Legacy Standard Bible(LSB)
An update of the NASB tradition designed to be the most consistently literal English translation available.
At a Glance
- Reading Level
- 10-11 (est.)†
- NT Textual Basis
- Critical Text
- Quote Limit
- 1,000 verses
- Red Letter Edition
- Red letter edition available: Yes
- Marks OT Quotations in NT
- Marks OT quotations in NT: Yes(Small caps)
- Italicizes Translator Words
- Italicizes translator-supplied words: Yes
- Capitalizes Deity Pronouns
- Capitalizes deity pronouns: Yes
- Quotation Marks for Dialogue
- Uses quotation marks for dialogue: Yes
† Flagged for manual verification against current publisher documentation.
Overview
The Legacy Standard Bible is the newest translation on this site, first published in 2021. It grew out of a concern from John MacArthur and colleagues at The Master's Seminary that the NASB 1995 edition — the translation many conservative pastors and seminaries had relied on for decades — might eventually be phased out in favor of a more moderate revision. The LSB is a joint project of the Lockman Foundation, Three Sixteen Publishing, and the John MacArthur Charitable Trust, with a translation committee drawn from scholars and preachers at The Master's Seminary and The Master's University.
Rather than a translation built from scratch, the LSB is explicitly framed as a direct update of the NASB 1995 text — aiming to “more fully implement” that translation's already strict, word-for-word philosophy, tighten its consistency, and modernize a small amount of archaic wording.
On gender language, the LSB takes a traditional approach: it keeps the same generic masculine wording pattern as the NASB 1995 and the ESV, deliberately choosing not to adopt the more moderate, gender-inclusive language introduced in the NASB's later 2020 update.
As the newest and least widely available translation on this site, the LSB doesn't yet have the decades-deep library of study Bibles and commentaries that older translations have built up — its use so far is concentrated mainly within Reformed and complementarian ministry circles connected to MacArthur's teaching ministry.
Distinctives
- A direct update of the NASB 1995 edition, produced to preserve and “more fully implement” that translation's strict literal philosophy for future generations.
- Prints the Hebrew divine name as “Yahweh” throughout the Old Testament, where the NASB it revises — like nearly every English Bible — uses “Lord.” (The 1901 ASV, earlier in the same family, spelled it out as “Jehovah.”)
- Translates the Greek word doulos consistently as “slave” rather than “bondservant” or “servant,” aiming to preserve the full weight of the term's original meaning.
- Capitalizes pronouns referring to God (He, His, Him) throughout, a formatting convention several other modern translations have moved away from.
- Still the newest translation on this site — it doesn't yet have a major study Bible ecosystem, and it currently has no free public Bible-text API.
Good Fit For
- Readers and preachers who already value the NASB's literal tradition and want the most consistently literal translation available today.
- Word studies and expository preaching where matching English words consistently to their underlying Hebrew or Greek terms matters.
- Churches and ministries connected to Grace Community Church, The Master's Seminary, or John MacArthur's teaching ministry, where the LSB is the primary pulpit text.
Worth Knowing
The LSB exists partly because of a fork in the road for the NASB. When the Lockman Foundation released a 2020 update to the NASB that introduced some moderate, gender-inclusive language, John MacArthur and The Master's Seminary partnered with Lockman to instead continue developing the NASB 1995 text along its original, fully traditional path — that separate project became the LSB.
Sample Verse — John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org