English Versions of the Bible

Since William Tyndale made his translation of much of the Bible into English, there have been many versions of the English Bible. Usually translators are trying to make it more widely available by putting it into the language of modern people, the language of young children and so on. Nowadays parts of the Bible are available in comic form - try visiting Gospel Comics - or even in mobile telephone 'text-message' language.

Here are some of the many versions of the English Bible:

Authorised Version (AV)

Also known as the King James Version, this Bible was produced in 1611 by 50 scholars appointed by King James I. Much of it is based on Tyndale's work.

Revised Version (RV)

The English Revised Version produced in 1885 as a revision of the Authorised Version.

American Standard Version (ASV)

An American Version of the English Revised Version - 1901.

Revised Standard Version (RSV)

A Revision of the American Standard Version. This was made in 1952

Amplified Bible

A Bible which gives a variety of alternative words or phrases for each part of the translation to aid understanding. It was produce in 1965

Jerusalem Bible

A modern Roman Catholic Translation of the Bible, made in 1966, using ancient texts following the interpretation of L'Ecole Biblique in its Bible de Jerusalem.

New English Bible (NEB)

A modern English version of the Bible, made in a literary style and published in 1970.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

This is a revision of the American Revised Standard Version and was made in 1971

Living Bible

This is NOT a translation but one man's paraphrased version in modern English. It was completed by Kenneth Taylor in 1971.

Today's English Version(TEV)

This translation first appeared in 1976. It is in very simple English and aimed at tabloid newspaper readers (such as Sun and Daily Mirror)

New International Version (NIV)

The New International Version was translated by a group of evangelical scholars. It appeared in 1978

New King James Version (NKJV)

This is a translation made from the 'Received Text' (textus receptus) Greek documents of the New Testament and the 'Biblia Hebraica' of the Old Testament. In this way, it follows in the footsteps of the old 1611 Authorised Version, but is, of course, in modern English.

Good News Bible

This is a more recent edition of Today's English Version and Good News for Modern Man.