Eugene H. Peterson - The Invitation: A Simple Guide to the Bible

How do you probe into the heart of complex biblical texts, catching their nuance and fire, without killing the mystery? How do you approach Revelations fantastical imagery or Esthers social textures without droning on in laborious prose? How do you welcome readers into the wild world of Scripture with an electric clarity that resists both triviality and abstraction? I dont know, but this is precisely what Eugene has done. When people have asked for a rich yet simple introduction to the Bibles books, Ive pointed to Eugene. This beautiful volume makes that task all the easier.

WINN COLLIER, director of the Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination at Western Theological Seminary and author of A Burning in My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene H. Peterson

The Message tells us, The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood (John 1:14). Here, Peterson serves once again as a trustworthy guide, introducing readers to the sections and books we encounter in the Bible. His pastoral insights help us better understand the arc of Gods story and how much our Father truly loves us, so much so that he gave his Son, his one and only Son (John 3:16).

TRACI RHOADES, author of Not All Who Wander (Spiritually) Are Lost

Anyone who takes the Bible seriously should own at least one introduction to it. This collection of Petersons pithy introductions to each section and individual book of the Bible deserves a place on your shelves: Keep it within arms reach to consult any time you open the pages of the Book.

SEAN GLADDING, author of The Story ofGod, the Story ofUs and A View from the Margins: Stories for Holy Week

NavPress is the publishing ministry of The Navigators, an international Christian organization and leader in personal spiritual development. NavPress is committed to helping people grow spiritually and enjoy lives of meaning and hope through personal and group resources that are biblically rooted, culturally relevant, and highly practical.

For more information, visit NavPress.com.

The Invitation: A Simple Guide to the Bible

Copyright 2021 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.

Adapted from The Invitation: A Simple Guide to the Bible copyright 2008 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.

Designed by Julie Chen

Cover illustration of geometric shape copyright by SkyBoxStudio/Design Cuts. Cover photograph of paper texture copyright by Lost And Taken. Cover photograph of pathway copyright by Luke Gram/Stocksy. All rights reserved.

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. messagebible.com

A NavPress resource published in alliance with Tyndale House Publishers

The Message,The Message logo, NavPress, and the NavPress logo are registered trademarks of NavPress, The Navigators, Colorado Springs, CO. Absence of in connection with marks of NavPress or other parties does not indicate an absence of registration of those marks.

Tyndale is a registered trademark of Tyndale House Ministries.

All Scripture quotations are taken from The Message, copyright 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

Published in association with Alive Literary Agency, aliveliterary.com

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Tyndale House Publishers at , or call 1-855-277-9400.

ISBN 978-1-64158-426-5

ISBN 978-1-64158-428-9 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-64158-429-6 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-64158-427-2 (Apple)

Build: 2021-08-25 10:12:05 EPUB 3.0

A Note from the Editors

I N 1993, the world of Bible publishing was revolutionized with the publication of The Message: The New Testament in Contemporary Language, followed in 2002 by the completion of the entire Message Bible. Here was a Bible that parted from any number of conventions in order to return the Bible reading experience to its oldest, purest form: the Word of God in the language of the people.

Not just anyone could be trusted with such an undertaking, but Eugene H. Peterson was up to the task. A scholar of biblical languages, a lifelong pastor, and a demonstrated master of wordcraft, he had earned the trust of people who cherished the Bible, and when his Bible in Contemporary Language was released, it was welcomed with critical acclaim and popular praise.

In the decades since, The Message has weathered the storms of a volatile publishing industry, the critiques of Bible purists, the vicissitudes of a fickle public. Its relevance remains obvious; its resonance has only increased. In its original language, the Bible was world-weary, savvy, prophetic, and compassionate; now well into the twenty-first century, the world is itself more weary, more savvy, more desperate for compassion and prophetic challenge.

Often overlooked in peoples engagement with The Message are the introductions Eugene wrote to each book of the Bible. Many very good Bibles take a minimalist, utilitarian approach to these introductions just the facts, and often the facts presented in granular detail. But Eugene had a different vision.

In the pages that follow, youll find introductions to Bible books that demonstrate a sense of urgency for the People of God to be rooted and established in the Word of God. These book-by-book reflections reveal the heart of the Word a God seeking a people in a world born of love but struggling to survive, a world that can hardly wait for whats coming next (Romans 8:19).

These introductions are not to be studied so much as soaked in. You may take up The Invitation whenever you find yourself taking up a new book of the Bible, using this book to inform your reading of that book. Or you may read multiple entries in one sitting to give you a greater appreciation for the themes that overarch the sacred Scriptures, the crossing connections between books of the Bible. Or you may just find yourself with a few spare moments and want to refresh your understanding of the Bible, or even refresh your souls connection to God.

Included in each of these entries is a Verse to Remember. You may choose to commit these verses to memory as a way of letting the Scriptures follow you through your day, or you may simply enjoy the intersection of what Eugene called two language worlds: the world of the Bible and the world of Today. However you engage these readings, we hope you find yourself simmering in them, immersed in the world they invite you into, met there with compassion and prophetic challenge. If the Bible is anything, it is some combination of profoundly simple and simply profound, cutting through walls like a double-edged sword, satisfying our souls like a river of life.

B ECAUSE THE B IBLE IS SO FAMOUS AND REVERED, many assume that we need experts to explain and interpret it for us and, of course, there are some things that need to be explained. But the first men and women who listened to these words now written in our Bibles were ordinary, everyday, working-class people. One of the greatest of the early translators of the Bible into English, William Tyndale, said that he was translating so that the boy that driveth the plough would be able to read the Scriptures.