Today's new version comes directly from the translator currently working this
new work. It is the
Open English Translation. The translator is currently seeking others to help bring this work to
fruition. He wrote to me:
I'm needing lots of help and who knows who your blog might reach? As well as the obvious (translators, checkers, programmers) I'm also after someone to write both brief and extensive book introductions, as well as specialist footnote/study-note writers (e.g., a series of footnotes aimed at Muslim readers, or Hindu readers, or a set on Text Criticism or Calvinism (for/against), etc., etc.) Everything submitted will be openly available for all future generations to freely take advantage of.
Please visit the website (
openenglishtranslation.bible) if you are interested in joining this project.
From the website, distinctives of this work:
- a Readers’ Version and a very Literal Version side-by-side
-
not bound by church jargon, unnecessary tradition, and following the crowd,
in an attempt to communicate well to non-churched readers, yet to provoke
and stimulate seasoned Bible readers
-
a commitment to accuracy and high-quality, and to wrestle with the text to
try to determine the likely intent of the various biblical writers
-
following modern trends in our societies of showing more respect to other
language groups by doing the same with the names of the Biblical characters
-
designed from the beginning to connect with other resources including links
to the original manuscripts
-
not a commercial product like most English Bibles—freely available to use,
copy, print, adapt, or retranslate—no need to ask for permission
