Why are there so many versions of the Bible?

The Bible was not written in English! The English language itself is a living and, therefore, changing one. Because the vast majority of the population do not know Hebrew and Greek, the Bible has been translated into our language, to make it accessible to all. Translation from one language to another is never easy, and the quest for accuracy has led new translators to try to modernise and improve previous, greatly blessed works. Some are more accurate than others, some are paraphrases and frankly, some are not very good. The ones most widely used in Britain, by people who really take the Word of God seriously are the Authorised Version (translated in 1611, and sometimes called the King James Version), and more recently the New International Version, the New King James Version and now the English Standard Version. Whichever you use, read it each day.

The truth is, that if we are to have a translation at all, we must have periodical re-translation. There is no such thing as translation of a book into another language once and for all, for language is a changing thing. – C S Lewis in his book ‘God in the Dock’