Quote from Forum Archives on August 14, 2001, 10:00 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

I have mentioned, on many occasions, that Bible resources are
available online. There are new Bible translations emerging all
of the time. One translation that has been out for a year or
two, but is not yet as well known as some of the traditional
Bible translations is "The Mew Living Translation", abbreviated
NLT. Those of you who have been around Bibles for a long time
probably are aware of one of the most popular paraphrases of the
Bible, the "Living Bible". This Bible was one of the first to
bring the written word into modern word usage. But it was not a
translation, it was merely a paraphrase, an attempt to take the
literal Word and attempt to convey the ideas.

One of my favorite recent paraphrases has been written by Eugene
Peterson --- The Message. I have his New Testament version and
his Old Testament prophet edition, both are excellent to read.

Back to the New Living Translation. My understanding is that
this translation was created with the idea of producing a text
with the ease of reading associated with "The Living Bible", yet
in the form of a "translation", rather than merely a paraphrase
of the passages in the text. This translation and the New
International Reader's Version (NIrV) are arguably the easiest to
read and most current of the recent translations. If literal
accuracy is your main concern, then consider reading the New
American Standard Version (MASB). To me, all of them faithfully
convey the essential truths of scripture.

To commemorate the addition of the NLT to the Bible Gateway Web
site, I am including my favorite chapter in the Bible, as written
in the NLT. It reads a bit differently than the New
International Version (NIV) that I usually read, but it is good
reading. How I praise God for this letter, written by Paul when
he was in prison!

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

Philippians 4 :: New Living Translation (NLT)
bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=Philippians+4&version=NLT&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english

Philippians 4

1 Dear brothers and sisters,[1] I love you and long to see you,
for you are my joy and the reward for my work. So please stay
true to the Lord, my dear friends.

Paul's Final Thoughts

2 And now I want to plead with those two women, Euodia and
Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your
disagreement. 3 And I ask you, my true teammate,[2] to help
these women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the
Good News. And they worked with Clement and the rest of my
co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life. 4
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again--rejoice! 5
Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do.
Remember, the Lord is coming soon. 6 Don't worry about anything;
instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and
thank him for all he has done. 7 If you do this, you will
experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the
human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and
minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and
sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix
your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think
about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about
things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting
into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw
me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.

Paul's Thanks for Their Gifts

10 How grateful I am, and how I praise the Lord that you are
concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned
for me, but for a while you didn't have the chance to help me.
11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get
along happily whether I have much or little. 12 I know how to
live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the
secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full
stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do
everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I
need. 14 But even so, you have done well to share with me in my
present difficulty. 15 As you know, you Philippians were the
only ones who gave me financial help when I brought you the Good
News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did
this. 16 Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than
once. 17 I don't say this because I want a gift from you. What
I want is for you to receive a well-earned reward because of your
kindness. 18 At the moment I have all I need--more than I need!
I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with
Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is
acceptable to God and pleases him. 19 And this same God who
takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious
riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. 20 Now
glory be to God our Father forever and ever. Amen.

Paul's Final Greetings

21 Give my greetings to all the Christians there. The brothers
who are with me here send you their greetings. 22 And all the
other Christians send their greetings, too, especially those who
work in Caesar's palace. 23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ be with your spirit.
bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=Philippians+4&version=NLT&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english

1.4:1 Greek brothers; also in 4:8. 2.4:3 Greek true
yokefellow, or loyal Syzygus.

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright 1996 by Tyndale
Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers. All rights reserved. Comments? Questions? Tell us
what you think. Gospel Communications Network Online Christian
Resources. A Ministry of Gospel Communications, Inc.

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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