Bible translations in Spanish - Recommendations

Question

I am presently reading the "Antigua Version de Casiodoro de Reina (1569), Revisada por Cipriano de Valera (1602), Revision de 1960. I have found the vocabulary very "interesting" but in many cases quit different from the Spanish I am learning from bookstore texts.

Considering that I am a novice in Spanish and just studying at home, no formal training, what recommendations would you make for an easy reading Spanish Bible.

Answer 1

I read La Biblia de Las Américas and am very satisfied with it. It is related to the New American Standard version, which has been my English version of choice for 25 years or so. I have a parallel bible with NBLA in one column and NASB in the other.

If you prefer the NIV- the same thing is available in NIV and NVI- the Nueva Versión Internacional. My guess is that is probably slightly easier Spanish.

But it is my understanding that the Spanish-speaking world is far more married to the Reina-Valera version. Maybe if you want to do ministry to Spanish-speaking people you should consider that. They updated that in 1995, so that should be pretty current. There was a version of that done in 1960, and before that there was one now called the Reina-Valera Antigua.

And finally, you can read all of the above and more on Biblegateway.com. I've found that a great help to my study of Spanish.

Buena suerte, amigo.

Answer 2

Reading language can be different from the language we speak everyday at home and with our friends. The books you have studied might bring informal language. Don't worry about it, the more you read the more you will learn. Just keep a good dictionary near you or spanishdict.com and that will help you understand more and more. Good luck! ¡Suerte!

Answer 3

I subscribe to El Aposento Alto, Guía de Meditaciones Diarias. They use 3 different Bible versions: RVR, VPEE, and NVI. I find the NVI to be the easiest one to translate by far. It doesn't seem to use the vosotros form much, if at all, and the language is more common to this day and age. You don't see the old-fashioned wordings of some translations.

I have a parallel Bible with the NIV-New International Version (English) and the NVI-Neuva Versión Internacional (Spanish). These two are close to translating word for word, although there are often differences in phrasing. I have learned a lot of new vocabulary, as well as sentence structure and verb usage, by reading this Bible. I would recommend it.

RVR = La Santa Biblia, Versión Reina-Valera Revisión de 1995

VPEE = Dios Habla Hoy, La Biblia en Versión Popular, 3a edición

NVI = La Santa Biblia, Nueva Versión Internacional

• The NBLA uses the vosotros form a lot. I was quite thrown by the imperative verb forms that end in D! - Goyo Dec 13, 2009