I read KJV I also Like reading my German Luther Bible

I Also have a Greek New Testament

and I love The Evidence Bible by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron

I usually read NIV.  All of my family does, except my father.  He reads an ancient Greek Bible.

I switched to NASB for a couple years and I am going to start using the ESV as well. To study the Word, I depend on the NASB, an Illustrated Bible Dictionary by Hollman, and to get into the grit, an interlinear Greek with NASB. I agree with Conradma... you really don't know what you're missing until you study the Greek and Hebrew. Not to mention all the historical and cultural context that we miss because we think of it in today's terms. 

I read the NIV and the NET bible. The NET bible can be found online @ www.nextbible.org

People are much too concerned about the words on the page rather than the spirit that wrote them.  It doesn't matter what translation you read, the holy spirit can and will teach you no matter what you use.  I recently bought an NIV Archaeology study Bible and The Message.  NIV is nice for in depth study, but The Message makes everything so much easier to understand.  I could never bring myself to read the Bible, the language was always so against the natural flow of thought.  The Message is just readable to me.
I bet if you asked Peterson if he wrote the Bible, he wouldn't say "yes."  I highly doubt he claims the glory for anything in the Bible.

When I took Bible translation courses, our training was in meaning-based translation, which involved figuring out what verses and passages mean and translating from the meaning rather than just translating the words and phrases literally. Our teacher said, "Never translate from the Living Bible, but never translate without reading the Living Bible!"

It's good to have both a fairly literal translation (NASB, NKJV) and an idiomatic translation (NLV, TEV). If I only read literal translations (and even the NIV is overly literal in places), there is a lot that gets by me, because I understand the words but not the meaning.

Many times in the men's Bible study I co-lead, guys will read from the KJV or NASB something like, "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."

When I ask what it means for love to abound in knowledge and discernment, or to approve the things that are excellent, I get a lot of head-scratching.

The New Living divides the first verse into two parts, and clarifies the language throughout: "I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God." This is certainly clearer, whether or not you agree that it's accurate.

The Message includes even more elaboration: "So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God."

Great stuff, and pretty much on the mark. A good supplement to the more literal translations. Both The Message and the NLV provide some reliable guidance as to how to decipher the tightly-packed language of the literal versions.

Biblegateway.com is a great resource, by the way. Twenty respected English versions, and a number of other languages as well.

 As a new believer 21 yrs ago..... it was NIV, because everybody at the little church we attended used it.  I had my hubby's old RSV and I liked the poetic nature so read that for my devotion time.  The past decade, I've led FCA at our high school, and while I don't remember how I came across it, I've used and enjoyed very much the NLT.  IT made God's word come alive for my teen girls... in basketball chapels.  I had girls who had never been to church ever, sit and listen with true openness, they understood!! and appreciated!!  things God is saying, through His word. It has been very to His glory, wonderful.  I still use it, for personal devotions, but for Bible study, I use a few different ones, back to NIV, typically, and still, my NLT unfolds meaning in a way I get.   I bought The Message, for personal reading, but that's far as I use it, guess, cuz I like the poetic rhythm. God speaks to me through His word, period.

As was mentioned above, it's the Spirit that counts. We need to focusing on the literalness (or lack of it) and jot/tittle accuracy (or lack of it) of the written words.
Instead, we must ask: Is my reading of whatever version, NASB, NIV, Message ... French, Swahili, German, Greek, etc, bringing me closer to the Living Word.

I primarily read the NLT (Life Application Study Bible FTW!). I get the heebie jeebies about the NIV (I don't know why). But for serious study, I almost always read the same passages in NASB, Amplified and KJV as well. Sometimes if I am struggling with a particular passage really hitting home, I will read it in MSG as well just to see if it hits any differently. I absolutely love biblegateway.com and use it constantly, but if I couldn't use that I have a 4 translation parallel bible that contains all the above translations I mentioned except for MSG. So it works. 

At home the NIV or the NKJV.

Online I cross check various versions.  I particularly like going to the greek or hebrew text and checking the various transliterations of the words used.

I like the Message for the simplicity of the it.  If the particular verse measures up ok in content with the NIV or NKJV then I will post with that.

For many non-Christians the word of God can be quite a scary or daunting thing to read, so I find the Message a nice place to start if it is true to the original context.

I certainly don't use the Message for a 'feel good factor', but I do use it because it is milk for those unfamiliar with the scriptures.

x

@Stacey@xanga - The Isaiah reference is to the second part of the quote. Mark 1:3 is a direct quotation of Isaiah 40:3. (But I'm sure you know that already.)

i like the KJV but i have many other versions also. I had gotten these when i was new in Christ but since then have seen the mistakes in the other versions so i use them mostly as references to something i may not "get" when i'm reading something in the KJV.  i also have a greek/hebrew bible that i love as well.  KJV when reading or studying the Word of God.

I enjoy reading my Bible every day. My favorite is the Beck, otherwise known as 'An American Translation.' Dr. William Beck had a driving devotion to the cause of simplifying the English Bible for people of all ages is evident as you read this translation. The Beck is out of print and is a rare find indeed. I like to write out verses two or three at a time, maybe more, in my own printed handwriting and allow my study to spring from this practice. I find this enlightening. Words spring up to meet me and more meaning is grasped and I write my impressions and develop cross references as the Lord leads me. Bible study is the most fascinating kind of study anyone can imagine, especially if their faith is truly in the right place. We all have a place at the cross.