Any readers of The Message, Bible translation?

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Nov 23, 2013
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#61
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. "

John 1:14 "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

I rest my case! View attachment 203206
You’re resting in error.
 

crossnote

Senior Member
Nov 24, 2012
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#62
I never knew this even existed. I haven’t gave it a good look through yet but reading certain verses in different translations can sometimes make it a little bit clearer.

For instance:

Matthew 5:3
KJV
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”

MSG
"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule”

Thoughts?
Not a translation but a paraphrase bordering on a commentary.
 

Whispered

Well-known member
Aug 17, 2019
4,551
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www.christiancourier.com
#63
I never knew this even existed. I haven’t gave it a good look through yet but reading certain verses in different translations can sometimes make it a little bit clearer.

For instance:

Matthew 5:3
KJV
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”

MSG
"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule”

Thoughts?
I'm going to give it a look also. I checked our library and they have many different copies in various forms. Hardcover, soft, and so forth. I found this synopsis that helps also I think.

Summary: The Message - Presents a version of the Bible using colloquial American idioms.
"[This book] is a reading Bible translated from the original Greek and Hebrew Scriptures by scholar, pastor, author, and poet Eugene Peterson. Thoroughly reviewed and approved by twenty biblical scholars, [this book] combines the authority of God's Word with the cadence and energy of conversational English. What makes [this book] the best reading Bible? Discover for yourself. Feel the impact of a Bible translated into conversational English. Enjoy the familiar one-column design, like books you're used to. Find passages with ... unique verse-numbered paragraphs. See the big picture with “The Story of the Bible in Five Acts,” alongside handcrafted timelines and charts. Keep your place with a satin ribbon marker. Come and delight in the unexpected passion and personality that fill God's Word."
I found a sample of a chapter also. Please click this link
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
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#64
I'm going to give it a look also. I checked our library and they have many different copies in various forms. Hardcover, soft, and so forth. I found this synopsis that helps also I think.

Summary: The Message - Presents a version of the Bible using colloquial American idioms.
"[This book] is a reading Bible translated from the original Greek and Hebrew Scriptures by scholar, pastor, author, and poet Eugene Peterson. Thoroughly reviewed and approved by twenty biblical scholars, [this book] combines the authority of God's Word with the cadence and energy of conversational English. What makes [this book] the best reading Bible? Discover for yourself. Feel the impact of a Bible translated into conversational English. Enjoy the familiar one-column design, like books you're used to. Find passages with ... unique verse-numbered paragraphs. See the big picture with “The Story of the Bible in Five Acts,” alongside handcrafted timelines and charts. Keep your place with a satin ribbon marker. Come and delight in the unexpected passion and personality that fill God's Word."
I found a sample of a chapter also. Please click this link
I didnt know he was a poet. But it shouldnt be described as converstional english, but american salestalk.
The kind used by motivational speakers. It kind of reminds me of the language used in such books like Think and Grow Rich and The Secret.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
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#65
Matthew 6:
9 So, pray lidis,
‘God, you our Fadda.
You stay inside da sky.
We like all da peopo know fo shua how you stay,
An dat you stay good an spesho,
An we like dem give you plenny respeck.
10 We like you come King fo everybody now.
We like everybody make jalike you like,
Ova hea inside da world,
Jalike da angel guys up inside da sky make jalike you like.
11 Give us da food we need fo every day.
12 Hemo our shame, an let us go
Fo all da kine bad stuff we do to you,
Jalike us guys let da odda guys go awready,
An we no stay huhu wit dem
Fo all da kine bad stuff dey do to us.
13 No let us get chance fo do bad kine stuff,
But take us outa dea, so da Bad Guy no can hurt us.
[Cuz you our King,
You get da real power,
An you stay awesome foeva.
Dass it!]’




View attachment 203198
da Hawai`i Pidgin New Testament
I like dis one.
 

Lightskin

Well-known member
Aug 16, 2019
3,165
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#66
Here’s a list of translations and their suggested reading level:

King James Version (KJV): 12th grade

Revised Standard Version (RSV): 12th grade

New American Standard Bible (NASB): 11th grade

New Revised Standard Version (RNSV): 11th grade

English Standard Version (ESV): 10th grade

New International Version (NIV): 8th grade

Holman Christian Standard Version (HCSV): 8th grade

New King James Version (NKJV): 7th grade

New Living Translation (NLT): 6th grade

God’s Word (GW): 5th grade

The Message (MSG): 5th grade

New Century Version (NCV): 3rd grade
If KJV is deemed 12th grade reading level then I’m stuck in Kindergarten.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
36,530
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#67
The Bible says we are born again by the word of God but you say we are born again by dying to the flesh.

That’s polar opposites, why do you believe that?

Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
(John 12:24)

i don't think they are polar opposites.
the word of God is quick and powerful, even to divide soul and spirit -- does a sword not put to death the thing it strikes through?
 
Nov 23, 2013
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#71
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
(John 12:24)

i don't think they are polar opposites.
the word of God is quick and powerful, even to divide soul and spirit -- does a sword not put to death the thing it strikes through?
Just so that I’m sure that I’m following what your thoughts are here, Are you are using the corn of wheat dying in John 12:24 to support our dying to ourself is the second birth?

The context of John 12 23-24 isn’t our second birth, it’s the death and resurrection of Christ.

Joh 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

The hour is come that Christ (the corn of wheat) should be glorified (dead, buried and resurrected).

Except the corn of wheat (Christ) die, it (Christ) abides alone (no one receives his righteousness and inheritance), but if it (Christ) dies, then his death brings forth much fruit (the body of Christ covered with his righteousness and inheritance).

So as you can see John 12:14 has nothing to do with how we become born again. We are born again because Christ died to allow us to be born again but his death is not our Ben again experience.

We are born again by the incorruptible words of God. If you put two and two together, the born again person in us is made directly from the Bible’s we read.

This discussion is a prime example of the point I’m trying to get across. The incorruptible word of God says we are born again by the incorruptible word of God but PEOPLE SAY we are born again by.... fill in the blank because people are all over the place with beliefs on this.
 

CherieR

Senior Member
May 6, 2017
2,265
1,419
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#72
Just so that I’m sure that I’m following what your thoughts are here, Are you are using the corn of wheat dying in John 12:24 to support our dying to ourself is the second birth?

The context of John 12 23-24 isn’t our second birth, it’s the death and resurrection of Christ.

Joh 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

The hour is come that Christ (the corn of wheat) should be glorified (dead, buried and resurrected).

Except the corn of wheat (Christ) die, it (Christ) abides alone (no one receives his righteousness and inheritance), but if it (Christ) dies, then his death brings forth much fruit (the body of Christ covered with his righteousness and inheritance).

So as you can see John 12:14 has nothing to do with how we become born again. We are born again because Christ died to allow us to be born again but his death is not our Ben again experience.

We are born again by the incorruptible words of God. If you put two and two together, the born again person in us is made directly from the Bible’s we read.

This discussion is a prime example of the point I’m trying to get across. The incorruptible word of God says we are born again by the incorruptible word of God but PEOPLE SAY we are born again by.... fill in the blank because people are all over the place with beliefs on this.
What does being born again by the incorruptible word of God mean to you?
 
Nov 23, 2013
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#73
What does being born again by the incorruptible word of God mean to you?
It’s not what it means to me, it’s what the Bible says it is. Born again is mentioned three times in the Bible.

1 Peter 1:23 tells us how we are born again - by the word of God which is the Bible or scripture.

1Pe 1:23 (KJV) Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

John 3:3 tells us how we can know who is born again. Those that are born again are those who CAN SEE the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:3 (KJV) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

John 3:5 gives another way to know if a person is born again or not. Those who born again have entered into the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:5 (KJV) Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

The disconnect for most people, I think, is tying seeing and entering the kingdom of God to actually dying and going to heaven to be with God and that is not what these verses are talking about. These verses about the kingdom that comes without observance.

Mat 21:43 (KJV) Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

Mar 15:43 (KJV) Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.

There are tons of other verses about the kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven that is RIGHT NOW, not a kingdom that we enter into after death.
 

Josefnospam

Senior Member
May 29, 2014
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#74
did you ever go into a meeting and when ask to turn to a certain verse. It adds confusion if I read one thing and 20 people read 20 different things from 20 different books One book meets the standard and is keyed to the concordence Thats why i always recomend the KJV Translations are often what ever the translator thinks is Gods word We know the KJV is but others?
 
Dec 12, 2013
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#75
I hate to tell you, The Message is not a translation, it's a paraphrase. It may make for "easy reading" but like any other paraphrase it is subject to a boat load of deviation from accuracy.
AMEN to that bro........like the LIVING BIBLE......I won't even waste my time....
 

breno785au

Senior Member
Jul 23, 2013
6,002
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Australia
#76
To be poor in spirit is to recognise your need for God which can include a certain level of anguish.. Wouldn't say end of your rope.
 

TheLearner

Well-known member
Jan 14, 2019
7,856
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Brighton, MI
#77
There are positives and negatives to it,

Negative: ‘God created human beings; he created them godlike, reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female.’ (Gen 1:27 The Message)

Positive: What a comedown this, O Babylon! Daystar! Son of the dawn!’ (Isaiah 14:12a The Message)

Jehovah's Witness's use it for a verse like this, because it denies the deity of Christ.

John 10:30
The Message

30 I and the Father are one heart and mind.”

If they use that paraphrase bring up,

John 1:1-2 The Message (MSG)
The Life-Light
1 1-2 The Word was first,
the Word present to God,
God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
in readiness for God from day one.

John 8:58 The Message (MSG)
58 “Believe me,” said Jesus, “I am who I am long before Abraham was anything.”


2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 The Message (MSG)

Now, friends, read these next words carefully. Slow down and don’t go jumping to conclusions regarding the day when our Master, Jesus Christ, will come back and we assemble to welcome him. Don’t let anyone shake you up or get you excited over some breathless report or rumored letter from me that the day of the Master’s arrival has come and gone. Don’t fall for any line like that.