Bible Translations Comparison
Understand Bible translations
Compare Scripture. Explore translation approaches. Discover history and textual foundations.
Now showing Guided. A short tour of what this guide contains and why translations differ.
This is an educational comparison guide — not a Bible reader, and not a quiz that picks a best Bible. You can change this anytime.
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How to use this site
A short tour of the tools — compare, approach, history, and more.
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Compare any passage
Read the same verses in two to four translations, then switch on differences or the translation lens.
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Translation continuum
Walk from word-for-word through paraphrase — the signature map of this guide.
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Find a translation
Choose listed characteristics. No ranking of the “best” Bible.
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Reading levels
See how the listed grade numbers stack from NIrV to KJV.
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Translation history
Move through release years from 1611 to the twenty-first century.
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Greek texts
The three most popular Greek New Testament texts behind English Bibles.
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Featured passages
Start with a text you already know. Each card opens a ready-made comparison.
Jesus and Nicodemus
John 3:16–17
See how a familiar Gospel sentence is rendered across translation methods.
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Follow me
Matthew 4:19
A single invitation, many English choices — including men, people, or a longer restatement.
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Creation
Genesis 1:1–5
Watch how translators handle “the deep,” light, and the first day.
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The shepherd psalm
Psalm 23
See how familiar phrases differ across translations.
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The Beatitudes
Matthew 5:3–10
Blessed, happy, or fortunate — compare the opening of the Sermon on the Mount.
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The Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:9–13
A prayer known by heart — useful for seeing debts, trespasses, and daily bread.
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How Bible translation works
A mental model for why English Bibles differ — from this guide’s own framing, not a course in textual criticism.
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Ancient Scripture
The Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew, with a few portions in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek.
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Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts
The original manuscripts have not survived, but God's Word has been preserved through meticulous copying.
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Language and scholarship change
Words change; our understanding of ancient languages changes; translators’ purposes vary.
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A translation approach
Three primary methods of translation (and a fourth approach) have evolved over the centuries.
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An English Bible
The twenty translations in this guide sit at different places on that continuum, with different reading levels and purposes.
John 3:16 across four Bibles
The same verse, four translation philosophies. Open the comparison to change the passage or the Bibles.
KJV
Word-for-WordFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Word-for-Word · Grade 12
NIV
BalanceFor God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Balance · Grade 7
ESV
Word-for-WordFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Word-for-Word · Grade 8
NLT
Thought-for-ThoughtFor this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Thought-for-Thought · Grade 6.3