Can you explain? I think maybe you left something out, or I’m missing something.

I told my friend about my “favorite four” post above. He said, “That sounds good but which one would you choose if you could have just one; you know, the deserted island thing?” I hate the deserted island question. It’s not based in reality but I played along and said “It depends.” “Depends on what?”, he queried. “Are there any other people stranded on the island with me or am I alone?” “What does that matter?”, he said with a puzzled look. So I explained… “If I was alone, I’d pick the HCSB. If I was with someone else, I’d pick the ESV because it would get read out loud.” “No other reasons?”, he asked. I said, “Sure, but that pretty well sums it up. They’re both good for multipurpose use.” He shook his head, then shrugged his shoulders and said “Hmmmm” So I added, “And since I live in a world with other people around me, where the bible is read out loud, I tend to use the ESV most.” to which he replied “I’m ok with that I guess.” We smiled and we left it at that.

You don’t have to agree with me but it works for me.

Dave S

For study, I use the NASB.
For casual reading I prefer the HCSB.
To avoid a sermon when additional explanation is needed, I use the NLT (usually for my kids).
For reciting and reading out loud, I use the ESV.

Because reciting involves memorization, the ESV gets read a lot by me. It is especially good for devotions at the dinner table, etc. The poetic parts of the ESV are wonderful. Though the HCSB is readily understood when read out loud, it just doesn’t have the flair or ring to the ear the ESV does, especially with commonly heard verses. For all around use, the ESV excels, but the HCSB is no slouch. The HCSB is rising up the family charts because as my kids get older, they prefer the HCSB over the NLT to help them understand some forms of scripture. If I had started them out on the HCSB, I may have never needed the NLT, it’s that easy to understand. For my personal use, the NASB will never be replaced for study purposes.

I like my Bibles to be just text Bibles and I also find it discouraging to go into a Christian bookstore and see the overwhelming choices and niche market Bibles though it is fun to see all the pretty bindings they have nowadays.

I would like to see the study Bible helps available in separate books and not included in with the text. I would probably buy several of those but I won’t buy a big, ugly, heavy study Bible. I hate small, faint print.

For my next Bible I want one with the apocrypha/deuterocanonicals, large (but not giant), clear print, single columns, pretty soft cover, no page bleed through, modern English. Maybe a REB or NRSV.