Rating: 
Summary: Expensive Alternative To a Free Version
Review: Ordinarily I would give the English Standard Version high ratings. It's highly readable, very accurate, evangelical, with a traditional flair.
The only problem is that it's nearly identical to the Common Edition: New Testament that has been available online (for free) since the spring of 1999.
Still, if you don't mind paying, the English Standard Version is almost as good as it's predecessor.
Rating: 
Summary: The Bible I've been waiting 25 years for!
Review: The English Standard Version is the best Bible available today to the English-speaking church.
As an "essentially literal" translation, the ESV seeks to capture the precise wording of the original text, letting the reader see as directly as possible the structure and meaning of the original words of scripture. In contrast to the ESV, many modern Bible versions have followed a thought-for-thought translation philosophy called "dynamic equivalence" rather than the "essentially literal" meaning of the original. The New Living Translation (NLT), The Message, and other paraphrased Bibles are "dynamic equivalent" versions. A thought-for-thought translation is of necessity more inclined to reflect the interpretive opinions of the translator and the influences of contemporary culture. The NIV, the Bible I have used for most of the past 25 years, is a trade-off between the essentially literal and dynamic equivalence approaches to translation. I have found the ESV a significantly superior translation.
The ESV also stands in the classic mainstream of the English Bible that began with William Tyndale's New Testament of 1526 and the King James Version of 1611. That stream continued in the American Standard Version of 1901 (ASV) and the Revised Standard Version of 1952 and 1971 (RSV). When Crossway Books recently bought the rights to the RSV, they assembled a team of 100 respected biblical scholars who started with the RSV text and carefully weighed each word and phrase against the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, to ensure the fullest accuracy and clarity. The translators are all outstanding scholars who are deeply committed to the authority and inerrancy of scripture.
The ESV retains the beauty and dignity of the Tyndale-King James legacy, while providing the English reader with an accurate rendering of the original Biblical text. The arrival of the ESV gives us a readable, modern English translation that is as faithful as possible to the original words of scripture. After careful consideration, I have adopted the English Standard Version for my own Bible study and preaching, and I enthusiastically recommend it to you, believing that the ESV is literally the best Bible available today to the English-speaking church.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, the best all-around English Bible
Review: The English Standard Version, the 2001 conservative revision of the classic Revised Standard Version, cannot help but grasp the heart of anyone who would look at its magnificent rendering of the God-breathed biblical text, and never, ever let go! This attempt at making a standard English version of the Bible that would be as accurate as the New American Standard Bible, as readable as the New International Version, and as beautiful as the King James Verison may just have been sucessful to its goals. This translation is the only bible which seems to be fully successful in the attempt of "essentially literal" translation (that is being as word-for-word accurate to the Bible as possible, without obscuring the meaning of the passage or being unreadable). The ESV does so with such ease that one marvels at how bibles with the similar translation process of "full" or "optimal" equivalence have gone so disappointingly flat in the attempt. The ESV stays at literally word-for-word accurate as possible. Its literal accuracy matches or surpasses the New American Standard Bible the majority of the time. Meanwhile, the revisers were careful not to let the difficulty, constraint, or inaccuracy in reading of rendering some terms or phrases literally obscure the meaning of the verse. They made sure that the wording of the verses would be understandable to the modern English reader. Finally, this bible has something that leaves most other translations, especially those other full-equivalence translations, in the dust: STYLE! Yes, though lacking the Shakesperean English, you can definitely tell this bible is the direct descendant of the King James Version and the Revised Standard Version because of that unique beauty, style, and grace that rings through the previous translations. Also, if you have read conservative reviews of the RSV, you will be suspicious because it was criticized by conservatives in its time (and for good reason). Well, do not fear. A team of conservative translators, led by the reformed conservative heavyweight, J.I. Packer (theologian and author) as general editor, and under the advisory council made up of notables such as R. Albert Mohler, Paige Patterson, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, and Max Lucado, among others, have revised the RSV in that sense, too. The Isaiah 7:14 virgin prophecy, among some other faulty or liberal-minded renderings in the RSV and NRSV (these two rendered the prophecy "young woman" instead of "virgin") have been replaced by the more acceptable and (dare I say it) more accurate readings. The team also was fully aware of the task they were taking on, all acknowledging that the Bible was the inerrant, infallible Word of the Living God. Praise God for putting together such a team to bring forth a translation of the scriptures which not only lives up to, but surpassed its predecessors. This is a bible for a generation and generations to come.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent blend of literal accuracy and readability
Review: The ESV is essentially a re-working of the Revised Standard Version, updating the language in spots (NOT gender-neutralizing it or making it PC as in some unfortunate modern translations) and fixing some translational errors in the Old Testament that appeared in earlier printings of the RSV. I have long been a fan and user of the RSV because of the intelligence and intelligibility of the translation, and the ESV does not disappoint in this regard either. It is a far more suitable translation for modern English speakers than the NLT or NIV (which my friends in the Bible translation business say are fraught with poor translation choices) or the NASB, which is good but kind of clunky when read aloud. Plus the publishers even throw in a CD-ROM with a searchable ESV text and some electronic reference sources to boot. Also, the entire text of the ESV is now online, so you can also try before you buy. (I forget the web site but you can just do a Google search for English Standard Version and it will come up.)
Rating:
Summary: Finally!
Review: The new English Standard Version of the Holy Bible is a long awaited translation. The many fine scholars that worked on the ESV used the RSV as their starting point. They updated the language and made some key changes that correct some questionable translations in the RSV. The ESV is now the most literal, modern, and evangelical translation available. I have been thrilled with this Bible and it's easy readability--not often found in a literal translation. The design of the book is user friendly and easy to read. The short introductions at the beginning of each book are helpful, and not overbearing or presumptuous. The concordance is average to above average. The maps are great--they are taken out of the Moody Bible Atlas. After the trend of the last few years in reading translations like the NLT, Message etc., the ESV is a challenging and accurate alternative. I would encourage shoppers to try this literal translation and be challenged in mastering the art and science of hermeneutics.
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