Translations to Avoid
The Passion Translation
This much-hyped work is not what it claims to be. Brian Simmons is not a qualified linguistic expert trained in ancient language as he claims; does not have the experience he claims. Much like Mormon founder, Joseph Smith, Dr. Simmons claims the vision of Jesus and angels as the source of his ability to do the work and content of his “translation”.
In the words of Dr. Craig Blomberg, “Despite some of the wonderful passion and turns of phrase, there are also enough problems with it that it probably should have had a surgeon general’s warning on it about its potential hazards.”
(biblethinker.org/images/Notes/PassionProject/Final.Blomberg.pdf)
If you want to know more about this work, Mike Winger has done some amazing research and has contracted top biblical scholars to write papers and do interviews on Mr. Simmons’ work. Go to Mike Winger’s site, Biblethinker.org (https://biblethinker.org/index.php/the-passion-translation) for scholarly papers on this “translation” by Dr. Nijay Gupta, Douglas Moo Ph.D., Dr. Craig Blomberg, and others along with in-depth videos and interviews on this subject.
New World Translation
The New World Translation is the translation created by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is a poor work of scholarship. It is heavily slanted toward their non-trinitarian view and seeks to remove the divinity of Jesus from its translation. Even with this as a goal they did not always succeed. There are far better translations than this that unless you are using it to witness to Jehovah’s Witnesses avoid this very poor work.
Use Great Caution
The Brick Bible: New Testament & The Brick Bible: A New Spin on the Old Testament
These “Bibles” are not true translations but picture storybooks. They are creative. They have pictures of biblical scenes built out of Lego bricks. The issue is that many of the pictures, especially in the NT version, are very graphic including simulated blood. Some also seem more mocking of the Bible than celebrating the story. The OT seems to have less issue but check it well before giving it to anyone, especially children.
On The Positive Side
Translations we recommend.
English Standard Version (ESV)
New American Standard Bible (NASB OR NASU)
Christian Standard Bible(CSB)
New King James Version(NKJV)