Jan 9, 2017
GENESIS 17-18:
In
chapter 15 we heard of God's covenant with Abram and Abram's _fully
believing_ God's promises. Then in chapter 16 we read of Abram and
Sarai trying to help God fulfill his promises.
Chapter 15 verse 6 is a famous verse that is quoted three times in the NT:
6 Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him. (GNT)
[The NT translates this verse a bit differently because it is quoted from the Septuagint (the LXX, the ancient translation of the Old Testament into Koine Greek, made in the third and second centuries BC). ]
JOB 9:
In
chapter 8, Bildad defended God as always acting with justice and
insisted that this meant that there had to be some sin on Job's
part or his children's.
MARK 6a:
In
the second half of Mark5, Jesus did two amazing miracles— the
second one causing a dead girl to live again.
——————
Missionary Bible translators will tell you that when a Bible book is recorded, the readers often make good suggestions to improve the naturalness of the text. Similarly, the changes I have suggested for the NLT are often simply because I they sounded more natural to me without changing the meaning. In other places, I have made more important suggestions based on my Bible translation experience, and have written notes explaining my reasoning. Many of you will just want to skip reading the translation notes. I have included them in the reading plan in the hope that some who are reading the GNT and NLT will enjoy them.
GNT Translation
notes:
Gen. 18:12 So
Sarah laughed to herself and said, “Now that I am old and worn out,
can I still enjoy [having a child//sex]? And besides, my husband is
old too.”
25 Surely you
won't kill the innocent with the guilty. [That wouldn’t be
right!//That's impossible!] You can't do that. If you did [that],
the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That
[wouldn’t be right//is impossible]. The judge of all the earth has
to act justly.”
====
Job
9:27-28 If I smile and try to forget my
pain,
all my suffering
comes back to haunt me;
I
know that God [holds//does hold] me guilty.
====
Mrk.
6:6 He was greatly surprised, because the people did not [believe
in him//have faith].
14
Now King Herod heard about all this, because Jesus' reputation had
spread everywhere. Some people were saying, “John the Baptist has
come back to life! That is why [Jesus//he] has this power to
perform miracles.”
15
Others, however, said, “He is Elijah[ (come back from
heaven)].”
Others said,
“He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long
ago.”
16 When Herod heard
it, he said, “[He’s gotta be//He is] John the Baptist! I had his
head cut off, but he has come back to life!”
17 Herod himself had ordered John's arrest, and
he had him tied up and put in prison. Herod did this because of
[Herodiana//Herodias], whom he had married, even though she was the
wife of his brother Philip.
19 So [Herodiana//Herodias] held a grudge
against John and wanted to kill him, but she could not because of
Herod.
[In our
translations in Indonesia, it was found to help understanding to
give Herodias a more feminine sounding name. In Indonesian Herod is
Herodes, and Herodias was too close in sound and the two names
became confused. Even though English does not have that
problem, I think it will helps a little to give her a name that
people will recognize as a girl-name.]
NlT Translation
notes:
17 For Herod had
sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John as a favor to
[Herodiana/Herodias]. She had been his brother Philip’s wife, but
Herod had married her.
18
John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to
marry your brother’s wife.” 19 So
[Herodiana/Herodias] bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill
him. But without Herod’s approval she was
powerless,
[In our
translations in Indonesia, it was found to help understanding to
give Herodias a more feminine sounding name. In Indonesian Herod is
Herodes, and Herodias was too close in sound and becomes
confusing. Even though English does not have that problem, I
think it will help some to give her name that people will recognize
as a girl-name.]
21 [Herodianas’s]
chance finally came on Herod’s
birthday. He gave a party for his high government officials, army
officers, and the leading citizens of
Galilee.
22 Then
[Herodiana's/his] daughter, also named Herodia came in and
performed a dance that greatly pleased Herod and his guests. “Ask
me for anything you like,” the king said to the girl, “and I will
give it to you.”
[As
NLT's footnote shows, there is a textual problem in this verse. I
have changed this to be like NIV, CEV, ESV and many
others.]