So many different English translations are available that it might seem redundant to add another. A few comments are clearly appropriate.

Some while ago a couple of visitors came to our regular Bible study. They were working on a project that required use of the whole Bible. When they went to the different Bible publishers, they quickly discovered that all modern English versions are subject to copyright. In many cases this is not a problem because permission is readily granted for the use of a few verses without charge. However to use the whole Bible requires a license fee of tens of thousands of dollars.

Added to that is the fact that by reason of the copyright issues, free versions of the Bible on the Internet etc are limited to older versions that are now out of copyright, such as the King James Version. The most recent of these is the ASV of 1901, however this was mainly based on the RV of 1881 so its vocabulary is far from modern, still using thee and thous, shouldest and wouldests, and damsels…

Checking on the Internet revealed a few current projects that aimed towards a copyright-free Bible. Ebible is using the ASV as a base, updating its English—which is very much second best to a new modern English translation. One of the most interesting projects is the Wikiproject Wiki Bible that follows on from the very successful and much used Wikipedia. This is an Internet community project, and anyone can go in and make edits etc. However this project is still in progress with very few Bible books translated to date. I have become involved in this and contributed some basic translations of the gospels. For details go here: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Wikisource:WikiProject_Wiki_Bible

This led me to consider the possibility of producing a new translation from the Greek of the New Testament that would be offered free to all and made available through our website. So far John is available in a first version, and the other gospels are in draft form.

The Freedom Bible Version New Testament is a new translation of the Bible from the Greek. Its intent is to be as faithful to the original meaning without being awkward or misleading. The style is contemporary English without using slang or fashionable colloquialisms, speaking to our modern society in a way people will understand.

This is an ongoing project that expects change and development. The initial posting will be of version one, with further revisions to come. You are encouraged to copy and share this resource, subject to the limitations of the license, in particular not to change the translation and only to use it not-for-profit.

I pray that this new version will provide some new insights, and give the motivation to take another look at God’s wonderful and vital message to us. My hope is that as we take the time to look, we will end up “Seeing God” as revealed to us by Jesus—who told us that if we’ve seen him, we’ve seen the Father, and that the reason why Jesus came was to make God known.

Jonathan Gallagher

March 2008

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