List of English Bible Versions, Translations, and Paraphrases

Assembled and cleaned up by Steven J. DeRose, 2008-03-2009-06-2009-08-01. Sources are listed at the bottom, as are the conventions used. Please email corrections and additional information here.

Note: There are a lot of columns, so make your window as wide as possible. You may also want to Zoom Out to make sure all columns fit. The translations are listed chronologically, but may be resorted by clicking the icon at the top of any column.

See http://www.bibletechnologies.net/201.dsp for a list of OSIS standard codes, which are indicated in green below in the "ID" column. If there is any conflict between those and the abbreviations shown below, the OSIS codes are the correct ones.

Total current entries:

Additional possibilities?

Please send any information on these to me. Thanks!

Conventions:

• In general, to be included a translation (or paraphrase) should provide at least a full book of the Bible, published as a separate work. Many single-book Biblical commentaries do include a piecemeal author's translation of verses, but are not included here unless there is another reason, such as that they were published separately from the commentary.
• A shaded background for an entry indicates that I believe that edition to be unorthodox in some fashion, or that it seems to "have an axe to grind". I have likely missed some that should be so marked, because I have not reviewed most of the editions. The presence of the Apocrypha does not, for my purposes, make the work "unorthodox." Use any translation with prayer and reverent attention to the Holy Spirit for discernment; be doubly diligent in this regard, with any translations marked "unorthodox"
• "??" is intended to mean "unknown", while "N/A" means not appicable.
• The "class" attribute of each table row element indicates where the primary data was obtained, from among the sources listed below. Use "View Source" to see it if desired.
• A unique short "ID" has been assigned to each work. When it has already been standardized by OSIS, that form is used. Otherwise, committe translations generally use an acronym for their name, while translations by individuals use the individual's surname. When a name would be ambiguous, either because of different translators with the same surname, multiple works by a single translator, or significantly revised editions, something is appended to distinguish them (usually the year or the name of the included Biblical book(s)).
• When a single translator has published several books under separate cover, or when a translation is renamed, they are generally combined under a single entry and ID. The separate covers are listed, separated by semicolons, for their separate titles, contents, and dates.
• "Title" is the full title. In some cases this is just "Holy Bible" or the name of a particular book, so may not be unique by itself.
• Where possible, "Translator" identifies people, not organizations. Birth and death dates, when known, are provided in parentheses following the name.
• "Contents" lists what parts of the Bible are included. It uses either the OSIS abbreviations for individual books, or these abbreviations for groups of books: OT (39 books), NT (27), CathApoc (the Roman Catholic Apocrypha), Pent (Gen, Exod, Lev, Deut, and Num), Wisdom (Psalms, Prov, Eccl, Song), Gospels, Epistles, Pauline (13 Epistles), Lukan (Luke and Acts) Johannine (John, 1J, 2J, 3J, and Rev). "Selected" indicates that the work only includes selected parts of the following-named book or group (and I don't know which parts).
• "Date" indicates the date of initial publication. This may be the publication of an incomplete edition. For multiple works, they are listed in the same order as under "Contents", separated by semicolons, and with the date preceding the name of the contents. Additional dates may be given suffixed by "?" or "revised" (to indicate the publication date of a revision (not all revisions are listed). No attempt has been made to catalog multiple minor revisions, editions, bindings, or reprintings.
• "Source" indicates the choice of texts from which the translation or paraphrase was made. If an edition is basically a revision of another edition, it says so.
• "Publisher and Copyright" indicate the publisher, location, and copyright information (where known). For works before 1923, it is listed as "[No copyright]" because all such works are now public domain in the US. There may, however, exist copyrights in a more recent particular edition (consult a an attorney for the gory details). Information on the copyright status of many versions, especially dated 1923-1964, can be found at http://www.thedcl.org/support/pd-bibles/pd-bibles.html
• "ISBN" provides the 10 or 13-digit ISBN for the work. Older works do not have these; however, if such a work has been reprinted in a modern edition it may have one or many (no attempt has been made to track down ISBNs for multiple editions). A few old works have ISBNs listed on Google Books; these I have included but not personally verified, and I don't know exactly what they refer to.
• "Text" points to an online version(s) of the edition, in text or sometimes scanned-image form. The link's text indicates where (for example, "GB" indicates the work can be found on Google Books). GB* indicates I have verified there is a downloadable scan (these should be complete unless otherwise noted); GB- indicates there is not; (no GB) indicates that I couldn't locate it on Google Books, though of course it could be added, and it's possible I missed an extant copy as well. "Home" indentifies a link to what appears to be the "home page" for the edition/translation (which may or may not provide access to the full downloadable text).
• "Info" points to further discussion of the particular translation. These may occasionally be switched with "Text", since I am still proofing them.
• "Affiliation" identifies the denominational or other connections of the translators. In some case a translation is actually sponsored by a particular church, denomination, or other group, or is considered to be specifically reflective of a single group's views (I cannot personally confirm or debate such judgements, which may be subjective). Editions with a strong affiiation with a group's particular views are marked "unorthodox" on the tr element, and are displayed with background shading; such works should be used with particular caution.

Sources of general information and lists

• W: Wikipedia also their Miscellaneous English Bible translations page, and Modern english ones
• TH: Tyndale House; more
• Innvista (Inn) Discussions of ~116 translations. Provides good general information, but non-standard acronyms for everything, which are often opaque ("TAB" for The Abbreviated Bible, vs. "AB" for The Amplified Bible, vs. The Apostles' Bible which they don't seem to list; and many TxB for The (name) Bible; and perhaps most painful, "LBP" for "Lamsa Bible - Peshitta" rather than "Living Bible - Paraphrased").
• BRC: bible-researcher.com Mostly excellent descriptive information on versions, chronologically organized. Many other useful pages, such as this page listing English translations accessible online.
• allbibles.com
• godswoord.nl
• greatsite.com
• A list by Richard Merrell (covers many translations of individual books).
• See also English Versions of the New Testament: A Bibliographical List. John V. Madison. Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 44, No. 3/4 (1925), pp. 261-288.
• ottenhoff: http://newmedia.alma.edu/ottenhoff/psalm51/ -- Metrical translations of the Psalms
• Catalogue of English Bible translations. William J. Chamberlin. ISBN: 0-313-28041-X ISBN-13: 978-0-313-28041-2 DOI: 10.1336/031328041X 960 pages Greenwood Press Publication: 12/30/1991. ~$295.
• The English Bible in America. A bibliography of editions of the Bible & the New Testament published in America 1777-1957. Hills, Margaret T. (Margaret Thorndike), librarian of the American Bible Society, 1898-1972, ed.
• Early Bibles of America. John Wright. 1894.
• "Editions of the Bible and parts thereof in English from the year MDV to MDCCCL. : with an appendix containing specimens of translations, and bibliographical descriptions." 1852. Cotton, Henry (1789-1879). online
• International Society of Bible Collectors (ISBC): http://www.biblecollectors.org/biographies/abner_kneeland.htm
• The Internet Bible Catalog: http://bibles.wikidot.com/welcome. Has images of many covers; lists some items not listed elsewhere; well-organized with full titles and publication information.
• http://www.netvouz.com/BibleCollector/folder/244889993860667817/Online%20Bible%20Translations%20Online%20reading?pg=5

Some sources that provide many Bible translations

• CW: The Crosswire Bible Society
• Look Higher! ~100 english versions online?
• CrossWalk: has some editions not found elsewhere
• biblos.com
• CCEL: Christian Classics Ethereal Library (at Calvin College)
• BG: biblegateway.com Tends to have good descriptions and background on the versions it has, and has some in-copyright versions; but you can't download a full text.
• English Versions -- has links to many versions, some online, some print, some links broken.
• EB: ebible.org. Lots of links, and some actual texts.
• studylight.org (SL)
• The Digital Christian Library Mostly scanned PDFs, including a KJV1611.
• some scanned editions
• GB -- Google Books. For out of copyright materials, you can generally download a PDF scan, or full text. There are restrictions on in-copyright materials (when no view is available, the indication is "GB-").
• http://www.rockhay.org/worship/translat.htm -- links to quit a few Bibles.
• http://bibles.wikidot.com/numerical
• FUnston's sales
• Bible Facsimiles Online Has many editions not listed elsewhere.

Samples of John 1:1 (to be moved into the entries above):

Samples of John 1.1 are generally from this Yahoo page; I have not checked them myself. Another similar list is here.

American Standard Version: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

American Translation (Beck), An: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Archbishop Newcome’s New Testament (Prior to changes by Belsham): The Word was in the beginning, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Bible Reader, The: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Bishops Bible: : In the begynnyng was the worde, & the worde was with God and that worde was God.

Common English New Testament: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Complete Jewish Bible: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine Translation: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; and the Word was God.

Conservative Version, A: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Coptic Version of the New Testament: In (the) beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word…

Coverdale Bible, The: In the begynnynge was the worde, and the worde was with God, and God was ye worde.

Darby Holy Bible: In (the) beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Douay-Rheims Bible: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Emphatic Diaglott, The: In the beginning was the LOGOS, and the LOGOS was with God, and the LOGOS was God.

English Majority Text Version: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

English Jubilee 2000 Bible: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and the Word was God.

Geneva Bible, The: In the beginning was the Worde, and the Worde was with God and that Worde was God.

Godbey: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

God’s Word (a.k.a. Today’s Bible Translation): In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Great Bible (Cranmer 1539): : In the begynnynge was the worde, and the worde was wyth God and God was the worde.

Holman Christian Standard Bible: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Holy Bible in Modern English (Fenton): The WORD existed in the beginning, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was God.

Inclusive Version, An: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word

Interlinear Bible (Greene): In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.


Modern Reader’s Bible: IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD: AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD: AND THE WORD WAS GOD.