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Seven letters and a speech: a new
English translation
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“It
was not Paul who was crucified for you.” (Paul)
The table below allows
you to view, or to download, a new translation into English of seven
letters by Paul.
Paul's letters were probably the first
written of the New Testament documents. Because Gallio, a Roman
official, was mentioned in 'Acts', the letters can be dated to around
50 AD, or twenty years after the resurrection. They were written to
churches, or as Paul says, "from faith to faith". They were
written to remind, to encourage, to comfort, to build up and to
steady. They are kind letters, because Paul remembered that he had
received mercy, and they are hopeful, because Paul based his
confidence on God.
The Word document form allows you to
print out the letters looking like letters. Since that's what they
were, it is an appropriately personal and involving form in which to
hold and read them. To help them look like letters, a modified
version of the standard system of reference is employed. The
paragraph, not the verse, acts as the unit of reference. A single
chapter/verse reference is placed after the paragraph and refers to
its last line. This may make it easier to read for the flow of Paul's
thinking.
The translation is in the central
English tradition and is careful to reflect the Greek accurately in
English. All seven letters are treated similarly, as the work of one
writer. When it makes good sense, and readable English, a single
equivalent is used for a single Greek term. In this way, Paul's
choice of words, including those he used repeatedly, is made
reasonably explicit in the English. (Thanks to R.C. Trench (1858): On
the Authorized Version of the New Testament in Connexion with …
its Revision.)
In the English version, unlike the
Greek, the noun ‘man’ and the pronoun ‘he’ are not used to
indicate both men and women. As a result, some of Paul's sentences
had to be rephrased, often from the singular to the plural.
Otherwise, the English follows the Greek.
The Greek text translated is the 21st
edition of Nestle’s “Novum Testamentum Graece” as printed in
Alfred Marshall’s The Interlinear NRSV-NIV Parallel New
Testament in Greek and English (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1993).
Punctuation and paragraph breaks are intended to assist with pace.
The spelling is that of Commonwealth English.
Non-profit use of these
letters is encouraged. Otherwise, it is © 2005, revision ©
2007.
“Come
to me,
all who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
upon
you and learn from me, because I am gentle and lowly in heart and you
will find
rest for your souls. For my yoke is kind and my burden is
light. (Jesus)