Translations of the Bible

Well, there are a lot of translations out there. Here is what I think is necessary for a Bible:

1. The language should be poetic.
2. The language shouldn't be gender neutral, in particular because as Christians, we often view the word "man" as pertaining to Christ.
3. The Bible should represent good scholarship.
4. The Apocrypha should be included in the correct format, as the Apocrypha, with the section of Esther found in the alternative texts included separately.
5. The Bible should compare differing texts with one another, and include annotation as to what text is being used or how they differ.

In order to get all of these things in a Bible, you have to use the old Oxford translation the Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha. Sadly, the version that includes the Apocrypha may be out of print, or is at least very hard to find. In lieu of that one, the New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha is very good. There is nothing wrong with the King James, but one doesn't get the scholarly viewpoint that comes out of the scholars at Oxford.

So there you are. My particular coffee-stained dog-eared copy of the RSV with Apocrypha is going to be replaced with a Messianic Jewish Hebrew Old and New Testament, courtesy of Amazon.com, whenever I learn Hebrew.