CHRISTIAN BIBLE
THERE ARE MANY TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE FROM THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES (HEBREW AND GREEK) AS WELL AS FROM EARLY ENGLISH OR GERMAN TRANSLATIONS.
BELOW ARE SOME SAMPLES OF 3 VERSIONS I LIKE.
1. THE MESSAGE BIBLE WAS RECENTLY (1992 T0 2002) TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES AND USES MORE CONTEMPORARY, EVERYDAY ENGLISH.
2. THE SECOND SAMPLE IS FROM THE KING JAMES ENGLISH, WHICH WAS ALSO TRANSLATED FROM THE HEBREW AND GREEK LANGUAGES, BUT WAS PUBLISHED IN 1611. I LOVE THE OLD ENGLISH. 3. THE THIRD VERSION WAS REVISED FROM THE 1971 EDITION OF THE REVISED STANDARD VERSION. ALL 3 FOLLOW AN "ESSENTIALLY LITERAL" TRANSLATION PHILOSOPHY.
FOR THESE AND MORE VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE (INCLUDING JAPANESE AND MANY OTHER LANGUAGES) GO TO BIBLEGATEWAY OR BIBLICA.
Here are a few lines from the very first chapter in the Bible, according to The Message version. Click on the link for more.
Genesis 1 -- The Message Bible (MSG)
Heaven and Earth
1 1-2 First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
3-5 God spoke: “Light!”
And light appeared.
God saw that light was good
and separated light from dark.
God named the light Day,
he named the dark Night.
It was evening, it was morning--
Day One.
Here is the King James Version, which has been my personal favorite for many years, but is in the Elizabethan or Shakespearean English of the 17th century and may be harder to understand.
Genesis 1 -- King James Version (KJV)
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Here are the same few lines, but another translation--English Standard Version. Click on the link for more.
Genesis 1 -- English Standard Version (ESV)
The Creation of the World
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Genesis 1 -- Japanese
まだ何もない時、神様は天と地をお造りになりました。 2地球はまだ形が定まらず
やみにおおわれた氷の上を、さらに神様の霊がおおっていました。
3 「光よ、輝け」と神様が命じました。 すると光がさっと輝いたのです。 45それ
を見て、神様は大いに満足し、光とやみとを区別しました。 しばらくのあいだ光はその
まま輝き続け、やがて、もう一度やみに閉ざされました。 神様は光を「昼」、やみを「夜」
と名づけました。 昼と夜ができて、一日目は終わりです。
Here's the link to download all the books in the Bible in Japanese.
BELOW ARE SOME SAMPLES OF 3 VERSIONS I LIKE.
1. THE MESSAGE BIBLE WAS RECENTLY (1992 T0 2002) TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES AND USES MORE CONTEMPORARY, EVERYDAY ENGLISH.
2. THE SECOND SAMPLE IS FROM THE KING JAMES ENGLISH, WHICH WAS ALSO TRANSLATED FROM THE HEBREW AND GREEK LANGUAGES, BUT WAS PUBLISHED IN 1611. I LOVE THE OLD ENGLISH. 3. THE THIRD VERSION WAS REVISED FROM THE 1971 EDITION OF THE REVISED STANDARD VERSION. ALL 3 FOLLOW AN "ESSENTIALLY LITERAL" TRANSLATION PHILOSOPHY.
FOR THESE AND MORE VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE (INCLUDING JAPANESE AND MANY OTHER LANGUAGES) GO TO BIBLEGATEWAY OR BIBLICA.
Here are a few lines from the very first chapter in the Bible, according to The Message version. Click on the link for more.
Genesis 1 -- The Message Bible (MSG)
Heaven and Earth
1 1-2 First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
3-5 God spoke: “Light!”
And light appeared.
God saw that light was good
and separated light from dark.
God named the light Day,
he named the dark Night.
It was evening, it was morning--
Day One.
Here is the King James Version, which has been my personal favorite for many years, but is in the Elizabethan or Shakespearean English of the 17th century and may be harder to understand.
Genesis 1 -- King James Version (KJV)
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Here are the same few lines, but another translation--English Standard Version. Click on the link for more.
Genesis 1 -- English Standard Version (ESV)
The Creation of the World
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Genesis 1 -- Japanese
まだ何もない時、神様は天と地をお造りになりました。 2地球はまだ形が定まらず
やみにおおわれた氷の上を、さらに神様の霊がおおっていました。
3 「光よ、輝け」と神様が命じました。 すると光がさっと輝いたのです。 45それ
を見て、神様は大いに満足し、光とやみとを区別しました。 しばらくのあいだ光はその
まま輝き続け、やがて、もう一度やみに閉ざされました。 神様は光を「昼」、やみを「夜」
と名づけました。 昼と夜ができて、一日目は終わりです。
Here's the link to download all the books in the Bible in Japanese.