STUTTGART, Germany — On March 23 this year the German Bible Society launched a new revision of the Good News Bible before an audience of guests including several well-known musicians, television announcers and performing artists.
When the first Good News translation was published here in 1982 it marked a milestone in Bible translation work; and the principle of using dynamic, modern language which fired the original remains the basis of this new revision.
Five years ago it was decided to begin a revision that would attempt to build a bridge between traditional biblical words and their meaning in a modern - context. Terms such as 'justice' and 'justification' needed to be expressed in such a way that readers would easily understand them.
The revision has taken place with the co-operation of the Catholic Biblical Federation, and with the involvement of Bible Societies in Austria, and Switzerland, where German is also one of the official languages.