The Bible is easily available in the market today. Any person who wants to read the Bible can do so in a version that is easy to understand. Until a century ago, the King James Version of the Bible dominated the market. Not anymore.
In the last fifty years, new versions of the Bible have been published regularly and another one is coming. The New Testament version of the Common English Bible has been available since last year. Now, the complete Common English Bible will be published in August 2011.
The Common English Bible is designed to be easily understood by those who read this new translation. According to the information provided by its publishers, “The Common English Bible is a brand new translation of the Bible in a language that readers naturally speak and communicate—a common language.”
The publishers of the Common English Bible have provided samples of this new translation that can be read online or downloaded in PDF format. Below are the links for the books of Genesis and Psalms:
There are also samples of the New Testament. You can download the gospels of Matthew and Luke or you can search specific passages of the New Testament online. Below are the links for Matthew, Luke, and for searching the New Testament:
Read Psalm 1 in your favorite Bible and then read Psalm 1 in the Common English Bible. You will notice the difference.
In a few days I will write a post studying how the Common English Bible translates one specific verse in the book of Genesis.
Enjoy this new translation of the Bible.
Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament 
Translations are questionable to begin with, but it’s better to have a translation in a language they understand (modern-day English) than one that they think they understand (16th century English) (but unknowingly are misunderstanding scores of words on each page). I think when they start reading things that they aren’t quite understanding, something stands out as being not right, their minds get stressed so that they start disconnecting and just start reading words with no transfer of those words in their mind to where it would be interpreted in their mind (basically, their minds “glaze over”).
Now, if only they will either translate Shakespeare into modern-day English, or teach students what “wherefore” actually means — I’ll burn-out less brain cells in frustration at things such as the modern interpretations of the R&J balcony scene. 🙂 Not to make you think I despise old versions of English, I’m not; I’m one of those people who pronounce “thou” rhyming with “you” (or German “du”) and not rhyming it with “cow” like most people do, and I lament the loss of case-endings and verbal forms like we had in the Old English (which, really, is a language quite different from our modern “greco-romanic” English). 😛
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Rasonmagen,
I am not against modern translations of the Bible because I believe it is important to give the Bible to people in a language they can understand. The King James Bible was and is a great translation, but its English is so old that many people do not understand it. This is the reason new translations of the Bible appear almost every other year. I have not yet read much in this new translation of the Bible, but I like what I have read so far.
Thank you for your comment.
Claude Mariottini
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Look forward to your upcoming post looking at the CEB verse in Genesis. As a lay person, I find the Common English Bible translation to be very refreshing and readable. You and any readers on Facebook might be interested in the CEB’s Reading the Bible fan page – new passages are posted daily. Great to find these verses in my FB feed! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Reading-the-Bible/156994314317608
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Aclare,
My post on Genesis 3:15 was published today. In it I quote Genesis 3:15 from the CEB.
Claude Mariottini
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I downloaded the CEB to my Kindle a while back, and tried reading through it. I was not impressed, and finally took it off. E. g., Eph 4:9 has “he climbed up…” as the translation for “He ascended.” I find no linguistic merit for this translation. The translation is ripe with these kind of liberties. My ESL friends here in France might find it helpful, but most of them prefer the TEV or similar.
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Hldiehl,
I will not be able to read the book of Genesis until after the end of the academic year, which will happen the first week of June. Thank you for this information. The little bit I read of the book of Psalms also gave the same feeling, that the translators took some liberties with the Hebrew. However, I cannot make a more detailed evaluation of this translation until I read it.
Claude Mariottini
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Pingback: Translating Genesis 3:15 – Part 1 | Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament
Pingback: Translating Genesis 3:15 – Part 2 | Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament