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The New Living Translation (NLT) is written so that it is similar to conversational modern english, with a conversational flow.

God's Word is like the NLT, and is free to download in PDF.

The Message is less of a translation and more of a paraphrase in again, conversational modern english. Think of taking each book and giving it novel-like formatting. Chapters and verses still present, but they're basically footnotes. It's not a Neal Stephenson novel, but it's a long way from the language and format of the KJV. Judging the author's literary skill is left as an exercise to the reader.

If you're not a believer, your reply is a good one to offer most believers.

If you are a believer, the proper answer is that God already answered the miracle question: Matthew 4:7

You said elsewhere you live on a 3-acre plot of land. Are you a farmer? If so, you should know that the federal government STILL subsidizes farming, so despite your hatred of taxes you are personally benefitting from them at the expense of the rest of society.

I don't. I will when I raise kids, I have an option on 3 acres 15 minutes from O'hare Airport. Not farmland.

Ummm, then why did Jesus SPECIFICALLY SAY that the coin belonged to Caesar and to give it to him.

Sure. Caesar's coin is Caesar's. I do taxable work in dollars and pay taxes. I also perform bartered labor and use another medium for that labor store.

Don't quote Jesus as commanding His servants, sometimes He was preaching to non-believers. Some passages I prefer to live by:

[1 Sam 8] Israel wants a king even though God will reject them

[Acts 5:29] We must obey God rather than human authority

[Judges 9:7-15] Only the corrupt will accept political power

[Mat 4:8-10] Satan can control all governments

[Mark 10:42-45] Non believers accept tyrants as rulers over them, but Christians can't

[Eph 6:12] For our struggle is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms

By the way, if you don't pay taxes and you make more than the poverty cutoff, you are committing tax fraud and thus are still a criminal, despite your claim elsewhere to the contrary.

I pay taxes on every fiat dollar I earn.

You said elsewhere you live on a 3-acre plot of land. Are you a farmer? If so, you should know that the federal government STILL subsidizes farming, so despite your hatred of taxes you are personally benefitting from them at the expense of the rest of society.

I don't. I will when I raise kids, I have an option on 3 acres 15 minutes from O'hare Airport. Not farmland.

Ummm, then why did Jesus SPECIFICALLY SAY that the coin belonged to Caesar and to give it to him.

Sure. Caesar's coin is Caesar's. I do taxable work in dollars and pay taxes. I also perform bartered labor and use another medium for that labor store.

Don't quote Jesus as commanding His servants, sometimes He was preaching to non-believers. Some passages I prefer to live by:

[1 Sam 8] Israel wants a king even though God will reject them

[Acts 5:29] We must obey God rather than human authority

[Judges 9:7-15] Only the corrupt will accept political power

[Mat 4:8-10] Satan can control all governments

[Mark 10:42-45] Non believers accept tyrants as rulers over them, but Christians can't

[Eph 6:12] For our struggle is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms

By the way, if you don't pay taxes and you make more than the poverty cutoff, you are committing tax fraud and thus are still a criminal, despite your claim elsewhere to the contrary.

I pay taxes on every fiat dollar I earn.

You said elsewhere you live on a 3-acre plot of land. Are you a farmer? If so, you should know that the federal government STILL subsidizes farming, so despite your hatred of taxes you are personally benefitting from them at the expense of the rest of society.

I don't. I will when I raise kids, I have an option on 3 acres 15 minutes from O'hare Airport. Not farmland.

Ummm, then why did Jesus SPECIFICALLY SAY that the coin belonged to Caesar and to give it to him.

Sure. Caesar's coin is Caesar's. I do taxable work in dollars and pay taxes. I also perform bartered labor and use another medium for that labor store.

Don't quote Jesus as commanding His servants, sometimes He was preaching to non-believers. Some passages I prefer to live by:

[1 Sam 8] Israel wants a king even though God will reject them

[Acts 5:29] We must obey God rather than human authority

[Judges 9:7-15] Only the corrupt will accept political power

[Mat 4:8-10] Satan can control all governments

[Mark 10:42-45] Non believers accept tyrants as rulers over them, but Christians can't

[Eph 6:12] For our struggle is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms

By the way, if you don't pay taxes and you make more than the poverty cutoff, you are committing tax fraud and thus are still a criminal, despite your claim elsewhere to the contrary.

I pay taxes on every fiat dollar I earn.

You said elsewhere you live on a 3-acre plot of land. Are you a farmer? If so, you should know that the federal government STILL subsidizes farming, so despite your hatred of taxes you are personally benefitting from them at the expense of the rest of society.

I don't. I will when I raise kids, I have an option on 3 acres 15 minutes from O'hare Airport. Not farmland.

Ummm, then why did Jesus SPECIFICALLY SAY that the coin belonged to Caesar and to give it to him.

Sure. Caesar's coin is Caesar's. I do taxable work in dollars and pay taxes. I also perform bartered labor and use another medium for that labor store.

Don't quote Jesus as commanding His servants, sometimes He was preaching to non-believers. Some passages I prefer to live by:

[1 Sam 8] Israel wants a king even though God will reject them

[Acts 5:29] We must obey God rather than human authority

[Judges 9:7-15] Only the corrupt will accept political power

[Mat 4:8-10] Satan can control all governments

[Mark 10:42-45] Non believers accept tyrants as rulers over them, but Christians can't

[Eph 6:12] For our struggle is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms

By the way, if you don't pay taxes and you make more than the poverty cutoff, you are committing tax fraud and thus are still a criminal, despite your claim elsewhere to the contrary.

I pay taxes on every fiat dollar I earn.

You said elsewhere you live on a 3-acre plot of land. Are you a farmer? If so, you should know that the federal government STILL subsidizes farming, so despite your hatred of taxes you are personally benefitting from them at the expense of the rest of society.

I don't. I will when I raise kids, I have an option on 3 acres 15 minutes from O'hare Airport. Not farmland.

Ummm, then why did Jesus SPECIFICALLY SAY that the coin belonged to Caesar and to give it to him.

Sure. Caesar's coin is Caesar's. I do taxable work in dollars and pay taxes. I also perform bartered labor and use another medium for that labor store.

Don't quote Jesus as commanding His servants, sometimes He was preaching to non-believers. Some passages I prefer to live by:

[1 Sam 8] Israel wants a king even though God will reject them

[Acts 5:29] We must obey God rather than human authority

[Judges 9:7-15] Only the corrupt will accept political power

[Mat 4:8-10] Satan can control all governments

[Mark 10:42-45] Non believers accept tyrants as rulers over them, but Christians can't

[Eph 6:12] For our struggle is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms

By the way, if you don't pay taxes and you make more than the poverty cutoff, you are committing tax fraud and thus are still a criminal, despite your claim elsewhere to the contrary.

I pay taxes on every fiat dollar I earn.

You said elsewhere you live on a 3-acre plot of land. Are you a farmer? If so, you should know that the federal government STILL subsidizes farming, so despite your hatred of taxes you are personally benefitting from them at the expense of the rest of society.

I don't. I will when I raise kids, I have an option on 3 acres 15 minutes from O'hare Airport. Not farmland.

Ummm, then why did Jesus SPECIFICALLY SAY that the coin belonged to Caesar and to give it to him.

Sure. Caesar's coin is Caesar's. I do taxable work in dollars and pay taxes. I also perform bartered labor and use another medium for that labor store.

Don't quote Jesus as commanding His servants, sometimes He was preaching to non-believers. Some passages I prefer to live by:

[1 Sam 8] Israel wants a king even though God will reject them

[Acts 5:29] We must obey God rather than human authority

[Judges 9:7-15] Only the corrupt will accept political power

[Mat 4:8-10] Satan can control all governments

[Mark 10:42-45] Non believers accept tyrants as rulers over them, but Christians can't

[Eph 6:12] For our struggle is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms

By the way, if you don't pay taxes and you make more than the poverty cutoff, you are committing tax fraud and thus are still a criminal, despite your claim elsewhere to the contrary.

I pay taxes on every fiat dollar I earn.

The problem is that a literal word-for-word translation can be very misleading: different languages don't just have different words for things; they have different idioms, constructions, allusions, and thought patterns. This is especially true of things written two or four millennia ago, in a culture completely outside most of our experiences.

Dynamic equivalence is more than just a paraphrase: it aims to be a thought-for-thought translation, yielding a result that puts exactly the same thoughts into your head as the original language would have done to its intended audience. This is why the NIV and others are properly called translations, not paraphrases.

My favourite is the New Living Translation (NLT); it's intended to be as readable as the Living Bible (which was a paraphrase), but as accurate as the NIV. I find it really speaks to me; even compared to the NIV I found nuances and motivations &c much clearer. Well worth a look. (Disclaimer: I've no connection &c &c)

It's one of the many versions you can see at the Bible Gateway, another useful site.