Preface

This translation is the continuation of the fulfillment of a long-held dream: to assemble a Bible that combines the scholarly depth I have encountered in modern theological study with the clarity and flow required for a modern, computer-literate audience. It represents an attempt to unify the strengths of various beloved translations—such as the HCSB, NET, NIV, ISV, EHV and TLV—while integrating critical insights from contemporary biblical scholars and adding new features to it.

Translation Philosophy   |   Basis in Text and Scholarship   |   A Note on Theology and Translation Choice   |   Distinctive Features

Translation Philosophy

As a translator and Bible lover, I often struggled to choose between a strictly Formal Equivalence (word-for-word) translation, which can sacrifice readability, and Dynamic Equivalence (thought-for-thought), which sometimes obscures lexical nuances or even compromises doctrinal integrity. (And talking about translations in general, there's no 100% word-for-word translated book out there that I know. Often the translator has to interpret in order to decide what word to translate as and how to put it properly.)

Therefore, this project employs an Optimal Equivalence method - or as other translations put it, Closest Natural Equivalence, Literal-Idiomatic Translation and Contextual Equivalence. We seek the maximum clarity and readability in modern English without sacrificing the grammatical integrity, semantic range, and phrase structure of the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Koine Greek texts. Our goal is to make the everlasting authority of the Bible fully accessible.

We attempted to reproduce each author’s voice in their books, in the same vein of The Voice Bible and Evangelical Heritage Version, and based on Susan Bassnett’s observations on Translation Studies (1991).

In regards to the poetry, we decided to adapt the acrostics into English as well, with each Hebrew letter corresponding to its English approximate equivalent.

Basis in Text and Scholarship

This work is grounded in orthodox theology and relies on ancient manuscripts (such as the Masoretic Text [MT], the Dead Sea Scrolls [DSS], the Septuagint [LXX], the Vulgate, Targums, the Samaritan Pentateuch etc) and widely accepted critical Greek texts (such as the NA28/UBS5). The main ones for the Old Testament will be the Masoretic Text, since it is quite prevalent in most translations, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, but whenever there are variants between it and the Dead Sea Scrolls, the latter will be favored due to being older. Any extra information or variation provided by the Septuagint or the Vulgate (which may agree with the Dead Sea Scrolls as well) will also be added. With that being said, none of these are considered superior to or more sacred than the others - whether it be the MT or the LXX. All of them are valuable and equally important, in the same way that all translations (except the sectarian ones) are equally important. (See Michael S. Heiser’s video on the topic: “Was There Only ONE Version of the Old Testament In Ancient Times?”)

Also the intertestamental books are also featured in this translation, due to them being important to Israel’s history between the Old Testament and the New Testament and which was of common knowledge to the NT writers and to Jesus Himself. Although there’s a debate on whether these books are considered inspired, I’ll keep them for historical purposes, which nevertheless, in His sovereignty and wisdom, God used to inspire the NT writers.

This translation also integrates critical insights regarding cultural context, textual analysis, and Second Temple Judaism from respected voices like Michael Heiser, Michael Jones (from InspiringPhilosophy), and Bruce Gore. Furthermore, the translation aims to highlight the literary structure and theological context emphasized by resources such as the BibleProject and Peter Pett’s Commentaries.

These scholarly insights are primarily conveyed through extensive footnotes about cultural context, textual variants, translation alternatives, and name meanings - whether Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Latin, Babylonian etc.

A Note on Theology and Translation Choice

Of course, we do not claim this translation is the only acceptable translation and the only correct one that you should pick. We advise the reader to pair this translation with their traditional Bible and choose whichever text best fits their reading needs. This translation relies on foundational orthodox beliefs, namely:

1. God is one Being existing in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
2. Jesus, the Creator of the Universe, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, came to earth as a perfect human, paid the debt of our sin through His death on the cross, was bodily resurrected on the third day and now rules heaven and earth.
3. When a person puts their faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within them, sanctifying and empowering the believer to obey God’s commands and work out their salvation with fear and trembling until Christ returns to save His people and redeem heaven and earth which were cursed after the fall of mankind.

Distinctive Features

For improved flow and deeper understanding, the reader will find the following features:

• Order of the Books: Old Testament: The order will follow the traditional organization of the Tanakh - Torah (the Five Books of Moses), Neviim (the Prophets - both their historical accounts and their own books) and Ketuvim (the Writings - Poetic and Wisdom books). New Testament: Following the four Good News accounts (Gospels), the remaining books are ordered approximately by their date of composition, starting with Jacob (James) and ending with Revelation. Same will be applied for the deuterocanonical books.


• God’s Name: Following in the tradition of LEB, HCSB, LSB, Y’ALL, NOG, WEB, t4t etc, we’ve decided to properly translate the divine name, the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), as Yahweh, instead of Adonai or Lord (all caps), both in the Old Testament and (depending on the context) the New Testament κύριος (kyrios), following in the steps of the Hebraic Roots Bible, but not in its failures, especially in terms of theology.


• Flow and Readability: Chapters and verses are generally removed from the main text to encourage continuous reading and preserve the author's flow of thought. Versification is maintained in footnotes when quoting other books, so that the reader can check on his traditional or main Bible. The headings are reserved for the more narrative books - some were borrowed from BibleProject videos.


• Contextual Titles: Jesus Christ (or Christ Jesus) is often assumed to be his full name, when Christ (Greek: Christos, Hebrew: Mashiach, Messiah) is actually a title meaning "Anointed One." To honor the linguistic and theological context, this translation renders it as “Jesus the Messiah” or “Messiah Jesus” in distinctively Jewish contexts, and “Jesus the Anointed One” in broader Gentile or universal contexts.


• Jewish Nomenclature: For the New Testament, in the interest of historical context, several prominent Jewish names are restored to their original or more common Jewish forms (e.g., James is Jacob; Jude/Judas is Judah, with context clarifying the specific person).


• Translated Terms: We prioritize translation over transliteration for select key terms and titles to ensure clarity, e.g.:
  • שָׂטָן (satan) is rendered as adversary, whether human or spiritual.
  • מֲלְאָךְ (malak), ἄγγελος (angel) is rendered as messenger, whether human or celestial.
  • ἀπόστολος (apostle) is rendered as emissary.
  • διάβολος (devil) is rendered as slanderer.
  • διάβολος (church) is rendered as gathering.
  
  
• Capitalized Pronouns: All pronouns referring to the three Persons of the Godhead are capitalized.


• Red Letter Text: The direct words of Jesus are printed in red letters.