Reflections on the ESV After 25 Years

This article is part of the ESV 25th Anniversary series. The Bible in the Life of the Church I am not adventurous when it comes to travel, nor curious when it comes to food, nor innovative when it comes to technology. I like the things I like, and I don’t usually try new things unless I have to. But I was an early adopter with the ESV. I was a seminary student at Gordon-Conwell on Boston’s North Shore when I heard that a new Bible translation was coming out soon—an English version that was supposed to be more literal than the NIV, elegant like the KJV, and still accessible to contemporary readers. I also heard that J. I. Packer was a big part of the project, along with other men (like Wayne Grudem and Kent Hughes) whose books I had read. I knew I would get a copy of this new translation as soon as it was available. This was long before the days of Amazon, so I dutifully checked the seminary bookstore regularly in the fall of 2001 until I saw the first-time copies of the English Standard Version on the shelves. I bought one immediately, made it my English Bible, and have used the ESV ever since. I am thankful for every faithful translation of the Bible that brings God’s inerrant wor...