Which Bible Translation to chose?

To the uninitiated, studying the Bible is an uphill tasks. This task can often be complicated by the numerous bible translation available. Thus I hope to provide an overview on the translation work and to address some of the issues of choosing a bible translation.

Difficulty in Translation
Anyone who has learned a second language knows that a word-for-word translation is impossible much or most of the time. Idioms and colloquialisms in a language need to be paraphrased to make sense in another language.

However, the problem with paraphrasing is that the translators don’t always know whether their interpretation is correct. At times, the addition of one interpretively-driven word can change the entire meaning of a clause or a passage.

The Two Extremes in Bible translation
The two ends of the bible translation spectrum are the "word-for-word" translation and the "thought for thought" translation.

The “word-for-word” translation is also known as a "formal equivalence" translation. If the original has a noun, they expect a noun in the translation. If the original has sixteen words, they don’t want to see seventeen in the translation. This type of translation is called “formal equivalence.”

The “thought-for-thought” translation is also known as a “dynamic equivalence” or, more recently, as a “functional equivalence” translation. It is not as concerned with the grammatical form of the original language, as it is with the meaning of the original. It allows more room for interpretation and is easier to understand.

Which Translation to choose:
In my humble opinion, every Christian who is serious about studying the Bible should own at least two translations - at least one formal equivalence (word-for-word) translation and one functional equivalence (phrase-for-phrase) translation.

See image below for the Bible Translation Spectrum.