Translation bias can sneak in anywhere. Even popular modern versions like the NIV have drawn criticism for leaning toward specific theological views.
The KJV and NKJV share the same manuscript tradition, so you’re in consistent territory there. I’d focus on which one helps you absorb what you’re reading.
Part of me wonders if picking the wrong translation means I’m already drifting.
What helps is remembering that God isn’t hiding Himself behind seventeenth-century English. Maybe ask what your church reads from publicly and use that so you can follow along, then keep the other at home for comparison.
I went through something similar with a young woman I discipled. She felt guilty leaving her grandmother’s KJV for an NKJV, almost like she was being disloyal to God. So we started reading Philippians together.
Words like “conversation” in the KJV confused her, but then she saw the NKJV say “conduct” and Paul’s call to live worthy of the gospel became something she could examine in her daily life.
If your NKJV is making you linger over Christ’s words instead of stumbling over older English, I’d take that as a gift.
Check the NKJV footnotes too. They show manuscript differences instead of hiding them, which can build confidence.
Both rest on the same Textus Receptus underneath. You didn’t pick wrong.
Solid 8/10. That’s the NKJV for daily reading. It works well for Bible study too and keeps me engaged with the text.