The New Testament, Hardcover/Michael Straus

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Description My goal in this translation has been to bring some fresh turns of phrase to the Gospels, histories, letters, and revelatory texts already familiar to English readers and listeners, not least because they are the source of sayings and stories embedded in our language by virtue of the long dominance of the King James Version of the Bible. Although the Hebrew and Greek materials used for that version had their flaws, the quality of the English can hardly be improved upon. Some later translations relying on better materials have improved the accuracy of the text, but rarely the rhythm and force of the style. My aim is therefore not to supplant other translations so much as to shed light on obscure passages; capture aspects of the man Jesus' personality as presented distinctively in the Gospels; convey in relatively plain language Christian doctrine and experience as related in Acts and the Epistles; and reflect the atemporal nature of the Book of Revelation. I have generally aimed for fluid, contemporary language--avoiding the overly literal, freely adopting the colloquial, and taking grammatical license where the writer employed imagery not subject to standard linguistic limitations. My goal is a user-friendly translation at once enjoyable, novelistic, and at times poetic. "Good translations take risks and let you read a familiar text as though for the first time. This irresistibly colloquial and energetic version of Christian Scripture keeps up a flow of linguistic vigor and sheds much fresh light: both the narratives of the Gospels and the arguments of the Epistles are presented with memorable vividness, and the rendering of the Book of Revelation is a genuine tour de force. There are definitely some high-risk decisions, but the overall impression is of a text that is wonderfully and confidently alive." --Rowan Williams, Anglican bishop, former Archbishop of Canterbury "Now more than ever, when sacred texts are too often used as weapons of terror, there