Quote Originally Posted by alixi View Post
Generally, I use the NKJV. Is this careful enough? (honest question) I grew up with KJV, and the NKJV is close and so that is what I gave to my kids. I don't know why, but I just like the cadence of the verses.
There are several ways of translating anything, including the Bible. The first is literal or (almost) word-for-word. This can be seen in the KJV & NASB. The next is dynamic equivalence, which is thought-for-thought. The NIV, NEB, & NKJV(?) are of this type. The third is a paraphrase, with the Living Bible, & Phillip's Translation as examples. There is also the strict-literal-word-for-word of the Interlinear Bibles, and what Bible scholars call "lousy" translations such as the New World translation. (Sorry, JWs, but that's what they consider it. Although they use fancier words than "lousy.")

An example could be:
Original: “Las horas de la manana han de oro en sus bocas.”
Interlinear: “The hours of the [morning, tomorrow] have of [gold,I-pray] in their mouths.”
Literal: “The hours of the morning have gold in their mouths.”
Dynamic: “Hard work will make you rich.”
Paraphrase: “The early bird catches the worm.”

HTH,
--Rich