Formal equivalence is also called "word-for-word" or "literal" translation. It's an attempt to translate the Bible into English that as closely approximates the original text as possible. For example, a very literal interpretation of John 3:16 (from the Young's Literal Translation [YLT] Bible) would read: "For God did so love the world, that His Son—the only begotten—He gave, that every one who is believing in him may not perish, but may have life age-during."

Dynamic (or functional) equivalence is called "thought-for-thought" translation. The intention is to translate the Bible into English as closely as possible, while making certain adjustments to account for linguistic fluency and clarity. That same passage of John 3:16 in the New Living Translation (NLT) reads: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Paraphrasing, as most of us who have ever had to cite sources for an academic paper, or summarize something, is taking the original text and distilling it down to a concise approximation of the original. That same passage from John 3:16, this time as told through The Message translation, reads: “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life."

New International Version (NIV). Published in 1978 (and updated in both 1984 and 2011) by Biblica, this is the bestselling translation in the United States with approximately 450 million copies in print. It's generally considered to be a solid "middle of the road" bible that is both reasonably faithful to the original text while also being quite accessible to modern readers.

English Standard Version (ESV). Published in 2001 by Crossway, this version was compiled by over 100 biblical scholars with the goal of being an "essentially literal" translation except for minor differences to account for modern grammar, syntax, and idioms.

New Living Translation (NLT). Published in 1996 by Tyndale House Foundation, this is an interesting version because it was created by 90 biblical scholars who were looking to revise The Living Bible, a personal paraphrase by a singular author (Kenneth N. Taylor), making it one of the few versions of the Bible that went from text to paraphrase, back to text again. Many younger readers like the NLT for its easy readability.

King James Version (KJV). One of the oldest Bible translations still in regular use, the King James Version was commissioned by - you guessed it - King James in 1604 and published in 1611. There are rumors that Shakespeare wrote (or contributed) to the KJV because it was written during the same time period as Macbeth and The Tempest and has many rhetorical and linguistic flourishes reminiscent of Shakespeare, but it's ultimately just a rumor for which there's no concrete evidence. Even so, the KJV is one of the most unique and stylistic versions of the Bible ever written. It also spawned an update - The New King James Version (NKJV) - published by Thomas Nelson in 1982.

Christian Standard Bible (CSB). Published by Holman Bible Publishers in 2017 as a successor (and major revision) to the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HSCB). This version was compiled by a cross-denominational set of 21 biblical scholars representing Southern Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, and non-denominational evangelical traditions.

New American Standard Bible (NASB). Published in 1971 by the Lockman Foundation, the NASB is generally considered to be the most literal and accurate translation in wide use. With the exception of instances of grammatical accuracy and readability, this translation has committed to being as close to a word-for-word translation of the original Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew as possible.

Amplified Bible (AMP). Published in 1965 by Zondervan and the Lockman Foundation, the AMP is an interesting translation that seeks to be as close to word-for-word formal equivalence as possible, except for "words or phrases intended to more fully bring out the meaning of the original text, but distinguished from the translation itself." The AMP actually has a system of brackets, italics, parentheses and other stylistic formatting choices to both provide the original text as well as additional context/emphasis where the translators felt was appropriate. The underlying text is based on the 1952 edition of the Revised Standard Version (RSV).

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). Published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches (and with a recent major revision published in 2021), this version is distinct for being one of the most popular among biblical scholars themselves. There are also three different versions of the NRSV available: one for the Protestant tradition, one for Roman Catholics, and the Common Bible which includes additional books (apocrypha) that are used in Eastern Orthodox traditions.

New International Reader's Version (NIRV). Published by Biblica in 1998, the goal was to translate a Bible in the tradition of the New International Version (NIV), but written in a simpler form of English to make it more accessible to children and others who have difficulty reading English (such as non-native English speakers). The authors themselves describe this version as a "special edition of the NIV written at a third-grade reading level."

The Message (MSG). Published between 1993 and 2002, the MSG translation is the work of a singular author (Eugene Peterson) and is his own personal paraphrase of the entire Bible. Peterson has been quoted as saying that the project came about when he realized this is the culmination of what he was doing for the entirety of his three-plus decades as a pastor: "always looking for an English way to make the biblical text relevant to the conditions of the people." It's one of the furthest versions from a literal word-to-word translation, but some of the choices and ways he presents the content of the Bible is fascinating.