'The Voice' New Testament: Step Into the Story of Scripture ~ Translated by Ecclesia Bible Society, Thomas Nelson, INC.

The Voice Bible translation is a faithful dynamic translation of the Scriptures done as a collage of compelling narratives, poetry, song, truth, and wisdom. The Voice calls the reader to step into the whole story of Scripture and experience the joy and wonder of God’s revelation. Created for and by a church in great transition, The Voice uniquely represents collaboration among scholars, pastors, writers, musicians, poets, and other artists, giving great attention to the beauty of the narrative. The heart of The Voice is retelling the story of the Bible in a form as fluid as modern literary works yet remaining painstakingly true to the original manuscripts. This translation promotes the public reading of longer sections of Scripture—followed by thoughtful engagement with the biblical narrative in its richness and fullness and dramatic flow.

This is an updated and revised version of the New Testament edition, now at an even more affordable price.

Features include:

• Italicized information added to help contemporary readers understand what the original readers would have known intuitively
•  In-text commentary notes include cultural, historical, theological, or devotional thoughts
• Screenplay format, ideal for public readings and group studies
• Book introductions

It is interesting to see this particular modern take on the Old Testament. Personally it has not been my preference for a variety of reasons to study contemporary versions of the Holy Scriptures. I appreciate the Word spoken by the Holy Spirit to be bridging the language barriers in the most precise way possible. That being said, however, if the translation is acceptable enough to parallel the sacred message and reaches out to saving souls, then I am vehemently a supporter.

Testing out this New Testament Bible everyday over about a two week period, there were very well known verses that did stick out to me that were obviously altered a bit. To others it may seem frivolous, but it is rather paramount to most Christians, especially myself, when we are dealing with the Word of the Lord. The simple replacement of a word or rearrangement of such can either change the meaning or alter the emphasis on what should be stressed.

The most interesting facet of The Voice to capture my attention is the dialogue format of the four Gospels. Each one is written out like a play. The Word still manages to be uniformly presented while designating each character's prominence in the setting. As per the subtitle of  "Step Into the Story of Scripture", I believe this most specifically points to the Gospel layout so unique to this version.

Conclusively I did find The Voice to be alluringly engaging in its narration, especially the dramatic Gospels. It is one of the more preferable contemporary versions out there on the market. I would recommend this Bible to be utilized more for meditation and primarily for new believers. Any research or scholarly endeavors should be shepherded to more authoritative and accurate translations. There is a lovely comparison of translations presented on the main website for The Voice allowing the reader to understand the differences and enhancements between.

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Other works edited by Ecclesia Bible Society

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This Bible was provided free for review by Thomas Nelson Publishers/BookSneeze