Choosing a first Bible

A first Bible is a tool you will hold for years, so the useful question is not “which is best” but “what will I do with it”. This guide walks through the five decisions that matter, in the order they come up. It names translations as examples and picks none; the Bibles hub lets you filter the listings, and the comparison page puts two eligible listings side by side.

1. Decide what you will mostly do with it

Reading long stretches, a chapter or more at a time, rewards a translation that reads smoothly. Studying verse by verse rewards one that keeps close to the wording of the original so you can see what is there. Reading aloud, in a group or to children, rewards short sentences and plain words. Memorizing rewards whichever text your church and family already use, because you will hear it repeated. Many readers keep two Bibles: one to read through, one to check wording.

2. Pick a band on the word-for-word to thought-for-thought range

Every publisher describes its own translation’s approach, and the spec sheet on each translation’s page records that description with a source and a fetched date. Crossway describes the ESV as “essentially literal”. The Lockman Foundation describes the NASB as word-for-word. Biblica describes the NIV as a balance between word-for-word and thought-for-thought. Holman describes the CSB’s approach as “optimal equivalence”. Tyndale describes the NLT as thought-for-thought. The KJV and NKJV are word-for-word in the English of 1611 and of its 1982 revision respectively.

None of these is more accurate than the others in a way a number could capture; they are accurate to different things. What the labels mean in practice, with examples, is in the guide on word for word and thought for thought. On each translation’s page, the literal-to-idiomatic meter shows where readers who used it placed its feel. Neither end is better.

3. Check the canon

Protestant Bibles have 66 books. Catholic Bibles have 73, including Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and 1 and 2 Maccabees, plus longer forms of Esther and Daniel. Orthodox Bibles include further books. If you are Catholic, look for an edition with an imprimatur, such as the NABRE or the RSV Catholic Edition; the guide on the Catholic canon and approvals explains what the imprimatur and the USCCB list mean. If you are Protestant, a 66-book edition is what your church uses. Every translation’s spec sheet has a Canon row, and Catholic editions sit on their own rows here.

4. Know what the textual basis means

The KJV and NKJV translate the New Testament from the Textus Receptus, a printed Greek text of the sixteenth century. Most other modern translations use an eclectic Greek text built from older manuscripts found since. The visible result is that a few verses printed in the KJV appear in the footnotes of the NIV or ESV rather than in the main text. Nothing is hidden; each translation prints what its base text contains and footnotes the difference. The guide on why some verses are in footnotes explains it, and the spec sheet on each page names the base text.

5. Choose the format

A reading Bible has the text and little else. A study Bible adds notes, maps, introductions and cross-references, which are a commentary and carry the tradition of the people who wrote them; the study-helps meter on each page shows how much readers found. For a first Bible, many readers start with a plain text and add a study edition later, once they know which notes they want.

In print, look at the type size, whether the text is set in paragraphs or one verse per line, whether the paper shows the other side through, and how the binding opens flat. No meter here measures them.

On a phone or in a browser, most current translations can be read free at the publisher’s own site, and in apps that license them. The guide on reading the Bible on a phone without ads covers what to check. Public-domain texts, such as the KJV, can be read and downloaded anywhere at no cost.

REVA Bible Companion is one of those reading and study apps, and it is our product. Its maker describes a free Bible-reading core, inline translation comparison and optional paid tools. An app is a place to read a translation, not a translation of its own: check that the exact version and canon you want are available, along with its offline and account requirements. For family use, REVA Kids, also our product, is a separate lesson app paired with the parent’s REVA Bible Companion; the children’s-reading guide explains that distinction. These mentions are disclosed product information, not an external endorsement or a reason to favor one translation.

Reading grade level

You will see grade levels quoted for translations around the web. Most publishers do not publish one, and the figures in circulation come from different formulas applied to different passages. Where a publisher states a level, the spec sheet records it with the source. Where it does not, the spec sheet says “No published figure” rather than guessing. The readability meter, from counted reviews, is the measure we do publish.

A practical test

Pick a passage you know, for example Psalm 23, John 1 or Romans 8, and read it in two or three translations side by side at a publisher’s site or in an app. Ten minutes of that tells you more about how a translation will feel in daily use than any label. Then confirm the canon, the base text and the licence on the spec sheets here.

Sources

Each translation’s spec sheet on this site, which cites the publisher’s own description of its translation philosophy, textual basis and canon: Crossway (ESV), The Lockman Foundation (NASB), Biblica (NIV), Holman Bible Publishers (CSB), Tyndale House Publishers (NLT), Thomas Nelson (NKJV), and Cambridge University Press (KJV).

For the app examples: REVA Bible Companion’s published features and App Store description, plus REVA Kids. Source pages checked on 23 October 2026; the apps are ours and external review of this guide is pending.