I am an Adult Sunday School teacher. I use for my own study the KJV and for the class the NIV. I do not think any translation of the Bible is bad if it gets someone who otherwise would not or could not understand it to read the Bible. I study my KJV for hours and look up the Greek root words and so on but for someone who needs a different translation, God bless them +4 dor Graduate Student

The Wicked bible. Thou Shalt Commit Adultery. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_Bible So much for the notion that God won't let the Bible be altered.

The NIV.It tries to interpret the scripture for you,and that is the Holy Spirits Job.It is toomuch like Shakespere.

All versions of the bible are bad: English, Spanish, Swahili, Korean, Nigerian...The problem with it is that it's hogswash: all of it!

Here's a damning confession. Mrs. Ellen G. White, a "prophetess" of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, in her Bible Commentary Vol.1, page 14, has this confession to make about the fallibility of the "Holy Bible". She says: "The Bible we read today is the work of many copyists who have in most instances done their work with marvellous accuracy, but copyists have not been INFALLIBLE, and God most evidently has not seen fit to preserve them altogether from error in transcribing". In her following pages of her commentary Mrs. White testifies further: "I saw that God had especially guarded the Bible" (from what?) "Yet when copies of it were few, learned men had in some instances CHANGED THE WORDS, thinking that they were making it plain, when in reality they were MYSTIFYING that which was plain by causing it to LEAN TO THEIR ESTABLISHED VIEWS, which were governed by tradition". The mental malady is a cultivated one. This authoress and her followers can still trumpet from roof tops that: "Trully, the Bible is the infallible word of God--yes is ADULTERATED, but still PURE". A sick contradiction. If it is adulterared, well, then it's no longer "pure"!

the 'worst Bible' is the one that sits neglected on a shelf, covered with dust

Loose paraphrases. I believe that the first three in this link take some unwarranted liberties. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mat6:9;john%2017:26;1Cor6:9-10;mat7:13;%20Jude5;&version=65;46;51;49;47; I cut the following from an article entitled: "HOW CAN YOU CHOOSE A GOOD BIBLE TRANSLATION?" Consider the way that one paraphrase Bible translates Jesus’ famous model prayer: “Our Father in heaven, reveal who you are.” (Matthew 6:9, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language) A more accurate translation of Jesus’ words renders this passage: “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified.” Note, too, the way that John 17:26 is rendered in some Bibles. According to one free translation, on the night of his arrest, Jesus said to his Father in prayer: “I made you known to them.” (Today’s English Version) However, a more faithful rendering of Jesus’ prayer reads: “I have made your name known to them.” Can you see how some translators actually hide the fact that God has a name that should be used and honored? Some free translations obscure the moral standards conveyed in the original text. For example, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language says at 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10: “Don’t you realize that this is not the way to live? Unjust people who don’t care about God will not be joining in his kingdom. Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, use and abuse the earth and everything in it, don’t qualify as citizens in God’s kingdom.” Doctrinal bias can also color a translator’s work. For example, Today’s English Version, commonly called the Good News Bible, has Jesus saying to his followers: “Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it.” (Matthew 7:13) The translators inserted the term “hell” even though Matthew’s account clearly says “destruction.”

1) For some the worst, for other the best (but it could be considered not to be "English"): "the lolcat Bible Translation Project, a project dedicated to translating the entire Bible into lolspeak. The Project started in July of 2007 and so far we have most of the Bible translated!" Source and further information: http://www.lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Main_Page Example: "Genesis 1 Boreded Ceiling Cat makinkgz Urf n stuffs 1 Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem. 2 Da Urfs no had shapez An haded dark face, An Ceiling Cat rode invisible bike over teh waterz. 3 At start, no has lyte. An Ceiling Cat sayz, i can haz lite? An lite wuz.4 An Ceiling Cat sawed teh lite, to seez stuffs, An splitted teh lite from dark but taht wuz ok cuz kittehs can see in teh dark An not tripz over nethin.5 An Ceiling Cat sayed light Day An dark no Day. It were FURST!!!1 6 An Ceiling Cat sayed, im in ur waterz makin a ceiling. But he no yet make a ur. An he maded a hole in teh Ceiling.7 An Ceiling Cat doed teh skiez with waterz down An waterz up. It happen.8 An Ceiling Cat sayed, i can has teh firmmint wich iz funny bibel naim 4 ceiling, so wuz teh twoth day." Source and further information: http://www.lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Genesis_1 2) Here a particular list from a KJV fan. Many would also not agree here: "1. New World Translation (too many theologically motivated mistranslations) 2. Concordant Literal New Testament (too mechanical, virtually unreadable) 3. Contemporary English Version (doesn’t quite sound Biblish enough for me) 4. New Century Version (same as above) 5. The Message (what the Bible would sound like if God were Eugene Peterson) 6. Young’s Literal Translation (too wooden) 7. Any Sacred Name Version (too annoying) 8. Good News Bible (HT: Andrew Bourne) 9. God’s Word Translation (pretentious title) 10. The Amplified Bible (Every word has a lexicon attached) *Bonus: lolcat Bible Translation (HT: Jeff)" Source and further information: http://rdtwot.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/top-10-well-7-list-worst-bible-translations/ 3) "Much a matter of opinion Different people prefer different translations. Many find the New International Version to be easy to read, while others have a problem with alleged "new age" language. Some feel that the King James Version is the only correct translation, while others have difficulty reading 17th century British in the 21st century USA. Many modern translations use sources discovered after the King James Version was written, so may represent a better idea of some of the original words. Paraphrases, such as The Living Bible or The Message, will play around with the exact wording, but can represent idiomatic phrases in ways that are more understandable to today's society." Source and further information: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_best_and_worst_Bible_translations Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_translations_of_the_Bible