Davide's Notes

Felix Just SJ has several interesting pages online, among which there is one on Bible translations. I reproduce here part of his summary:

Translations Grouped by "Translation Philosophy":

• Formal Correspondence translations: Douay-Rheims, KJV/NKJV, RSV/NRSV, NAB, NIV
• Dynamic Equivalence translations: NEB/REB, TEV/CEV, JB/NJB
• The Amplified Bible is neither (or both); it "amplifies" the text by adding lots of extra words & phrases.

Translations Sponsored/Approved by various Churches:

• Catholic translations: Douay-Rheims, JB/NJB, NAB
• Protestant translations: KJV/NKJV, TEV/CEV, NIV
• Ecumenical translations (approved and used by both Catholics and Protestants): NEB/REB, RSV/NRSV

A good advice is, when not using Hebrew or Greek texts,

to compare at least three or four different modern translations; use at least one "dynamic equivalence" and one "formal correspondence" translation.