Revealing the Beauty and Relevance of God's Word

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., July 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- People often say they don't read the Bible because they can't understand it, mainly because of the language used. NavPress commemorates the Message Bible's 10 year anniversary with 16 million copies sold, The Message is written in American English, words we use every day, making the Bible easy to read and understand; making the beauty and relevance of God’s Word available to everyone.

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Eugene H. Peterson, the author for The Message, was pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church when he translated several parts of the New Testament and Psalms for his congregation from the original Greek and Hebrew texts. These translations caught the attention of an editor from NavPress who proposed to Eugene the idea of translating the whole Bible into contemporary American vernacular. Reviewed by a team of exegetical consultants who examined the text to ensure a genuine communication of the original Greek and Hebrew, The Message New Testament was released in June 1993. By September of 1994, The Message had sold over 2 million copies, signifying the marketplace need for the full Bible which was released July 15, 2002.

"The Message is so well liked because of its readability," states NavPress Bible Publisher Jill Johnson. "It is written in the style and language that you would use to write an email to a friend making it easy to read and bringing a new perspective to passages that have been read hundreds of times." Jill also adds that The Message makes an excellent companion Bible and is not designed to replace a reader's current version of choice or traditional Study Bible. "When paired with a favorite study Bible, The Message offers deeper understanding to passages that are hard to understand."

NavPress is celebrating The Message's 10th anniversary for one full year with several new products, including a special limited-time edition of the full Message Bible releasing July 15, 2011. Designed as a reading Bible, with no distracting verse numbers or formal language, the 10th anniversary editions are bringing back the non-numbered original format, set in a single column that made it first unique to the marketplace.

Often described as a "para-translation," Gold Medallion Book Award winner The Message makes a great tool for discipleship or evangelism. Eugene H. Peterson, who earned his B.A. in philosophy from Seattle Pacific University, his S.T.B. from New York Theological Seminary, and his M.A. in Semitic languages from Johns Hopkins University, works exclusively from the original languages, telling the miraculous, tragic, and triumphant true stories of the biblical past in a way that makes them come uniquely alive in the present; it will be like reading them for the first time.

For More Information or for an Interview,
Contact: Scott Spiewak, #425-245-3856, [email protected]

SOURCE NavPress