The 254 versions of the English Bible 1881-2010

Since Westcott and Hort compiled their own Greek New Testament (published in 1881) there has been over two hundred and fifty English Bible versions. Only a very few of these are based on the Received Text or have the AV text.

As you can see, it’s gone from “let’s make the Bible easier to understand!” to “let’s change the Bible to fit you!” If you’re black, or a child, a teen, a woman, a farmer, a nerd, or a homosexual then we’ve got a version specially designed for you! If you’re a Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist, or Mormon we’ve got a special version for you!

People should change to fit the Bible, not the other way around. These versions do not have any evidence of bringing revival, only confusion and division to the body of Christ. They remove, muddy, and alter key verses that affect vital doctrines such as the blood atonement, the deity of Christ, salvation, and the role of Christ in our lives.

We need to get back to the old Authorized King James Version that brought about the greatest revivals of the last 2,000 years. Millions were saved and Christians lived right under the preaching of the AV. It has the seal, blessing, and authority of God on it.  Ecclesiastes 8:4, “Where the word of a king is, there is power…”

Here is a list of some of them, preceded by the year in which they were published.

1881  Revised Version

1881  Jewish Family Bible (OT); Michael Friedlander

1881  The New Testament Englished; William Crickmer

1883  The New Testament; Cortes Jackson

1884  The Englishman’s Bible; Thomas Newberry [AV]

1885  The Teaching and Acts of Jesus of Nazareth and His Apostles (NT); W.D. Dillard

1885  The New Covenant (NT); John Hanson

1885  A New Translation; John Darby

1885  A translation of the Old Testament Scriptures from the original Hebrew; Helen Spurrell

1893  Scriptures, Hebrew and Christian; John Peters and Edward Bartlett

1892  Biblia Innocentium; John Mackail

1897  The New Testament Emphasized; Horace Morrow

1897  The New Dispensation (NT); Robert Weekes

1898  American Revised Version

1898  The Woman’s Bible

1901  The Historical New Testament, James Moffatt

1901  American Standard Version

1901  The Modem American Bible; Frank Ballentine

1902  Translation of the New Testament from the Original Greek; W.B. Godbey

1902  The Testament of our Lord (NT); James Cooper and A.J. MacLean

1902  Twentieth Century New Testament

1902  The Emphasized Bible; Joseph Rotherham

1903  The Holy Bible: Marginal Readings Adopted

1903  The New Testament in Modern Speech; Richard Wey¬mouth

1903  The Holy Bible in Modern English; Ferrar Fenton

1904  The Corrected English New Testament; Samuel Lloyd

1904  The New Testament Revised and Translated; Adolphus Worrell

1906  The New Testament; Thomas Lindsay

1907  The Modern Reader’s Bible; Richard Moulton

1908  The Holy Bible for Daily Reading; J.W. Genders

1909  The University New Testament; S. Townsend Weaver

1909  The Shorter Bible

1909  The Bible in Modem English (NT); Frank Ballentine

1910  The Restored New Testament; James Pryse

1911  The 1911 Tercentenary Commemoration Bible

1912  The Holy Bible: An Improved Edition

1913  The Literary Man’s New Testament, W.L. Courtney

1913  The New Testament; Edward Clarke

1913  Westminster Version of the Sacred Scriptures (WVSS)

1914  The New Covenant (NT); Edward Cunnington

1914  The New Testament from the Greek text as established by Bible Numerics; Ivan Panin

1916  The Historical Bible; Charles Kent

1916  The Twenty-Four Books of the Old Testament; Alexander Harkavy

1917  The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text (OT)

1918  The New Testament; Henry Anderson

1919 The Messages of the Bible; Frank Sanders and Charles Kent

1919  The Adelphi New Testament; E.E. Cunnington

1921  A Plain Translation of the New Testament; By a student

1921  The Shorter Bible

1922  The Children’s Bible; Henry Sherman and Charles Kent

1922  A Plainer Bible (NT); Frank Ballentine

1923  Simplified New Testament; D.A. Sommer

1923  The Riverside New Testament; William Ballantine

1924  Centenary Translation of the New Testament; Helen Montgomery

1924  The Everyday Bible; Charles Sheldon

1924  The Older Children’s Bible

1924  The New Covenant: Labor Determinative Version (NT)

1925  The People’s New Covenant (NT); Arthur Overbury

1926  The Holy Bible: A New Translation (NT); James Moffatt

1926  A New Translation (by James Moffatt) (MNT)

1926  Concordant Version (NT); A.E. Knoch

1926 The Western New Testament; E.E. Cunningtan

1927  The Student’s Old Testament; Charles Kent

1928  The Student’s Greek Testament; A. Hamilton

1928  The Christian’s Bible: New Testament; George LeFevre

1928  The Living Bible; Bolton Hall

1928 The Authentic Literature of Israel (CT); Elizabeth Czarnomska

1928  The Cambridge Shorter Bible

1929  The New Testament in blank verse; George Wolff

1929  A Homiletical and Exegetical Version of the Bible; Charles MacLean

1931  The Complete Bible: An American Translation; J.M. Smith and Edgar Goodspeed

1933  Lamsa Bible (by George Lamsa) (Lamsa)

1933 Short Bible; J.M. Smith and Edgar Goodspeed

1934  The Documents of the New Testament; G.W. Wade

1934  Old Testament in Colloquial English

1934  The Child’s Story Bible; Catherine Vos

1935  The Westminster Version of the Sacred Scriptures (NT)

1935  An American Translation (by Smith and Goodspeed|) (AAT)

1935  The New Testament; Fernand Faivre

1936  The West China Union University Version (NT)

1936  The Aldine Bible: The New Testament; M.R. James and Delia Lyttelton

1936  The Bible Designed to be Read as Living Literature; Ernest Bates

1937  The New Testament in the Language of the People; Charles B. Williams

1937  The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; Francis Spencer

1937  The New Testament critically reconstructed and retranslated; William Martin

1937  The New Testament A New Translation and Explanation; Johannes Greber

1938  The Book of Books (NT); R. Mercer Wilson

1938  The New Testament: A Translation; Clementson

1939  The Book of Life (NT); Zed Copp

1939  The New Testament Shortened; W.K. Clarke

1940  The Bible (A Condensed Version); Howard Welsch

1941  The Confraternity Version (NT)

1941  Spencer New Testament (SPC)

1945  New Testament: A Translation, Harmony and Annota¬tions; Erwin Stringfellow

1946  Pathways through the Bible (OT); Mortimer Cohen

1947  The New Testament; George Swann

1948  The Holy Bible Adapted for Young Christians

1948  The Letchworth Version in Modern English; T.F. Ford and RE. Ford

1949  The Bible in Basic English

1950  New World Translation (NWT)

1950  The New Testament of our Messiah and Saviour Yahshua, A.B. Traina

1950  The Dartmouth Bible

1950  The Holy Bible for Young Readers (NT); J.W. Mackail

1951  The Authentic Version (NT)

1951  Bible in Brief; Peter Ross

1951  The Shorter Oxford Bible

1951  The New Testament in Modern English Olaf Norlie

1952  The New Testament: A New Translation in Plain English. Charles K. Williams

1952  Olive Pell Bible; Olive Bible

1952  The Living Bible; Robert Ballou

1952  Revised Standard Version

1953  The New Testament: A New, Independent, Individual Translation; George Moore

1954  The New Testament Rendered From the Original Greek; James Kleist and Joseph Lilly

1954  The New Testament in Cadenced Form; Morton Bradley

1954  The Septuagint Bible (OT); C.A. Muses

1955  The Authentic New Testament; Hugh Schonfield

1955  The Holy Bible: A Translation from the Latin Vulgate; Ronald Knox

1955  The Compact Bible; Margaret Nicholson

1955  The Clarified New Testament; P.G. Parker

1956  The Bible for Family Reading; Joseph Gaer and Chester McCown

1956  Kleist-Lilly New Testament (KLNT)

1957  The Holy Bible from Ancient Manuscripts; George Lamsa

1958  The New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Anointed; James Tomanek

1958  A Beginner’s Bible; Margherita Fanchiotti

1958  Berkeley Version (BV)

1958  The New Testament in Modern English; J.B. Phillips

1958  The Self-Interpreting; Ashley Johnson

1959  The Holy Bible: The Berkeley Version in Modern English; Gerrit Verkuyl

1960  The Children’s King James Bible: New Testament; Jay Green

1960  A Critical Emphatic Paraphrase of the New Testament; Vincent Roth

1961  The New Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; Fan Noli

1961  New World Translation

1961  The New Testament: An Expanded Translation; Kenneth Wuest

1961  The Jesus People New Testament; Olaf Norlie

1961  Simplified New Testament in Plain English; Olaf Norlie

1962  Teen-age Version; Jay Green

1962  Modem King James Version; Jay Green

1962  The Children’s Version of the Holy Bible; Jay Green

1963  The Holy Name Bible; A.B. Traina

1963  The New Testament in the Language of Today; William Beck

1965  The Amplified Bible

1965  Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSV-CE)

1966  Jerusalem Bible (JB)

1966  The Bible in Simplified English

1966  The Living Scriptures; Jay Green

1966  Knoch Concordant Literal Version (by Adolph Ernst Knoch)

1967  Bible for Young Christians (NT); AM. Cocaqnac and Rosemary Haughton

1967  New World: The Heart of the New Testament in Plain English; Alan Dale

1967  New Scofleld Reference Bible

1967  The Christ Emphasis New Testament; Edward Craddock

1969  The New Testament: A New Translation; William Barclay

1969  The Children’s New Testament; Gleason Ledyard

1969  Modern Language Bible; Gerrit Verkuyl

1969  The Bible Reader

1970  New American Bible

1970  King James II Version; Jay Green

1970  New Testament in Shorter Form

1970  New English Bible (NEB)

1970  The Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible

1971  New American Standard Bible (NAB)

1971  The Living Bible; Kenneth Taylor

1971  The Story Bible (TSB)

1972  The New Testament in Modem English; J.B Phillips

1972  The Bible in Living English; Steven Byington

1973  A Child’s Bible; Anne Edwards and Shirley Steen

1973  The Translator’s New Testament

1973  Cotton Patch Version (NT); Clarence Jordan

1973  Common Bible

1973  The Better Version of the New Testament; Chester Estes

1974  The New Testament in Everyday English; Do Klingen¬smith

1975  The Word Made Fresh; Andrew Edington

1976  An American Translation; William Beck

1976  The Concise Jewish Bible (OT); Philip Birnbaum

1976  Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible (SNB)

1976  Good News Bible (GNB)

1977  The Jerusalem Bible (OT); Harold Fisch

1977  The Christian Counselor’s New Testament; Jay Adams

1977  The Holy Bible for Children; Allan Johsmann

1978  Holy Name Bible

1978  New International Version

1978  Simple English Bible (NT)

1979  The New Testament in Everyday English; Jay Adams

1980  The Distilled Bible: New Testament; Roy Greenhill

1980  Simple English Bible (Dr Stanley Morris) (SEB)

1981  The Sacred Scriptures

1981  The Compact Bible (NT); Pat Excel

1982  The Readers Digest Bible

1982  The New Testament; Richard Lattimore

1982  New King James Version

1984  The New Accurate Translation (NT); Julian Anderson

1985  Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (OT)

1985  The Recovery Version (NT)

1985  New Jerusalem Bible (NJB)

1985  Original New Testament; Hugh Schonfield

1985  Green’s Literal Translation (by Jay P. Green) (LITV)

1986  International Children’s Bible

1986  Christian Community Bible (CCB)

1986  New Life Version; Gleason Ledyard

1987  Easy to Read Version

1987  A Literal Translation of the Bible; Jay Green

1987  English Version for Deaf

1987  New Century Version

1988  Revised New Testament: New American Bible

1988  New Evangelical Translation

1988  Christian Community Bible

1988  The New Testament; Hugo McCord

1989  God’s New Covenant (NT); Heinz Cassirer

1989  New Revised Standard Version

1989  Jewish New Testament; David Stern

1989  Revised English Bible (REB)

1989  New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSV-CE)

1990  The New Translation (NT)

1990  Simplified Living Bible

1990  Modern King James Version; Jay Green

1991  21st Century King James Version (NT)

1991  Contemporary English Version (NT)

1991  New Century Version (NCV)

1993  Black Bible Chronicles

1994  The Clear Word Bible (Jack J. Blanco) paraphrase

1994  21st Century King James Version

1995  Contemporary English Version (CEV)

1995  Anointed Standard Version

1995  God’s Word (GW)

1996  ArtScroll Tanakh

1996  New International Reader’s Version (NIrV )

1996  New International Version Inclusive Language Edition (NIVI)

1996  New Living Translation (NLT)

1998  Third Millennium Bible (TMB)

1998  The Scriptures ’98 Version (TS98)

1999  American King James Version (Michael Peter (Stone) Engelbrite)

1999  Recovery Version (RcV)

2000  King James 2000 Version (KJ2000) (Robert A. Couric)

2000  Sacred Scriptures, Family of Yah Edition (SSFOY)

2001  Easy Reading Edition Sword Bible KJV

2001  Analytical-Literal Translation Modern English (Gary F. Zeolla)

2001  EasyEnglish Bible (EEB)

2002  The Message (MSG) (Eugene H. Peterson) paraphrase

2003  The Evidence Bible, King James Version (Ray Comfort)

2003  Apostolic Bible Polyglot (ABP)

2003  A Voice In The Wilderness Holy Scriptures (VW)

2003  The Word of Yahweh (TWOY)

2004  Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

2004  The Apostles’ Bible (AB)

2005  The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible with Apocrypha (David Norton)

2005  Today’s New International Version (TNIV)

2005  The Complete Apostles’ Bible (CAB)

2005  A Conservative Version (NT only in print OT & NT Net versions) (ACV)

2006  AV7 (New Authorized Version)

2006-11  The Manga Bible

2007  Study New Testament for Lesbian, Gays, Bi, and Transgender (Ann Nyland)

2007  New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS)

2007  Orthodox Study Bible (OSB)

2009  Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

2010  The Work of God’s Children Illustrated Bible (WGCIB)

Best Selling Bible Translations (based on data from the Association of Christian Retail)

New International Version
New Living Bible
King James Version
New King James Version
English Standard Version
Holman Christian Standard
New International Reader’s Version
New American Standard Bible


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1 Response to The 254 versions of the English Bible 1881-2010

  1. Phillip Mutchell says:

    You make an assumption that the waves of hysteria that passed for religious conversion, were of greater weight and moment, than similar waves witnessed in modern Charismatic revivals &co. I would dispute this, isn’t it worth remembering that Edwards wrote his classic Religious Affections precisely because he was close enough to witness the shallow nature of such ‘conversions’. When we bewail the apparent lack of zeal and power, what is really being mourned is the lack of religious influence at the level of power – legislation – let such notions be rebuked by the demand of Hebrews that we join Jesus ‘outside the camp’.
    Secondly; your concern is with the maintenance of doctrines that were imposed upon the body by that unholy wedlock of Church & State which is itself inimical to the growth of true godliness, representing that love of power which is the antithesis of the Cross of Christ. The proliferation of versions, although often from monetary concerns, still suggests a genuine desire to understand the text, to seek the actual meaning and thus truth which it intended to convey. I would agree this is discovered as much in the Authorised (by Royal authority your country rebelled against 🙂 ) Version as in the equally excellent Common English Version, and yet the latter goes out of its way to place your doctrines in its translation, even to the blasphemous lengths of saying God the Son. May the glorious Father forgive such zeal which is ‘not according to righteousness’. Hippy trippy cool in a kaftan love and peace man…

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