CHESTER HEIGHTS, Penn. (BNC) — The New Revised Standard Version already took into account modern uses of language, such as gender inclusivity. Now it goes even further, according to a Christian Headlines story. It’s the version to please absolutely everyone.

“It is both ecumenical and interfaith, suitable in Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and Jewish contexts,” John Kutsko, SBL’s executive director, told the dozens attending the event via Zoom. “In a period of social and political divisiveness, it’s a virtue to be celebrated.”

The 32-page “Bible Sampler,” which we downloaded from the Friendship Press website, gave relatively few examples of textual changes.

Among them, modifications include:

  • “purification offering” for “sin offering” Lev 4.8;
  • “magi” for “wise men” Mat 2.1;
  • “defiling skin disease” instead of “leprous disease” Lev 13.9;
  • “people possessed by demons or having epilepsy or afflicted with paralysis” in place of “demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics” Mat 4.24;
  • “female servant” for “servant-girl”, the latter now considered “off-putting or even offensive” Mk 14.69.

The Bible Sampler noted, “Terms referencing physical disabilities pose particular challenges when a translation attempts to honor both ancient realities and modern sensibilities.”

The version will be available in digital format in 2021 and in print the following year.

Faithful saints will not see as a positive quality the NRSVue catering to modern sensibilities and seeking to please all types of religious traditions, especially when changes remove the reader further from the original text.

Most English Bible versions already do that to a degree, such as using the transliterated term “baptism” instead of the proper translation, “immersion.”

The publishers of the NRSV updated edition, however, have taken the desire to please man to a far greater degree.

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