Of course, maybe part of this comes from the fact that I have to puzzle through things like the Iliad, the Odyssey, and Paradise Lost..so I don’t want my puzzling through the Bible to be any more difficult than it needs to be?

I continue to read the HCSB as my main bible, and at this point do notice the difference when I go back and read the ESV.  I find the ESV to be more choppy (don’t know how else to describe it) than the HCSB.  I just purchased a decent NLT that I am going to start reading, it is compact with very good size fonts, which makes it easy to read.  However what I have read I am finding it difficult to make a transition.  So keep me in your prayers that I stick to it and give it a fair chance.

I still like the ESV, but it is now my secondary bible, and not my main one.  However with the release of the ESV study bible that main change when it comes to study time, but honestly I doubt it.

In many ways, the HCSB can be compared to both the ESV and the NIV. There are large stretches of text, especially in the OT narratives, where the HCSB is almost word-for-word identical to the NIV, which betrays in part its conception as a replacement for the NIV in Lifeway’s Sunday School materials. This is useful for using the HCSB in a NIV church, though there is a little more variance in the NT.

In my NT comparisons, I’ve noted a lot of shared language elements between the HCSB and ESV, but the HCSB uses more modern grammar, while the ESV retains the KJV/Tyndale family “sound”. So I’m not sure if that makes it “less formal” or just “less traditional” – certainly it falls somewhere between the ESV and NIV.

modestly formal translations like the NRSV, ESV and HCSB

Median translations like the NIV and HCSB

I would classify the HCSB as less formal than RSV/NRSV/ESV Tyndale family.

You’re welcome. I noticed you installed it. It came in handy for me already. It’s a pain to have to do the HTML for links. Somebody on the WP forum pointed me to it.
Jeff

P.S. I’d been looking for a simple way to get wysiwyg comments formatting (without using Ajax) and saw the MCE plugin on your site – thanks for the idea!

Is the TNIV a Dynamic Equivalent translation?
I’m finally understanding what you’re saying. Functional=Dynamic which you said, but it didn’t sink in. That and your post (and comments) have been very educational.
Jeff

I got my TNIV for $6. It’s light blue, tan and brown imitation leather. Womanly by my estimation. I called it the “ugly color Bible” because those are some of my least favorite colors. But after I used it to read through Psalms I got to like it.
Jeff