CEB Common English Audio Edition

De: Common English Bible

Narrado por: uncredited

Listening to the Bible will change the way you understand scripture. The stories and poems and instructions comes in through the ears and consume your whole being as God's word becomes part of a living experience. The Common English Bible is not simply a revision or update of an existing translation. It is a bold new translation designed to meet the needs of Christians as they work to build a strong and meaningful relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Who is it for?

The Common English Bible is committed to the whole church of Jesus Christ. To achieve this, the CEB represents the work of a diverse team with broad scholarship, including the work of over 120 scholars - men and women from 24 faith traditions in American, African, Asian, European, and Latino communities. As a result, the English translation of ancient words has an uncommon relevance for a broad audience of Bible readers - from children to scholars.

©2014 Common English Bible (P)2014 Common English Bible

No chapter division read out!

I really valued that the reading did not include chapter divisions or heading titles. It was a straight read unencumbered by superfluous text. Hearing just the biblical text without interruption made for a more meaningful understanding.

peace at night

I love that there was a mixture of voices. I play this throughout every night. thank you. I am blessed by it.

Excellent Translation And Narration

It’s too daunting for me to review The Bible on its content. There are so many books comprised of so many genres by so many authors that each one deserves its own evaluation of content.

Instead, I will focus on the translation, which sets this version apart from others. I found it very enjoyable and accessible, akin to the better translations of other ancient epics like Gilgamesh, The Iliad, and Beowulf. It makes these stories from the distant past more relevant and relatable for the modern reader.

The 120 translators for the Common English Bible, all from different denominations and backgrounds, went back to the most ancient texts available, including:

* The Dead Sea Scrolls
* The Septuagint, which is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible made between 300-200 BCE
* The Vulgate, which is a Latin translation of the Bible made by Jerome in the 4th century CE
* The Syriac Peshitta, which is a Syriac translation of the Bible made in the 2nd century CE
* The Samaritan Pentateuch, which is a version of the first five books of Moses used by Samaritans

Using these sources for Biblical accuracy, and having a balance of word-for-word and thought-for-thought translation methods, gives me the confidence that I am hearing something as close to the original stories, poems, letters, and genealogy rosters that I can hope to understand without learning Hebrew and Aramaic.

Whether a reader’s purpose is spiritual or academic, I recommend this work. The multiple narrators strike a fine balance between entertaining and informative, but never melodramatic. The only drawback (as other reviewers have noted) is that the audiobook is not searchable by chapter or verse number, but this can be remedied by following along with a print version of the CEB. Most of the Bible stories originated through oral tradition, anyway, so perhaps this can be looked at as another way of staying true to the original sources.

Incredible Performance...layout for listening flaw

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Very good bible with solid performances. The only drawback for this is the lack of accessibility to go from one book of the bible to another. It is broken into several downloads but it is only listed Chapter 1, 2 , 3 and so on....no book titles within the collection. ie. I am doing a study on Amos...There is no way to get there except for an exhausting trial and error search (unless you know how many chapters are in each book of the bible off the top of your head.) I hope they get this updated and fixed because this truly is an excellent translation that should be easily available for everyone.

Not easy to navigate

Any additional comments?

It's fine if you want to listen to the Bible straight through in order. If you want to listen to certain books or chapters, they're difficult to find. Sections of the download include more than one book and chapters of books are not distinguished. It's a great version and I certainly recommend the Common English Bible in print. The audiobook has been less helpful to me.