Sunday, December 14, 2014

Knox vs. The Message: Third Sunday of Advent (1 Thessalonians 5:16-24)

I am going to continue this series of comparing one of the Sunday readings from the lectionary, using the Knox Bible and The Message.  While done in different ways, I think both Knox and Peterson desired to make the Bible more accessible to the average reader.  Let's see if they were successful.

Knox:
 Joy be with you always.  Never cease praying.  Give thanks upon all occasions; this is what God expects of you all in Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the utterances of the Spirit, do not hold prophecy in low esteem; and yet you must scrutinize it all carefully, retaining only what is good, and rejecting all that has a look of evil about it. So may the God of peace sanctify you wholly, keep spirit and soul and body unimpaired, to greet the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ without reproach.  The God who called you is true to his promise; he will not fail you.

The Message:
Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. Don’t suppress the Spirit, and don’t stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good. Throw out anything tainted with evil. May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Seems like the same things are being said Also checked the GNT-CE and this is what it says:

Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus. Do not restrain the Holy Spirit; do not despise inspired messages. Put all things to the test: keep what is good and avoid every kind of evil. May the God who gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being—spirit, soul, and body—free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you will do it, because he is faithful.

Still not seeing any major differences in _what's_ being said, just how it's being said.

Thanks for doing this series of comparisons. I hope this is read by a lot of people and cures some of the translation snobbery that happens a lot on the WWW.

rolf said...

Nothing crazy in the Message reading today, but there is always next Sunday!

rolf said...

The Jerusalem Bible has a nice version of this reading that flows very well:

'Be happy at all times; pray constantly; and for all things give thanks to God, because this is what God expects you to do in Christ Jesus. Never try to suppress the Spirit or treat the gift of prophecy with contempt; think before you do anything - hold on to what is good and avoid every form of evil. May the God of peace make you perfect and holy; and may you all be kept safe and blameless, spirit, soul and body, for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has called you and he will not fail you.'

Jim said...

Ed, I agree with your comment regarding Bible snobbery. Each Bible can provides a different insight into a passage, in turn, that may aid the reader to fully respond to the truth. Thus, one Bible is not enough as rolf shows by introducing The Jerusalem Bible into the discussion. If we are unsure of the "Truth" we are lucky as Catholics we have other resources such as the CCC.

T. said...

Ditto, Ed Rio! Also, I just bought the GNT because I discovered it's hundreds of wonderful line illustrations by Annie Vallotton. Sold!
Well, it's actually for my daughter's upcoming First Holy Communion because I thought it would be a perfect first complete bible between the GNT translation and the illustrations. Wish I could get a Kindle version w/illustrations for myself.

Unknown said...

Thanks Rolf for posting the reading from the Jerusalem Bible. That's another one I like. (Oh, who am I kidding...I like almost all of 'em!)
I've read the NT or at least some of it of the NAB,GNT-CE, JB, TLB,RSV-CE, and KJV. To me they all say pretty much the same thing, what stands out when reading them...that can vary.
Yes, Jim, we are lucky that we have the Church to teach and guide us. I can't imagine relying on my own interpretation.

T.- I think your daughter will really enjoy the GNT. The every day language will be nice for her, and the line drawings seem to help people of all ages. At the least, they're a good reminder for those of us a little further down the road of years to stop and picture what's going on and being said in the Bible.