Proper English translation

lol.. As if I didn't have enough reasons to not like the "Message".

The ESV panders to evangelicals and mistranslates verses by doing so. The NRSV is a faithful and accurate translation, it doesn't "pander" to anyone

The ESV is the best Evangelical translation I've found, and that includes the KJV. What are your complaints about it?
It uses gender inclusive language, cucks out with Isaiah 7:14, Romans 9:5, etc.. I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.

That's because the KJV isn't evangelical :P

I don't see how it'd be better though. The KJV holds up the same textual tradition that's been taught across the whole church (be it Protestant, Latin, or Eastern) and lines up with Patristic readings accurately. For that alone, I prefer it and hate the assumption that everything was somehow wrong until the the late 19th century. The whole premise behind this notion of the "progress of scripture" is retarded. I can deal with modern bibles, but would never say they're better for this alone.

The KJV isn't a bad translation, however it does lean towards Protestantism, has its fair share of translation errors, and (while the book itself isn't to blame for this one) a number of its blind followers either misinterpret or otherwise cannot understand much of it thanks to its archaic language.

I think it leads less towards Protestantism than even the translations Catholics, for example, champion now. RSV is good, but it was created by the worst liberal Protestants in it's day (and the Catholic Edition, admittedly, fixes some of these things.. but not all).

The KJV came at a time when even the Protestants of those days were more traditionally minded than Catholics even (just compare it to the NAB, for example). And the only thing that's explicitly Protestant may be the greeting of Gabriel to Mary, where it says, "Hail, highly favored one!"

That's pretty minor though. And the translation is accurate in one sense. It could either be "favored one" or "full of grace". The word for "favor" is actually the one usually translated as grace, but it's past tense. A more accurate reading would probably be "Hail, graced one" (or highly graced one).

In John, where it says Jesus is "full of grace and truth", it's a similar statement in Greek, except it's not present tense. Here, Jesus is the actual vessel of grace and not the "graced" one as in Mary's case. I like the "full of grace" translation for Mary, but it can also be misleading for some people.. who mistake it in the same way it's meant for Jesus. She's not the vessel of grace.

Sorry to make that long, but honestly, that's the only thing I can think of that you can tell their Protestant biases showed. Otherwise, it's a pretty literal and traditional translation.

I agree. Most of the translations today are a disgrace and should not be used by the Church. Lay Catholics themselves aren't as fond of those translations.
The RSV is mediocre imo, and vastly improved (but not anywhere near perfect) with the 2CE. The NRSV doubled down on the stupidity, while the ESV (like the RSV2CE) fixed many of the mistakes made with the originals.
It is, but much of its language leaves room for misinterpretation (e.g. the verses on divorce), which does not go over well with the average Christian when they pick a KJV up and try interpreting it for themselves. Today, it's better to have a translation that is accurate and easy for a lay reader to understand, which I believe the ESV does well enough. I'll give the KJV credit for not omitting verses such as Matthew 19:9, John 3:13, Romans 13:9, etc.. That's my main complaint about the ESV and versions of the RSV (including the 2CE). Hopefully we'll see them further improved in our lifetimes.

Gender inclusive language is necessary in English, it's how we speak. The NRSV isn't a translation of the Septuagint: it accurately translates "almah" as "young woman" and has a footnote for the LXX reading. There is also a footnote at Romans 9:5 about the other possible translations - the NASB (an evangelical translation) translates "over all, God blessed forever" and Ehrman translates "God over all, blessed forever", so this isn't a good litmus test for liberalism.

It isn't accurate though. Jews have been playing that trick since Jerome's day, thinking all Christians were stupid goy. And he responded with the proper translation, and why the LXX was translated as it was.

Almah means a hidden young woman (and contains the root of the word "hidden"). And it's only used a few times. If a common phrase as "young woman" was the right one, you'd think it'd be more prevalent than than a small number. That's because it IS prevalent, but by another word: "Naarah". Almah is a girl hidden, as in kept close to her parents, hidden from presentation (for marriage prospects). The LXX simply used virgin because it's the closest equivalent. Most languages don't have an exact word for "Almah". But many cultures at least used to understand the concept. Like even a hundred years ago, in Victorian England or America, girls were kept hidden in their maiden state, until they were finally presented and shown off at public affairs and such.

Even, say, modern Mexican cultures somewhat have this. At least with the brothers. You ever try getting close to the prized daughter of a Mexican family? You'll be kissing all of their butts to even get a chance. And even them, their brothers will punk you out and beat you up if they don't like you.

In Israelite culture, it was slightly different, since they had prearranged marriages.. but once that deal was made, the girl would be be presented until her teens.

What Isaiah is essentially saying is NOT only is this girl a virgin, she's a virgin kept close under watch.. it's like a "virgin +". That is there NO WAY she is out of her parents' sight.

Oh, I meant to quote Jerome. He essentially said the same I did in less words:

"I know that the Jews are accustomed to meet us with the objection that in Hebrew the word Almah does not mean a Virgin, but a young woman. And, to speak truth, a virgin is properly
called Bethulah, but a young woman, or a girl, is not Almah, but Naarah! What then is the meaning of Almah? A hidden virgin, that is, not merely virgin, but a virgin and something more, because not every virgin is hidden, shut off from the occasional sight of men."