Different Bible Translations

Yesterday my beautiful wife and I went out to Costco and stopped at Cokesbury. Cokesbury for anyone who does not know is a christian book store that has many United Methodist Resources. While there we poked around and saw all the different resources from VBS (my big purchases), Movies to use in ministry, and different translations of the Bible. Kessia and I looked at the many different ways to structure and read the Bible. She commented that Mars Hill has gone to only the ESV. The translation was described as a word for word translation that retrains readability. 

One of the things I find very important in youth ministry is using an appropriate translation. One of the first things I did was change the translation we used when I was with Mary, Queen of Peace. The reason for this was simply that the reading level of the translation that was being used was at "10.66" according to many different places. Now assuming all of the students I had were at normal reading level then they were still two years away from being able to read and comprehend all of it. Some I am sure could get everything and others I am sure could not. We switched to a translation that was still catholic and had a 7th grade reading level. 

Now, I find myself in the opposite predicament. The group leans on the translation "The Message". This Thought for Thought translation is at a reading level of a 4th grader. This is the translation being used for middle school and high school students. I have to be honest that this bothers me. When I see some of the word play, nuance, and beauty of the Bible lost because we want to dumb it down then it is frustrating. The part that bothers me the most is getting one to say what you want. When I teach I want to stay with one translation the entire time not picking and choosing so that the message that I want is communicated. Reading the Bible is not about the message we want, but about what God wants to teach us. 

When it comes down to which one to choose I find myself drawn to the middle of the spectrum (word for word or thought for thought) or more to the word for word side. Usually when dealing with younger students I want to keep them at least in the NIV. Now that I work with children that is a little more difficult, but still worth it when possible. There are many great sites out there that debate and map the translations so I will not try and compete with them. In the end though stick with ONE translation and do your research in that one.