Definitely went down the rabbit hole today
Yesterday’s Bible verse on the BibleGateway websitewas Acts chapter 20, verse 24. The version of the Bible which I had read fromthere last was the New Century Version; it’s a pretty modernized, easy to readtranslation of the Bible.
New Century Version – I don’t care about my ownlife. The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that theLord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.
But saying that “I don’t care about my own life”sounded a little harsh to me, so I looked up the passage in different Bibleeditions.
New Life Version – But I am not worried about this.I do not think of my life as worth much, but I do want to finish the work theLord Jesus gave me to do. My work is to preach the Good News of God’sloving-favor.
Living Bible – But life is worth nothing unless Iuse it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of tellingothers the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love.
New King James Version – But none of these thingsmove me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my racewith joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify tothe gospel of the grace of God.
Good News Translation – But I reckon my own life tobe worth nothing to me; I only want to complete my mission and finish the workthat the Lord Jesus gave me to do, which is to declare the Good News about thegrace of God.
Hmm? Interesting, huh? I would love to be fluent in theHebrew language and the other languages which the original manuscripts of theBible were written in. Imagine reading the words as they were first penned.
This weekend in church, we celebrate Pentecost. One ofthe things we remember during this time is that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciplesallowing them to speak in other languages. This equipped them to go out intothe world to tell all nations and people about Jesus.
They didn’t need the internet; God wanted to be surethey were prepared to spread the word of Jesus Christ without having to beassured of a WiFi connection. And I think that most of us struggle sharing the Gospel even in our own language. Something for each of us to pray about.
Just for fun, here are some more translations:
Hawai‘i Pidgin – But den, fo me, fo stay alive,dass notting. I ony like do everyting da Boss Jesus wen tell me fo do to daend. He wen tell me fo tell everybody da Good Stuff bout how plenny good tingsGod do fo us.
Luther Bibel 1545 – Aber ich achte der keines, ichhalte mein Leben auch nicht selbst teuer, auf daß ich vollende meinen Lauf mitFreuden und das Amt, das ich empfangen habe von dem HERRN Jesus, zu bezeugendas Evangelium von der Gnade Gottes.
Biblia del Jubileo – Mas de ninguna cosa hago caso,ni estimo mi vida preciosa para mí mismo; solamente que acabe mi carrera congozo, y el ministerio que recibí del Señor Jesús, para dar testimonio delEvangelio de la gracia de Dios.
Anyway, Friday was my last day of work at the clinic. Retirement!Maybe I should learn a foreign language now that I’ll have the time.
