"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth"
2 Timothy 2:15~KJV

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
~2 Timothy 3:16-17~KJV~

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work"
~2 Timothy 3:16-17~NIV~

Bible Versions Defined:

I felt it was important for you to know something about the different translations and versions of the Bible.  That way you can personally make an informed decision about which one you want to read.  Regardless of what translation or version you prefer to read, the most important thing is that you need to READ THE BIBLE FOR YOURSELF. Preferably, you should use several translations/versions in your studying. Since you probably don't read the languages that the Bible was written in you can use "The Strong's Concordance" and it will help you understand the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek words.  You don't even have to buy them anymore because they are all FREE and online.

I am not endorsing any or all of the translations of the Bible. That is a decision you need to make for yourself. I personally do prefer to memorize Scripture verses in the King James Version but what type of translation I read really isn't that important.

You can find MANY different web sites that debate, discuss and even argue about the BEST or ONLY translation to use. That is not my purpose for creating this page. What I would like is for you to read the Bible yourself to see what it says instead of just hearing what others say, teach or think.

God has given us a wonderful treasure. The Bible is that treasure. It is our map to "hidden treasure". It is our instruction book and our guide. Read the WORD OF GOD for yourself and study it. Here in the U.S. we seem to be so unaware of how fortunate we are. Most families have 6 or more Bibles and many of them are not even read. If we lived in another part of the world where Christian's are persecuted we might not even have one Bible to read.

So I said all that to say this:
Each one of you are accountable for the choices you make in every part of your life. You decide what version is best for you. The time is too short to argue over translations.

The most important thing is that you:
READ THE BIBLE!!!

A translation is from the original Greek and Hebrew and then translated to English. A paraphrase takes an English translation in an older from of English like the King James English and makes the words easier to understand.

KJV~ King James Version ~ The King James Version was finally published in 1611, and together with its four revisions (in 1629, 1638, 1762, and 1769). I personally like to still memorize Bible Verses in this version.
NKJV~ New King James Version ~ 130 translators, commissioned by Thomas Nelson Publishers, produced this version from the Byzantine family (Textus Receptus) in 1982. This is a revision of the King James version, updated to modern English with minor translation corrections and retention of traditional phraseology.
NIV~ New International Version ~ "To ensure accuracy and faithfulness, scholars translate not from a previous translation, but directly from the most reliable original Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic texts." ~From Zondervan Page~
NAS~ New American Standard ~ "The New American Standard Bible has been produced with the conviction that the words of Scripture, as originally penned in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, were inspired by God. Since they are the eternal Word of God, the Holy Scriptures speak with fresh power to each generation, to give wisdom that leads to salvation so that men may serve Christ for the glory of God. With this in mind, the Editorial Board has continued to function since publication of the complete Bible in 1971." ~From the Lockman Foundation~
TLB~The Living Bible ~ (paraphrase not a translation) A paraphrased rendition of the King James Version by Kenneth Taylor in 1971. This is not a genuine translation, but is a type of phrase-by-phrase commentary that was originally intended to help the author’s own children understand the scriptures.
The Amplified Bible "It attempts to take both word meaning and context into account in order to accurately translate the original text from one language into another. The Amplified Bible does this through the use of explanatory alternate readings and amplifications to assist the reader in understanding what Scripture really says." ~From The Lockman Foundation~
CONTEMPORARY BIBLE TRANSLATIONS - This page shows different versions and translations by taking three verses and comparing them in a table form.

Resources Defined:

Concordance: A concordance is an alphabetical index of the words found in one or more versions of the Bible, a text-finder that enables the reader to locate a particular verse by looking up a key word in it. ~From Nelson's Quick Reference Bible Concordance~
Topical Index: A topical Bible lists references to ideas and themes, regardless of whether the actual words are mentioned. A topical Bible will give references in the Bible for you to look up regarding the topic, and you can use it with any translation.
Bible Dictionary: A Bible Dictionary is similar to a regular dictionary and defines different words. But it has more information for each entry. If you have questions about a passage you can look up a word or a subject that you are interested in.
Theological Dictionary: A dictionary of theology is similar to a Bible dictionary in that it provides notes on how a word or subject is used in both the Old and New Testaments. In addition to that information, a theological dictionary also has comments on how the topic has been viewed by the church down through the years. The topics are listed in alphabetical order.
Bible Commentary: A Bible commentary is a book written by an author about the different books in the Bible. It explains different passages but does have the doctrinal beliefs of the author. Never just read a commentary. You need to read the scriptures for yourselves.
Bible Handbook: A Bible Handbook is similar to a Bible dictionary. The main difference is that a Bible dictionary has short articles arranged alphabetically, while a Bible handbook provides a brief running commentary of each of the books of the Bible. It contains maps, historical backgrounds, archaeological background, tables of weights and measures, lists of kings and genealogies and much more information.
Bible Encyclopedia: Bible encyclopedias are multi volume sets of articles about people, places, and subjects arranged in alphabetical order. It is similar to a Bible Dictionary but with much more information. They contain historical background information and sometimes there is commentary information also.

Types of Bible Studies:

Subject/Topic: Choose a topic or subject and look in your resources to find related verses.
Character: There are many Bible characters to choose from. David, Ruth, and Peter are just a few.
Chapter: Chapter as it implies, would be to choose one and study the whole chapter.
Book: You might choose a book in the Old or New Testament and study the whole book.
Verse by Verse~~in context: Often people will take a verse in the Bible out of context. So when you study the verse make sure you look at the verse in front of and after your verse of choice.
Expository Study - this type of study involves taking a passage in the Bible and finding out exactly what it means. You will go through a passage sentence by sentence and word by word. Start by reading and re-reading the passage.

House 2 House Ministries have a Bible Study Page with Expository and Topical Bible Studies. Take a look: The Pastor's Study

What The Bible Says About... - is a great resource. LOTS of wonderful Biblical answers for personal use or sharing with others.
HINT: When you get email asking questions about being a Christian or doctrine that you don't feel confident answering then consider using this source above to send a link to a page about subjects you are not that familiar with.

Bible Links:

Follow the link to Bible Gateway They have 6 versions of the Bible online and a concordance for cross references and footnotes. You can read the Bible online, check a reference or print a passage of scripture.

Don't throw out your Bible just yet.
Here are a few search engines for you to use:

Add this search to your web page

Find the verses you want to look up. Then just copy and paste them here.

Search the Bible:
Search for:
in the:	Whole Bible ----------------------- Old Testament New Testament ---------------------- Books of Law Books of History Books of Wisdom Major Prophets Minor Prophets The Gospels Pauline Epistles General Epistles Apocalyptic Books
using:	All English Versions ---------------------- American Standard Version New American Standard King James Version New King James Version Revised Standard Version New Revised Standard Today's English Version Douay-Rheims Bible ---------------------- The Bible in Basic English The Darby Translation The Webster Bible Young's Literal Translation ---------------------- King James w/ Str #'s The Latin Vulgate
Include Study Tools HELP

You can just "copy and paste" scripture references in the search box.

Here are some wonderful ON-LINE study resources:
Bible Study Tools
Blue Letter KJV Bible
Easton's Bible Dictionary by search
Greek Lexicon
Hebrew Lexicon
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary by search
Matthew Henry Commentary by books
Nave's Topical Bible
OnLine KJV Bible
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Synopsis of the Bible - John Nelson Darby 1800-1881
Torrey's Topical Textbook
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Audio Bible - You can listen to the Bible online for FREE.
- A Great Site! Lots of stuff to enjoy.
ReadYourBible.com
The Bible League is an interdenominational Christian ministry founded in 1938 to provide Scriptures for people who want them. In 90 countries. In more than 500 languages......
LargePrintBible.com - The Word in Large Print for Sight-Challenged Persons & Devotionals too
Biblenotes - "a reference for Bible study..."
NEW - Biblical Studies Foundation

FREE BIBLES!!! FREE BIBLES!!! FREE BIBLES!!! FREE BIBLES!!!
If you or someone you know needs a Bible please visit my friend Becky
to learn how to receive one.

Bibles in Many Languages:
Bible in Your Language has info on Bibles in 140 languages!

Here is a Bible Search for you. You can look up Bible verses right here and even print them out.

Blue Letter Bible Search

Here is a search engines right on the page for you.

options

Wonderful Bible Study Tools

Other Related Resources:
A Guide to Christian Literature on the Internet
American Tract Society
American Bible Society
Bible Study FAQ: text information
Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Internet Information Center
Jr Bible Quiz
The Navigators
The Omnilist of Online Bibles and Studies
Wycliffe Bible Translators Canada
Have a Bible to Spare? Contact Operation Share

It is so important to be in the Word of God Daily. We also need to
memorize Scripture verses and hide them in our hearts.
Why not visit: Annie's Verse A Day Page to get you started.

I have also added a pop up window with a new memory verse to my main
page and it is changed weekly. Annie's "Weekly Memory Verse" Page

Here are some other of my pages that may be helpful:
Annie's Devotionals Page & Annie's Christian News Page
Annie's Begin the Day with Me Page & Annie's Christian Search Page
Annie's End Times Page & Annie's Noah's Ark Page
Annie's "Prayer and the Email Encourager's" Page This is a page where you can submit a prayer request and the EE's will be glad to prayer for you. We send out a prayer mailing each weekday to the EE's.

Annie's Home Page

Annie's Featured Holiday Page

Annie's Holiday Page

Annie's Featured Page

Annie's "Featured Page" Page

Email Annie Page