If you have been blessed by the NIV, the NKJV, the ESV, etc., be prepared for another fantastic modern translation that will enrich your understanding of scripture. The New English Translation (NET/NET Bible from Bible.org) is a new high quality translation that even the NIV and ESV publishers referenced while compiling their own study bibles and new translations!
The NET Bible is a wonderful translation, worthy of respect and useful for study. It is a free bible with quality that equals other modern translations that are not free. It stays true to the original text by being a transparent translation; it often gives you the reasons for the wording or points out alternative wording!
The following reveals both official and unofficial information about the NET Bible that you may not have known:
- The NET Bible was completed by more than 25 scholars – experts in the original biblical languages – who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.
- The NET Bible preface reads “The Bible is God’s gift to humanity – it should be free.” – WOW! It goes on to say,
“We encourage you to recognize that the Bible is not merely a book. It is God’s message to us all, and God continues to speak through it today. There is, after all, a reason far more Bibles have been produced than any book in history. Read it and see.” - Publishers used the New English Translation when writing the fully revised
NIV Study Bible of 2002, the TNIV, and the TNIV Study Bible. - Chuck Swindoll, Tony Evans, the ESV publishers, and many others praise the NET Bible for its trustworthiness and quality.
- Bringing the New English Translation to life was a major undertaking. It was translated by experts who were paid for their
time and work (having paid workers greatly enhances the quality of their work). This wasn’t an inexpensive undertaking by any means! Real money was spent in order to produce an excellent translation. - Complete and very extensive notes are found in the NET Bible for a small price. These notes offer a deeper look at the original text and offer additional study information; they connect the modern english speaker with the ancient languages. The free version comes with many of those notes for free!
- When you read these notes, it is clear that a large amount of thought went into the wording.
The notes often display alternative wording to enhance the readers understanding of the original language.
Having access to the translators notes enhances the readers confidence that the translation is reliable. - NET Bible isn’t free because it is poor quality, it is free to further educate the world with the Word of God. The publishers wish to bless the world with NET Bible even if they don’t make a dime from it.
Bible.org would probably give everyone free prints of the NET Bible if paper were free. Of course, paper isn’t free. However, the internet makes paper obsolete! So they are giving it away online (http://bible.org/page.php?page_id=3086) (they even offer free PDFs so you can print your own, which is great for missions who want an inexpensive way to distribute bibles).
Bible.org makes the scripture avalable for free to increase understanding of the Bible. Bible.org throws in some of their extensive study notes with the free NET Bible and makes the full set of study notes avalable at a modest price.
That is why Touch Bible Free distributes the NET Bible for free and Touch Bible Loaded has all of the NET Bible notes for a small price. It is a great resource. (Even if you believe the KJV is the only correct translation, you’ll still
find the NET Bible useful as a study aid.)
