NASB 2020 Update News and Review

After more than two years of anticipation, The Lockman Foundation has published the New American Standard Bible 2020 version. Numerous print editions were released on August 28, 2020, a Kindle edition on October 14 and a free download edition from bible.com also became available. Currently, the best site to discover the available editions and purchase sources is The Lockman Foundation’s site for NASB 2020.

At the present time, Zondervan anticipates their first wave of Zondervan NASB 2020 editions to appear in the spring of 2021. However, The Lockman Foundation will continue to allow the publication of the NASB 95 update alongside the NASB 2020 version, which will please the NASB 95’s many fans.

Also, in parallel with the above efforts, John MacArthur and The Master’s Seminary, with The Lockman Foundation’s permission and under its 2021 copyright, are creating the Legacy Standard Bible, a classic edition of the NASB. Abner Chou is heading the project. The LSB New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs is now available for preorder from 316 Publishing, delivery should be in March of 2021. If you want a sample of it right now, you can download a free pdf of the LSB’s Gospel of Mark and one of Philippians and hear John MacArthur and Abner Chou discuss the goals of the project at lsbible.org. One of their decisions is to translate all instances of LORD to Yahweh in the Old Testament. Another is to bring the modern reader back to the culture of the biblical writer. In general, they want to refine the work of the NASB95, not create a new version of it. The “LSB” and “Legacy Standard Bible” are trademarks of The Lockman Foundation.

My Review

This post has been a work-in-process since September 12th, 2018 when Lockman started posting NASB 2020 passages on its Facebook page. The following sample of passages is generally the order in which they were released by Lockman. The NASB 2020 has updated many passages, included below are examples of the types of changes they are making, so the reader can get an idea of what to expect:

Bible on table with Candle

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The #1 Read Bible vs The Bestselling Bible

When it comes to Bible translations, I’m apparently out-of-sync with the majority according to The Barna Group and the ECPA (below). My #1 preferred Bible translation is the Holman Christian Standard Bible. I expected to change to the updated version of it, see my review of the Christian Standard Bible, when it came out in 2017, but I didn’t. The gender neutrality language was a big factor, but, more importantly, my two daughters gave me the Holman Christian Standard Study Bible as a Christmas present in 2012. So, it tugs at my heartstrings and it has my name nicely engraved in gold on the front leather cover. The HCSB has some shortcomings, but, by-and-large, I find it to be the most accurate and readable.

My morning devotions at Cape Cod, MA

The New American Standard 2020 update is in the works. The previous link will take you to my ongoing review of it. I had great expectations for this update. So far, however, I’m not thrilled by the 2020’s passages that the Lockman Foundation has been releasing. It’s a plus/minus kind of the thing. They’ve improved the translation of some passages, but they’ve also downgraded the translation of others by making them annoyingly wordy. To date, the negatives slightly outnumber the positives.

But this post is about the #1 Read Bible translation by all Bible readers, not just me. I was totally surprised to find — drum roll please — that the most often READ translation, according to The Barna Group in 2018, is the King James Version with the New International Version a distant second. Statista reports the following:

However, the King James Version is not the Bestselling Bible. I find this very interesting. According to the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association’s Bible Bestseller List, the New International Version is actually the BESTSELLING Bible, with the KJV in second place, and the English Standard Version ranking third in both lists.

Yes, I see that my favored HCSV is not on either list, and I see that the Christian Standard Bible is in fifth place. That’s okay. The question, though, is how can the King James Version be the most read while the New International Version is the Bestselling? For me, and everyone I know, the KJV is the least readable. From a readability standpoint, I would expect the New King James version to be preferred over the King James Version, but, oddly, it’s not.

So, how can it be the most read??? I believe there are two reasons. First, the KJV has been around for the longest time. It’s tradition. Also, a good many churches believe it is the only English version authorized by God. Trevin Wax, via The Gospel Coalition, wrote an excellent article summarizing the King James Only Controversy.

The second, is that the KJV is in public domain. Which means anyone can publish it for free, plus publishing costs of course. It also means, that anyone can quote it, at length, free of copyright infringement considerations. This makes it more available in print and online, and less expensive than all other options.

I don’t know which translation you favor, but, in addition to the Greek and Hebrew originals, I regularly consult several when studying, researching, or teaching. However, for my personal devotions, I’m sticking with the Bible my daughters lovingly gave me for Christmas in 2012. I gave my wife an NIV Study Bible a few years ago, and our daughters read the ESV, I believe. That makes them more in line with the majority of readers. Most importantly, they are fully devoted to Christ in every area of their lives. This is the goal of every translation. So, go for it King James readers! What’s most important is that we are reading it! 

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Dr. Rob Oberto is the award-winning author of “Intimacy With God” available from Amazon. ©2019. All Rights Reserved.

The New American Standard Bible is getting updated in 2020

IN CASE YOU ARE UNAWARE, the Lockman Foundation is in the process of updating the New American Standard Bible translation. I’ve been following their progress for awhile now. I’m regularly checking the status of their progress and posting them at:  “New American Standard Bible (NASB) – 2020 release news.” It was last updated on October 1, 2019. Check it out.

May the peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

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Rob Oberto, D.Min, is the award-winning author of Intimacy with God, available from Amazon. ©2018-2019 Rob Oberto, All Rights Reserved.

The Word Became Jesus!

If all the words we ever spoke became embodied in a new human being, what would that person be like? They would look different from us, but they would be an exact representation of us.
Imagine: all the good words, all the comforting words, all the encouraging words, and all the other words standing in front of you. That’s a scary thought … for me anyway. Words are selected, carefully sometimes, thoughtlessly most of the time. They are a mirror of thoughts and emotions, a window into our soul.
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The “Christian Standard Bible” 2017 Review

EVERY TEN YEARS OR SO, I change the Bible translation I use for my personal devotions in order to force myself to re-read, re-highlight, and re-notate the text afresh. Over the years, I’ve worked extensively with the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the New International Version (NIV), the New King James Version (NKJV), and, since 2012, the Holman Christian Standard Version (HCSB). For detailed study, I use the Logos Bible Software program to compare translations across many other versions (ESV, NRSV, etc.) and to dig into the nuances of the original languages.

In January 2017, an update to the Holman Christian Standard Bible was released. They dropped Holman from the name making it the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) now. I added it to my Bibles in Logos. You can check out the CSB online or download the free app from csbible.com. You can purchase one of the many targeted CSB study bibles from Christian Book Distributors. And you can join the CSB Facebook group to participate in the member discussions.

I’ve also learned that an update to the NASB is due out on a to-be-announced date in 2020. I’m keeping tabs on its progress, see my post “New American Standard Bible (NASB) – 2020 release news.”

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Translation Readability Comparison

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Pleading for a Miracle – John 4:30-54

The son of one of Herod’s royal officials was close to death. The official traveled 18 miles up to Cana in the hope of successfully pleading with Jesus to return with him to Capernaum to heal his son….

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Living Water – John 4:1-29

People die without water. When someone is far beyond thirsty, a glass of water is worth more to them than all the world’s gold. At age 16, I got heat stroke in Florida…after fishing all day in the hot sun because I forgot to bring drinking water. That was just a single day.

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From Death to Life – John 3:1-21

God the Father sent us His One and Only Son, so that through our faith in Jesus Christ, we could be born again by the Holy Spirit. We who believe in Him, have turned from the darkness of this world’s lies to the light and glory of Christ’s truth. We have moved from death to life. Therefore, we are no longer condemned by God, and we will not perish—unlike those who refuse to believe. Continue reading “From Death to Life – John 3:1-21”