Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27627
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

This gets back to a basic problem, in that there really is no such thing as **The** Bible; only translations compiled from various copies (which [may or may not be consistent with each other](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misquoting_Jesus#Summary)).

Using the King James Version, as most (all?) the other answers suggest, is usually a reasonably good compromise, so its not _bad_ advice. The KJV has a lot of problems, some pretty bad, but it has the advantage of being almost instantly recognizable, and of at least annoying everyone equally.

However, there are some important instances where you don't want to use it. For instance, probably the most recognizable passage to the general public (even when they don't know its from The Bible) is 1 Corinthians 13: Paul's "Ode to Love".

> Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant...

**Nobody** uses the stock King James translation for this, passage, because it made the utterly bizarre choice to translate the Greek ἀγάπη ("[agape](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agape)") as "charity" (rather than "love" as seen above).

So to be honest, what _I_ do when I want a passage for public consumption is go to [Bible Gateway for that passage](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2013&version=NRSV), and use the dropdown menu of translations to pick the one that works best for my purposes. I try to start with NRSV because I'm partial to that one, but honestly **let the best-written translation win**.

Original score: 19