We were saddened this week to learn of the death of Charles Welty, who helped to develop the International Standard Version (ISV) of the Bible. His passion for the Bible in general and for the ISV in particular always shone through brightly in all his interactions with Bible Gateway, and we salute his contributions to the great work of Bible translation.

The ISV is a fascinating English Bible translation. It was born as a new response to the age-old question of Bible translation: when translating Scripture, should you translate the original texts as literally as possible (the formal equivalence translation philosophy), or should you focus instead on conveying meaning without worrying about replicating the original’s exact wording (the functional equivalence philosophy)? All translated Bibles sit at different points on the wide spectrum between these two approaches, and most employ both approaches but emphasize one over the other to some degree. The ISV’s translators aimed to avoid the extremes of both tendencies, balancing both approaches in a Bible that is both accurate and readable—they describe the ISV as a “moderately literal” Bible that works equally well for serious study, public reading, and personal devotions.

If you haven’t read the ISV, you’ll find its translation style intriguing and unique. Here’s how it presents the famous passage John 3:16:

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his uniquely existing Son so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life. — John 3:16

If you want to compare this to other approaches, click here to see the ISV’s translation side-by-side with several other English Bibles.

Taking a few minutes this week to try the ISV Bible is a good way to honor the work of Welty and the many others who produced this translation. And if you want more information about the ISV’s approach, and about the work that Welty was a part of, the ISV website (@isvbible) or the Davidson Press (publisher of the ISV) website are good places to start.