I’m almost to the end of my year of reading through the Bible. And part of me just wants to dive right in and start again. I can feel it changing how I view the world. But I think I’m going to make reading all the way through an every-other-year thing. That sounds unsatisfactory right now, but if I take the long view, and think about having it be every other year for the rest of my life, that sounds okay. (I know I can't know what's going to happen or if there even is going to be a rest of my life, this is just the plan I'm going with, if the Lord wills it to be so.)
I think next year I want to memorize big chunks of it.
But how big? And which chunks? That’s what I’m thinking about.
Top contenders in my mind right now:
1) memorize a gospel. Probably John or Mark.
2) memorize Ephesians.
3) memorize James.
4) memorize James and Ephesians.
5) memorize the top Psalms (i.e., Psalms of Ascent, Psalm 1, Psalm 90, etc.)
6) Choose 12 long passages and memorize one per month. Go for some prophets, some wisdom lit, some gospel, some epistles.
7) memorize one epistle, and a few other long passages.
So . . . yeah. Too much good stuff! :D
Part of it is that I want to really let some of what I’m reading this year sink deep, deep, deep. Also, memorizing scripture will also, I think, change how I look at the world, and in the right way. I want Christian eyes and a Christian mouth, and for that I need a Christian heart. I want to read the words over and over again, until they get so familiar that they're boring, and then until they get so familiar that they are amazing.
I also need to decide what version I’m memorizing in. I have a strong leaning towards King James, just because it’s the most beautiful, but I don’t want to lose any meaning in out-of-date or inaccurate translation. I don’t want to do NASB because it’s clunky, and I don’t want to do NIV because it over-translates in parts (nope, I'm still not over "flesh" being translated as "sin nature").
I suppose if I have the whole year to memorize it, I’ll have plenty of time to read it in a couple of other translations, so doing it in King James shouldn’t jeopardize my understanding of the passages or book. I can make sure I know what the words me, and educate myself about any inaccuracies.
Anyone have any good translation suggestions? Anyone else interested in making 2010 a year of Bible memorization? (It'd be cool to have a few partners in the venture, even if we weren't memorizing the same parts.)
peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell
p.s. I suppose it should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway: the biggest thing I'm doing in order to make this decision is laying it before the Lord in prayer. It might be that I get to choose, but I want to know if there is something specific He wants me to do (maybe I'm not even supposed to be memorizing!).
12 comments:
My pastor has been really encouraging us to use the ESV. I don't own one yet, but we use it for all the readings in church, and I've liked it there so far!
I have NIV as a travel bible...NASB for my study bible and a GREAT 4 translation parallel bible. I love the parallel bible, but it is huge.
I use the New Living, but it is great to have a passage memorized and then read it in another version - the differences pop, and you can ponder.
I've got Isaiah 53 and Psalm 63, working on 1 Peter 1, possibly continuing to ch2 if I ever get the first one.
Larger chunks of Scripture is the way to go! Context!
I use the New Living, too. (Primarily, anyway--we have quite a collection!) One of the things I really appreciate about the New Living is that the translators worked to have a bible that was good for reading out loud, which is the main way the bible was used for most of its existence. I can imagine that characteristic would serve well for memorizing.
Although, if you are already fairly familiar with the book(s) you're memorizing, you might want to go ahead and use the translation you know. (Then again, if you're wanting to really challenge yourself, it'd be good to use a new translation.)
We use the ESV and love it. It was overseen by JI Packer and attempted to be more literal than the NIV, yet beautiful in idiom. We prefer it to the KJV even though I love all those verses memorized frm childhood in the KJV!The Wiki article is helpful overview--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Standard_Version
Blessings to you!
I'm a HUGE fan of the ESV. I've been working with the Psalms a bunch, and I love the way it handles the poetry of the scriptures. It's literal enough to capture the inherent poetry, without being clunky.
You absolutely must use the ESV. I used to use the KJV for the reasons you mention, but there's no reason to anymore. ESV is a beautiful, accurate translation.
Some suggestions, if you decide on #6 or #7:
Isaiah 53
Jeremiah 31:31-40
John 14-17 (or just 17)
Any of the Psalms that St. Benedict emphasized in his monastic offices: 3, 4, 67, 51, 91, 134
I use the NAB for my daily reading and have for many years. It is an old friend. I get the daily office via my reader in the ESV for a little change.
We have many translations (except for ESV) in our home but I keep going back to my old friend. Perhaps I need to step out of my comfort zone.
One of the things I love about my weekly church Bible study is listening to all the different translations present (we all bring our own Bibles) to compare/contrast language. We are doing Genesis this fall and I'm thinking it might take a year!
I love your idea of memorizing chunks of the Bible - something new for me to think about!
NRSV would be my choice.
Have you ever studied Greek? The best thing I've ever done in terms of really going deeper is studying Greek and reading the gospels in their original language.
I have to say that I like the RSV best. It is pretty much the same as the ESV, but it retains the Thee's and Thou's.
I say, go for memorizing James first. I'm going to try that. I love that book. :)
Okay, you guys have totally convinced me to check out both the RSV and the ESV.
And I do like the NLT for reading, but I don't think I want to use it for memorizing. It's just a bit too smooth, if that makes any sense. But it surely does read well.
Gabe, thanks for the passage suggestions. Those are really good.
Jen, you can get the RSV and several other versions here for free:
http://www.biblestudytools.com/
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