Amy and ‘Behold. See. Look.’

Behold. See. Look.

In last week's SSS, I talked about how I pray with Scripture when preparing to preach. I use a practice called lectio divina which is a slow, prayerful way of reading through Scripture again and again, paying close attention to the words or phrases or images that stick with me as I do so.

I was delighted to hear from some of you about your own experience with last Sunday's Gospel reading and lectio divina.

When I practice lectio divina, I use different translations of the Biblical text. Different translations allow me to enter into the Scripture in new ways. Translations of the same verse can be very different from one another and offer rich avenues for prayer. To illustrate this, let's look at one short verse - Revelation 21:3 - from five different translations: the King James Bible (KJV), the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), the New International Version (NIV), the Common English Bible (CEB) and the Message(MSG). Look at the richness of vocabulary and imagery in just one verse:

Revelation 21: 3

KJV:    Behold! The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them

NRSV :  See, the home of God is among mortals.

NIV:    Now the dwelling of God is with men.

CEB:    Look! God’s dwelling is here with humankind.  

MSG: Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women!

Tabernacle. Home. Dwelling. Neighborhood. What kinds of images come up for you as you hear and pray with these words?

If you would like to enrich your prayer life with Scripture, choose a verse you love to pray with and enter into the search bar at biblegateway.com. You will likely find treasures in the almost 40 English translations you will find there. I'd love to hear what you discover.