Thought-for-Thought Translation Not So Clear, Not Best

This Bible leaves out some admittedly unfamiliar but key theological words, replacing them with words that often do not come close to conveying the import, much less nuances, of their meanings. "Grace," for example, is replaced by several words, frequently by "kindness" or "good will.""Kindness" is overly general and does not convey the idea of an unworthy recipient receiving an unmerited favor or gift. And this is no minor matter, since as Eph 1:5-6 says, the ultimate purpose of our adoption as sons by Jesus Christ is "to the praise of the glory of His GRACE"(NKJV), and this cannot be done if we leave out the whole concept by leaving out the word. It would have been better to leave in the word "grace" and have the reader ask "huh?" and be drawn to search out it's meaning, thus leading him to greater appreciation of this ("amazing") aspect of God and our salvation. In addition, there are other changes that seem to outright change the meaning: for example, James 1:1 has changed "to the twelve tribes" to "to God's faithful people." Odd. It seems from the preface, a chief aim of this translation was readability and natural speech without compromising accuracy, thus the translation style is neither that of word-for-word (such as KJV, NKJV, NASB) nor a paraphrase (ex, Message), but a "function-equivalent translation," basically thought-for-thought or "dynamic" equivalence. I appreciate this aim, yet the Bible's meaning has been too altered for my comfort level, so for those wanting a more accurate yet readable function-equivalent translation, I recommend the NIV.

Easy to read but has major problems

When I first picked up my copy, I was thrilled at how easy to read this translation was. But this feeling of delight started to quickly melt away as I read more and saw the serious deletions, mis-translations and fatal errors in the text. In their attempt to make a bible that is readable, they have sacraficed accuracy and sound translation in favor of an easy to read bible. Phrases, words and whole sentences have either been deleted or have altogether been changed in meaning and content.^M

Only 3 Known "Non-Tech" CEV's: This is 1 of Them

NIV, ESV, NKJV, NRSV, JB, NAB, etc. chose to carry over ancient tech terms now formalized into key doctrines: "justification, expiation, sanctification, redemption...." Great/lofty concepts, requiring Bible background/and-or outside study tools to work with. For seekers, new Christians, and we who want the hi-tech terms put into EZ e-day terms (at some possible e-rosion of depth of meaning...) God's Word Version, the New Living Translation, and American Bible Society's Contemporary English Version are the only 3 major recent works that I am aware of, opting out for non-tech language. Even if you favor the NIV/ESV/NAB etc., consider adding some/all of these 3 alternative works to your Bible inventory to help you better grasp "propitiation, expiation," etc. These alt versions also much more suitable for giving to non-Christian seekers and new converts.