Our verse for today is 2 Corinthians 3:2-3
You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men…written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.”
Which translation or version of the Bible do you like. It used to be easy – the King James Version. Now there are so many versions that it causes us to wrestle with the question – will it be the NIV, the NASV, or maybe the New King James?
The other day I read about several printings of the Bible that never made it out a few printings. (And for good reason).
There was the “Wife-Hater Bible” of 1810. In Luke 14:26, Jesus said, “If anyone come unto me and hate not his own life…he cannot be my disciple.” The printer made an error and said, “Hate not his own WIFE.”
The “Wicked Bible” of 1631 had the second command instead of saying “Thou shall not commit adults,” said ’Thou SHALL commit adultery.” King Charles was so upset about this error that he ordered all copies destroyed an finded all printers whose had had touched the edition.
Over the century, there were other “printer’s errors” like these, but there is a difference between a printer’s error and a mistranslation.
Once there were three preachers arguing about which translation is best. After the first two had their say, the last one said, “I like my mother’s version best.” The first two were curious, “Your mother had her own version of the Bible.” “Yes,” he answered. “It was written on her heart for all of us to see. She showed it to us every day.”
We can’t argue with that. If fact, I believe that is what Paul is telling the Corinthians in today’s verse. “You are our epistle, written in our hearts, which is known and read by all men.”
So…who is reading your version today?
By the way, the correct answer is not “Nobody.”
Lonnie Davis
Thought provoking. Very!