Yesterday’s Bible verse on the BibleGateway website was Acts chapter 20, verse 24. The version of the Bible which I had read from there last was the New Century Version; it’s a pretty modernized, easy to read translation of the Bible.
New Century Version – I don’t care about my own
life. The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the
Lord 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 Bible
editions.
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 the
Lord Jesus gave me to do. My work is to preach the Good News of God’s
loving-favor.
Living Bible – But life is worth nothing unless I
use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling
others the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love.
New King James Version – But none of these things
move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race
with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to
the gospel of the grace of God.
Good News Translation – But I reckon my own life to
be worth nothing to me; I only want to complete my mission and finish the work
that the Lord Jesus gave me to do, which is to declare the Good News about the
grace of God.
Hmm? Interesting, huh? I would love to be fluent in the
Hebrew language and the other languages which the original manuscripts of the
Bible were written in. Imagine reading the words as they were first penned.
This weekend in church, we celebrate Pentecost. One of
the things we remember during this time is that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples
allowing them to speak in other languages. This equipped them to go out into
the world to tell all nations and people about Jesus.
They didn’t need the internet; God wanted to be sure
they were prepared to spread the word of Jesus Christ without having to be
assured 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 da
end. He wen tell me fo tell everybody da Good Stuff bout how plenny good tings
God do fo us.
Luther Bibel 1545 – Aber ich achte der keines, ich
halte mein Leben auch nicht selbst teuer, auf daß ich vollende meinen Lauf mit
Freuden und das Amt, das ich empfangen habe von dem HERRN Jesus, zu bezeugen
das 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 con
gozo, y el ministerio que recibí del Señor Jesús, para dar testimonio del
Evangelio 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.
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