A New Translation of the Bible

A new translation. New for me, anyway.

"21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
²And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
³And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
⁴And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
⁵And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful."

What you have here is the Authorized Version of the first part of tonight's reading from Revelation; and when I say Authorized Version I mean the 1611 edition of the King James Bible. What a work of art. I ordered a copy from Amazon.com and it arrived today. I'm so happy! It's the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible, original 1611 translation, edited by David Norton, leather bound, and just a truly exquisite work of art. My trusty NRSV will remain my mainstay--it's the Bible that sits on my desk and stays handy for Morning and Evening Prayer. But I've been wanting to add a KJV to my collection for quite a while. (I already had a "New" King James version, but the language there isn't nearly as awesome as in the 1611 Authorized Version. The 1611 is simply poetry.)

Remember the idea I was tossing around of switching to the Rite I offices for Lent? Well, if that's something I want to try, I now finally have a Bible translation that will go with the Prayer Book language. By the way, a priest whom I greatly respect told me that my idea was not fantastic, because it makes Rite I seem like a punishment. I don't see it that way; I just see it as a different style of worship. Maybe one that isn't as accessible, isn't as easy, or requires more work... I don't know. I guess I would feel bad if I thought that Rite I was somehow punishing me. But I don't see it that way. Any thoughts?

In closing, tonight's readings in church were simply excellent. I know I'm supposed to be commenting on the Daily Office and not the church lectionary, so I'll leave it at that. Except to say that it was a right and proper celebration of a good holy day. And tomorrow is all souls... see you at mass.