Plain-talk Bible debuts with mainstream backing
The Common English Bible, the newest Bible on the block, is what the name suggests—a translation into commonly spoken English. It is not the first edition to move in that direction. But it's probably the first to use contractions so extensively—whether it's King David, Jesus or Paul speaking. Except when announcing the Ten Commandments, even God says "don't" in giving Moses added prohibitions for the Israelites.
This new Bible is not as wordy as others—about 30,000 fewer words—apparently because of its use of contractions and its attention to sentence length, among other factors.
Like other recent Bible versions, the CEB substitutes brothers and sisters for brethren, to mention one of the easiest steps toward inclusive language. But the CEB may not have to dodge the slings and arrows of biblical fundamentalists that greeted the evangelically aimed Today's New International Version in recent years. For one thing, the Common English Bible was endorsed in April for use at the eight-campus Fuller Theological Seminary along with the New Revised Standard Version and TNIV (expected to be replaced by a new NIV edition).
