Bible Research > English Versions > 20th Century > New Century Version

The New Century Version

(English Version for the Deaf, Easy-to-Read Version, International Children's Bible)

Ervin Bishop et al., The Holy Bible - New Century Version. Ft. Worth, Texas: Worthy Publishing, 1987.

This dynamic equivalence version began as a project of the World Bible Translation Center in Ft. Worth, Texas, a society formed in 1973 by persons associated with the Churches of Christ. The initial purpose of the society was to produce and publish a version specially adapted to the needs of deaf people who were unfamiliar with many idioms of English as it is commonly spoken. The New Testament was completed in 1978 and published as the English Version for the Deaf (EVD) by Baker Book house. It was perhaps the simplest English version ever published, being done with a third-grade vocabulary (1) and with very short sentences. In 1980 Baker tried to market this version to a wider readership by publishing it as A New Easy-to-Read Version (ERV), in a format which made no reference to its original purpose. By 1983 the New Testament was revised and again issued, this time by Sweet Publishing in Ft. Worth, as the International Children's Version New Testament. In 1984 the same publisher issued the same version as The Word: New Century Version. The complete Bible (with slightly revised New Testament) was then published as The Holy Bible, International Children's Version in 1986, and in 1987 the complete Bible was also published under the name New Century Version. By this time Sweet Publishing had merged with Worthy Publishing in Ft. Worth Texas, and had issued the version in a special edition called The Everyday Bible, with an endorsement by Billy Graham. In 1988 Sweet/Worthy Publishing was acquired by Word Publishing, which in 1991 published another revision. This 1991 revision was more extensive, and it was designed to make the version more suitable for an older readership, with longer sentences and more fluent style. In 1992 Word Publishing was acquired by Thomas Nelson Publishers, which continues to print the 1991 revision under the name, New Century Version. (2)

The Easy-to-Read Version is basically the work of Ervin Bishop, who also serves as vice-president of the World Bible Translation Center. For the original "English Version for the Deaf" project he worked closely with Benton Dibrell, a deaf-language specialist. The first draft was revised after receiving suggestions from other scholars who served as consultants. Among those who examined the text and offered their suggestions were Dr. Harvey Floyd, head of the Department of Biblical Languages at David Lipscomb University, and Dr. Everett Ferguson, professor of Greek and Church History at Abilene Christian University. For the 1991 revision, comments were solicited from a Translation Review Committee consisting of scholars from various church backgrounds, including Harold W. Hoehner, Virtus E. Gideon, Bruce M. Metzger, Neil R. Lightfoot and Stanley M. Horton. (3)

The preface of the Easy-to-Read Version states, "The principles governing the work were basically the same as those set forth in several books by Eugene Nida of the American Bible Society and advocated more recently by John Beekman and John Callow of Wycliffe Bible Translators in their book, Translating the Word of God. Those who worked on the EVD/ERV followed conservatively the approach to translation that Nida calls 'dynamic equivalence,' referred to by Beekman as 'idiomatic' translation." The sample passage below certainly bears this out, though we might ask how "conservatively" the principles have been followed. It seems that the text has been very severely simplified. We also note that the Easy-to-Read Version and the New Century Version in their present form consistently employ gender-neutral language, which has become something of a "red flag" to conservatives in recent years. Wayne Grudem has said that the edition published as the International Children's Bible in 1986 was the first complete translation of the Bible to adopt such a policy, (4) but it is unclear at what point the policy was adopted.


Sample Passage: Romans chapter 1

Easy-to-Read Version (5)

1 Greetings from Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus. God called me to be an apostle. I was chosen to tell God’s Good News to all people. 2 God promised long ago to give this Good News to his people. God used his prophets to promise this. That promise is written in the Holy Scriptures. 3-4 The Good News is about God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. As a person, he was born from the family of David. But through the Spirit of holiness Jesus was shown to be God’s Son. He was shown to be God’s Son with great power by rising from death. 5 Through Christ, God gave me the special work of an apostle. God gave me this work to lead people of all nations to believe and obey God. And I do his work for Christ. 6 And you people in Rome were also called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 This letter is to all of you in Rome that God has called to be his holy people. You are people that God loves. Grace (kindness) and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First I want to say that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you. I thank God because people everywhere in the world are talking about your great faith. 9-10 Every time I pray I always remember you. God knows this is true. God is the One I worship (serve) in my spirit by telling people the Good News about his Son. I pray that I will be allowed to come to you. It will happen if God wants it. 11 I want very much to see you. I want to give you some spiritual gift to make you strong. 12 I mean that I want us to help each other with he faith that we have. Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you. 13 Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that I planned many times to come to you. But I have not been allowed to come to you. I wanted to come so that I could help you grow spiritually. I want to help you like I have helped the other non-Jewish people. 14 I must serve all people -- Greeks and non- Greeks, wise people and foolish people. 15 That is why I want so much to tell the Good News to you there in Rome. 16 I am proud of the Good News. The Good News is the power God uses to save every person that believes -- to save the Jews first, and also to save the non-Jews. 17 The Good News shows how God makes people right with himself. God’s way of making people right begins and ends with faith. Like the Scripture says, "The person that is right with God by faith will live forever." 18 God shows his anger from heaven against all the evil and wrong things that people do. They have the truth, but by their evil lives they hide it. 19 God shows his anger, because everything that is known about God has been made clear to them. Yes, God has clearly shown people everything that is known about him. 20 There are things about God that people cannot see -- his eternal power and all the things that make him God. But since the beginning of the world those things have been easy for people to understand. Those things are made clear in the things that God has made. So people have no excuse for the bad things they do. 21 People knew God. But they did not give glory to God, and they did not thank him. Their ideas were all useless. There was not one good thought left in their foolish minds. 22 People said they were wise, and they became fools. 23 They gave up the glory of God who lives forever. People traded that glory for the worship of idols made to look like earthly people. People traded God’s glory for things that look like birds, animals, and snakes. 24 People were full of sin, wanting only to do evil things. So God left them and let them go their sinful way. And so they became full of sexual sins, using their bodies wrongly with each other. 25 Those people traded the truth of God for a lie. Those people worshiped and served things that were made. But people did not worship and serve the God who made those things. God should be praised forever. Amen. 26 Because people did those things, God left them and let them do the shameful things they wanted to do. Women stopped having natural sex with men. They started having sex with other women. 27 In the same way, men stopped having natural sex with women. The men began wanting each other all the time. Men did shameful hings with other men. And in their bodies they received the punishment for those wrong things they did. 28 People did not think it was important to have a true knowledge of God. So God left them and allowed those people to have their own worthless thinking. And so those people do the things that they should not do. 29 Those people are filled with every kind of sin, evil, greed, and hatred. Those people are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, lying, and thinking the worst things about each other. Those people gossip 30 and say evil things about each other. Those people hate God. They are rude and conceited and boast about themselves. Those people invent ways of doing evil. They don’t obey their parents, 31 they are foolish, they don’t keep their promises, and they show no kindness or mercy to other people. 32 Those people know God’s law. They know God’s law says that people who live like that should die. But they continue to do those wrong things. And they say that people who do those things are doing right.

New Century Version (6)

1 From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus. God called me to be an apostle and chose me to tell the Good News. 2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets, as it is written in the Holy Scriptures. 3-4 The Good News is about God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. As a man, he was born from the family of David. But through the Spirit of holiness he was appointed to be God's Son with great power by rising from the dead. 5 Through Christ, God gave me the special work of an apostle, which was to lead people of all nations to believe and obey. I do this work for him. 6 And you who are in Rome are also called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 To all of you in Rome whom God loves and has called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First I want to say that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because people everywhere in the world are talking about your faith. 9 God, whom I serve with my whole heart by telling the Good News about his Son, knows that I always mention you 10 every time I pray. I pray that I will be allowed to come to you, and this will happen if God wants it. 11 I want very much to see you, to give you some spiritual gift to make you strong. 12 I mean that I want us to help each other with the faith we have. Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you. 13 Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that I planned many times to come to you, but this has not been possible. I wanted to come so that I could help you grow spiritually as I have helped the other non-Jewish people. 14 I have a duty to all people -- Greeks and those who are not Greeks, the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I want so much to preach the Good News to you in Rome. 16 I am proud of the Good News, because it is the power God uses to save everyone who believes -- to save the Jews first, and also to save those who are not Jews. 17 The Good News shows how God makes people right with himself -- that it begins and ends with faith. As the Scripture says, "But those who are right with God will live by trusting in him." 18 God's anger is shown from heaven against all the evil and wrong things people do. By their own evil lives they hide the truth. 19 God shows his anger because some knowledge of him has been made clear to them. Yes, God has shown himself to them. 20 There are things about him that people cannot see -- his eternal power and all the things that make him God. But since the beginning of the world those things have been easy to understand by what God has made. So people have no excuse for the bad things they do. 21 They knew God, but they did not give glory to God or thank him. Their thinking became useless. Their foolish minds were filled with darkness. 22 They said they were wise, but they became fools. 23 They traded the glory of God who lives forever for the worship of idols made to look like earthly people, birds, animals, and snakes. 24 Because they did these things, God left them and let them go their sinful way, wanting only to do evil. As a result, they became full of sexual sin, using their bodies wrongly with each other. 25 They traded the truth of God for a lie. They worshiped and served what had been created instead of the God who created those things, who should be praised forever. Amen. 26 Because people did those things, God left them and let them do the shameful things they wanted to do. Women stopped having natural sex and started having sex with other women. 27 In the same way, men stopped having natural sex and began wanting each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and in their bodies they received the punishment for those wrongs. 28 People did not think it was important to have a true knowledge of God. So God left them and allowed them to have their own worthless thinking and to do things they should not do. 29 They are filled with every kind of sin, evil, selfishness, and hatred. They are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, lying, and thinking the worst about each other. They gossip 30 and say evil things about each other. They hate God. They are rude and conceited and brag about themselves. They invent ways of doing evil. They do not obey their parents. 31 They are foolish, they do not keep their promises, and they show no kindness or mercy to others. 32 They know God's law says that those who live like this should die. But they themselves not only continue to do these evil things, they applaud others who do them.


Internet Resources


NOTES

1. Vocabulary choice was based on The Living Word Vocabulary by Dr. Edgar Dale and Dr. Joseph O'Rourke (World-book-Childcraft International, 1981) -- the vocabulary used in The World Book Encyclopedia.

2. My principal sources for the difficult publication history of this version are the Preface of the Easy-to-Read Version, the online article New Century Version by Ken Anderson, and the Catalogue of English Bible Translations by William J. Chamberlin (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1991). Without examining each of these obscure editions it is impossible to say with confidence how the text of the version differed in them.

3. For information on the men involved in the making of the version I have relied upon the Preface of the Easy-to-Read Version and The Development of the English Bible: How Our English Versions Came Into Being by William E. Paul. Other sources have indicated that certain unnamed "evangelical scholars" who also had worked on the NIV and NKJV were involved.

4. See Vern S. Poythress and Wayne A. Grudem, The Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2000), p. 9.

5. Text of the ERV is according to the electronic edition available at the website of the World Bible Translation Center, dated 2001.

6. Text of the New Century Version is according to the online electronic edition at Crosswalk Bible Study Tools, dated 1991.


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