On changing my translation

On arriving in France we were faced with the decision of what Bible translation to use. Here's the ones we considered :

Segond 1910 : The daddy of them all. Has the status of the AV.
Français courant : Kinda like the Good News translation
Parole de Vie : This is a useful translation using a restricted vocabulary and simple French
Semeur : We really like this version because it is very clear and it solves every problem. That's why we didn't use it in the end...
Colombe 1975 : Lots of conservatives use this, especially RBs, but I didn't like the way it did Paul's sentences.
Genève 1979 : In the same vein as the Colombe, but I preferred it.

We settled on the Genève. There's myriad other versions, TOB, NBS, Darby etc. etc...

Then in Africa I read Acts 16 especially where the apostles were beaten. My colleague afterwards said, "That's a very odd translation..." It turns out that a particular word that was probably completely innocuous in 1979 has now acquired a rather unfortunate connotation.

I thought. Then I decided to try out the passage on a few folk to see what their reaction was. "Ah non, ça ne va plus..."

So I am in the process of changing to the Segond 21 - the new translation in the same family as the Genève.

Some things it does I really like. For example Acts 12:1 : En ce qui concerne les réalités spirituelles, je ne veux pas, frères et sœurs, que vous soyez dans l'ignorance.

I'd probably prefer "choses spirituelles", but I can live with réalités and at least they haven't bottled out and gone with dons.

Oh yes, and it's gender inclusive - probably in the same way as the new NIV.

Some things are a pity - we have lost Jesus' yoke (son joug).

Still...

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