Editing Recovery Version

{{Short description|Modern English bible translation}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Bible translation infobox | translation_title = Recovery Version
| image = [[File:Holy Bible Recovery Version.jpg|151px]]
| full_name = Holy Bible Recovery Version
| derived_from = American Standard Version (ASV)
| NT_published = 1985
| complete_bible_published = 1999
| author_info = [[Witness Lee]] and the editorial section of the [[Living Stream Ministry]]
| textual_basis ='''OT''': ''[[Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia]]'' (BHS; revised 1990 edition)
'''NT''': ''[[Novum Testamentum Graece]]'' (Nestle-Aland 26th edition)
| translation_type = Formal equivalence
| NT_version_revised= 1991
| version_revised= 2003, 2016
| publisher=Living Stream Ministry
| reading_level= High School
| copyright= © 2003 Living Stream Ministry
| religious_affiliation= [[Local Churches (affiliation)]]
| genesis_1:1-3=In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. But the earth became waste and emptiness, and darkness was on the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was brooding upon the surface of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.
| john_3:16=For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.
|}}

The '''Recovery Version''' is a [[modern English]] translation of the [[Bible]] from the original languages, published by [[Living Stream Ministry]], ministry of [[Witness Lee]] and [[Watchman Nee]]. It is the commonly used translation of [[Local Churches (affiliation)]].

The [[New Testament]] was published in 1985 with study aids, and was revised in 1991.<ref>{{cite book |title=The New Testament Recovery Version |publisher=[[Living Stream Ministry]] |isbn=9781575939070 |pages=2}}</ref> Text-only editions of the New Testament and of the complete Bible became available in 1993 and 1999, respectively.<ref>Chamberlin, William J. ''Catalogue of English Bible Translations: A Classified Bibliography of Versions and Editions Including Books, Parts, and Old and New Testament Apocrypha and Apocryphal Books''. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1991. Print.</ref> The full study Bible was published in 2003. The name was chosen to reflect the [[Restorationism|restorationist]] theology of the authors, who believe many of the doctrines in their translation (such as [[Sola fide|justification by faith alone]]) were lost by the church before being recovered later.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.recoveryversion.bible/|title=The Holy Bible Recovery Version|website=recoveryversion.bible}}</ref>

==Translation==

The Recovery Version is a recent translation of the Bible from the revised 1980 edition of the Hebrew Scriptures, ''[[Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia]]'',<ref>Würthwein, Ernst. ''The Text of the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Biblia Hebraica''. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995.</ref> and the Nestle-Åland Greek text as found in ''[[Novum Testamentum Graece]]'' (26th edition).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.recoveryversion.org/translation.html|title = Translating the Bible}}</ref> The translators believe that the understanding of the Bible has progressed in the past two thousand years, in part due to "philological and exegetical scholarship that makes more precise the meaning of the biblical words or phrases or practices" and in part due to an accumulation of Christian experience.<ref>Harrelson, Walter. "Recent Discoveries and Bible Translation." ''Religious Education'' 85.2 (1990): 190.</ref> This understanding forms the basis of this translation, with guidance from major authoritative English versions.

The Recovery Version claims to avoid biases and inaccurate judgments and to express the message of the Bible in English as accurately as possible. As such, it departs from traditional renderings in certain passages.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Paul|first1=William|title=English Language Bible Translators|date=May 2009|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786442430|page=141}}</ref> Its translation is essentially literal/word-for-word/formal equivalent, seeking to preserve the wording of the original Hebrew or Greek text and the personal style of each biblical writer. Its translation is intended as transparent; interpretive ambiguities present in the original text are left unresolved in this translation for the readers to consider. The Recovery Version renders the Tetragrammaton as ''[[Jehovah]]'' throughout the Old Testament.

The Bible is not always easy to understand.  Look at the translation of Genesis 1:1-2 in the right box (click show to see it).  God spoke about His creation of the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1:1.  In verse 2 He said “But the earth became waste and emptiness, and darkness was on the surface of the deep…”.  That was not the earth that God created as He explained in Isaiah 45:18 “For thus says Jehovah, / Who created the heavens — / He is the God / Who formed the earth and made it; / He established it; / He did not create it waste, / But He formed it to be inhabited: / I am Jehovah and there is no one else;”.  So, what happened?  The Recovery Version of the Bible (RVB) tells you in its translation and footnotes without burying you in unnecessary details so let’s examine it.

Go to this website, www.recoveryversion.bible,  and examine it.  The application will recognize the kind of computer/phone being used and optimize the output for it.   It worked fine using an iPad, a Mac and an iPhone.

On a computer which has a large screen it provides an active screen that displays the RVB’s features.  Press the Quick Tour down arrow, and click Sample Text.  Then click the Genesis page and the first 10 pages on Genesis can be seen just as they are on a printed copy of the RVB.  Scroll down to GENESIS 1:2 and read the footnotes under it starting with 1.5.  Then continue on the next page.  They explain what happened during God’s creation in more detail based on verses in Job, Isaiah, Ezekiel, etc.  After reading these verses and the commentary you will know why God made the earth waste and empty in Genesis 1:2 and brooded on the situation.

If you don’t have a computer, use an iPhone or similar device and select Menu, Quick Tour, Sample Text, and Genesis text.  Then scroll down and read Genesis 1, its footnotes, and Genesis 1:2 with its footnotes.  

Last year the App Store on iPhones had the Holy Bible Recovery Version with footnotes on it.  It was very inexpensive and provides an excellent study Bible serious Christians will want to have.  They can read it anywhere.  It may be available for most computers and phones.

==Study aids==
* A subject line at the beginning of each book summarizes its spiritual significance.
* A detailed outline precedes each book and is embedded throughout the text, providing an overview of the structure of the book.
* Footnotes stress the translators' view of revelation of the truth, the spiritual light, and the supply of life more than history, geography, and persons. The New Testament footnotes were written by Lee, while those of the Old Testament were compiled from his literary corpus by the editorial team.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lee|first1=Jonathan H. X.|title=Chinese Americans: The History and Culture of a People|date=Nov 2015|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1610695497|page=321}}</ref> Footnotes also indicate more literal (but less readable) translations, valid alternative translations, alternative ways of reading the original text,<ref>Crim, Keith R. "Translating the Bible: An Unending Task". ''Religious Education'' 85.2 (1990): 202</ref><ref>Harrelson, Walter. "Recent Discoveries and Bible Translation". ''Religious Education'' 85.2 (1990): 186-187.</ref> and alternative translations found in other English versions or in academic scholarship. Often, the clarity forfeited in a literal translation of the original text is addressed and compensated for in the footnotes. The Recovery Version contains over 15,000 footnotes.
* Marginal cross references lead to other verses with the same expressions and facts and to other matters related to the spiritual revelation in the Word.
* Maps show the ancient Near East in Old Testament times, Israel in Old Testament times, and the Holy Land in New Testament times and document the journeys of [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]].
* Charts present the characteristics of the different sections of the New Testament and organize details such as the prophetic seventy weeks in Daniel, the rapture of the believers, and the coming of Christ, in a visual timeline.

==Textual comparison==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:100%;"
|+ Comparison of select verses with other versions
|-
|
! scope="col" | King James Version
! scope="col" | English Standard Version
! scope="col" | New International Version
! scope="col" | American Standard Version
! scope="col" | New American Standard Bible
! scope="col" | Darby Translation
! scope="col" | Recovery Version
! scope="col" | Differences

|-
! scope="row" | Gen.
4:7b
|And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be '''his''' desire, and thou shalt rule over '''him'''.
|And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. '''Its''' desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over '''it'''.
|But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; '''it''' desires to have you, but you must master '''it'''.
|And if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door; and unto thee shall be '''its''' desire; but do thou rule over '''it'''.
|And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and '''its''' desire is for you, but you must master '''it'''.
|And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door; and unto thee [shall be] '''his''' desire, and thou shalt rule over '''him'''.
|And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and '''his''' desire is for you, but you must rule over '''him'''.
|Gen.4:7, n.1: Sin and Satan are one (Rom.7:8 and note)... Satan as sin is crouching at the door, waiting for the opportunity to seize and devour us...<ref name="auto">''Holy Bible Recovery Version''. Ed. Witness Lee and editorial section of Living Stream Ministry. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 2003. Print.</ref>
1Pet.5:8: Be sober; watch. Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking someone to devour.<sup>[7]</sup>
See also 1Pet.5:8 in the KJV, the ESV, and the NIV.
|-
! scope="row" | Ps.
51:11
|Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not '''thy holy spirit''' from me.
|Cast me not away from your presence, and take not '''your Holy Spirit''' from me.
|Do not cast me from your presence or take '''your Holy Spirit''' from me.
|Cast me not away from thy presence; And take not '''thy holy Spirit''' from me.
|Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take '''Your Holy Spirit''' from me.
|Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not the '''spirit of thy holiness''' from me.
|Do not cast me from Your presence, and do not take '''the Spirit of Your holiness''' away from me.
|"The only three passages (Ps.51:11, Isa.63:10-11) where we have in our translation Holy Spirit, the Hebrew is properly... 'the Spirit of His holiness.' It is thus of the Spirit of God that the word is used, and not as the Proper Name of the third person. Only in the NT does the Spirit bear the name of 'The Holy Spirit.'"<ref>Murray, Andrew. ''The Spirit of Christ''. New York: A. D. F. Randolph & Co., 1888. Print.</ref>
Ps.51:11, n.2: The title ''the Spirit of holiness'' used here and in Isa.63:10-11 is not the same as ''the Holy Spirit'' used in the NT...<sup>[7]</sup>
|-
! scope="row" | Mat.
9:16
|No man putteth a piece of '''new cloth''' unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.
|No one puts a piece of '''unshrunk cloth''' on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.
|No one sews a patch of '''unshrunk cloth''' on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.
|And no man putteth a piece of '''undressed cloth''' upon an old garment; for that which should fill it up taketh from the garment, and a worse rent is made.
|But no one puts a patch of '''unshrunk cloth''' on an old garment; for [b]the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.
|But no one puts a patch of '''new cloth''' on an old garment, for its filling up takes from the garment and a worse rent takes place.
|No one puts a patch of '''unfulled cloth''' on an old garment, for that which fills it up pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.
| The Greek word is formed with not and to card or comb wool. Thus, the word means uncarded, unsteamed and unwashed, unfinished, unfulled, untreated.<ref name="auto"/> Unfulled is a word that was used during the [[Middle English]] period<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary?size=First+100&type=headword&q1=unfulled&rgxp=constrained|title=Middle English Compendium|website=quod.lib.umich.edu}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row" | Jn.
3:16
|For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth '''in''' him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
|For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes '''in''' him should not perish but have eternal life.
|For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes '''in''' him shall not perish but have eternal life.
|For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes '''in''' him shall not perish but have eternal life.
|For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes '''in''' Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
|For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes '''on''' him may not perish, but have life eternal.
|For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that every one who believes '''into''' Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.
|Jn.3:16, n.2: Believing into {G1519} the Lord is not the same as believing Him (John 6:30). To believe Him is to believe that He is true and real, but to believe into Him is to receive Him and be united with Him as one. The former is to acknowledge a fact objectively; the latter is to receive a life subjectively.<sup>[7]</sup> <ref group="note">The Greek word translated "in" in the KJV, ESV, and NIV and "into" in the Recovery Version is "εἰς," meaning "into." Also see Nestle, Erwin. ''Novum Testamentum Graece'' Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006. Print.</ref>
|-
! scope="row" | Rom.
8:15
|For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the '''Spirit of adoption''', whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
|For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the '''Spirit of adoption''' as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!”
|The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, '''the Spirit you received brought about your adoption''' to sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father".
|For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the '''spirit of adoption''', whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
|For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a '''spirit of adoption''' as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!”
|For ye have not received a spirit of bondage again for fear, but ye have received a '''spirit of adoption''', whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
|For you have not received a spirit of slavery bringing you into fear again, but you have received a '''spirit of sonship''' in which we cry, Abba, Father!
|Here the translators used the word sonship instead of adoption.<sup>[7]</sup>
|-
! scope="row" | Phl.
4:13
|I can do all things '''through''' Christ which '''strengtheneth me'''.
|I can do all things '''through''' him who '''strengthens me'''.
|I can do all this '''through''' him who '''gives me strength'''.
|I can do all things '''in''' him that '''strengtheneth me'''.
|I can do all things '''through''' Him who '''strengthens me'''.
|I have strength for all things '''in''' him that '''gives me power'''.
|I am able to do all things '''in''' Him who '''empowers me'''.
|G1722 εν (en) means ''in'', etc.
ἐνδυναμοῦντί (endynamounti) means ''makes dynamic inwardly''. Christ dwells in us (Col.1:27). He empowers us, makes us dynamic from within, not from without. By such inward empowering Paul was able to do all things in Christ.<sup>[7]</sup>
|-
! scope="row" | Col.
2:9
|For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the '''Godhead''' bodily.
|For in him the whole fullness of '''deity''' dwells bodily.
|For in Christ all the fullness of the '''Deity''' lives in bodily form.
|For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the '''Godhead''' bodily.
|For in Him all the fullness of '''Deity''' dwells in bodily form.
|For in him dwells all the fulness of the '''Godhead''' bodily.
|For in Him dwells all the fullness of the '''Godhead''' bodily.
|{G2330} θεότητος, translated into "Godhead," is unique in the NT. In Rom.1:20, {G2305} θειότης is translated divinity or godhood. Here Paul is speaking of the essential and personal deity as belonging to Christ. So Bengel: "Not the divine attributes, but the divine nature."<ref>Vincent, Marvin R. ''Word Studies in the New Testament''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1887. Print.</ref>
"Godhead" refers to deity, which is different from the divine characteristics manifested by the created things (Rom.1:20).<sup>[7]</sup>
|}

==Other languages==
There are complete and partial editions of the Holy Bible Recovery Version in other languages, including Chinese (恢復本),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://recoveryversion.com.tw/Style0A/026/bible_menu.php|title = 網上聖經─聖經恢復本─首頁}}</ref> French (Version Recouvrement),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.courantdevie.fr/le-nouveau-testament-version-recouvrement.html|title = Éditions CDV}}</ref> German (Wiedererlangungs-Übersetzung), Polish (Przekład Odzyskiwania), Indonesian (Alkitab Versi Pemulihan), Japanese (回復訳),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.recoveryversion.jp/|title=オンライン聖書 回復訳：ギリシャ語原文に忠実な､解説・検索機能付き新約聖書|website=recoveryversion.jp}}</ref> Korean (회복역),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rv.or.kr/|title=한국복음서원::회복역|website=rv.or.kr}}</ref> Portuguese (Versão Restauração),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.recoveryversion.org/portugues/|title = Novo Testamento Versão Restauração}}</ref> Russian (Восстановительный перевод),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kbk.ru/new-testament/ |title=Новый завет |access-date=2013-01-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115040612/http://www.kbk.ru/new-testament/ |archive-date=15 January 2013 }}</ref> Spanish (Versión Recobro), Tagalog (Salin sa Pagbabawi), and Cebuano (Hubad Pahiuli). The Recovery Version New Testament is translated into Indian languages like Telugu, Tamil, Mizo and Malayalam; the Hindi translation is in progress.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://newsletters.lsm.org/having-this-ministry/issues/Dec2021-008/recver-work-india.html|title=A Report on the Translation of the New Testament Recovery Version into Seven Languages of India|website=newsletters.lsm.org}}</ref> Translating into different languages requires translating from Greek to the language, and the footnotes from English to the desired language.

==See also==
* [[The Lord's Recovery]]

==Notes==

{{Reflist|group="note"}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.recoveryversion.org/ The Holy Bible Recovery Version, English]
* [http://biblesforamerica.org/ Free Recovery Version Bible]
* [http://www.lsm.org/ Publications and Biographies of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee]
* [https://text.recoveryversion.bible/ The Recovery Version text online (without footnotes), English]
* Online sample of the Holy Bible Recovery Version (http://www.recoveryversion.bible/)

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