Wondering About Translation Choices?
Some thoughts from me...

My church is an NRSV church. But the NRSV isn't always the best choice for kids, and never was intended for their reading level. My third graders stumble through it, as do some of my older kids.

The popular CEV (Common English Version) is a simpler version, but there are still some passages that are just too difficult or long for kids without some editorial/paraphrasing. Others similar to the CEV are the Good News Bible and New Living Translation.  That said, I tend to prefer the Good News Translation for kids. It is modern English aimed about a sixth grade reading level, and it also tries to preserve key verses in their most memorable and or popular forms that the kids will hear them over the course of their lives.

These "modern English" translations, however, can sometimes be the wrong choices for certain passages. Some modern translations can lack the poetry of memorable passages, and others can be too different from what our kids will hear over the long haul.

Take Psalm 23 for example, ...a passage our kids will be hearing the rest of their lives. We want them to read, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." (NRSV), not "The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need." (Good News), or "I have all that I need." (NLT)

The answer is to compare translations, and if you need a "better" one for your kids, find it at biblegateway.com, copy and print it.

I think LONG stories especially need to be handled with "storybook" versions or translations that are easier to read. Children require a clearer more concise storyline than adults.

In Rotation we believe in Bible literacy. But if our kids can't understand the Bible story because the version is over their heads, why bother with Rotation at all?

One suggestion is to make sure we are using a variety of versions (both storybook versions and translations).  Online resources make this easy. Check out Biblegateway.com for example. You look up the passage, find the translation that works best for your situation, copy, and print.

<>< Neil

We recently ordered a case of softcover NIrV Bibles for Kids. The NIrV is a simplified NIV, written on a 3rd or 4th grade level. Similar in style and readability to the International Children's Bible.

Another very readable version is the New Living Translation (not to be confused with the Living Bible). It is a true translation, not a paraphrase, but reads very well. For a very earthy paraphrase of NT and some OT books, try The Message by Eugene Peterson.

Kris
First Presbyterian, Kannapolis, NC


link corrected by Exchange Volunteer and removed links that no longer work.

For our older kids, we use the Children's illustrated NRSV (from Cokesbury).

For the younger children, we use the "Arch" Bible storybooks from Concordia Publishing.

Thee Arch stories are retellings for little kids in easy to understand language. They have good modern illustrations. "Each 16-page book retells part of Scripture in engaging rhyme, creating a memorable way to explore the Bible. The last page of every book is especially for parents with tips on how to talk to kids about the story’s meaning and how it connects to the Christian life."

We "gift" the NIV Adventure Bible to our 4th graders as part of their Bible study commitment class each spring. At this age we want them to have a "real" Bible - with the full text to let them know that the stories we teach them do come from the Bible. We also teach them how to use it. This is not to say that there isn't a place for the storybook and paraphrased Bible stories still for this age, but we want to have them have a Bible to call their own, to start getting used to using (and in some families we don't know where the family as a whole is at in their faith, especially when we only see them on Sundays).

Generally, we do use storybook versions for rotation. But many are to "young" for our 5th/6th graders. Except for one that I forgot to mention in my previous post!

"The Children's Illustrated Bible" - stories retold by Selina Hastings, c 1994, Dorling Kindersley Ltd. ISBN 1-56458-472-0.  It has 76 OT and 62 NT stories. Most are contained on 2 pages. It has realistic (not cartoon-y) drawings on every page and has side notes with historical info on a variety of things and actual photos on every page. It also has the verse references listed and a key verse. The text is more geared toward upper elementary, we don't use it for 2nd grade & younger, sometimes not even 3rd & 4th.

Jan @ FPC Napa

Update:
Tyndale House discontinued the popular Kids Life Application Bible, in favor of a Girls version and a Boys version. Apparently, they think these Bibles are mostly being given as gifts or going home. They have forgotten about the Sunday School crowd. 

They licensed the NLT to the Hand's On Bible (for kids) which is very similar to what the Kids Life Application Bible used to be.

Our senior pastor approved the purchase of 50 Comic Book Bibles by Rob Suggs, Christopher Gray. It's definitely not a translation, but it goes through many stories in a format and language that's good for our older children.

As of 2018, it's available from a variety of Christian retailers, and on Amazon.

I genuinely want them to read these. It's a softcover, but very glossy and attractive. Adults that are new Christians have said, "Hey I want one of these too." We're going to reward kids who bring their "Bibles." with our "store bucks." Real Bibles are OK too. Actually, we might have a special ceremony for those who completely read the CB Bible, teaming with their parents to award them a Bible custom-fit for them for their next level (like a shoe salesman fits shoes).

That just might be something as simple as the Illustrated ICB Bible: The New Testament. (we might have to staple an Old Testament to it since half of our rotations includes the OT. Or it might be one of the more advanced Bibles mentioned in this posting.

Exchange Volunteer reformatted.

We, too, had been using the CEV for more than a decade and have recently gone to the Common English Bible -- Deep Blue. We made the change because Deep Blue has very few pages that are ALL print. There are lots of Call Outs, Questions, Comments, Special Icons for particular kinds of inquiries. We've only been using it this year so it's early days yet, but so far we're pleased with the change.

Update: The Deep Blue Bible (CEV) has come out in a couple of different formats. Try to avoid the one that used blue ink as it is harder for older eyes to read!  It's available thru Cokesbury.

2017 Children's Bible Reviews

Viriginia Theological Seminary's Building for Faith Project has posted a great review of Bibles for Children at https://www.buildfaith.org/cho...g-a-childrens-bible/

They review 11 "storybook" Bibles, not translations. 

Excerpts from their Top Pick reviews....

The Lion Bible for Children

Murray Watts, Helen Cann (Lion Hudson, 2002, 2008, 2014). Available in the United States here. Target age: 9-12

Strengths: A very complete children's Bible, with about 250 stories. The writing is engaging and imaginative, yet quite faithful to the Scriptural outline of each Bible story. Includes Bible map and an index. Beautiful pen and ink (color) illustrations are richly detailed and not at all childish. The pictures are also full of movement and emotion. Gretchen Wolff Pritchard calls this "the best version of the Bible for confident readers, 9 and up." A Building Faith top pick.

Shine On: A Story Bible

(MennoMedia, 2014) Target age: 8-11

Strengths: This 320-page Bible includes a selected variety of stories from the Old and New Testaments. Each story has engaging sidebars called Explore, Connect, and Wonder, which invite deeper thought, additional facts, and suggestions for home. The illustrations are rich and eclectic

A Child’s First Bible

Kenneth N. Taylor (Tyndale, 2000) Target age: 2-4

Strengths: A very complete children's Bible for its compact size. Includes 125 stories, and the large print and simple text make for easy reading aloud. The engaging water-color illustrations are warm, joyful, and quite appropriate for young children.

If you have experience with these titles, post your own review.

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They didn’t review some older but still great children’s Bible storybooks, including one of my favorites, The Children's Bible in 365 Stories by Mary Batchelor. Good for ages 4-8. 

PRESENTING BIBLES TO CHILDREN

Here's a collection of posts on this topic. Feel free to add your ideas.

Special wrapping for the Bible Gift

from member Julie Burton

There is a neat presentation in the book "Celebrate Special Days" by Judy Gattis Smith. It involves wrapping the Bible in several layers of paper (gold, newsprint, etc) and there is symbolism for each layer of paper. We did this last year. I had the parents do the reading for each layer and present the Bible to their own child. It was very moving.

Smith, Judy Gattis. Celebrating Special Days. Colorado Springs: Meriwether Publishing, 1981. ISBN 0-916260-14-3.

Plan for Giving Age-Appropriate Bibles

from member Janet S-H

Several years ago, our Pastor suggested expanding our Bible presentations to several grades, allowing us to provide age-appropriate bibles to each group.  We put nameplates in each book as well. The cost was prohibitive to our budget, so instead, we asked other members to become a child's "Bible Sponsor" throughout the years. (We are in discussion of what else these "sponsors" might do to connect with the child.)

On Bible Sunday in November, we now present books and Bibles to:

• PreSchool - Small Bible picture storybook give to any child in their FIRST year of PreSchool (which covers ages 3-5)
• 1st grade - "Beginner Bible" easy reading storybook
• 3rd grade - First full-length children's bible
• 6th grade - Junior High-level bible
• 9th grade - Teen Bible
• At High School graduation (June) - Adult Study Bible
  
  In addition, any NEW child receives the most recent book they would have received for their age group. For instance, a new 2nd grader would receive the book given to 1st graders.
  
  New Bible "products" come out quite often, and sometimes the new one's are better than what we have given -- so "WHICH BIBLE" we give will change. 
  
  We also look for case quantities and sales.

Giving Bibles the Kids Have Already Used

from member Barbara in Portland

I wrote a 3 session "Race Through the Bible Class" for 4th graders AND A PARENT or grandparent or older sibling. It involves reading and highlighting a verse from almost every book in the Bible (an idea I got from a great video called "Faith Stepping Stones"). We also had other "get to know your Bible" games and art activities.

When it came time for the Bible presentation ceremony, my emphasis was that we would not be giving the children a brand new, unused Bible, but that their Bibles had already been used and read!

Each child chose their favorite verse and read it during the presentation. I then used the baptism and confirmation rites from the New Century Hymnal (UCC) to create a dedication that involved the congregation recognizing the work of the children AND pledging to help them to use the Bible in their faith journey-sort; of half-way between baptism and confirmation.

I gave the students a rose corsage and a "Bible Bear," a small stuffed bear holding a bible, available from Oriental Trading. Cake and coffee followed. It was a great experience for all.

I know it's out of print, but I really like the New Century Paraphrase.  There are a lot of application stories with discussion questions that take Bible passages out of the "way back then" mode.

RE: Judy Gattis Smith's Celebrate Special Days... We have used the Bible presentation idea in her book for years! It is gold!

We found that kids wanted to save all of the various layers (the Bibles are wrapped in 5 layers of different papers). Then we found out that they were going home and making a bookmark!

My church presents Bible to children each August as they finish kindergarten and enter first grade. This is when they "graduate" from attending children's worship (during the sermon) to staying in the "big" worship service for the full time. 

When we resumed worshiping together "in person" in May, we did not resume children's worship. So all of the children have been in worship with us. But it seems important to keep some traditions, so we will still present Bibles to the rising first graders.

I make bookplates for the pastors to sign that we stick in the front of the Bible. (Because I am sentimental, and I still have the Bible I was given in second grade, about a million years ago.) 

The Bible presentation bookplate is printed on Avery shipping labels #8168. I have attached a Word doc for a formatted sheet of labels that you can edit to use for your church. Just add your church's logo -- or use ours  -- and adjust the occasion, names, and date.  Bible verse is in English Standard Version (which is what we present to the children).

2021

Two good children's Bibles from Zondervan came to the attention of our Writing Team, so I'm posting our comments below.  Both of them use the New International Readers Version (NiRV) which is a 3rd grade reading level version of the NIV.

In 2018, Zondervan published the NiRV Seek and Explore Holy Bible --a unique Bible with mini-activities and kid-friendly notes sprinkled throughout for 2nd grade to 6th I'd say.  It's very expensive in hardcover, so shop around. Feels like a good resource for TEACHERS to use because it has kid-friendly notes and activities teachers can use, or as a good "presentation" gift.   Update: I'm wondering if Zondervan is keeping this in print. Doesn't seem to be available via some of their links.

In 2019, Zondervan publish the NiRV Illustrated Bible for Kids. It's very nice, but not cheap. I like that the stories are in a single column and readable font size and font color! The illustrations are good too, as are the maps. Could have used more of them. This is a Bible for the classroom or presentation.

This link will take you to a sampler of the NiRV Illustrated Bible for Kids.

Here's their blurb:
NIrV, The Illustrated Holy Bible for Kids is a brand-new kind of Bible that allows kids ages 4-8 to read the full Bible without chapter and verse numbers and footnotes--study aids that are helpful for adults but can be very distracting for kids. This Bible presents the story of God's people in a single column format with an extremely readable font. With nearly every turn of the page, children will encounter full-color illustrations and kid-friendly maps that illuminate the Bible story. For children who want to read on their own or with an adult nearby, this is the perfect first full-text Bible for kids who appreciate the power of story and of God's Word.

Time and Thongs March On: The NRSV Has Been Updated

May 2022
The NRSV has come out with an updated version that makes a number of really helpful improvements in translation and readability. 22,000 in all. As of this date, it's online available in electronic version (such as on Kindle) and through online Bibles, such as www.Biblegateway.com.

I heartily recommend this new update. It's called the "NRSV Updated Edition" or NRSVUE/NRSVue.

Most of the changes are improvements in the English used to translate the original Hebrew and Greek. Some changes are clarifications based on scholarship. Others, as you will see below, are for the purpose of "modern sensibilities" --which simply means that the meaning of words can change over time, and its important to stay current. Nobody wants to untie Jesus' "thong."

I first came across one of the improvements when working on Luke 15's parable of the Lost Sheep.

Luke 15:6 in the original NRSV had this awkward phrasing:

‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’

The updated NRSV simplifies the phrase with no loss of meaning:

‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep.'

In the NRSV, you were not worthy to untie Jesus' thong (the thong of his sandal, that is).

But now in the NRSVUE, you are not worthy to until Jesus' strap.

Biblegateway.com, the world's best and most thorough online Bible, now directs all NRSV searches to NRSVUE results.

This will undoubtedly affect the many Biblegateway verse links in our lessons here at Rotation.org. The NRSV wording you may find in a lesson posted here at Rotation.org prior to 2022 may not be the same wording used in the NRSVUE.

NRSVUE Changes according to the Religious News Service...

(RNS) — An updated edition of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible includes thousands of changes in language, reflecting the research of a wide range of scholars who spent four years reviewing its contents as well as taking into consideration “modern sensibilities.”

A verse in the New Testament Book of Galatians that previously referred to the sons of Abraham as “one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman” will instead read “one by an enslaved woman and the other by a free woman.”

The second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew will tell of “magi” rather than “wise men” coming to Jerusalem after Jesus’ birth.

Other changes reflect a decision to avoid identifying people based on their disabilities. A verse in Matthew that previously referred to “demoniacs, epileptics and paralytics,” now reads “people possessed by demons or having epilepsy or afflicted with paralysis.”

Jewish holidays, such as the Feast of the Unleavened Break, are now capitalized as a sign of respect. [Note: In fact, many of the changes made in the NRSV Update occur in the Old Testament which was written earlier and in a more ancient language, and whose study is often influenced by archaeological finds, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls.}

The common meaning of gender-specific words continues to change. For example, the word "girl." The new edition does not use the word “girl” when referring to a young woman (which is what the original Greek uses). There can be a lot of difference in meaning between "girl" and "young woman."  (And) Mark 14:69 now speaks of a “female servant” instead of a “servant-girl" or "slave girl."

The most popular modern Bible translation is the NIV. In general, it's a little more "readable" than the NRSV, which is no doubt one of the reasons why the NRSV initiated an update --to improve readability. But the NRSV (and now the NRSVUE) is still considered the "go to" translation for those wanted to get the best scholarly opinion as to what the text is saying.

Rotation.org's Writing Team tends to use the NRSV for its lesson sets, but our Bible Backgrounds do study the translation and occasionally offer different insights aimed at making the text more teachable to children. As well, many of Rotation.org's Supporting Members come from "mainline denominations" where the NRSV is still considered the "go to" translation. Fortunately, with the advent of online Bibles, comparing and swapping texts is easy.

Whatever version of the Bible you use with children, study it and compare it to others. And if you're using "storybook" or semi-paraphrase-like versions like the New Living Translation, definitely compare translations!