New "Common English Bible"

If you haven’t seen it yet, the new Common English Bible translation (due to be completed this summer) is worth a look.

According to the CEB website, more than 500 people from 22 different faith traditions are participating in the development of this new translation: 118 translators, 10 editors, and 77 reading group leaders. 

One of the primary concerns of the translators (beside accurate translation, of course) is that the texts be accessible to a broad range of people and age-groups.  More than 400 people in 77 different reading groups were assigned a book of the Bible.  The readers—young people, pastors, lay leaders, teachers, retirees and others—were asked to read the text aloud to one another and comment on unclear or awkward phrasing.

Here’s an example from the CEB, compared with the same text in both the NRSV and NIV translations:

Luke 17:3-4  Common English Bible (CEB)  “Watch yourselves! If your brother or sister sins, warn them to stop. If they change their hearts and lives, forgive them. Even if someone sins against you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times and says, 'I am changing my ways,' you must forgive that person.”

Luke 17:3-4  New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) “Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive."

Luke 17:3-4  New International Version (NIV)  “So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him.”

The CEB New Testament is already available; the rest of the Bible will be completed this summer. If you’re interested in reading more, free PDF downloads of Genesis, Psalms, Matthew and Luke are available online at the CEB website.  The site also includes a "passage look-up" box so that you can explore other passages.