The Voice Bible: Step Into the Story of Scripture [Hardcover]

Ecclesia Bible Society (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2012

The Voice™ is a faithful dynamic equivalent translation that reads like a story with all the truth and wisdom of God's Word. Through compelling narratives, poetry, and teaching, The Voice invites readers to enter into the whole story of God, enabling them to hear God speaking and to experience His presence in their lives. Through a collaboration of nearly 120 biblical scholars, pastors, writers, musicians, poets, and artists, The Voice recaptures the passion, grit, humor, and beauty that is often lost in the translation process. The result is a retelling of the story of the Bible in a form as fluid as modern literary works yet painstakingly true to the original manuscripts.

Features include:

• Two-color text
• Italicized information added to help contemporary readers understand what original readers would have known intuitively
• In-text commentary notes that include cultural, historical, theological, or devotional thoughts
• Screenplay format, ideal for public readings and group studies
• Book introductions
• Presentation page for personalization
• Reading plans for Lent, Easter, Advent, and more
• Topical Guide to the Notes
• Topical Guide to the Scripture

Part of the Signature Series line of Thomas Nelson Bibles

The Voice Bibles sold to date: More than 308,000

Thomas Nelson Bibles is giving back through the God’s Word in Action program. Donating a portion of profits to World Vision, we are helping to eradicate poverty and preventable deaths among children. Learn more and discover what you can do at www.seegodswordinaction.com.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1664 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson; Gift edition (April 10, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1418549010
• ISBN-13: 978-1418549015
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (173 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 108 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Voice Bible Review March 28, 2012

By D. Towle

Format:Hardcover

To give you a little context, I've grown up in the church & I'm now a pastor. Needless to say, I've spent a lot of time reading the Bible & to be quite honest, at times it has seemed like it was nothing new. That's why I picked up The Voice after I heard the pastor who wrote this paraphrase speak at a conference. He used his paraphrase while speaking & it sounded different than what I've been reading for years. And that's exactly what I noticed when I started reading it. It's not the same as the NIV or the TNIV, or even the Message. It's written in a way that makes things easy to understand & it also adds contextual information so the reader can get more out of what they're reading. All-in-all, I would say pick it up. If nothing else it will help you reconnect (or connect for the first time) with the scriptures on a new level.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Perspective on an Old Story May 3, 2012

By Matthew K. Morgan TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I am a newcomer to The Voice translation, having never before even heard of it (in spite of the apparent media buzz). I take interest in different Bible translations and I was eager to see just how different The Voice is compared to others, in particular the English Standard Version which is my translation of choice. I will confess to having some initial apprehension to it but I have come to appreciate after spending a little time with it.

There are two philosophies when it comes to translating the Bible - literal word-for-word and dynamic thought-for-though. No English language translation is exactly one or the other but finds some balance in between the two absolutes. The Voice falls closer to the though-for-thought end to the point of reading a lot like a paraphrase. This is not necessarily a bad thing; some word-for-word translations read like broken English and lose the reader anyway.

Over time, many words change in meaning and as a result a passage written in older English can read entirely different than intended, though the true meaning can be found through a bit of word sleuthing and looking at the word usage in a contextual way. The Voice is a genuine and well-executed attempt to use language that is very up to date to carry the original meaning forward in modern terms. This does not mean that there have been liberties taken with interpretation, though subjective translation is difficult to avoid no matter how careful and scholarly an approach is made. To those that favor a literal translation that does not account for "drift" in word meanings, The Voice will be a rude shock.

There is one liberty that the editors of The Voice took that originally startled me and gave me pause.... There are places were verses are moved to make a passage more readable and easier to follow. Usually such a move is only a few verses forward. While this will horrify some people, I don't really regard it as a problem, for two reasons. First, these slight changes work without taking away or adding a thing to any given passage - it's a change for logical flow only. Second - and this is important - the changes are always marked with a footnote explaining why such a tweak was made. It's all above board.

One of the most interesting and helpful decisions made when The Voice was put together was to format it almost like a screenplay. The speaker on any given passage is named first, followed by the words of the passage. This highlights the speakers and eliminates a lot of "he said", "he spoke to them, saying" types of phrases. It also has another interesting possibility - it could be very handy when converting from a written form to a live performance.

I sat down and put The Voice side by side with my ESV Study Bible (the ESV is a very literal translation) and dug in to a carefully selected chapter. While the chapter I chose - John 1 - read drastically different between both, they really did say the same thing on a verse-by-verse basis and The Voice made understanding the passage a lot easier. And, to be truthful, it flowed a lot better. I will not abandon my ESV, but both translations share my reading time and as a result I do get a better understanding of the passages I read.

The Voice is a very new, very different and very readable translation of the Bible. From what I can tell so far it does maintain accuracy while improving readability. I think it's a good translation and recommend it to anyone wanting a translation that flows a little more easily than most. Read more ›

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very readable version of Scripture March 28, 2012

By Luis Luftop

Format:Hardcover

Having read the Bible my entire life, I've also struggled, at times, with finding "newness" in Scripture and at times skimming through familiar texts and stories. I'm currently doing a reading plan through youversion.com and can tell you that the "screenplay layout" and contextual notes have brought the book of Isaiah to life in a brand new way. I love it.

The Voice is a welcome addition to my collection of Bibles (that span most versions) and has been wonderful for my devotional readings.

Buy one. Better yet, buy two and give one to a friend.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Innovative, But Tinkers With Text Too Much May 5, 2012

By Reader from Washington, DC VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I really wanted to give this Bible two separate ratings -- 5 for fascinating innovations in how the text is phrased and presented, that make it more accessible to a modern audience -- and a 2 for reliability -- the translation of many passages expresses the authors' theological or interpretive preferences, sometimes at the expense of accuracy.

So I settled on a three.

The Voice is very innovative -- there are a lot of explanatory paragraphs placed within the text, to clarify historical references and topics that would be unknown to the modern reader, making many passages more understandable. The text is translated into a slangy modern English that is surprisingly engaging and brings the ancient stories back to life.

I'm very familiar with the Bible, but I was engrossed in The Voice's retelling of many stories and passages that I thought I already knew very thoroughly. It is like a new text, almost like a novel in some parts.

However, the authors occasionally reword the traditional translations in ways that I feel really stretch or depart from the exact textual meaning.

The authors try to make it clear where they have inserted their own interpretations -- or even entirely new words and sentences that are not in the original Biblical text at all -- by italicizing the insertions, but it is still startling, especially if you disagree with a particular theological slant of theirs represented by the new text that they have inserted.

Ultimately, I decided that this is not a Bible I can add to my library, because of the repeated tinkering with the text.

I know many theological conservatives are disturbed by the tinkering and insertions in the text. I am a liberal Christian, and it bothers me as well.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I love it April 7, 2012

By H. Mary Cork

Format:Hardcover

I have just been reading The Voice. It's a new translation of the New Testament in modern English with explanations within the text. I suppose it was written so that those without a religious upbringing could follow and understand the story.

I thought it might be just like all the other newer translations of the New Testament, but I found it to be quite different. I have been an avid reader of the Bible for 60 years and I found this translation to be captivating, easy to read, and the explanations that are added are relevant and easy to follow. All this seems to have been achieved without losing the accuracy of translation which is necessary for this type of work.

I will read it often and I will keep it handy as it will be good to read when I'm caught waiting somewhere. It is a refreshing translation for those who are used to reading the Bible and a great translation for anyone who is not familiar with the Bible at all. The format and the way it is written makes the word of God very understandable for people of any background, I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is seeking to find out what Christianity is all about.

I loved it.