David Capes - The Story of the Voice

the

story

of

the

voice

2013 by David B. Capes

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from The Voicetranslation. 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from The King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked NEB are from the New English Bible, copyright Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press 1961, 1970. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the New King James Version. 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4016-7668-1

Printed in the United States of America

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I want to thank Chris Seay for inviting me to come along for this long, slow journey through Scripture. It has been my privilege to serve as lead scholar on the project for Ecclesia Bible Society. Chriss vision for this project as well as his leadership have made this a great journey of discovery. Kelly Hall, whom we affectionately called Kelly Black Arrow, has become a good friend and colleague to many of us through these years. Her skills as both a poet and administrator have benefited this project in ways too many to count.

I am also grateful to Frank Couch and Maleah Bell of Thomas Nelson, who welcomed me to serve as a writer and reviewer for a good deal of the manuscript from the publishers side. They were patient in teaching me, the professor, important aspects of the publishing business. The leadership at Thomas NelsonSam Moore, Michael Hyatt, Mark Schoenwald, and Gary Davidsonhave demonstrated great vision and courage throughout the seven years it took to translate and develop The Voice and its other products. Their daring was even more pronounced given the strained economic conditions being experienced in the United States and around the world.

Since 2010 it has been my privilege to serve as the Thomas Nelson Research Professor at Houston Baptist University. This unique collaboration between the university and Thomas Nelson has enabled me to work with and for two great institutions simultaneously, hopefully for their mutual benefit. The concept came initially from Frank Couch in the summer of 2010. When he approached Dr. Robert Sloan, the president of HBU, with the proposal, Dr. Sloan was quick to see the advantages to HBU, Thomas Nelson, and me. I am grateful to Dr. Sloan for his good leadership.

I wish to thank my friend and colleague Dr. Larry Hurtado, retired professor of New Testament and former head of the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. During fall 2009 I spent several months as a visiting fellow at the University of Edinburgh working through some of the longer prophetic and wisdom books. Those months in my basement flat one mile north of New College, in the School of Divinity library, and in the office they provided gave me a time of focused attention I could not have achieved elsewhere. Without this sabbatical granted by the trustees of HBU, I could never have met the manuscript deadlines. Additionally, the conversations with Larry and other colleagues at New College clarified for me a number of translation issues and made the final project stronger. The University of Edinburgh is truly a world-class university.

Finally, I want to thank my wife, Cathy, and my children, Bryan, Daniel, and Jordan. They have been supportive, encouraging, and understanding as this project took more of me away from them longer than anyone had anticipated. Im grateful for their love and help during these years.

David B. Capes,Thomas Nelson Research Professor

Department of Theology

Houston Baptist University

In 2004 my pastor, Chris Seay, invited me to lunch at Saltgrass Steak-house in Houston. It is a Texas-themed restaurant with horseshoes, porcelain signs, farm implements, and other rusty reminders of kinder, gentler times strategically hung on the walls. Over a good meal we had pleasant conversation on a variety of topics. I did not really know what was on his mind. Toward the end of the meal, he told me.

Chris had been thinking for years about the difficulties he faced as a pastor in teaching the Scriptures using the available translations. At times he found it helpful to write out the stories himself in a kind of screenplay format, employing his own versions in sermons. He was currently using Eugene Petersons The Message to guide him, but there were aspects of the translation that didnt resonate with him or his audience. He told me he had been in conversations with a number of people about the possibility of working on a new Bible translation. He asked if I might have any interest in such a project. Because of my own calling, and my admiration for Chris and his ministry, I was very interested and asked him to tell me more.

First, Chris said, he wanted to establish Ecclesia Bible Society, whose first priority would be to create a new Bible translation that brought together scholars, writers, poets, and artists. Like me he was concerned that some of the beauty, grit, and humor of the Scripturesand more significantly, the essential story of the Biblewas obscured in other translations. The more I thought about the approach, the more I saw how different this could be from other translations and how valuable a resource it could be for the church.

The second thing Chris said was the clincher. After we talked about the general idea and how it might work, we discussed one potential outcome. If the project was successful, then Ecclesia Bible Society would use the royalties to do good in the world and extend the reach of Gods kingdom. Already our church was involved in Latin America, Africa, and other places where extreme poverty and deprivation grips the populaces and where the gospel is heard only in muffled tones. We talked that day and since about how The Voice could be used to fund various mission projects such as drilling water wells in drought-stricken areas, fighting hunger and poverty, addressing the growing problem of human trafficking, and translating the Scriptures into other languages. Chris assured me that no one person or group of people would be the primary beneficiary of this effort. The true beneficiaries would be the poorest of the poor.