So if you’re looking for a readable and understandable translation that’s still totally based on the most up-to-date textual evidence that we have at our disposal, the NLT is probably the Bible for you.

Its readability is unmatched by most other modern translations. The NLT is one of the most dynamic translations out there, since it aims to capture the clarity and beauty of the original Living Bible paraphrase. As such, it is a very dynamic equivalent translation, which means the text reflects an idea-for-idea philosophy instead of word-for-word. The translation philosophy of the New Living Translation is to emphasize English clarity. The NLT was originally published in 1996 with various updates since then, the most recent being in 2016. In my humble opinion, this is what a good translation of the Bible into English should be. The result is a beautiful hybrid of the accuracy and reliability of a large-scale translation and the beauty and clarity of a literary paraphrase. But at the same time, its development was immersed in the spirit of a popular paraphrase. So, at the end of the day, the New Living Translation is a translation, not a paraphrase. But there was also a team of English stylists working with the translators just to ensure that the flow of language adhered to the original feel of Taylor’s paraphrase. So the 90 scholars worked from the original Greek and Hebrew texts to create their translations. The committee went through several sweeps through the text before it became apparent that the best thing to do was just to create a brand new translation from scratch, which then became known as the New Living Translation. Each scholar would review their section of The Living Bible and submit their suggestions for details that needed updating.

So in 1989, almost twenty years after the original release of The Living Bible, 90 scholars from various religious traditions and academic disciplines came together to start working on the new version of The Living Bible, originally titled The New Living Version.Īs the update started, the Bible was divided up into six parts and assigned to different scholars. There were enough inaccuracies to warrant an update. However, as is to be expected with any large project of this scope taken on by one person, there were a few issues with the original paraphrase. Kenneth Taylor’s The Living Bible was widely received and loved by many. The Difference Between the NIV and the NLT From the Revision of a Paraphrase to a Full Translation

The living bible paraphrased 1971