The English Standard version is one of the most accurate translations not to be confused with a transliteration. The King James in the old english is virtually unreadable. The New International version is pretty accurately translated and very easy reading.

The thing is the new testament was written primarily in greek which does not translate into english very well. Greek is a pretty complex language and many times a good greek lexicon is needed to grasp the true meaning behind a word. Most people are not willing to go to that much trouble and just listen to the preacher which is not always a good thing.....see Creflo Dollar.