Bible Translation Seeks Easy Reading, Hearing ‘God’s Word In Your Words,’ Says Slogan For Ad Campaign

The Contemporary English Version of the Bible - arriving in bookstores next month propelled by an $8-million advertising blitz - may be the most easy-to-read translation of the perennial best seller ever published.

Other recent translations already have dumped the troublesome thees, thous and whithersoevers of the 17thcentury’s King James Version. But millions of Americans still weren’t sure just what such things as an “ark” and a “manger” were, American Bible Society translators found.

So, in this new version, they have Noah simply building a “boat” and Mary laying Jesus on a “bed of hay.” Instead of beating swords into plow-shares, the new version turns them into “rakes and shovels.”

“The truth can’t set you free if you can’t understand it,” says one slogan developed for the new Bible campaign by advertising giant Bozell International. This is the agency that promotes Taco Bell and American Airlines - and recently touted dairy products in ads showing celebrities with moist milk mustaches.

“God’s Word in Your Words,” says another Bozell slogan.

This translation is not just easy to read. It’s intended to be easy to hear, since American Bible Society research indicates that more people hear Bible passages read in churches than read them at home.

“We tried to produce a text that you can read aloud without stumbling, that people can hear without misunderstanding - and that people will enjoy hearing because the style is so lucid and lyrical,” said Barclay Newman, the head of the Bible society’s translation team.

Lines of poetry were printed in short phrases; punctuation was changed; words were chosen for their smooth rhythm and grace.

“In the story of the Last Supper, some translations say, ‘As they were eating, Jesus took bread.’ But when you read that aloud, you don’t hear the comma after the word ‘eating’ and it can sound like, ‘As they were eating Jesus,”’ Newman said. The translators worried that such phrasing might be confusing, since many Christians believe they are consuming the body of Jesus in the Eucharist.

The new translation says: “During the meal Jesus took some bread in his hands. He blessed the bread and broke it.”

Newman, who works for the American Bible Society in New York, has been laboring over the translation since 1985. His original assignment was to create a new version for children ages 5 to 9.

He organized a three-person translation team, supported by about 100 other consultants, scholars, reading experts and translators worldwide. He examined the society’s research on Bible reading in the United States and met with groups of children.

“Originally, we were doing this as a children’s translation - but we quickly discovered that parents and other adults, who were testing the text for us, liked it so much that we decided to call it the Contemporary English Version,” Newman said.