HCSB

Another reason I believe the Holman Christian Standard Bible is a better "modern" translation than the English Standard Version is found in Amos 4:6:

"I gave you absolutely nothing to eat in all your cities," HCSB

"I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities," ESV

The ESV rendering of this statement sounds to the modern reader like the Lord started a dental plan for the Israelites. The HCSB plainly makes the point that God brought famine over the land.

Again, I don't want to slam the ESV. I believe it's the best translation since the NASB (until the arrival of the HCSB), but I just don't understand why the translators felt it necessary to leave in a lot of the archaisms of the King James language. It just results in a type of "biblese" that is problematic for the 21st century reader. This is another example of my argument that the ESV was unnecessary when we already had the New American Standard Version.