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R
i like both...
but the HCSB's translations are a little 'unpolished' in some places...hopefully there will be a second edition sooner or later...
i prefer the NKJV over the HCSB...the NKJV is especially a beautiful read in the gospels...
of the bibles other people mentioned...the NASB is my favorite...you might pair that with an NLT or NIV...1984 edition instead of the 2011 edition if possible...if you want to compare it with a more 'readable' translation... as for the ESV i find it almost grating when it comes to readability sometimes...the grammar is not especially articulate...a second edition of the ESV would benefit a lot from an english style consultant...
but the HCSB's translations are a little 'unpolished' in some places...hopefully there will be a second edition sooner or later...
i prefer the NKJV over the HCSB...the NKJV is especially a beautiful read in the gospels...
of the bibles other people mentioned...the NASB is my favorite...you might pair that with an NLT or NIV...1984 edition instead of the 2011 edition if possible...if you want to compare it with a more 'readable' translation... as for the ESV i find it almost grating when it comes to readability sometimes...the grammar is not especially articulate...a second edition of the ESV would benefit a lot from an english style consultant...
S
Then HCSB is the one I'd recommend, even though it's my last favorite out of all the choices. I cannot in good conscience recommend the NIV. See why below - bad trees cannot bear good fruit
You could still consider printing out a list of books to read to get things chronologically, it shouldn't be more than a page or two, and then you can get whatever bible you want. Once you get out of the one year niche bibles, you can get whatever you want, and the sky will be the limit for binding quality.
Why don't we just tell people to stop buying the NIV and send a clear message - mess with the underlying text in an attempt to force gender neutrality, and lose sales of your very profitable bible translation.
The driving force behind the 2011 NIV wasn't a bunch of scholars, it was the love of mammon. What they did wasn't even a paraphrase to try to make the bible more understandable, it was a bold faced deception. Their market data showed that there was a need for a gender neutral bible, so decisions in the boardroom drove the translation. That's not biblical Christianity, it's pandering. Christ is male, God is referred to as male, the Holy Spirit is referred to as male, tinkering with gender in the bible is a very dangerous game.
If a pastor was doing this, we'd be screaming he's a false teacher. Why give Zondervan a pass? The NIV should be dead in the minds of believers. A good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit, and this gender neutrality is bad fruit. It's meddling with the underlying text, and ironically gives the KJV only advocates quite a bit of ammunition.
You could still consider printing out a list of books to read to get things chronologically, it shouldn't be more than a page or two, and then you can get whatever bible you want. Once you get out of the one year niche bibles, you can get whatever you want, and the sky will be the limit for binding quality.
Why don't we just tell people to stop buying the NIV and send a clear message - mess with the underlying text in an attempt to force gender neutrality, and lose sales of your very profitable bible translation.
The driving force behind the 2011 NIV wasn't a bunch of scholars, it was the love of mammon. What they did wasn't even a paraphrase to try to make the bible more understandable, it was a bold faced deception. Their market data showed that there was a need for a gender neutral bible, so decisions in the boardroom drove the translation. That's not biblical Christianity, it's pandering. Christ is male, God is referred to as male, the Holy Spirit is referred to as male, tinkering with gender in the bible is a very dangerous game.
If a pastor was doing this, we'd be screaming he's a false teacher. Why give Zondervan a pass? The NIV should be dead in the minds of believers. A good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit, and this gender neutrality is bad fruit. It's meddling with the underlying text, and ironically gives the KJV only advocates quite a bit of ammunition.
They can just change the lexicon.... 
-> How Have Inclusiveness and Tolerance Affected the Bauer-Danker Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (BDAG)? | The Works of John Frame and Vern Poythress
"So let us turn to the key entry in BDAG under πατήρ (“father”). We find a significant change from the second English edition (BAGD). In the latest edition (BDAG), section 6 under πατήρ, which discusses God as Father, gives the following definition: “the supreme deity, who is responsible for the origin and care of all that exists, Father, Parent” [boldface and italics belong to BDAG]. Note the occurrence of the word “Parent.” That word, as a designation for God, occurs neither in the second English edition (BAGD) nor in the 6th German edition. It is an innovation in BDAG. Why this addition?"
-> How Have Inclusiveness and Tolerance Affected the Bauer-Danker Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (BDAG)? | The Works of John Frame and Vern Poythress
"So let us turn to the key entry in BDAG under πατήρ (“father”). We find a significant change from the second English edition (BAGD). In the latest edition (BDAG), section 6 under πατήρ, which discusses God as Father, gives the following definition: “the supreme deity, who is responsible for the origin and care of all that exists, Father, Parent” [boldface and italics belong to BDAG]. Note the occurrence of the word “Parent.” That word, as a designation for God, occurs neither in the second English edition (BAGD) nor in the 6th German edition. It is an innovation in BDAG. Why this addition?"