A priest once directed me to a Greek version of the New Testament online, and it was absolutely fascinating. When I was younger, I used the Interpreters Bible, although I didn't own one. I borrowed form the church library.