The Contemporary Parallel New Testament: 8 Translations: King James, New American Standard, New Century, Contemporary English, New International, New Living, New King James, The Message

Who *really* needs 8 versions of the New Testament? Maybe I didn't! But I *did* want 5 of the popular versions, and this was a very easy and effective way to get them. Here's a listing of all 8, from my very favorite to least...1. NIV- New International Version '84: Accurate & readable- thank God for the NIV! I might not be a Christian today if it weren't for this version. It was the first time for me that the Bible truly came alive. It's *still* my favorite version!*Matthew 5:13- You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.2. NLT- New Living Translation '96: *VERY* readable- & still pretty accurate. It's not word-for-word, but I like it! This and the NIV together make for very profitable reading. Add the NASB or NKJV to the mix for *real* rock-solid study.*Matthew 5:13- You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.3. NKJV- New King James Version '82: Great blend between accuracy, tradition & readability! A word-for-word translation, it retains the popular feel of the KJV. I like it! Many evangelicals insist that the NASB is more accurate, but I'll take the NKJV over NASB any day of the week. It's not that I'm a *fanatic* or anything- it's purely personal preference. And I could easily change my mind.*Matthew 5:13- You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.4. NASB- New American Standard Bible '95: Extremely accurate. Extremely word-for-word. Extremely evangelical!*Matthew 5:13- You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.5. KJV- King James Version: 1611 Authorized Version. Amazing impact on history. Still valuable today.*Matthew 5:13- Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.6. CEV- Contemporary English Version '95: *Very* pleasant surprise. This might actually grow on me. Maybe!*Matthew 5:13- You are like salt for everyone on earth. But if salt no longer tastes like salt, how can it make food salty? All it is good for is to be thrown out and walked on.7. NCV- New Century Version '91: Kinda plain vanilla. Not necessarily a bad version, but really- how *many* do we need?*Matthew 5:13- You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its salty taste, it cannot be made salty again. It is good for nothing, except to be thrown out and walked on.8. TM- The Message '95: Goodness gracious alive! What book am I reading? Actually, it's really pretty interesting. :)*Matthew 5:13- Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

The only parallel with both KJB and NKJV. Great to have use in Sunday worship and in Bible study. Too many folks ignorantly use Critical Text translations. Especially handy to point out errors in those false Bibles when folks doubt their salvation or think salvation is by works and never really complete. My pastor uses NKJV. I use KJB. I did not think it would be a big deal. But it is. Not until I began tracking his scripture quotes did I sadly discover errors in his sermons based on the NKJV. You'd be surprised how much NKJV matches the NIV! Westcott & Hort and the Catholic Church knew what they were doing with developing the Critical Text from the corrupted texts from Alexandria, Egypt... hotbed on Helenism philosophy, and Gnostism with Origin et al. Stick with Traditional Text from Antioch preserved true thru the centuries. KJB is the best English translation of Traditional Text. France and Germany are some countries with TT in their language. Spanish language has the new RVG with the corrections from bad corruption in 1902 and 1960.

During Bible studies, it is a real plus to have different translations available. This fine volume has eight translations on facing pages; it makes it so much easier to compare passages without having to flip through multiple Bibles.I rated this text as four stars because the print is extremely small and does require some concentration for those of us with less than perfect vision. Further, due to its size, it would have been helpful if the book had been thumb indexed. While it is easy enough to purchase tabs at any Christian book store, I find that they will tear off. This is almost a given with this book because the paper is so thin.I would love to see some publisher compile a similar Old Testament volume in both Contemporary and Precise Parallel versions. Yes, Guidepost does have something like that, but it only contains four translations.

Usinig parallel versions of the bible can help to sort out some of the things that are lost in translation. Since most of the New Testament was written in Greek, there are different ways that it will be attempted to be translated into English. Many versions work on word accuracy, but lose readability because of it. Other versions focus on readability but often lose some of the precision of the vocabulary and possibly the meaning of the message. Other translations are somewhere in between.Having multiple versions can help when something is confusing or difficult to read. This printing, having 8 translations, is great for helping to find an accurate meaning. I only urge people to use more than a melting of all the versions together when finding the true meaning of what is being said. At times, translations seem to contradict each other and further study may be required. None of these translations are the original. Be smart and enjoy this great help in studying the word of God.

The manufacturing quality of the book is very good, sturdy cover, quality paper, clear print etc.However, the translations themselves are a mixed bag. Some are good, others fair, and still others poor. That is to be expected when differing versions are brought together in one volume. Therefore, no complaints or surprises there, as such.However, purely by way of a personal observation, I must say the "Message" version is atrocious. It is so poor it insults the Word of God. The translator/s took so many liberties that time honoured renderings are unrecognisable.I could list numerous examples here, but that would make for an endless list. The departure is so great that one could be forgiven for thinking that he/ she is not reading the Scriptures at all. I was very disappointed with this particular version.All in all a useful tool for making comparisons and getting the gist of any given passage.

This is a very good study aid and brilliant to enable you to make comparisons. I am familiar with all the translations except the MESSAGE, which is a dreadful translation, it's actually an assault on the bible, an insult, shameful rendering. The font size is small but it's clear. If the font size was bigger it would be five stars. Will definitely recommend. Speedy delivery, many thanks.

Extremely happy with this volume. I chose it because it has the 4 translations that I particularly wanted - the other 4 are a welcome bonus. Excellent for thorough study of the Word. The actual book is well bound; the text size is not too small to read comfortably. It is a good price and it arrived promptly.

Book is very good