Christian Publisher Unveils 'Modern English Version' of the Bible
A Christian publishing house has recently unveiled a new translation of the Holy Bible labeling itself "most modern King James translation in 30 years."
Known as the Modern English Version, this English translation of the Bible was produced by Charisma House and officially launched last Friday.
Tessie DeVore, executive vice president of Charisma House, said in a statement last week that the translation strove to be as literal as possible.
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"To Bible readers who value biblical truth, the MEV literally translates God's Word in a way that preserves the message, but remains readable for today's world," said DeVore.
"Because of this, we anticipate that the MEV will have broad ecumenical and consumer acceptance."
Jason McMullen, director of ministry services at Charisma, told The Christian Post that his company felt it was time for a new translation.
"In concert with scholars we felt now was the time and more importantly we believe the Lord felt it was time. The King James has meant a lot to so many for so long and to have it updated in fresh language is truly something special and timely," said McMullen.
"The translation team began their work in 2005 and completed in 2013 and the translation came to us mostly done. We know this was something the Lord orchestrated for the benefit of His church and we consider an honor to publish the MEV."
The MEV Bible takes after the King James Version, also known as the Authorized Version, which was the first official English translation of the Bible.
On a website devoted to the MEV, publishers had a chart comparing certain verses of the Bible and how they were rendered in various popular translations.
For John 3:16, the MEV translation rendered it "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."
This is similar to the KJV, save that the MEV translation used "whoever" instead of "whosoever", "believes" instead of "believeth", and "eternal life" instead of "everlasting life."
At the official launch held last week at Charisma Media in Lake Mary, Florida, attendees were given various information on the MEV, reported Althea Thompson of Charisma News.
"Christian retailers from all over the country traveled to Charisma Media's corporate office to hear experts, scholars and translators, such as N. Blake Hearson, Ph.D., and Rudolph D. Gonzalez, Ph.D," wrote Thompson.
"The day's events included video presentations, sales and marketing discussions, and background information on the product development of the Bible lineup."
Projects connected with the MEV Bible will be released later this year. These items include MEV Thinline References Bibles in September, the KJV/MEV Parallel Bible in October, and SpiritLed Women's Bibles in November.
