« | Ezekiel 4 | » |
1 "Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.
2 Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.
3 Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.
4 "Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side.
5 I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the house of Israel.
6 "After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.
7 Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her.
8 I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.
9 "Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side.
10 Weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day and eat it at set times.
11 Also measure out a sixth of a hin of water and drink it at set times.
12 Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel."
13 The LORD said, "In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them."
14 Then I said, "Not so, Sovereign LORD! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth."
15 "Very well," he said, "I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement."
16 He then said to me: "Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair,
17 for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of their sin.
Today’s New International Version (TNIV)
Today’s New International Version (TNIV) is a contemporary English translation of the Bible that was first published in its complete form in 2005 by the International Bible Society, now known as Biblica. The TNIV is a revision of the New International Version (NIV), which was initially released in 1978. The primary goal of the TNIV was to update the language and address gender inclusivity while maintaining the readability and accuracy that made the NIV popular. The translation aimed to reflect contemporary English usage and to be accessible to a broad audience, including both men and women.
One of the key features of the TNIV is its commitment to gender-inclusive language. The translators sought to avoid gender-specific terms where the original texts did not explicitly require them, thereby making the text more inclusive and reflective of modern linguistic sensibilities. For example, where the original Greek or Hebrew text used terms that referred to both men and women, the TNIV translated them in a gender-neutral manner. This approach aimed to make the Bible more accessible and relatable to all readers, ensuring that no one felt excluded by the language used.
The TNIV also made several other updates to enhance clarity and readability. The translators incorporated the latest biblical scholarship and linguistic research to ensure that the translation accurately conveyed the meaning of the original texts. They aimed to strike a balance between maintaining the formal equivalence of the original languages and using dynamic equivalence to make the text more understandable for contemporary readers. This involved updating archaic words and phrases, improving sentence structures, and clarifying ambiguous passages without losing the essence of the original scriptures.
Despite its strengths, the TNIV faced significant controversy and criticism, particularly from conservative Christian groups and scholars. Critics argued that the gender-inclusive language could potentially distort the intended meaning of the biblical texts and that the changes were driven more by cultural trends than by faithful adherence to the original manuscripts. The debate over the TNIV’s translation choices led to its eventual discontinuation, with Biblica deciding to focus on updating the NIV instead. However, the TNIV’s influence can still be seen in subsequent revisions of the NIV, which have incorporated some of the gender-inclusive principles and linguistic updates introduced by the TNIV.