Truth you can trace · a plain guide to translations
Why there are different Bibles
Open a Bible app and you find dozens of English Bibles (the King James, the NIV, the ESV, and many more), and it is fair to wonder why, and whether they can all be the Bible. The short answer is reassuring: the Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek, and every English Bible is a translation of that same text. Here is why they differ, how the English Bible came to be, what “word-for-word vs thought-for-thought” means, why a verse sometimes sits in a footnote, and how to choose. We describe every major version fairly and crown no “best.” You can compare the versions we host side by side in the Side-by-side reader.
At a glance
Compare the versions
Where each major version sits on the word-for-word → thought-for-thought spectrum. A “Read” badge means you can open it in full here; the others we can describe but not display (copyright). Want to know why they differ? The chapters below explain it.
| Version | Year | Approach | On Bubble Bible |
|---|---|---|---|
| NASB New American Standard | 1971rev. 2020 | Word-for-word | Described |
| LSV Literal Standard | 2020 | Word-for-word | Read |
| KJV King James | 1611rev. 1769 | Word-for-word | Read |
| ASV American Standard | 1901 | Word-for-word | Read |
| ESV English Standard | 2001rev. 2016 | Word-for-word | Described |
| NKJV New King James | 1982 | Word-for-word | Described |
| WEB World English | 2000rev. 2020 | Word-for-word | Read |
| BSB Berean Standard | 2016rev. 2020 | Balanced | Read |
| CSB Christian Standard | 2017rev. 2020 | Balanced | Described |
| NIV New International | 1978rev. 2011 | Balanced | Described |
| FBV Free Bible | 2018 | Thought-for-thought | Read |
| NLT New Living | 1996rev. 2004 | Thought-for-thought | Described |
| MSG The Message | 2002 | Paraphrase | Described |
Approach follows each version’s translators’ stated philosophy. The first year is first publication; “rev.” is the latest substantial revision, because a living translation keeps being updated and the copy you would buy today is usually the revision, not the famous first edition (the NIV on a shelf now is the 2011 text, not 1978; the KJV almost everyone reads is the 1769 standard text, not the 1611 printing). Text base: the KJV and NKJV follow the traditional Textus Receptus, most modern versions the modern critical text (see “Which manuscripts” below). We name no “best”: the spectrum is a trade-off, not a ranking.
Why there are different Bibles: translation is necessary, and interpretive
The first reason there are different Bibles is simply that the Bible has to be translated at all.
Nehemiah 8:8 · 1 Corinthians 14:9
ReadThe English story: from Wycliffe and Tyndale to the King James and beyond
The English Bible has a long and, in places, bloody history.
1 Corinthians 14:19 · 2 Timothy 3:15
ReadThe translation spectrum: word-for-word to thought-for-thought
Because meaning has to be carried across, every translation team chooses roughly where to sit on a spectrum, and this, more than any disagreement about the text, is what makes versions sound different.
Mark 5:41 · John 1:41
ReadWhich manuscripts sit behind it: the Textus Receptus and the critical text
Translations differ not only in style but sometimes in which underlying words they translate, and this is where a reader comparing Bibles notices that a verse present in one is a footnote in another.
Mark 16:9 · 1 John 5:7
ReadHow to choose: compare, and let no version be crowned
Because the labels name trade-offs, choosing a Bible is about purpose, not ranking.
Acts 17:11 · 1 Thessalonians 5:21
ReadWhat Bubble Bible carries: the versions you can read here
Bubble Bible hosts six complete English translations you can read in full and set side by side, chosen because they are public domain or freely licensed and because together they span the spectrum…
Psalms 119:105 · Colossians 3:16
ReadThe honest bottom line
There are different Bibles because carrying God's word faithfully from Hebrew and Greek into English takes judgment, and careful people make that judgment in more than one good way, some hugging the original words…
2 Timothy 3:16 · Matthew 24:35
Read
Help shape the library
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Tell us which versions you’d like to read here. Copyrighted Bibles cost money to license. If enough people want one (and some chip in), we can bring it sooner.
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Try it
The best way to see how versions differ is to read a verse in several at once. Our Side-by-side reader shows the six translations we host in parallel, and tapping any word opens its Hebrew or Greek meaning, so you can check a rendering yourself, no ancient languages required. For the wider question of whether the Bible has been faithfully preserved, see why you can trust the Bible.
We describe every major version fairly and crown no “best.” The word-for-word to thought-for-thought spectrum is a trade-off, not a ranking, and where a version’s underlying text is in view we give both traditions and pick no winner. The footnoted differences are openly-disclosed scholarly decisions that leave the Christian message intact, not the Bible being “changed.” We can describe any translation, but display in full only the public-domain versions we are free to host.
Sources: the history and manuscript facts here follow the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915, public domain), a 200-contributor reference Bubble Bible hosts, with its “English Versions of the Bible,” “Text of the Old Testament,” and manuscript articles, with the modern versions (NIV, ESV, NASB, NLT, CSB…) following each publisher’s stated approach and publication record. Every Bible quotation traces to the verse. See all our sources & licenses.
7 chapters, every one citing its sources. See our sources and licences.
On contested questions we show every major view, attributed and cited, and pick no winner. Answers are synthesized from primary sources, truth you can trace, not opinion.