The Voice New Testament Bible

The Voice New Testament is unlike any bible I have ever read before and I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. After all, there are so many translations of the bible one starts to wonder when scholars will ever stop. Don't we have enough already? I can understand updating the language of The King James Version to modern day speech, but how many "modern" bibles do we really need?

Well, I'm guessing at least one more.

The Voice New Testament Bible uniquely makes use of not only biblical scholars and translators, but of writers, poets and musicians, until you have more of a story than an archaeological tome of verses. As the cover says, "Step into the Story of Scripture." That is exactly what happens.

I will say up front that I had the disadvantage of reading this on a Kindle. Whatever you do, DO NOT buy this for your Kindle. Why? Verses jump all over the place. As I was reading about the centurion who comes to Jesus for healing for his servant, I am on verse 10, when suddenly the next verse is 21. Needless to say it was very confusing and it happens all through the Kindle version. Hopefully, this is not the case in the printed edition. You have been warned.

There were some things I liked about this new translation and there were some things I didn't. The things I liked:

1. The commentary that ran throughout the verses gave tons of background information you wouldn't normally get while reading scripture.

2. It was written like a story, which is a plus I think for someone who is unfamiliar with the bible.

3. It is non-threatening for new believers.

4. When there is dialogue it is like reading a play.

Unfortunately, I must point out some things that distressed me and always do when I see a new translation - it is not a good Bible for memorizing scripture, as it doesn't flow well at all. Personal commentary is interjected into verses, so that the writer is giving their opinion on what is happening or what Jesus is saying. The verses are all over the place (although I think that might have something to do with the formatting on Kindle). Words are added that are not in the original translations and some words, whole phrases even, are even missing. Unfortunately, this is what happens in new translations. Scripture is rewritten and changed to make things easier to understand for the new believer, but much of the sacredness and authority of scripture is diminished by doing so.

Now I will readily admit that I think my opinion of this Bible has been tarnished somewhat because it was the Kindle version. It might just be the formatting. I wasn't offered a hard copy to review, if I had the choice that is what I would have preferred, because I have learned quite quickly from reviewing bibles that they do not format well on Kindles.

That said, I do believe this Bible might be of value to someone unfamiliar with the Bible. It is an easy read and informative. However, I would strongly recommend you keep a King James, NIV or NASB handy, else you will never be able to memorize scripture properly or follow along in church with your Pastor on Sunday morning. ***UPDATE*** Due to the difficulty I had in reading this on a Kindle, I may have missed some very important issues about this bible. Namely that it does not include the words, angels, apostles or Jesus Christ. It does have Jesus' name but not His title. I'm not sure what the objections were to not including these words, but it brings up my point of new translations being modernized - much is missed and sadly, when the translations start to take out words that are very important one wonders why.

I give The Voice New Testament Bible 3 out of 5 stars.