Featured Top Ten Best-Selling Bible Translations Compared to Ten Years Ago (2021 Update)

Two things about the NIV being number 1.
It has had of a history of an easier to read Bible.
Notice the NLT was number 3.
And, I think, an on going ignorance of believing in the verbal plenary inspiration in its importance to having the actual word of God among most professing Christians. That has been believed about the KJV, NASB and the NKJV following that tradition in translation. Notice NASB fell out of the top 10.

 

Yes, it has had a history of being a less difficult read than some other versions. (or as you said "an easyer [sic] to read Bible.")
All of the translators of the NIV believe in the verbal and plenary inspiration of Scripture. Why you doubt that is puzzling. The same applies to the NLT, CSB etc. Readers of the various translations are a mixed bag. But most fall into the Evangelical camp. And those readers, for the most part would subscribe to the same belief in that regard as the translators.

 

Well, I maybe mistaken then. But the reason I thought that has to do with how some "assist in translation" words are handled (KJV, NASB and NKJV) or just always added without notice (NIV). Also along with how literal or not literal the translation is done. (Personally I dislike both the NASB and NIV for their choice of their New Testament Greek text. Of course the TR has its issues too.)

 

My ranking,
1) Interlinear based on CT
2) New American Standard Version
3) World English Bible
4) Young's Literal Translation

 

I don't know what you mean by "assist without notice."
By the way, there is no such thing as a literal translation. Maybe you mean more form-oriented.

 

Numbers 1 and 4 aren't translations. And I'm sure you meant to say the NASB-95 for number 2. The current edition of the NASB is called the NASB 2020. It's important to differentiate.
The WEB translation (which has a lot in common with the NIV) is not yet in physical form to my knowledge. When it becomes accessible in that manner more people will become aware of it.

 

My ranking,
1) Reverse Interlinear based on CT [ Interlinear Bible: Greek, Hebrew, Transliterated, English, Strong's ]
2) New American Standard Version [both 1995 and 2020 versions]
3) World English Bible [https://ebible.org/pdf/engwebp/engwebp_book.pdf ]
4) Young's Literal Translation [ Read the Young's Literal Translation Free Online ]

 

Thank you for sharing! Nice to see the NKJV still top 5. Hoping it’ll climb higher by 2031… NLT… ugh. Haha.

 

Love this, although I’d switch the top two.

#Majoritytextpreferred

 

I'm hoping that by July of 2023 (if some of us aren't locked up in FEMA Camps) these will be the top five best selling English Bible translations in America :
1) NIV
2) NLT
3) CSB
4) NASB
5) NIrV

Of course hoping is not the same as the way it will turn out to be.

Internationally I think the NIV will still be #1 with the NLT following.

 

The terminology I used was "assist in translation" words.
An example, Matthew 26:17 KJV, "Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?" Those not in the Greek added assist in translation words are in italics. "day" and "feast of." The NIV without notice, 'On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”'
The difference? Without the added words fhe 14th of Nisan. With the added words the 15th.

 

I fail to note any appreciable difference. I looked at many translations on Bible Gateway and most read just about the same as the NIV. And the KJV's rendering is not materially different from the NIV wording. The meaning of the KJV and the meaning of the NIV for this verse is translationally the same.

 

Well they are all in error. As is the added words in italics in the KJV and NKJV. The NASB, ESV and CSB correctly omit those added words. The 14th and the 15th the first day of the feast are not the same day. And most Christians think Christ must be crucified on the 14th of all things. This is not a small issue. Most Christians read it typically as if this error is not there.

 

Do any of you use the "Life Application Study Bible" notes? It's my understanding that these study notes are not tied to any particular translation; IOW, I've seen them used in both KJV and NLT translations, and probably other translations as well Having read over these notes, it seems to me that they are, as its name signifies, intended to make the passage(s) apply better to the life of the reader. Comments?

 

The Life Application Bible's initial text was The Living Bible, with notes written especially for teenagers.

Over the years it has been published in a number of formats and Bible versions


This is acknowledged in the front of every Life Application Study Bible:

"A special thanks to the nationwide staff of Youth for Christ/USA for their suggestions and field testing"

and to "Dr. Kenneth N. Taylor Translator of The Living Bible", "whose personal counsel, encouragement, and determination helped make this project a reality".

 

I am not sure about the current versions, but a few years back, the KJV version had notes that were specifically helpful for the KJV that were not included in another version that would not have benefitted from those notes. Newer edition notes are not identical to older version notes.

 

Know also for awhile the 1984 Niv SB and Nas SB shared same study notes!

 

How many Bibles were sold may be the question.
They just say that over 100 million bibles were sold last year.
In USA ca. 20 million Bibles were sold.

If you check the Wikipedia which report the same order of the Top Ten Best Selling Bible Versions as the OP, it says the Bible Readers responded to the survey as follows:

The evangelical Christian Booksellers Association lists the most popular versions of the Bible sold by their members in the United States. Through 29 December 2012, the top five best selling translations (based on both dollar and unit sales) were as follows:[17]

1. New International Version
2. King James Version
3. New Living Translation
4. New King James Version
5. English Standard Version

A study published in 2014 by The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University and Purdue University found that Americans read versions of the Bible as follows:[18][19]:12–15

1. King James Version (55%)
2. New International Version (19%)
3. New Revised Standard Version (7%)
4. New American Bible (6%)
5. The Living Bible (5%)
6. All other translations (8%)

Bible translations into English - Wikipedia

Why the King James Bible of 1611 Remains the Most Popular Translation in History

Remember this : KJV alone is read by 55% Respondents while the combined total of all the other translations are read only by 45%. KJV alone may have many truly born again Christian Believers instead of keeping the Bibles in the bookshelves as a decoration.


Though I don't have the exact numbers of volumes sold for each translation, if the gap between the sales of NIV and KJV in 2020 is just 1-2 million, it may take another several decades or another century until the respondents reading NIV exceeds the ones reading KJV.
Also, we must notice that the people are turning to the Bible Apps on the internet, which reduces the importance of the Bibles sold in paper books, as 600 million references to Bible were made in 2020.

How many Bibles are sold each year? - The Bible Answer

ca. 6 Billion Bibles may have been sold so far. The breakdown of the sales per translation would be interesting if anyone can present it.

Eliyahu

 

Like them all and really IMHO does not matter what version as they are all from God the Author of all Authors!

 

Ignorance of how the word of God is butchered in the NT. And the problem is a cause behind KJ-Onlyism. Currently the best modern translation is the NKJV. I still use a KJV.