I can't say about German bibles, but the Norton Critical Edition KJV is great for literary study of the bible in English. It's hard to beat the KJV in terms of

I can't say about German bibles, but the Norton Critical Edition KJV is great for literary study of the bible in English. It's hard to beat the KJV in terms of poetic quality (not to mention its massive influence on the development of the language itself), but even simple archaisms like separate second-person singular and plural pronouns preserve meaning lacking in more modern English translations. This edition has copious notes providing deep textual analysis. It's definitely a very slow read. Any recommendations on Christian (or not) mysticism? That's not something I've ever delved into at all.