What is the best Bible translation to read? If you read the 'Koine' Greek of Revelation it is so coloqial it is unlikely any translation will ever do it justice. There are barely sentences used but rather a few words which evoke tremendous meaning. You would need to have Koine Greek as a first or second language to grasp the full meaning. Best to read it in Koine and try to learn it if you can. Same with other books of John. Look at that last sentence I wrote - grammar missing but the meaning is clear if my coloquial English is well understood. I should have worded it 'it is best to read it...' This skipping of grammar and leaning on how words are combined to evoke meaning is how Revelation seems to be worded. I therefore think you are best reading scriptures in 'Interlinear' because translating into sentences results in words being added to introduce grammar which isn't really there. If you rely on translations into grammatically correct sentences you risk taking to heart words added for grammar that are not in the 'original'. On the other hand I learned a lesson from the Holy Spirit Himself (I believe it was Him) about Bible versions that means I take whatever translation is at hand (but wary to put over reliance on words and grammar). My lesson was that during some meditation on a verse pondering its relevance to my situation but needing assurance, the still small voice gave me a Bible reference. Just book and chapter. Sure it was the Spirit I hurried to the other room where a Bible was open which was given me not too long before by a church and this Bible not a version I have heard about before. I leafed to the chapter and could not see the relevance but I persevered and saw a word related to the verse I had pondered. There in the margin was a cross reference to that very verse. So I was sure the Spirit knew this very Bible had that reference and was showing me this. Plus the cross reference itself had the assurance I needed of how it applied to me. I now recognise the Spirit will use whatever is at hand. It seems traditions of doctrinal positions exagerated can distort whatever version we read so once we are sure of a good understanding of a text we should cling to what it teaches us rather than cling to the translation of words. The letter kills. If we cling to the faith and certainty rather than the letter of the text the Holy Spirit can confirm our faith and so strengthen it. So I find to be true anyway. Not to detract from the supreme importance of keeping, say, the words of Jesus in our hearts. They do a mighty job within us to transform us. Yet as I let the words and teachings and sayings do their work as I live my life they do it no matter what version I ponder. It isn't the text I ponder but the spirit in the words. This is what kicks me the way I need kicking inside. This is their power, not the text of the words but the spirit of them - their affect and influence within me. To prepare the heart for these effective spirit words it is important to have understanding and for that the translations can help. To understand that Jesus is the Christ I found the Septuagint a big help because in its rendering of Daniel's vision of the weeks it uses the word Christ and this woke me up to see it actually does prove Jesus to be the Christ. http://www.linkedin.com/redir/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fstudybible%2Einfo%2Finterlinear%2FDaniel%25209%3A25-26 . Here the fact it is the Septuagint is very important because it predates the coming of Jesus. Other OT texts are from centuries following Jesus' coming.
