Easy-To-Read Holy Bible (ERV)

English translation of the Bible with simpler vocabulary and shorter sentences

The Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) is an English translation of the Bible originally published as the English Version for the Deaf (EVD).

Deaf readers sometimes struggle with reading English because sign language is their first language. The translation was created a to make reading the Bible easier for them. The EVD used simpler vocabulary and shorter sentences. One of the basic ideas that guided the work was that good translation is good communication.

In 2004, a major revision was finished. It uses broader vocabulary. The EVD was left unchanged, so it and the ERV now have different texts.

The ERV uses the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (1984) as its Old Testament text with some readings from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Also, it follows the Septuagint when its readings are considered more accurate. For the New Testament, the ERV uses the Greek New Testament (4th revised edition, 1993) and Novum Testament Graece (27th edition, 1993).