The Bible in English

The King James Version (KJV), a formal translation where each word of the source text was translated into the target language, was first published in 1611. This translation is traditionally loved and accepted by all Christians. Despite the many modern translations that are available, the KJV is still read by a large number of people throughout the world.

The Good News Bible in Today’s English Version is an easy-to-read translation which does not conform to traditional vocabulary or style, but seeks to express the meaning of the original texts in words and forms accepted as standard by people who use English.

This translation was first published in 1976 for use throughout the world.

The New International Version (NIV) is a modern translation. The purpose of this translation was to produce an accurate translation, suitable for public and private reading, as well as teaching, preaching, memorising and liturgical use.

First published in 1978, the translators also sought to preserve some measure of continuity with the long tradition of translating the Scriptures into English, and the NIV thus retains wording which is the same as, or similar to, the earlier versions on many passages.

The New King James Version (NKJV), also a formal translation, was first published in 1982. This version is a modern language update of the original King James Version. The purpose was to update and modernise the original KJV but also to preserve the KJV as much as possible.

The English Standard Version (ESV) is a formal translation that was first published in 2001. This translation seeks to capture the meaning and structure of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer, while maintaining clear expression and literary excellence. Therefore the ESV is well suited for both personal reading and church ministry, for devotional reflection and serious Bible study.

This very easy-to-read Bible was translated by the Bible Society of South Africa for different groups of readers but specifically for deaf readers who use Sign Language and struggle to understand the words of other Bible translations that were formulated for hearing people.

This large-print Bible has more than 80 000 footnotes and 45 000 references to drawings that illustrate what objects looked like in biblical times.

This Bible is for anyone who wants to read a very simple and easy formulation of what the Lord said and what He wants to give us.

You can read the Introduction or Background for this translation here.

© Bible Society of South Africa 2019. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Good News Translation ® with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. Anglicisation © The British and Foreign Bible Society 1976, 1994, 2004.

PUBLIC DOMAIN except in the United Kingdom, where a Crown Copyright applies to printing the KJV. See http://www.cambridge.org/about-us/who-we-are/queens-printers-patent

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ©2001 Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

https://biblesa.co.za/library/ESV