Here are a couple of suggestions for help in study.

It doesn't seem that there is much controversy over the translations of the Old Testament, while the New Testament has been translated and revised with denominational and doctrinal bias since the 1500's. I suggest it is impossible to find a translation that will be 100% accurate, therefore it is probably helpful to study several translations and even helpful to pick up on a little bit of Greek to further deepen your study.

In my opinion the King James Version (KJV), New King James Version (NKJV) and the American Standard Version (ASV) are probably the most accurate complete Bibles, but the English Study Bible ESB is as accurate (maybe even more accurate) and easier to read, however only available in the New Testament and translated by only one man (which is not generally a good thing). The ESB uses texts from all of the major Greek texts (United Bible Societies, Nestle, Westcott & Hort, Textus Receptus, and Griesbach's). These texts consider all of the oldest Manuscripts and the recently discovered Manuscripts. I am currently using the NKJV more than anything else because it appears to be very accurate as well and is easier to understand than most others. Of course they all have a few issues.

I also like using an Interlinear Greek-English New Testament (IGENT), which has the Greek Manuscripts in book form with English words below the Greek words. It is very good in helping understand what the writers of the original Manuscripts intended to communicate to its' readers. I invested in the IGENT because I want to be able to go back as far as I can to learn how the inspired Word of God truly reads. It is an invaluable study tool in understanding the Scriptures.

One of my favorite tools in E-SWORD. This program is free and is absolutely priceless. It has nearly every Bible translation known... here are several they offer:

Amplified Bible (Not Free)
New American Standard Bible Study Set (Not Free)
New King James Version (Not Free)

(The remainder are free of charge.)
American Standard Version
Bible in Basic English
Contemporary English Version
Douay-Rheims Bible (w/ Deuterocanon)
English Standard Version
International Standard Version
King James Version
King James Version (Red Letter)
King James Version (w/ Strong's) (This is included in the e-Sword installation.)
King James Version (w/ Apocrypha)
Literal Translation of the Holy Bible
Modern King James Version
Revised Version
Analytical-Literal Translation
Darby Bible
English Majority Text Version
James Murdock New Testament
Webster Bible
Weymouth New Testament
Young's Literal Translation
Bishops' Bible, 1568 (w/ Apocrypha)
Geneva Bible, 1587 (w/ Apocrypha)
King James Bible, 1611 (w/ Apocrypha)
Greek New Testament (Majority Text)
Scrivener Textus Receptus
Robinson/Pierpont Byzantine Greek New Testament (w/ Strong's)
Textus Receptus Greek New Testament (w/ Strong's)
Westcott-Hort Greek New Testament (w/ Strong's)
Greek New Testament (w/ Variants)
Hebrew Old Testament (Tanach)
Hebrew OT (w/ Strong's)
Greek Old Testament (Septuagint)
Latin Vulgate (w/ Deuterocanon)

...and numerous foreign language versions.

An Interlinear Greek New Testament is available for download from BibleTruthForums upon request.

You will also find several commentaries and dictionaries for download that may be of some help. I recommend the dictionaries, but caution with the commentaries. I believe brother Jason (John832) has some recommendations for better study material than the commentaries with E-SWORD.

There numerous other features of E-SWORD... check it out!

__________________
In Christ,
brother Sonnie

How much space is required for this download? I am so computer-illiterate that I have hesitated to download this. (Please remember that I am computer-illiterate when you write back to me! Thank you!) What about downloading it onto a USB port (I think that's what it is called!)?

The download takes around 17MB of space on the hard drive and shouldn't be cause for worry. You should be able to download the program onto a USB drive but you still have to install the software onto your hard drive.

__________________
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."
Hebrews 11:7

May I also suggest the LXX for the Old Testment? Being a former skeptic, I found so many contradictions in modern versions based on the late Masoretic Text where there were not contradictions in the same verses using the LXX.

One site: http://www.geocities.com/billykitche...?1147295163015 (this one shows the most ancient text (translated from ancient Greek and not Hebrew into English) side by side with the KJV. I used this a lot when I was trying to answer Bible Contradictions.

2nd site with free lexicon, index, and includes NT Greek. This is Interlinear: http://www.apostolicbible.com/index.htm

I also have a website where there is a list of other ancient texts including the Aramaic translation into English which is even older than the two Greek Texts (Sinai Text and Vaticanus). See: http://www.geocities.com/billykitche...?1147295163015

The LXX is what Jesus, his disciples, and the early church quoted from. One atheist I have debated made a great point when he said, "If the LXX was good enough for Jesus, then shouldn't it be good enough for Christians?" Frank Zindler