Thomas Nelson Publishers and Ecclesia Bible Foundation has recently published “The Voice” Bible Translation.  According to the publisher’s website, “The Voice™ is a faithful dynamic equivalent translation that reads like a story with all the truth and wisdom of God’s Word.”The emphasis of The Voice is the spoken word, and the translation is designed for ease of public and dramatic reading. Because it is so easy to read, so poetic, so beautiful to the ear, I have no doubt that this translation will soon come to a pulpit or youth group near you. The publisher says that, “The Voice recaptures the passion, grit, humor, and beauty that is often lost in the translation process.” Sadly, the original words and their meaning was also lost in the translation process.Ease on the ear is not the priority purpose of the Word of God, and I believe The Voice has made grave errors of translation and should be rejected outright. Though they claim to have a translation that is “painstakingly true” to the original words, it is painstakingly obvious that the original meaning of the words was not priority in this “translation.”Consider John 14:3, for example. This verse, found in one of the most beloved passages of the Bible, has Jesus’ words that “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself.” The Greek words are common and easily translate to English. In fact, the word for “I will come” is used over 600 times in the New Testament, and its meaning is unquestioned.  Yet the “painstakingly true” translation in The Voice is, “I will be there to greet you personally and welcome you home, where we will be together.” The Voice has totally dropped the return in favor of our arrival. Why? I can only guess it is because the “translators” have an allergy to the Rapture and so they wanted to cleanse this passage of any rapture potential.The Voice reads like a New Age book.  The familiar “I am the way, the truth, and the life” of John 14:6 is rendered, “I am the path, the truth, and the energy of life.” This and hundreds of other verses simply ooze with New Age terminology.This so-called translation is a paraphrase with a theological agenda. It is New Age / Emergent, promotes Liberation Theology’s social justice, and disregards the clear meaning of words to advance their theological agenda.  In the end, it is so mangled that I would not call it a Bible.To watch my online Bible class on The Voice Bible review, click here.