Which Bible?

[a82allison]

I consider myself a Christian but I have no church home. I want to get involved in a church, and plan on visiting a few over the next couple of weeks. My kids did AWANA at a church last year, but only AWANA, no services then. I only have one really old Bible here and a few kids storybook Bibles. I want to get us all good Bibles and start focusing more on our faith. I know we have a long way to go.

 

But one of my first steps is that I need a Bible! So someone, please help me out here. I have 4 kids, ages 6, 7, 7, and 13.

 

For my 6 year old, I want to stick with a storybook, so .. "The Jesus Storybook Bible".

 

For DD7, I'm stuck between the ESV Grow! Bible, NIV Faithgirlz, or NLT Girl's Life Application - What should I get? I'm stuck.

 

For DS7...the NLT Hands-On Bible ?? or ESV Grow!

 

For DD13 - I think I'm going with The Message:Remix 2.0

 

For myself - NLT Chronological Life Application looks really interesting, would this be a good choice? Is there something better?

 

I really want my kids to be able to use their Bible's daily and enjoy them. I need something that will interest them.

 

I'm looking at getting Telling God's Story as a family Bible study also.

 

Please any suggestions, help, thoughts on Bibles, please send them my way! My 7 year old's are both reading at about a 4th grade level if that helps, also.

[twoxcell]

I think I would just pick one version and get everyone their own Bible in that version. We all use NKJV because that is what our pastor teaches from but I also have an ESV which I read sometimes.

[Chris in VA]

Dh likes the ESV because of the level of scholarship that went into the translation.

I like the NIV, because it's a nice mix of scholarship and readability.

The younger version of the NIV (I always get the little letters wrong--it's something like NrIV) is written on an elementary level, quite appropriate for youth under 12.

 

My favorite commentary that accompanies the text is the Archeological Bible in NIV.

[Cinder]

If your dc are still in Awana you might consider choosing a version consistent with the version of their Awana books. Our program lets kids choose. Ds2 prefers NKJV so we got him a NKJV Bible. Ds1 prefers NIV so we got him an NIV Bible. Dd (8yo) also has NIV. We got her this Bible. For the boys we got them study Bibles in their preferred version. Dh and I read ESV. You can go to Bible Gateway and look up verses in different versions to get an idea of how they each sound/feel to you.

 

Another thought is to get a children's story Bible and read through that together to get the flow of events. We used the one by Vos. I also like Patty Joanna's recommendation to read through the Gospels. Dd and I are currently going through Luke, about half a chapter per day. She gets excited hearing the same things they've been taught in Awana.

[klmama]

If your dc are still in Awana you might consider choosing a version consistent with the version of their Awana books.

 

Be aware that they just came out with a new NIV version of the Bible. The wording of some passages won't quite match the NIV Awana books, which are based on the 1984 version.

[MercyA]

I would completely avoid "The Message." It's not a translation; it's an inaccurate paraphrase, full of deletions, additions, and the author's own interpretations.

 

The New American Standard Bible and the King James Version are both good translations.

 

As you study the Bible as a family, I don't think you need a lot of entertaining devotional type additions. I believe children will derive the most benefit from simply listening to, thinking about, and discussing stories straight from the Bible. I agree that the Gospels are a good place to start.

 

God bless you!

[Bambam]

The KJV and ASV are regarded by many as the most accurate translations. I would stick with one of those.

 

My kids have always had a KJV Bible with giant print when they were younger and now with regular print (but colorful covers!) since they are teenagers.

[Cinder]

Be aware that they just came out with a new NIV version of the Bible. The wording of some passages won't quite match the NIV Awana books, which are based on the 1984 version.

 

:iagree: When we were looking at Bibles we did search for ones that had the 1984 translation. The newer one is 2011. Don't get this date confused with publication date of the Bible you look at; that usually refers to the date the study notes were published not the date of the version. Ds1 was pointing out to us that Zondervan (the NIV publisher) is pushing the newer version (not sure where he read about this) and when he looked up some verses on Bible Gateway to print out they didn't match his Awana book.

[LostSurprise]

Bible type is almost as personal and controversial as what church you attend. ;)

 

My suggestion is that you load up the car, go to your nearest Christian bookstore and test drive the Bibles you're interested in. Its more important that the Bible appeals to your child then what version it is (at least at this point).

 

I personally like to have a few different versions (New Revised Standard is my favorite but King James is beautiful, the one that's a graphic novel is great for very visual kids, the one that paraphrases stories so you have 1 chapter per day for a year was helpful to start a morning devotional with early-to-mid elementary age, my early teens have small NIVs with camo tin covers because they're rough on their Bibles).

 

Flip through and see what people like. Even if they don't seem to care, it will be a good chance for you to see and decide what you think is best.

[mims]

Just for extra information . . . because of the changes in the new NIV, AWANA will be switching their books over to the ESV over the next few years. So AWANA now will offer KJV, NKJV, and ESV. My personal vote would be ESV. Probably too much background information to get into but many churches and curriculum providers are switching to it.

[vonfirmath]

Just for extra information . . . because of the changes in the new NIV, AWANA will be switching their books over to the ESV over the next few years. So AWANA now will offer KJV, NKJV, and ESV. My personal vote would be ESV. Probably too much background information to get into but many churches and curriculum providers are switching to it.

 

 

Oh! VERY good to know. My son is doing a NIV AWANA. But we'd much prefer KJV or ESV (We got him the ESV Seek and Find bible)

[Cinder]

Just for extra information . . . because of the changes in the new NIV, AWANA will be switching their books over to the ESV over the next few years. So AWANA now will offer KJV, NKJV, and ESV. My personal vote would be ESV. Probably too much background information to get into but many churches and curriculum providers are switching to it.

 

Thanks for the info!

[bolt.]

At 7: "Day by Day Kids Bible" -- a semi story-like adaptation that is great, by Karyn Henley. It will be great for their reading level, drawing them into the story and not confusing st all.

 

At 13: The Message is a great choice, but be aware that it too is an explanatory adaptation of the Bible, not an "accurate" translation. It's like a Bible and a (reasonably good but not infable) teacher talking at the same time.

 

For yourself: NLT is great, but don't be afraid of checking your son's Message too -- they help each other out, and often what's clear in one will help out what's a bit muddied in the other. Chronological and life-application are both good ideas for your first study Bible.

 

All of those are Bibles where the views of the translators are heavily prevalent -- that's the downside you get when you want very readable and engaging versions. They are great, but nothing's perfect. I suggest you also have access to an ESV, an NRSV, a NIV(11 not 84), or a HCSB... Many of those are on Bible Gateway .com for you to look up and check into things that confuse or intrigue you through your more casual reading in the more readable versions I recommended above.

 

Good luck! It's a grand adventure this Bible thing!

 

[magnificent_baby]

I have a Life Application Study Bible, published by Zondervan. I love it.

 

For Dd (age 9), she has the Young Women of Faith, NIV Bible. We really like it. It has devotions sprinkled throughout. Got this from Amazon.

 

ETA: I also recommend reading The Modern Girls Guide to Bible Study by Jennifer Hatmaker. It's a good guide on how to get started reading your Bible. Got the recommendation on the board, and it really helped get me started, as sitting down with your Bible can be overwhelming. It's fairly cheap through Amazon.