A presbytery in the Church of Scotland in 1946 recommended to the General Assembly that a translation of the Bible be made in the language of the present day because the language in the Authorized Version was archaic and less generally understood. The General Assembly approached other churches. There was a desire that a completely new translation rather than a revision and for a contemporary idiom rather than a traditional Biblical English be used.
It was planned and directed by representatives of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland, the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, the Congregational Church in England and Wales, the Council of Churches for Wales, the Irish Council of Churches, the London Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends, the Methodist Church of Great Britain, the Presbyterian Church of England, the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the National Bible Society of Scotland. The Roman Catholic Church in England and Scotland sent representatives as observers.
The translating was done by three panels drawn from scholars of British universities to deal, respectively, with the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, and the New Testament. A fourth panel of trusted literary advisers was to scrutinize the translation for English style.
There are introductions to the three sections of this Bible.
Sample Verses
Genesis 1: 1, 2
In the beginning of creation, when God made heaven and earth, the earth was without form and void, with darkness over the face of the abyss, and a mighty wind that swept over the surface of the waters.
Wisdom of Solomon 1: 1
LOVE JUSTICE, you rulers of the earth; set your mind upon the Lord, as is your duty, and seek him in simplicity of heart;
John 1: 1 - 3
When all things began, the Word already was. The Word dwelt with God, and what God was, the Word was. The Word, then, was with God at the beginning, and through him all things came to be; no single thing was created without him.
Comparisons
The following comparative studies include this version:
- Bishops, Overseers, Presbyters, and Elders
- From Eternity or From Ancient Times?
- Fringe on the Borders of a Garment
- Gifts of the Spirit
- God So Loved the World
- Hebrew Synoptic Gospels
- Israelites and Baal-Peor
- Lord Is My Shepherd: An Anthology
- Miracle at Cana
- Name of Our Heavenly Father
- Offering Sacrifices to the He-Goat
- Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread
- Sabbaths and Sundown
- Scripture Inspired by God
- Sides of the Court of the Tabernacle
- Some Variations in the Book of Acts
- Song of Solomon
- Story of the Adultress
- That Which Will Happen Before the End
- Words with Heathen Origins in the Scriptures
| Abbreviation: | NEB |
| Released: | 1970 |
| Contents: | Old Testament, Apocrypha, New Testament |
| Source Used: | Oxford and Cambridge Universities Presses (1970) |
| Location: | Tyndale House, Cambridge, United Kingdom |