What Translation Do You Use?

As a Christian and believer that the Bible is vital for a Christian's walk and growth, having an understanding of God's word is important. One key factor in this is to use an English translation that is helpful.

In today's world, there are so many English translations to choose from. You can choose a "word for word" translation such as the New American Standard (NASB) or a "thought for thought" translation like the New Living Translation (NLT). There are even some that are somewhat a mixture of the two listed above.

As a pastor, I am continuously looking at what translations people are using. I have a copy of just about each one under the sun. I use various ones in study and sermon prep. For devotion, I primarily use the Holman Christian Standard (HSCB), English Standard Version (ESV) or New Living Translation (NLT). Here is a post that I wrote a whole back talking about why I use certain translations.

What I am wondering is what Bible translation do you primarily use and why? If you are a teaching minister (pastor, youth pastor, teaching pastor, etc) which translation do you use for teaching/preaching and why?

(Please leave your comments in the blog comment section.)