A Look At The ESV Bible

Since the Bible is the Word of God it is very important to have a good translation.  The English Standard Version (ESV) is just that.  It is an essentially literal translation that seeks to provide transparency to the original text.  

Work on the ESV began in the 1990's.  The translators used the RSV 1971 text as their starting point.  They made some corrections to the RSV and updated its language.  The ESV was published by Crossway in 2001 with minor updates occurring in 2007, 2011, and 2016.  

The ESV is traditional yet contemporary.  It is accurate and readable.  It stands in the great tradition of English Bibles.  It is not a totally new translation from scratch but one that builds on the tradition of past translations such as the KJV.  

The ESV is not politically correct like some modern translations.  It seeks to present the Word of God as it actually is in the original text.  The ESV is a word for word translation and not a thought for thought translation.  A literal translation like the ESV is less affected by the culture and the bias of the translators than a thought for thought translation. 

The ESV is now considered to be the third most popular translation behind only the KJV and the NIV.  The ESV is especially popular among Reformed evangelicals.  Recently Gideon's International has started using the ESV.  I believe the ESV is the best Bible translation, combining accuracy and readability.