I figure that I have to type a note about what I believe/my faith, so that any readers would understand the angle from which I am coming. I am a Christian, specifically I am Orthodox Christian. However, I am not cradle, as in, I was not born into Orthodoxy. I was instead born Roman Catholic; however, my family rarely attended mass, and for that, I consider myself quite ignorant on theology and the actual teachings of Christianity.
I am a fan of the King James Version (KJV), specifically because it sounds very poetic to an English ear, however, it is well-known that this is not the best translation of the Bible into English. Because of this fact, I regularly use the Biblia Vulgata (Latin version of the Bible); this Bible also has criticisms, albeit less than many English translations.
The problem with English translations, is that the Wycliffe (WYC) and KJV had a lot of influence on British Christians (and later Anglosphere Christians) about what the bible _should_ sound like. This issue caused most to see the KJV as the definitive translation, and with that, any alternate translation or text, no matter how accurate, to be incorrect. Whilst I cannot speak for modern Anglicans and other British Christians, I can speak for the South and the US in general. The KJV is seen as almost the _true_ Bible by most Protestants in the States, and thus, any attempt at using post-KJV discovered sources, or simply more accurate language in translations, has led to mass rejection of these more modern translations by most; some even calling them intentionally or un-intentionally corrupted.
The other issue with English translations, from the Orthodox (and to a lesser extent Catholic) perspective, is that most Anglos are Protestants, meaning that translations into English by them, no matter how sincere at being accurate, is biased towards Protestant beliefs. This also means that these translations often do not contain the Catholic or Orthodox Deuterocanonical books (also called the Apocrypha by most Protestants). This is a very large issue as Catholics accept many books the Protestants do not, and Orthodox a few more on top of the ones Catholics accept. So, most English Bible translations often lack books we consider to be canonical, meaning you either forfeit the entire translation, or must use at least two (one for the standard canon, and another for the deuterocanon).
This leads me to modern translations, specifically the BSB. It has changed name in the last couple of years, preferring 'Standard' over 'Study' now, which most agree is a good change, as it never had footnotes or margin notes containing commentary (what most would consider a necessity in a study bible).
Unfortunately, as stated above, it does not contain the deuterocanon, however, it seems to be quite a good, modern translation of the Bible.
It often has footnotes where multiple translation options could be understood from the original Hebrew/Aramaic or Greek, and does not seem to insert modern cultural ideas into the Bible, whilst still keeping easy-to-read, modern language.
For this reason, I generally feel I could recommend it, even to an Orthodox Christian, for someone that wants a modern reading of the Bible instead of the KJV. However, it is still not approved by the Church, as I believe no English translation is currently approved by the Church; even the Orthodox Study Bible's OT and NT translations being critiqued by learned Orthodox Christians. Outside of learning Greek and Hebrew, or defaulting back to the Latin, I think that this is the best modern translation I have came across.
It also does not read so clinical or bland like many other modern translations. I really feel that it finds a good balance between modern language and good reading.
