I'm sometimes asked this question - what version of the Bible should I read? For guidance see this new book edited by NT scholar Andreas Kostenberger - Which Bible Translation Should I Use?: A Comparison of 4 Major Recent Versions.
The book compares four versions:
- NIV 2011 (Doug Moo) - I've used the NIV for a bazillion years. It's what I preach out of now, excepting scholarly translations as required.
- ESV (Wayne Grudem)
- HCSB (Ray Clendenen)
- NLT (Philip Comfort) - I love reading the NLT.
Ben Witherington has a helpful review of Kostenberger's book - "The Problem with Literalism When it Comes to Translation."